TVSquad

The Price is Right set has gone through a lot of changes over the years, but today's season premiere showed that they were really busy over the summer (as was the Jeopardy crew).

The show used to have a very '70s vibe (even in the '80s and '90s), and then they replaced the more '70s-ish designs with more of a '50s look (while still keeping a lot of the '70s stuff). Today we found out that the retro '50s graphics are still evident on the walls, but they've also changed the two main areas of the stage. The screens on Contestants Row are now more clean and boxy than they used to be, and it looks like they're using a different lighting system for the numbers that pop up on the screens. Looks better.

The Price Is Right recently started its new season, and people who were worried that the show would go in a bad direction after the removal of longtime producer Roger Dobkowitz can rest easy: the show pretty much remains the same. Same host, same music, same games (with a new one added like they usually do every season), same big wheel (slightly spruced up), same Showcase, same people making really lousy decisions when it comes to bidding on prizes in Contestant's Row that make you want to kick in your TV.

There are a few changes, such as the set design changes they made during Drew Carey's first year. For God-knows-how-long, the walls and doors of the stage set have been stuck in the 1970s, and it has always been sort of quaint and comforting that they never changed it. But now they've gone even more retro, with 1950s/early 60s-ish square shapes (circles last year) and colors. As a big fan of mid-century design, I really like this change. Somehow fits in with the game show world a little better.