TVSquad

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.

There seems to be an inordinate amount of lawsuits involving The Price Is Right: sexual harassment, wrongful termination, etc. Now one of those lawsuits is going forward but with one key member no longer involved.

A judge in Los Angeles has dismissed allegations against Bob Barker in the lawsuit involving a former production assistant who says she was demoted because she testified in one of the other cases. The reason for the dismissal? Barker wasn't her boss. The judge also dismissed claims that the woman made against Fremantle Media, but those could be reinstated later if the judge is convinced by her attorney that they should be.

Jason's post earlier today about The Price Is Right reminded me of something I've been thinking about for years: what are the best and worst prizes you can win on the show?

This is all personal opinion, of course. Where I might frown or shrug at a prize I might win another person will scream and jump down about. But I think there are certainly some prizes we can all agree are pretty lame. Below are the six that come to mind. Five of them you'll probably agree with, but I bet several of you will have a problem with number six.

This seems like a no-brainer, and I wonder why they haven't done it before. A video game based on The Price Is Right will be in stores in time for Christmas.

Now, that will be long after the CBS show picks a new host to replace Bob Barker (the latest rumor: Drew Carey could get the gig, if he audtions and his new game show Power of 10 does well in the ratings), so there's no word on there will be any host depicted in the game. But all the classic games will be there: Contestant's Row, Plinko, the Showcase Showdown, and there will be real products in the game just like on the TV show.

I just hope they also have annoying, screaming audience members who can confuse the contestants, and women who run down the aisle and their boobs fall out of their dresses.

It looks like the long search for the new host of The Price Is Right is down to two: Sarah Silverman and David Hasselhoff.

Just kidding! The New York Post is reporting that producers have narrowed it down to two contestants: Mark Steines and Todd Newton. Steines is a host on Entertainment Tonight (he'll keep the job if he gets the PIR gig), and Newton has hosted several game shows, including a PIR show in Las Vegas. The pay for the job is reportedly near $3 million a year. Nice.

Hmmm...I'm not sure about this. But I guess they're both competent hosts. It looks like producers are going for the safer choices (male, slightly older, experienced) than going with someone like Mario Lopez or Ian Ziering.

Rosie O'Donnell has answered the prayers of many longtime Price Is Right fans: she has taken herself out of the running for the hosting job.

Of course, no one officially offered her the job, but she did meet with the show's producers for lunch last week. She would love to host the show, but as she says on her latest video blog, she doesn't want to uproot her family and move out to L.A., where the show is taped. She knows that a lot of people would, but she doesn't need the money and would rather take on projects that would keep her in New York.

So now we're down to only 47 other people who could host.

[via TV Tattle]

Mario Lopez...George Hamilton...Mark Steines...and now Ian Ziering? Are the producers serious about keeping The Price Is Right going, or are they just trying to find a way to end the show now that Bob Barker has left?

Yup, the former Beverly Hills, 90210 and Dancing with the Stars star (and I'll always remember him from The Guiding Light many years ago) auditioned for the gig last week. So the list seems to actually be growing. Besides the names above, don't forget John O'Hurley, Todd Newton, and The Early Show's Dave Price, who should insist on the job since he has the right name for it.

Oh, and Rosie O'Donnell is meeting with producers this week. Radar has a sneak peek at what a Rosie-hosted TPIR might be like.

Now that Bob Barker has retired, it's time for his microphone to retire too! We certainly don't want someone like Rosie O'Donnell or Mario Lopez using it, right?

One of the mics that Barker used on The Price Is Right is up for sale on eBay. Right now it's at $6,700 and there have been 51 bids. It comes with a nice letter of authenticity written and signed by Barker himself. The money from the sale goes to help the United Activists for Animal Rights.

The cord that comes with it looks to be approximately 6 miles long. I think one of us should buy it and put on our own Price Is Right in our home.

Back in November, Julia gave her five reasons why she was going to miss Bob Barker, who is retiring from The Price Is Right this year. Just in time for his tribute on CBS tomorrow comes this list from Best Week Ever, the reasons why they're going to miss the silver fox.

Among the reasons are the women who kiss Bob on the cheek when they come up on stage (I think I saw a guy do it once) and the $100 bill that he keeps in his pocket that he gives to bidders who get the contestant's row price exactly right.

I remember several years back when he used to have the contestant actually reach into his pocket to take out that money. Thankfully they changed that.

We told you recently that the search for the new host for CBS' The Price Is Right was down to three people: Mario Lopez, George Hamilton, and Entertainment Tonight host Mark Steines. Now it looks like another celeb has become the front-runner.

John O'Hurley, Mr. Peterman on Seinfeld and current host of Family Feud, supposedly wowed producers with his audition and just might get the gig. Of course, this could all be just talk from publicists -- who knows -- but since he did audition and currently hosts another game show, it's not out of the question. Sources say that Hamilton is no longer in the running but Todd Newton might be.

I like O'Hurley, and I think I've only seen about 12 seconds of his hosting Family Feud so I don't know how he'd do. Readers?

Seriously. Mario Lopez is supposedly one of the three finalists in the running to take over for Bob Barker when he retires from the long-running CBS game show later this year. The other two finalists? Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Donald Trump.

OK, I'm kidding about those last two names. But would they be more of a ridiculous choice than Dancing with the Stars star Lopez? What do producers see in him that they say, "you know, he might be a good replacement for Bob?"

I have to admit that when I heard the name of this board game, I laughed.

Both Target and Kohl's have pulled Drinko off of their shelves. If you haven't already guessed, Drinko is the booze version of the classic Price Is Right game Plinko (the one where the contestant drops giant chips down a board and it bounces around and lands in a dollar amount). They've been getting a lot of complaints from various groups that say the game promotes binge drinking.

This isn't the only board game with the drinking theme. Other games include Shots and Ladders and Keg Pong.

This could inspire a PIR drinking game itself. Maybe taking a shot every time Bob Barker doesn't hear what a contestant says? Or maybe a shot when a contestant does something stupid? Nah, you won't last too long.

[via Obscure Store]

The View host and not-at-all controversial celeb Rosie O'Donnell wants CBS to know that she's very interested in taking over The Price Is Right when Bob Barker retires. She actually has a clause in her contract that allows her to take another job like hosting the game show on another network, but she says that the CBS doesn't want her.

Um, yeah Rosie. Why would anyone want you to host The Price Is Right? My God, the contestants on the show are irritating enough (that's why it's always good to have the calming hand of Bob Barker there), and you want us to watch you? The scary part is that Rosie says that the fact that CBS doesn't want her to host the show is "sad" because she "has visions for the show." Oh, great, you're not only going to host but you're going to change one of the most successful formats in TV history.

Other people we don't want to host The Price Is Right:

• Dustin Diamond
• Paris Hilton
• Ann Coulter

What the heck has been going on with contestants on The Price Is Right lately? There used to be a time when maybe one contestant every couple of years would be so crazed and disoriented when told to "Come on Down!" that he or she climbed the stairs and hit the stage instead of going to Contestants' Row. In fact, it happened so infrequently that TPiR.tv would actually highlight these confused folks in its clip reels.

But now? I've seen it happen at least three times in the last two months! Not sure what the age groups of the people doing it were; I think they were all seniors but I can't really remember. But being older is no excuse for being confused; after all, if they're sharp enough to get the interviewer's attention on line, they should be able to have their wits about them enough to know where to go when their name is called. After all, they've only been watching the show for 35 years.

At least Bob Barker's a good sport about it; he laughs, praises their enthusiasm, then gently tells them to go back to Contestants' Row. I guess that's how he can do the same show for so long without going batty.

I've been wanting to get on The Price Is Right for years. OK, not enough to schedule vacations around the taping of the show or fly out to L.A. just to be in the audience, but I've wanted to go on the show since I was a little kid, watching the show with my mom. I think I could do really well. Unless they do that game where you have to pick a certain number of grocery items and come between $20 and $21. Ugh. I never do well at that game.

But if you want to go out and try your luck in L.A., read this NY Times piece. It gives the lowdown on what to do, what not to do, and profiles people who wait in line as early as 3am for one of the 325 spots in the audience.

It also says that many of the contestants stay at the Farmer's Daughter Hotel across the street. There are so many jokes there that I'm not sure which one to say first.