TVSquad

I'm not sure if it seems like it should be more episodes or less, but The Price is Right has been going strong since 1972 and they're going to be celebrating their 7000th episode on November 5. I guess that seems right, it's just that when a show is on for 37 years you lose all track of the number of episodes.

Here's a behind the scenes look at tomorrow's show.

[via BuzzerBlog]

Terry Kniess, the Double Showcase winner on The Price is Right who got his bid right on the money, may have been a "dark day" for Drew Carey, but he's no cheater.

In fact, there have been more egregious and blatant attempts to guarantee a win in a pricing game by skewing the odds in their favor, sometimes right in front of the host's eyes.

For instance, here's a "Shell Game" contestant who does something so outrageous, so ballsy, so completely devious that Bob Barker can't help but rip her to verbal shreds in front of the entire nation. And not only does she get away with it, but she actually wins the game!

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.

How do you top the competitions in a show that forces two TV schlubs to wear a dead octopus on their heads or consume more beer than an Oakland Raiders tailgater?

You let their crazed fans throw down the gauntlet for them.

The Canadian Jackass-off that is Kenny vs. Spenny wants competition ideas from their viewers for their sixth season.

This clip is from 1993, but it's worth seeing again (or for the first time - I'm a huge Price Is Right fan and I don't remember this at all). A woman spins the wheel and gets 75 cents. She spins again and gets 25 cents, so that's a dollar, which means she gets $1000 and a bonus spin. Nope. Bob doesn't realize she got a buck and thinks its only 95 cents. They just go on with the show and no one says anything about it (though it's possible someone is tries to say something to Bob at one point but the sound isn't clear). Scandal!



[thanks to reader Bob for the tip]

If you didn't watch today's episode of The Price is Right, you missed a woman wearing a "Substitute Teachers Need Random Sets Too" t-shirt (which I'm still not sure I understand), a woman winning a set of Star Trek Pez dispensers (!),Drew Carey showing what the price card looks like inside that envelope used on Contestants Row (not sure if we've ever seen that before), and a woman flapping her arms up and down like a bird in excitement, even though she didn't win a car in the Lucky 7 game (side note: that game is impossible to win now). Oh, and you also missed Bob Barker return to the show he hosted for over 30 years.

Barker made his first appearance on the show since his retirement to promote his new memoir, Priceless Memories. He showed up during the showcases. After the jump, his appearance (along with interviews and some behind the scenes footage).

We've already heard that former host Bob Barker is going to appear on The Price is Right later this month to promote his new autobiography. But there's another guest that's going to pop up on the show, and it happens today: Mimi from The Drew Carey Show!

Well, to be accurate, Kathy Kinney will appear on her former co-star Drew Carey's CBS game show today as part of the April Fool's Day festivities.

I remember a great April Fool's day Price is Right episode years ago. One of the showcases was their regular "Something For Every Room In The House," but the prizes this day were things like a yo-yo for a game room and a cup for a kitchen. It was pretty funny and really unexpected. Not sure if Drew has anything like that planned for today or if we're just going to see Kinney as Mimi causing havoc on the set.

If I were to win a prize on The Price is Right - perhaps a new Broyhill sofa, some dinnerware from The Michael C. Fina Company, or a new car - I wouldn't jump up and down. In fact, I don't think that a car is even such a great prize to win. But I can understand why contestants who win some of the bigger prizes would want to jump up and down and celebrate.

However, I don't understand why contestants jump up and down before they win a prize.

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.

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.

(S36E01)*

*It's not like we're going to review every episode this season. Do you think we're insane?

Drew Carey's new career should be hosting the premiere of any new network game show that comes down the pike. That's because he has the Luck of the Irish on these shows. On the premiere of his primetime game show Power of 10 the first contestant on the first show won one million dollars. On the 36th season premiere of The Price is Right, which Drew Carey is now hosting after the retirement of legendary host Bob Barker, everyone won.

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.

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]

Rosie O'Donnell has been campaigning very heavily to be the new host of The Price is Right. Personally I can't think of a worse choice for the job. I'm sure I will ruffle plenty of feathers with this list but if I can do anything to make sure she doesn't replace Bob Barker, it's worth making enemies.

5. She is too self-absorbed to care about the contestants.
Rosie can't stop talking about herself long enough to run a show like TPIR. With her as the host, Viewers would be lucky to get to see on spin of the wheel.

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.