When Drew Carey takes the stage later today to begin taping the 37th season of The Price is Right, he'll be seeing whatever changes they have in store for the first time. Why? Because he's just as much in the dark about it as everyone else is. "They don't tell me anything," he told me on Friday night at the CBS all-star party at the Boulevard3 club in Hollywood. When I asked him if he prefers it that way, he told me "No. It's disheartening. They don't tell me what they're thinking about doing or changing."
Drew also told me that he found out about longtime producer Roger Dobkowitz' dismissal the night before it happened. Executives at Fremantle told him about the change at a dinner near the Price studios. He felt bad for Dobkowitz, especially because of how well he got along with him. When asked if that put a damper on a fairly successful first season, he at first said it didn't, then he reconsidered. "Well, yeah it did, actually, because I really thought the world of him and I was sad that he let go. But like I said, I'm like an employee. They don't discuss their personnel changes with me."
The entire interview, including a response from CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler, is after the jump.
Drew Carey and company recently wrapped up shooting Season 36 of The Price is Right -- Drew had pizzas delivered to the studio from his favorite place in Cleveland -- but when the crew comes back to tape Season 37 in a few weeks, they're going to be faced with a number of changes.
The first change is that Roger Dobkowitz, who's been the producer of the show since it started its run, won't be there. According to Golden-Road.net, a TPiR message board, Fremantle Media let Dobkowitz go after Season 36 wrapped up; a replacement has yet to be named.
But there may be other changes afoot, namely with the look and format of the show, whose ratings declined 15% in the first season after Bob Barker's retirement. Rumors are swirling that the changes will include new pricing games and a video wall, all the way up to a rumor -- published on a TVGuide.com fan blog but later pulled -- that the show will be completely overhauled to make it look more like Fremantle's money-making machine, American Idol (or their new money-making machine, Million Dollar Password).
If anyone thought Bob Barker was going to miss being on stage at The Price is Right, then they'd be wrong. At least if you listen to Bob; he not only thinks he left "at just the right time," but is keeping himself extremely busy.
Barker spoke to the Long Beach, CA Press-Telegram recently, and he explained that "I enjoyed the show right up to the last minute of the last show. But, I don't miss it so much that I want to go back and do it again. I think I'm going to be very happy in retirement." He's currently working with various animal-rights organizations and is writing an autobiography, which he expects to be out late this year (ah, the publishing world moves quickly when they have to, know what I mean?).
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.
Have you guys been watching The Price is Right with Drew Carey? I missed yesterday's episode, but did tune in just in time to catch this gem today.
Apparently Drew Carey's star power makes people go just as nuts as Bob Barker's did. On today's episode, a woman went ballistic when she found out she was playing Plinko. Sure, that's usually how contestants react to Plinko. But, this woman kept saying, "I have to go to the bathroom!" and (ahem) holding herself. Naturally, Drew pretty much loses it.
This has got to be one of the best TPIR clips ever. Video is after the jump:
Monday is the big day for Drew Carey. He'll debut as the new host of The Price is Right. You can check out the new look in this video on YouTube (the video was taken down, try this one instead). It shows the new set and Drew doing some of his hosting duties.
What I like about the new look of TPIR is how it still looks like it's in the 1970s. The set basically looks the same, except for a new paint job. The colors have gone from primary to pastels, but the designs and graphics are still totally retro. It's all quite psychedelic.
I don't know about you guys, but I have TPIR programmed on my TiVo. I loved watching with Bob Barker, and even though I'm not totally thrilled about Drew Carey, I'm definitely going to give the guy a chance. Barker seemed like a squeaky clean guy, while Drew's more of a, well, Dirty Jokes and Beer kind of fellow.
If anyone was curious as to what the Drew Carey-hosted version of The Price is Right is going to look like, here's a taste.
The picture above is of Carey and Rebecca Dobkowitz, daughter of TPiR's longtime producer, Roger Dobkowitz, standing in front of one of the three huge doors on the set. It looks like they're giving the show a bit of a retro-modern look, which seems to fit the nature of the show pretty well.
Where did the picture come from? Facebook, of course! Rebecca put it up on her page, but took it down after it rocketed around the interwebs. Alex Davis of BuzzerBlog posted it a few days ago, generating more details about the revamped set from people who have seen recent tapings. More on that after the jump.
Well, after all the hemming and hawing about who was going to replace Bob Barker on The Price is Right, we finally have a name. And, apparently, a signature pair of glasses to go along with it.
According to James Hibberd of TV Week, Drew Carey has been signed to host the venerable game show. CBS decided to offer Carey the job after seeing his hosting skills in action on The Power of Ten. The plan is to have Carey announce the move tonight on Late Night with David Letterman.
Remember how initial reports said Rosie O'Donnell took herself out of the running for The Price is Right hosting gig because she didn't want to uproot her family to LA? Not entirely true. In fact, the truth is so much better.
During her 'R' cruise, Rosie told TV Guide that CBS didn't want her because she wanted to "gay it up" (her words, not mine). She evidently offered the network a Rosie Hosting Package of some sort that included getting rid of Bob's Beauties and replacing them with "a chorus line of Broadway hunks, confetti, musical bumpers and a new set". O'Donnell admitted that she was disappointed when CBS didn't take her offer, because she's been a big fan of the show for 35 years. That's when she took herself out of the running for the job.
Way to go, CBS! Broadway hunks? Confetti? Musical acts? That sure would've ruined the show. Part of its charm is how outdated it is.
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?"
Ever since I got CBS's TCA schedule a couple of days ago, I was looking forward to this moment: an hour-long Q&A session with the soon-to-retire Bob Barker. In celebration of 35 years on The Price is Right, 50 years on TV, and his June departure from the long-running game show, the network decided to juice up the crowd by having them wear TPiR-style name tags and play with replicas of the Plinko board, the big wheel, and the Dice Game. After everyone came back inside the ballroom, Barker came out to a standing ovation...
Well, not exactly. But considering the fact that a fair number of the jaded and grouchy critics actually applauded, well, that's probably the TCA equivalent of a standing O. Barker noticed this:
"On The Price is Right, I get a hell of a lot more applause than that." when a few more people applauded, he said, "I usually get a standing ovation," which led me and a few others to stand up. What the hell, the guy deserves it.
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:
Verne Gay over at Newsday is reporting that Dave Price, the weatherman/cohost on CBS' The Early Show, is going to replace Bob Barker as host of The Price Is Right. He says he heard the news from a trusted source and that it's "definite."
Price will stay with The Early Show while doing the game show every day. I know, you're thinking, but The Price Is Right is filmed in Los Angeles and The Early Show is in New York City. He'll pre-tape the game show on Fridays and do The Early Show live the other days.
No idea how I feel about this. I don't watch The Early Show that much and I've only seen Price a couple of times, so I don't really have an opinion of Price. Though I think this is probably the first time in history that the name of the game is also the name of the host, and that's kinda funky.
As I've been reading the news stories surrounding Bob Barker's retirement, I've been noticing that people have been confusing two elements of the The Price is Right that have similar names. In fact, that confusion has been in place for about thirty years, perpetrated by bloggers, columnists and news anchors: the misidentification of TPiR's final round as "the Showcase Showdown."
The confusion flummoxes the best of them, including our friends at BestWeekEver.tv, who put together a list of ten reasons why they'll miss Bob (must be an homage to our The Five list of reasons why we'll miss Bob). In item number 3, about Bob losing his patience, writer Michelle Collins states, "Often seen when people have difficulty coming up with a bid during the Showcase Showdown." Um, Michelle... that's not quite right.
When Drew Carey takes the stage later today to begin taping the 37th season of The Price is Right, he'll be seeing whatever changes they have in store for the first time. Why? Because he's just as much in the dark about it as everyone else is. "They don't tell me anything," he told me on Friday night at the CBS all-star party at the Boulevard3 club in Hollywood. When I asked him if he prefers it that way, he told me "No. It's disheartening. They don't tell me what they're thinking about doing or changing."
Drew Carey and company recently wrapped up shooting Season 36 of The Price is Right -- 
If anyone thought Bob Barker was going to miss being on stage at The Price is Right, then they'd be wrong. 
Jason's 
Have you guys been watching 
Monday is the big day for Drew Carey. He'll debut as the new host of The Price is Right. You can check out the new look in 
Well, after all the hemming and hawing about who was going to replace Bob Barker on The Price is Right, we finally have a name. And, apparently, a signature pair of glasses to go along with it.
Remember how 
Seriously. Mario Lopez is supposedly 
Ever since I got CBS's TCA schedule a couple of days ago, I was looking forward to this moment: an hour-long Q&A session with the soon-to-retire Bob Barker. In celebration of 35 years on The Price is Right, 50 years on TV, and his June departure from the long-running game show, the network decided to juice up the crowd by having them wear 
The View host and not-at-all controversial celeb Rosie O'Donnell wants CBS to know that 
Verne Gay over at Newsday is 
As I've been reading the news stories surrounding 
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