Dave's Price May Not Be Right!

[JimWilliams]

I like John on the Feud.  He's brought the Feud back to some resemblance of respectability in my eyes.  Something it's been missing since about 1994 or 95.  I don't think he's quite the fit for Price, and considering other commitments with Broadway shows and the like, I don't see him being a contender.

I've had the pleasure to see and meet both Todd Newton and Marc Summers when they did the stage version of Price at Showboat in Atlantic City.  Todd was energetic and showed great loyalty to the old show.  And when I mean energetic, I don't mean the hyperness he had on Whammy, but rather a respect to the format and the enthusiasm of the sell out crowd of loyal Price fans.  Marc was a bit more low key, but he ran the game well and got his shots of humor in quite well.  I actually was called to contestant's row during Marc's show...and I underbid a set of knives by $9 and got beaten out of being on stage.  Grrrr!  LOL. 

Both are definitely solid choices should CBS cast their eye on either of them.  (A Tiffany Pun for the Tiffany Network you might say.)

The whole "I dislike Rich" stuff irks me.  It's something popular on the game show forums, disliking Rich and holding him still as not being the right choice for the show.  Rich had the timing and the enthusiasm down from day 1 or 2 of his audition and is a fairly good copy reader.  I think he does a fine job announcing, and by and large the overwhelming majority of Price fans have no problem with Rich as the voice of the show. 

[PTBoardOp94]

The whole "I dislike Rich" stuff irks me.  It's something popular on the game show forums, disliking Rich and holding him still as not being the right choice for the show.  Rich had the timing and the enthusiasm down from day 1 or 2 of his audition and is a fairly good copy reader.  I think he does a fine job announcing, and by and large the overwhelming majority of Price fans have no problem with Rich as the voice of the show. 

It gets me too.  He isn't Rod Roddy, but ... well, you're replacing Rod Roddy.  He has a good voice for announcing, and I basically don't see what's wrong with him.

[Joe_Capitano]

(DISCLOSURE: The following is from the recap editor at Golden-Road.net, a fansite for Price is Right fans. That person would be me.)

Informed word has it that the new TPIR "star"will be dorky Dave Price who is CBS prexy Les Mooves' personal favorite.

I got your drift, but in case someone else has not, let's put an end to this "informed" speculation now, and in no uncertain terms. Unless CBS wants to commit the daytime equivalent of murder to a 35-year tradition...(deep breath...wait for it)

DAVE PRICE IS NOT, AND WILL NOT BE THE NEXT HOST OF PRICE. PERIOD.

Whomever this supposedly "informed" source is (must be connected to Newsday), they're totally wrong. The three they have auditioning next week each bring something much better to the table. There is a host out there, Dave Price it is NOT.

Rich, on the other hand, is my favorite for the job as he's been there for the past two years and, in my eyes, seems to have the qualities Barker had when Ralph Edwards discovered him 50 years ago. He should score at least an audition - unless he has no interest in the job, which would surprise me.

[Pat Cook]

Hi everyone:

IMHO, I don't think there's a future for TPIR after Barker. He IS the show.

I completely agree.  LET THE SHOW DIE.

There...I said it. 

Cheers

[kenhawk1160]

Hi everyone:

IMHO, I don't think there's a future for TPIR after Barker. He IS the show.

I completely agree.  LET THE SHOW DIE.

There...I said it. 

Cheers

Come on now, this isn't a sitcom.  Wheel of Fortune did fine after Chuck Woolery.  Family Feud survived umpteen hosts after The Kissing Bandit. 

[bpatrick]

Problem is, neither Woolery nor Dawson hosted
their respective shows for 35 years; a couple
of generations know Barker and only Barker as
host of TPIR.

True, we who were alive in 1972 had to put
Bill Cullen in the past as TPIR's host, but we
had seven years (from 1965) to do so.  Barker's
replacement will not have that luxury.

It would be more appropriate if Barker's last show
was also TPIR's last show, but since that apparently
is not going to happen, I think CBS will give the new
host every chance...and I think the audience should,
too.

BTW, I think you can lay the success of Wheel in
the Sajak era more at Vanna's doorstep than at
his.

[pabsungenis]

One quick comment about TPIR's survivability without Bob Barker.

Two game shows debuted that same day back in 1972, "The New Price Is Right" and "The Joker's Wild."  Both became classics, both jumped up in the ratings, and both capitalized on the personalities of their hosts, game show veterans Bob Barker and Jack Barry.

Jack Barry died in 1984.  Within two years, "The Joker's Wild" followed him.  Neither Jim Peck nor Bill Cullen could keep the show going; the show WAS Jack Barry.

"The Price Is Right" IS Bob Barker.  Whether it can survive even a season without him will be interesting to see.

[imhomerjay]

With all due respect to Jack Barry--and there's no bigger fan of The Joker's Wild than me--Joker (and Tic Tac Dough) was on the decline at the time of Jack's death.  It's impossible for any of us to know for sure, but it may have only had two seasons left in it anyway.  The relatively slow-paced, low-value...and relatively easy...Q&A was due to give way to the next big thing in syndication.

[JimWilliams]

I think Joker would have had a better chance of success...and I'll get killed for this among game show geeks...if Jim Peck had gotten the gig after Jack.  He was younger, people knew him from his many fill ins on the show, and he had the pacing down.  And then you have Jim Caldwell taking over Tic Tac in its final season...boy did that show tank (but not as much as its last revival!!!).

Joker, by the way, has been shelved for syndication in the fall.  Not enough interest, probably due to the creator of the show that was to accompany Joker in syndication (a show mind you that was new, had no track record of success, and was created by a person who takes criticisms worse than even I).

[bpatrick]

IIRC, Wheel had hit number one in syndication by the
time Jack Barry died, and Jeopardy! was about to make
its return.

Which brings me back to something related to my
last posting on this subject.  Alex Trebek once said
that when he first took over hosting Jeopardy! he
got letters from people saying, in effect, "you're no
Art Fleming."  Trebek invariably replied that he, too,
watched Fleming in the '60s and '70s, but that his
style was different--not necessarily better, but different--
and if people would watch him for awhile, they might
change their minds.  Invariably, too, those same people
would write back weeks or months later saying, "You're
right.  You're different, but I'm enjoying you" (or words
to that effect).

Another case: Meredith Vieira is doing just fine on
Millionaire...and she definitely isn't Regis.

So again, let me say, give the new host of TPIR a chance.
No, he (or, probably less likely, she) is not going to be
Bob Barker, but that doesn't mean that person can't host.
And then let's see how the ratings do before we declare
TPIR history.