Author Topic: 35 years ago today... (Read 5228 times)

Dbacksfan12 · « **on:** September 04, 2007, 01:18:50 PM »

TPiR, Gambit, and TJW appeared on screens for the first time.

For those of you who were around then, what were your impressions of Price the first time you saw it? Was anyone unhappy that "that guy from ToC was hosting"?

geno57 · « **Reply #1 on:** September 04, 2007, 02:40:14 PM »

[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'162674\' date=\'Sep 4 2007, 12:18 PM\']
TPiR, Gambit, and TJW appeared on screens for the first time.

For those of you who were around then, what were your impressions of Price the first time you saw it? Was anyone unhappy that "that guy from ToC was hosting"?
[/quote]

I was totally impressed, because I was a Barker fan (but not a fanboi) from the time I was small. I do remember thinking, "Wow, this is really flashy!" ... compared with the Cullen version. And, silly me, I remember expecting them to play the old Cullen TPiR music. LOL!

Neumms · « **Reply #2 on:** September 04, 2007, 05:07:20 PM »

Because of T or C, I actually knew who Bob Barker was, so I'm sure I thought it was neat. I did like Joker's Wild better, though. I suppose that was the flashier of the two shows back then. Or maybe because my folks would bring back toy slot machines from Las Vegas.

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #3 on:** September 04, 2007, 05:42:23 PM »

My first thought was why are they calling it The New Price is Right? I was too young at the time and didn't even know there was an "old" Price is Right.

I liked all three from when I first saw them - it meant more games in the early evening (Price in the weekly Prime Access slot), but oddly enough I don't remember watching the premieres. It being Labor Day, school didn't start until the next day, so I can't figure out why I didn't watch them.

/Maybe I was splashing my sisters in the swimming pool...

The Pyramids · « **Reply #4 on:** September 04, 2007, 07:21:20 PM »

It is interersting to think about what the reaction to the new 'TPIR' would have been had this forum been around back then.

Maybe that Bob was good but a bit mechanical on his first show, Johnny Olson was great, contestants row is a good idea but pulling contestants from the audience was too much like 'Lets Make A Deal', Any Number is a good game but not so much for Double Prices and Bullseye, a good theme, will they be able to offer a car every show, what would happen should both contestants overbid their showcase and finally looking forward to see how Dennis James will do in a few weeks.

TimK2003 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 04, 2007, 09:44:03 PM »

Having 2 of the 3 premieres in my collection, it was interesting to see how the shows evolved over the years of their respective runs:

TPIR made more cosmetic changes than rule changes, while TJW had just the opposite. Based on faint recollection, at least on the CBS Gambit series, Heatter-Quigley pretty much stayed the course throughout the run, and yet it was the first show to go.

Ironically, when you jump ahead to 1980-81, when Gambit went to Vegas & NBC: Both TPIR and TJW were pretty much staying their course with their rules and sets by then. This time it was Gambit who did a few changes in the run and again H-Q was the first of the 3 to go in that era as well.

Kevin Prather · « **Reply #6 on:** September 05, 2007, 01:12:55 AM »

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'162718\' date=\'Sep 4 2007, 02:42 PM\']
My first thought was why are they calling it The New Price is Right? I was too young at the time and didn't even know there was an "old" Price is Right.
[/quote]
It reminds me of one time in my English class. The teacher remarked on the fact that "The New Price is Right" and "The 60 minute Price is Right" were not grammatically correct. "The Price is Right" is a phrase, not an object like "The $10,000 Pyramid."

I raised my hand and said "Did you really expect Johnny to say 'The New The Price is Right?'" She didn't have an answer for that.

davidhammett · « **Reply #7 on:** September 05, 2007, 01:19:22 AM »

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'162718\' date=\'Sep 4 2007, 05:42 PM\']
My first thought was why are they calling it The New Price is Right? I was too young at the time and didn't even know there was an "old" Price is Right.

I liked all three from when I first saw them - it meant more games in the early evening (Price in the weekly Prime Access slot), but oddly enough I don't remember watching the premieres. It being Labor Day, school didn't start until the next day, so I can't figure out why I didn't watch them.
[/quote]
Amen, Ian. I was 9, and had not (knowingly) seen the Cullen version at that point, so the whole "New" thing sounded a bit odd. And as for not watching the premieres, I know why I didn't watch them... because we didn't get them in Atlanta. We got our first episodes on Tuesday (when I was back at school) because of the Jerry Lewis Telethon being carried on our CBS affiliate.

Craig Karlberg · « **Reply #8 on:** September 05, 2007, 04:40:02 AM »

It's hard to believe it's been 35 years since the TPIR/Gambit/TJW tripple combo started on CBS. I was only 7 1/2 when those shows aired. Not only that, I was being schooled at a place for the blind in Batavia New York. Ah, the memories.

Hearing "New" in the name of TPIR made me wonder what was so "old" about it. It took me several years & GSN to find the answer. Mothing more than a modernized update I guess, but it was well worth it. Now it's Drew's turn to keep that tradition humming along.

whewfan · « **Reply #9 on:** September 05, 2007, 05:49:28 AM »

Those who read the article in EW a while back, it's interesting to hear Bob mention that when he was first pitched the idea of TPIR, he didn't like it at first. When he was told about Gambit and TJW, he said he felt Gambit and TJW had a more solid format and would've liked to do them. TJW did well, of course. However Gambit had the shortest run, despite being very entertaining and having a very simple format.

One of the early TPIR moments I can recall as a kid was when they had a tennis ball machine. TPIR has had its problems with tennis ball machines over the years, but I remember Bob having to pick up tennis balls all over the place one time.

davemackey · « **Reply #10 on:** September 05, 2007, 06:36:00 PM »

[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'162674\' date=\'Sep 4 2007, 01:18 PM\']
TPiR, Gambit, and TJW appeared on screens for the first time.

For those of you who were around then, what were your impressions of Price the first time you saw it? Was anyone unhappy that "that guy from ToC was hosting"?
[/quote]
Absolutely not, Mark, I thought it was the coolest stuff around.

Mother convinced us to "put on the new game shows" instead of watching Jerry Lewis, and boy did we almost not find our calling that day. In a little less than 90 minutes, we became lifers.

Clay Zambo · « **Reply #11 on:** September 05, 2007, 07:23:31 PM »

[quote name=\'davemackey\' post=\'162851\' date=\'Sep 5 2007, 06:36 PM\']
Absolutely not, Mark, I thought it was the coolest stuff around.
[/quote]

Amen, brother. Nothing looked like those three shows, nothing sounded like them. Beginning of an era, is all it was.

uncamark · « **Reply #12 on:** September 06, 2007, 03:11:45 PM »

Tim's right--"Gambit" stayed with the same mechanics from beginning to end. The only change I remember was a stunt of a special "Gambit Galaxy" jackpot for a blackjack in 1975, I believe, but once that was over with it was not repeated. No other mechanics changes (other than the top-or-bottom prize cards and the Beat the House mini-game in the end game).

The only other notable format change was speeding up the transition to the Gambit board end game--in the beginning, they played the board-opening cue, Wink said something about 21 cards on the board and then tossed to Kenny for the jackpot/car plug. With a couple of months, they started opening the board with Kenny's plug and only played the door open cue if it was near the end of the show and an end game had already been played.

Neumms · « **Reply #13 on:** September 06, 2007, 06:03:49 PM »

[quote name=\'uncamark\' post=\'162965\' date=\'Sep 6 2007, 02:11 PM\']
Tim's right--"Gambit" stayed with the same mechanics from beginning to end. The only change I remember was a stunt of a special "Gambit Galaxy" jackpot for a blackjack in 1975, I believe, but once that was over with it was not repeated. No other mechanics changes (other than the top-or-bottom prize cards and the Beat the House mini-game in the end game). . . With a couple of months, they started opening the board with Kenny's plug and only played the door open cue if it was near the end of the show and an end game had already been played.
[/quote]

No wonder it was cancelled--I catch myself humming the door open cue today. Two questions, for those who missed school more often than I:
1. How did they play Beat the House, and when?
2. What was the deal with the ersatz dollar bills broken in half? I think they were on the Gambit Board.

PYLclark86 · « **Reply #14 on:** September 06, 2007, 10:07:07 PM »

[quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'162993\' date=\'Sep 6 2007, 06:03 PM\']
2. What was the deal with the ersatz dollar bills broken in half? I think they were on the Gambit Board.
[/quote]

Are you sure you're not thinking of the "Big Match" segment from Three on a Match where you had to find both halves of a dollar bill to win money?