Drew/TPIR feature in USA TODAY

[bclark71]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'166077\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 04:42 PM\']
[quote name=\'dzinkin\' post=\'166074\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 01:04 PM\']
Cut Chris some slack.  He's just trying to head off any potential effort toward the Jillian Reynolds Studio. ;-)
[/quote]
Who wants to bet there is a couch over at Fox with a plaque on it?
[/quote]

That's not plaque.

[tvwxman]

[quote name=\'bclark71\' post=\'166080\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 04:52 PM\']
[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'166077\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 04:42 PM\']
[quote name=\'dzinkin\' post=\'166074\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 01:04 PM\']
Cut Chris some slack.  He's just trying to head off any potential effort toward the Jillian Reynolds Studio. ;-)
[/quote]
Who wants to bet there is a couch over at Fox with a plaque on it?
[/quote]

That's not plaque.
[/quote]
Winner!

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'tvwxman\' post=\'166081\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 01:54 PM\']
[quote name=\'bclark71\' post=\'166080\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 04:52 PM\']
That's not plaque.
[/quote]
Winner!
[/quote]
Seconded. VERY well played.

[chris319]

We already know Fields is a Barker sycophant.

This is a man who kissed Bob Barker. In public. In front of photographers.

They call it the Bob Barker Studio because someone slapped a plaque on the outside of the place proclaiming it to be so. I would hazard to guess that anyone who actually works in that industry, in that area, calls it "Studio 33".

They call it the Bob Barker studio because 43 had been proclaimed the William Bell studio. Barker, in his unbridled vanity, decided that 33 should likewise be named eponymously, notwithstanding the previously-named talent who had gone before him. There are VERY few other studios in Hollywood named after specific performers. Can anyone name some?

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'166086\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 02:38 PM\']
They call it the Bob Barker studio because 43 had been proclaimed the William Bell studio. Barker, in his unbridled vanity, decided that 33 should likewise be named eponymously,[/quote]
Was the whole thing really his idea? Seriously?

[tvwxman]

[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'166086\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 05:38 PM\']

They call it the Bob Barker Studio because someone slapped a plaque on the outside of the place proclaiming it to be so. I would hazard to guess that anyone who actually works in that industry, in that area, calls it "Studio 33".

They call it the Bob Barker studio because 43 had been proclaimed the William Bell studio. Barker, in his unbridled vanity, decided that 33 should likewise be named eponymously, notwithstanding the previously-named talent who had gone before him. There are VERY few other studios in Hollywood named after specific performers. Can anyone name some?
[/quote]
I'm not calling you out on this story, but I am curious about something:

Do we know this for a fact? Or did someone in the studio/organization/fanboizworld come up with the title for the studio? I understand that a lot of us adults don't share the same adoration for Barker that some of the kiddies do, but I'd like to know just how much of this was his ego, compared to someone else merely feeding his ego.

/World of difference in the two.

[chris319]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'166087\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 02:48 PM\']
[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'166086\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 02:38 PM\']
They call it the Bob Barker studio because 43 had been proclaimed the William Bell studio. Barker, in his unbridled vanity, decided that 33 should likewise be named eponymously,[/quote]
Was the whole thing really his idea? Seriously?
[/quote]
It sure wasn't Holly Hallstrom's.

Based on what I know of the players involved, I can't imagine otherwise. The person closest to Barker at CBS was Barbara Hunter Welsh, and I can't imagine her initiating that campaign, nor can I imagine Charles Kappelman (former head of TV City) doing so, either.

[chris319]

Oh, and before everyone makes a pilgrimage to Musso and Frank's thinking it, too, is hallowed ground, fuggedaboudit. It's close to Barker's house, but the food is thoroughly unspectacular. Been there once, won't be back.

Canter's on the other hand, has become an unofficial hangout for some of us, not because the food is so spectacular (more interesting than Canter's), but because it's, um, there.

[cmjb13]

[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'166089\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 06:01 PM\']
[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'166087\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 02:48 PM\']
[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'166086\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 02:38 PM\']
They call it the Bob Barker studio because 43 had been proclaimed the William Bell studio. Barker, in his unbridled vanity, decided that 33 should likewise be named eponymously,[/quote]
Was the whole thing really his idea? Seriously?
[/quote]
It sure wasn't Holly Hallstrom's.

Based on what I know of the players involved, I can't imagine otherwise. The person closest to Barker at CBS was Barbara Hunter Welsh, and I can't imagine her initiating that campaign, nor can I imagine Charles Kappelman (former head of TV City) doing so, either.
[/quote]
I'm curious though why it took so long. The studio was named after Bell in 1992.

[chris319]

Do we know this for a fact? Or did someone in the studio/organization/fanboizworld come up with the title for the studio? I understand that a lot of us adults don't share the same adoration for Barker that some of the kiddies do, but I'd like to know just how much of this was his ego, compared to someone else merely feeding his ego.

It is my own surmise. In days of yore, game show emcees negotiated their salaries with, and were paid by, a show's packager. Barker made so much money that his salary was negotiated with CBS (according to reports I've read). If we go with published estimates that he was making $10 million per year, plus the additional $1 million+ that it cost to tape five shows over four days (rather than six shows over three days) to accomodate his desire for a shorter workday, we have to ask ourselves this question: If he was costing CBS $11 million+ per year, why would they need to stroke his ego even further by naming a studio after him? You have to remember that CBS is run by business executives, not game show fanb0iz.

Oh, and let's not forget the zillions he cost in out-of-court settlements.

Far greater talents have roamed that lot and worked that studio.

Note to lawers: all of the above is my personal opinion.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'166139\' date=\'Oct 10 2007, 12:29 PM\']
 If he was costing CBS $11 million+ per year, why would they need to stroke his ego even further by naming a studio after him? You have to remember that CBS is run by business executives, not game show fanb0iz.[/quote]
Is your point that it wasn't CBS's idea to name the studio after him?  That wouldn't surprise me at all.  Still, egos are stroked all the time to keep the talent happy, regardless of how much money they get paid, and no matter whose idea it was, CBS did name the studio in his honor.  

Is it outrageous to anyone with a sense of history that Bob Barker's name is on Studio 33 instead of a much bigger star?  Of course it is.  But those stars weren't on the payroll when it was time for someone's ego to be stroked.  You have to remember that CBS is run by business executives, not television historians.  It cost CBS $59.95 (and some vague, bemused annoyance on Carol Burnett's part) to hang a plaque on the wall and keep the old man happy for a while.  Seems like money well spent.

[DrBear]

Speaking as an amateur television historian and amateur game show fanb0i, I plan to sue CBS for discrimination for not letting me run the place.

Besides, they can always rename the place. Look at college football stadiums. Get somebody who brings in enough money, and the former big donor's name is on the scrap heap. If Drew makes more money for CBS than Bob did, watch for the Drew Carey studio.

Sane number of letters, by the way, and they can save the R, E and A.

Just to get back to the original topic, the more I hear from Drew and the more his sense of comfort and humor grows while working on the show, the better, I think, it will get. At least, I'm looking forward to it.

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'166092\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 05:13 PM\']
Canter's on the other hand, has become an unofficial hangout for some of us, not because the food is so spectacular (more interesting than Canter's), but because it's, um, there.
[/quote]

It's also close to Jon Brion's show at Largo. Not that this Minneapolitan has seen it in several years.

Johnny Jacobs referred to the Chuck Barris Stages in openings to (at least) the Newlywed Game. Is that simply because Chuck's the one who rented them, or did he actually have a studio?

[bricon]

[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'166086\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 04:38 PM\']
They call it the Bob Barker studio because 43 had been proclaimed the William Bell studio. Barker, in his unbridled vanity, decided that 33 should likewise be named eponymously, notwithstanding the previously-named talent who had gone before him. There are VERY few other studios in Hollywood named after specific performers. Can anyone name some?[/quote]

The only other one I've come across is the George Burns Stage (stage 1 if I recall correctly) at Hollywood Center Studios.  You can see the plaque outside the stage here.  

While not a performer specifically, there is a stage at KTLA in named for longtime newscaster Larry McCormick.

[chris319]

Is your point that it wasn't CBS's idea to name the studio after him?

I think I've made that abundantly clear by now. To put it more succinctly, they didn't take the initiative in naming the studio after him.

CBS is run by business executives, not television historians.

Having been taken on the Grand Tour of the place more than once, it would surprise you how much the old-timers at TV City have a sense of the history of the place. A fair amount of TV history has been made there.