[quote name=\'Terry K\' post=\'191412\' date=\'Jul 20 2008, 02:34 AM\']Barker looked kind of robotic in 1972, and it took him HOW long to make the show his?[/quote]I've heard this from a few people, but having recently scored a copy of the TPIR DVD set at a bargain price that even Alice Conkwright couldn't refuse, I beg to differ. The first episode on the DVD (which, as we all know, is not the first episode aired but is still from the first week) shows a somewhat stiff, mechanical Barker. However, the next one, taped just five days later, has him much looser. Less than a month into the taping schedule he was varying his throws to Johnny for the next contestant call and item up for bids, joking around with the contestants, and even putting a poor nervous woman through his patented false reveal routine in the Showcase. Was he as smooth and as comfortable as he would later become? No. But he was at least as far along in a month as Drew has gotten in a year. Some of this is attributable to all his experience hosting Truth or Consequences and the limited number of games that were in use on TPIR at the time, but it can't all be that.
I say this as an admitted Barkerphile but one who thinks Drew's doing a decent job. I merely agree with those who think he still has much room for improvement and probably should have improved a bit more quickly than he has. I hope he attains the level of competence of Bob at his peak while still retaining the qualities that make him stand out from all the Gus Glitzes who think they are Bob's natural heirs.
