A Few Thoughts About TPIR

[chris319]

I don't know if CBS or Fremantle realize it, but Drew is the wrong guy for the show. He may be fine in other vehicles, but given the stiff competition from The View, his efforts at making it the Drew Carey Comedy Hour aren't helping one bit. Whether a Todd Newton or Mark L. Walberg would have helped matters is anybody's guess.

Daytime used to be a nice haven of escapist TV. Nowadays, if they're not interviewing Sarah Palin or covering the Obama transition, or hearing small-claims cases, people don't watch.

Early Monday morning I drove by the TV City entrance on Fairfax. In the Barker era the line used to extend south and consisted of over 100 people at that time. This moring (Monday) there were only six people in line (the line now forms to the north).

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'201810\' date=\'Nov 17 2008, 07:04 AM\']
making the show more Drewish[/quote]
Approves

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'201821\' date=\'Nov 17 2008, 11:32 AM\']
[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'201810\' date=\'Nov 17 2008, 07:04 AM\']
making the show more Drewish[/quote]
Approves[/quote]
Funny, she doesn't look Drewish.

[Timsterino]

[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'201818\' date=\'Nov 17 2008, 11:17 AM\']
I don't know if CBS or Fremantle realize it, but Drew is the wrong guy for the show. He may be fine in other vehicles, but given the stiff competition from The View, his efforts at making it the Drew Carey Comedy Hour aren't helping one bit. Whether a Todd Newton or Mark L. Walberg would have helped matters is anybody's guess.

Daytime used to be a nice haven of escapist TV. Nowadays, if they're not interviewing Sarah Palin or covering the Obama transition, or hearing small-claims cases, people don't watch.

Early Monday morning I drove by the TV City entrance on Fairfax. In the Barker era the line used to extend south and consisted of over 100 people at that time. This moring (Monday) there were only six people in line (the line now forms to the north).
[/quote]

Price has become the Drew Carey Show: The Next Generation. The big draw of Price was about the contestants and the way you could just walk in and win. I doubt, for the most part, if middle America at this point gives a rats ass if the show was hosted by Carey or someone like Todd Newton. I think the Carey factor only gets them so far and that is it.

I personally give the show another season or two at its current pace. Either that or Carey will get bored with the job, which is very possible.

[Neumms]

The trouble, as I see it, is that the show became self-conscious. Now it's in on the joke.

Barker, while finding the humor in the people, played the proceedings straight. They suspended your disbelief that people would really be that excited about a Broyhill dining room. The set looked out of date because it was out of date.

Drew, as much as I liked the choice and like him generally, plays it like "hey, look, I'm hosting a game show!" The set is tacky because they've painted it that way. The showcases are funnier, which is good, but in a self-mocking way.

The thing is, now that they've done it, they can't go back. People will get (or are) tired of it and it'll go away.

[chris319]

TPIR could face the same problem Match Game did. MG was one of a small number of game shows that were supposed to be funny. It worked great for a while, then the gimmick got stale. I was once in on a "How can we fix Match Game?" meeting and the best explanation I can give is that the audience simply tired of it.

[urbanpreppie05]

[quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'201945\' date=\'Nov 18 2008, 10:28 PM\']
The set is tacky because they've painted it that way. The showcases are funnier, which is good, but in a self-mocking way.

The thing is, now that they've done it, they can't go back. People will get (or are) tired of it and it'll go away.
[/quote]

I agree with pretty much everything you said except the set remark- I think this is the best looking set they've had in years, at least since the stripes era. It comes off to me as retro, but classy.

The showcases are hit or miss- some are not bad, while others are groan inducing.

Personally, I think that if things don't improve, ratings wise (Does ANYONE have actual numbers this season?) I think they'll do that AI-style revamp...with some new talent.

[opimus]

[quote name=\'urbanpreppie05\' post=\'201962\' date=\'Nov 19 2008, 09:35 AM\']
[quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'201945\' date=\'Nov 18 2008, 10:28 PM\']
The set is tacky because they've painted it that way. The showcases are funnier, which is good, but in a self-mocking way.

The thing is, now that they've done it, they can't go back. People will get (or are) tired of it and it'll go away.
[/quote]

I agree with pretty much everything you said except the set remark- I think this is the best looking set they've had in years, at least since the stripes era. It comes off to me as retro, but classy.

The showcases are hit or miss- some are not bad, while others are groan inducing.

Personally, I think that if things don't improve, ratings wise (Does ANYONE have actual numbers this season?) I think they'll do that AI-style revamp...with some new talent.
[/quote]
I don't think Roger would put up with this nonsense.
/This message has not approved by  Matt Ottinger's Masters of the Obvious TM.

[Jimmy Owen]

[quote name=\'urbanpreppie05\' post=\'201962\' date=\'Nov 19 2008, 08:35 AM\']

Personally, I think that if things don't improve, ratings wise (Does ANYONE have actual numbers this season?) I think they'll do that AI-style revamp...with some new talent.
[/quote]


Well, if they do that, they might as well get Seacrest. Household name, Fremantle employee, accustomed to replacing legends, youth appeal. He could fit it in his schedule if they do it everyday after his radio show either live or live-on-tape.

[chris319]

He could fit it in his schedule if they do it everyday after his radio show either live or live-on-tape.

TPIR cannot physically be done live. It takes longer than one hour to tape a show. And, imagine the cost of using studio 33 five days per week. All that said, if Ryan were available he would be a welcome relief over Drew.

[TroubadourNando]

This post contains spoilers for the 11/19 Price.




I heard once that Mark L. Walberg was the initial top choice on Fremantle's list but CBS didn't want him. Looking back, he wouldn't have been all that bad a choice... he'd have held his own in my listings with Todd Newton and Marc Summers, both of whom I saw run the format and leave me impressed.

I was an enthusiastic Drew Carey supporter last year. I liked him from Whose Line and then the first Play For A Billion and I thought he did well in Season 36... but judging from what's happened this year, Roger kept the show together much more than I thought he did. I'd hoped things wouldn't be this bad while Fingers still had her job... but it seems to me that Syd is the one with the power now. And we know how Syd Vinneage ends up when he gets power.

The show is a mess right now. Just looking at the lineup for today's show reveals why Roger was called such a master at arranging them... playing 1/2 Off and Let 'Em Roll as the first two games ended up forcing not only Pick-A-Number and Double Prices into the same show but also forced a horrid speedup that consumed the traditional reveal for One Away.

I could go on, but if I do it'll just get me riled about Drew's stupid entrances and showcases..

[WhammyPower]

(Text in white for spoiler purposes)
[quote name=\'TroubadourNando\' post=\'202015\' date=\'Nov 19 2008, 06:03 PM\'] [color=\"#ffffff\"]Just looking at the lineup for today's show reveals why Roger was called such a master at arranging them... playing 1/2 Off and Let 'Em Roll as the first two games ended up forcing not only Pick-A-Number and Double Prices into the same show but also forced a horrid speedup that consumed the traditional reveal for One Away.[/color][/quote]
Well, it wasn't only that, but the part where [color=\"#ffffff\"]the soap opera walk-on role was offered.[/color]

[CarShark]

[quote name=\'TroubadourNando\' post=\'202015\' date=\'Nov 19 2008, 08:03 PM\']The show is a mess right now. Just looking at the lineup for today's show reveals why Roger was called such a master at arranging them... playing 1/2 Off and Let 'Em Roll as the first two games ended up forcing not only Pick-A-Number and Double Prices into the same show but also forced a horrid speedup that consumed the traditional reveal for One Away.[/quote]I think calling Roger Dobkowitz a master of anything except kissing Barker's butt is giving him too much credit. His line-ups were dull, with the same few one prize games and boring car games repeated ad nauseum. If I never see Squeeze Play and Money Game again, it'll be too soon. Even worse, some games were never played in the first half. Others weren't allowed in the second. No one knows why. This made the line-ups not only dull for frequent viewers, but predictable. To me, it felt like he was phoning it in.

[TroubadourNando]

[quote name=\'CarShark\' post=\'202020\' date=\'Nov 19 2008, 07:31 PM\']
[quote name=\'TroubadourNando\' post=\'202015\' date=\'Nov 19 2008, 08:03 PM\']The show is a mess right now. Just looking at the lineup for today's show reveals why Roger was called such a master at arranging them... playing 1/2 Off and Let 'Em Roll as the first two games ended up forcing not only Pick-A-Number and Double Prices into the same show but also forced a horrid speedup that consumed the traditional reveal for One Away.[/quote]I think calling Roger Dobkowitz a master of anything except kissing Barker's butt is giving him too much credit. His line-ups were dull, with the same few one prize games and boring car games repeated ad nauseum. If I never see Squeeze Play and Money Game again, it'll be too soon. Even worse, some games were never played in the first half. Others weren't allowed in the second. No one knows why. This made the line-ups not only dull for frequent viewers, but predictable. To me, it felt like he was phoning it in.
[/quote]

(As I type this I hope I'm not getting into an argument with one of the "Bob Barker and Roger Dobkowitz are Satan's Offspring" people from GSN....I expect better here)

There was a method to his madness that you'd really have to pay attention to to get.

For example, It's In The Bag. Roger rarely if ever scheduled it first (I do not recall it ever played first, but I'll defer to those with the information) To the ordinary viewer this would just be Roger being dodgy about it. However, the accuracy of that habit was proven when a recent Greco/Vinneage lineup played It's In The Bag first---the playing, like most playings of the game, was lost early in the money chain, and (with no help from Drew's moodiness) took the energy out of most the rest of the show. Roger understood that the first game sets the mood for the show, and that It's In The Bag is too unreliable to lean on for that.

And honestly, you're complaining about seeing Squeeze Play and Money Game too often? Have you actually watched any of the last four to six weeks of shows?

[wheelloon]

[quote name=\'WhammyPower\' post=\'202016\' date=\'Nov 19 2008, 07:07 PM\']
(Text in white for spoiler purposes)
Well, it wasn't only that, but the part where [color=\"#ffffff\"]the soap opera walk-on role was offered.[/color]
[/quote]
THIS is the reason for the speedup, no other. This "bit" lasted at least a couple of minutes, those that would've otherwise gone to the ole Mighty Sound Effects Guy. Sure, it was awkward to watch One Away, but after seeing the end, I think it was worth it. Nothing seemed particularly out of place game lineup wise, like there actually were actually intended to be guidelines for them, except for maybe one car game each half and maybe one cash game a day. That's all YOUR AVERAGE JOE SCHMO might notice. Anyway, variety is the spice of life!

Obviously, I was able to catch an episode today for the first time in awhile. Not sorry to those who think otherwise, but I feel the show is doing fine right now. A small nitpick I do have is that I think an electronic monitor/screen would've been better than the green screen, but that's minor compared to what could be happening. The showcases, as I've seen the couple times I've caught it this season, are hit or miss IMHO, but I also have seen that in episodes from the earlier days. Today's showcases I thought were on target. Experimentation is not a bad thing ladies and gentlemen, it's how new pricing games are introduced *Gas Money is one of the best new games they've introduced in quite awhile too, IMHO*.

I also still am giving Drew a little slack. I estimated it would take 2 to 3 years for a new TPIR to really get their feet wet enough and get their footing strong enough for things to start running as totally smoothly *if there really was any significant difference* then before. IMHO, people should stop crying about Drew, he's had JUST A LITTLE OVER ONE YEAR to do things. Alex's improvement on J! is significant over his first 2 years, same for Sajak, same for Viera. Drew's pay is a null point, if CBS really had a problem with what he wanted, or with the job he was doing, there should be no doubt they'd stir the pot a bit...

BTW, I seem to remember in another forum topic where people were saying that new daytime shows that get at least a "friggin 1 rating" were considered a mild hit. Even if has dropped a bit, last checking TPIR's ratings, I was seeing numbers in the 3's. Heaven forbid that a CBS show actually get only a 3! -_-

Then you would have to ask, if Price is cancelled, what other options does CBS have? Throw another soap there in the already most soap-ridden daytime schedule on TV? Pull an NBC and extended The Early Show (and we're seeing how NBC's doing with that)? Or, give it back to the stations? It still makes a good news lead-in, and Price has a loyal audience *no matter how Geritol-induced they may be* and I don't believe it has any threat of being cancelled in the near future. Drama queens, take off your crowns...

Again, just all IMHO, and yes, I love that set.