TPiR Season 38 intro changes

[Casey Buck]

I've started another TPiR thread; don't be surprised if there's a flame war!

Anyway, at priceisright.com, there's a behind-the-scenes clip with clips of Monday's season premiere. There are three changes in the show's opening:

*A light border has returned, though not the same one that was used for Season 36 and early Season 37.
*The opening is noticeably shorter; it now says, "Here it comes! From the Bob Barker studio at CBS in Hollywood, it's The Price Is Right!". No more "Television's most exciting hour of fantastic prizes" or "fabulous 60-minute".
*Drew's introduction is a more generic, "And now, here's your host, Drew Carey!". No more "star of The Price is Right".

[pentellit]

I had heard that Drew wanted the "Star of TPIR" changed to host.  That's so Drew.  

Now if they could just find a way to get out of the "...from the Bobbo Studio..." opening

[clemon79]

Cue WHAAAARGARBL in three...two....one....

[Mr. Brown]

Does anybody want my opinion?

• People will inevitably complain about the return of the light border, even though the same people complained about its removal - I'm sure the myriad of reasons will include "It's not the light box", "It's not the yellow border," and some statements that should be evaluated by a sanity commission.
• I'm curious as to what prompted this change... time? They thought it was redundant? Just because they wanted to? Whatever the reason - not a big deal.
• Same as the first item - people will inevitably complain that Drew is now called the "host", even though they were calling for the same when he started. If it was his decision to be called "host", good for him - the show's focus is its contestants and the games they play, not the guy with the mic (though, I'll be the first to admit he needs to improve on contestant-host interaction).

[whewfan]

I thought I had read that they ALMOST cut out the "Bob Barker Studio" mention too, but I also see why they left it in.

I thought I also read that whether the host is billed as the "star" or "host" is up to the emcee.

Gene Rayburn was originally the HOST of MG and later billed as the STAR.

Richard Dawson was the STAR of FF while O'Hurley is the HOST

I think Peter Tomarken was the only one to get BOTH... "and now, here's your host, the STAR of PYL"

Heatter Quigley tried to be more creative with their host intros...

"And now, the MASTER of the Hollywood Squares..."
"And now, here's the man with all the action..." (High Rollers)
"And now, here's the man in command...." (Battlestars)

[tyshaun1]

[quote name=\'whewfan\' post=\'226398\' date=\'Sep 18 2009, 07:27 PM\']I think Peter Tomarken was the only one to get BOTH... "and now, here's your host, the STAR of PYL"[/quote]
That came from Bill Carruthers' background of working with Chuck Barris, as both Bob Eubanks and Jim Lange were introduced the same way.

Of course, when Wipeout came along, he got even more than that....... see here.
Tyshaun

[Joe Mello]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'226396\' date=\'Sep 18 2009, 07:12 PM\']WHAAAARGARBL[/quote]
Could I have the language of origin, please?

This saves them, what, 10 seconds? 15?  Guess you take what you can get.

[That Don Guy]

[quote name=\'whewfan\' post=\'226398\' date=\'Sep 18 2009, 04:27 PM\']I thought I also read that whether the host is billed as the "star" or "host" is up to the emcee.

Gene Rayburn was originally the HOST of MG and later billed as the STAR.

Richard Dawson was the STAR of FF while O'Hurley is the HOST

I think Peter Tomarken was the only one to get BOTH... "and now, here's your host, the STAR of PYL"

Heatter Quigley tried to be more creative with their host intros...

"And now, the MASTER of the Hollywood Squares..."
"And now, here's the man with all the action..." (High Rollers)
"And now, here's the man in command...." (Battlestars)[/quote]
It's not just game shows: "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" became "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno".

-- Don

[bandit_bobby]

Good that Drew's not being called the "star" of TPIR anymore (that will always be Bob Barker, of course). And good that a new intro border's being introduced, as well.

[fishbulb]

I've thought for a very long time that they should drop the "fabulous 60-minute" line.  It was impressive in 1975, but an hour-long game show isn't exactly unique today. Good riddance.

[Johnissoevil]

I'm indifferent about the opening spiel.  But I like the new set.

[Chief-O]

[quote name=\'fishbulb\' post=\'226430\' date=\'Sep 19 2009, 12:44 AM\']I've thought for a very long time that they should drop the "fabulous 60-minute" line.  It was impressive in 1975, but an hour-long game show isn't exactly unique today. Good riddance.[/quote]

Indeed. We've had a lot of 60-min game shows in the past 10 years; "Price" no longer stands out. But "Television's most exciting hour of fantastic prizes" still holds true.

Like John F., I like the new set somewhat. Granted, the new one-bid displays were not too necessary [I would assume they could've put LED bulbs into the old displays, but maybe the wiring or something was too old], and the showcase podiums will take getting used to. But the new home base/turntable is pretty darn nice.

[mparrish11]

Impressive all around!  

• The light border is back and looks great!  To me, it retains the familiarity of the original "box" but with a modern tie-in to the current show.
• The true stars of the show are the contestants.  Not surprised Drew changed the intro to "...the host..."  WTG!
• The set--freaking awesome!!
• EDIT--The opening spiel---not quite what I expected.  It's going to take some getting used to.  To me, it's like changing the rules Marc Summers used to spew out every day on Double Dare.
• Still not sold on the Showcase podiums though.  While the new home base looks like Fremantle spared no expense, the podiums look like they were made from the wood leftover from building the home base.  Maybe they'd look better if they were color-coordinated with the home base blue colors.

Just a thought--The new one bid displays and the showcase displays are welcome changes, but with the electronics changes taking place, one has to wonder when or if they're going to replace all the games' pricing displays (like the one used on Plinko or the big wheel) with LCD panels.  Thoughts?

Overall, judging by the preview, I'd say that TPIR is on the right track.  It's going to be a great season.  The DVR is all set up!

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'bandit_bobby\' post=\'226424\' date=\'Sep 18 2009, 11:25 PM\']Good that Drew's not being called the "star" of TPIR anymore (that will always be Bob Barker, of course).[/quote]

That's *your* opinion. I'm sure others besides myself disagree.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Chief-O\' post=\'226440\' date=\'Sep 19 2009, 06:53 AM\']Granted, the new one-bid displays were not too necessary [I would assume they could've put LED bulbs into the old displays, but maybe the wiring or something was too old],[/quote]
Or, perhaps, they wanted something even less failure-prone. But change is hard, I know.