Rod had many, many friends at "Price" and there was discussion of his passing early in the day among many staffers. Most folks at the show had been talking about his strength and fighting spirit for a long time now. But as Rod has been terminally ill for many, many months his actual passing was not at all a surprise, and there wasn't much to say that hadn't already been expressed in many conversations.
During a commercial break an audience member did ask Bob about Rod's passing, and Bob was positively eloquent in expressing the staff's and crew's sadness, Rod's fight and good spirits whenever on the set, and the laughs Bob shared with Rod when they last saw each other in the hospital.
The birthday show that taped that day was the most intricate of any TPIR episode I've ever seen, and required many hours of rehearsal to prepare to pull it off in real time for the audience. As a wonderfully professional team, the focus during most of the day was on staging the many special elements. As Rod would be first to say "The show must go on".
Rod will be missed for a long, long time among those who knew and worked with him.
Randy
tvrandywest
