Claudia Speaks Out

[chris319]

[quote name=\'Skynet74\' date=\'Nov 22 2003, 08:52 PM\']Game Play hasn't been effected by what goes on behind the scenes. Unfortunately the fun of the show has been greatly effected. Anyone who remembers watching the show 20 years ago will remember The Price Is Right being much more than your typical Game Show. The program had a family feel to it. Bob would interact much more with the contestants. He would also invite all the models on stage and chat with them every so often. The Showcases used to entail funny skits which often involved the models and then announcer Johnny Olsen. At Christmas time the models were always dressed up in sexy Santa's Helpers Suits. Bob used to also allow anyone who won a perfect bid Bonus to reach into his pocket to get the money themselves. These are only some of the many things that made the show a lot of fun to watch. It used to be a 60 Minute party. Now it's just 60 Minutes of going through the motions. It's a watered down version of what existed 20 years ago. It may officially be the same show........ but at the same time...... It's Not Really The Same Show.[/quote]
The time frame you describe coincides with the passing of Phil's dad Frank and Barker taking over the reins. Johnny Olson and Marc Breslow also went away around that time.

[urbanpreppie05]

I think the difference was a peak of 47 minutes to something like 42 or 41 now.

This equates to an entire segment of the show- and that's a lot of time.

[TimK2003]

I agree with a previous poster about the lack of a "family feeling" on "Price".  Knowing every on-camera staffperson was akin knowing all of the regular players on the B&W "What's My Line" panel week after week.  

Granted there was more host/panel conversations on WML than there was host/announcer or host/model interactions on TPIR, but the theory is the same.  If Barker wishes to keep every and all spotlights on him for the entire program, then he should call it "Bob Barker's Price Is Right", ala Bruce Forsyth.

But when you in a sense "kill off" a family with no explanation of what happened, or have new people come in unacknowledged, it does ruin the essence of a show to a point.

And as far as CBS taking more game-time away for more ads, why cant CBS revert to the original commercial loads and CHARGE MORE FOR AD TIME?  Hell, most of the ads now are from medical or pharmaceutical companies, and they can afford to pay the extra costs -- they'll just raise prescriptions again, like they normally do.


On a lighter note, my wife gets to Contestant's Row on Tuesday while on our honeymoon...  That and a pricing game where the rules change during the gameplay...On Tuesday's "Price Is Right".

[tommycharles]

[quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Nov 23 2003, 05:14 PM\']
Granted there was more host/panel conversations on WML than there was host/announcer or host/model interactions on TPIR, but the theory is the same.  If Barker wishes to keep every and all spotlights on him for the entire program, then he should call it "Bob Barker's Price Is Right", ala Bruce Forsyth.




 [/quote]
 Oddly, now that you bring that up, Bruces shows always have a feeling of family between him and the models - I think the "Bruce's _____" tag has more to do with getting people to watch than his ego. But I could be way off.

And as far as CBS taking more game-time away for more ads, why cant CBS revert to the original commercial loads and CHARGE MORE FOR AD TIME?  Hell, most of the ads now are from medical or pharmaceutical companies, and they can afford to pay the extra costs -- they'll just raise prescriptions again, like they normally do.

Um....excuse me for taking this out of context if I am, but doesn't it seem even a little bit stupid to tell millions of people that they will have to pay more for their medication so that we can get a few more minutes of banter? That seems fairly big headed.

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Nov 23 2003, 05:14 PM\']
And as far as CBS taking more game-time away for more ads, why cant CBS revert to the original commercial loads and CHARGE MORE FOR AD TIME?  Hell, most of the ads now are from medical or pharmaceutical companies, and they can afford to pay the extra costs -- they'll just raise prescriptions again, like they normally do.
 [/quote]
 That's not as easy as it sounds, although a lot of shows besides TPIR would be better if it was. Advertisers wouldn't be keen on paying more money to reach the same set of eyeballs. They'd buy a different show, or advertise on cable, or buy billboards. Unless TPIR had a particular audience they couldn't easily get somewhere else--the Medicare-supplement audience would not qualify, they'd lose their advertisers.

Still, one would think that with all the plugging they do, they could make do with a couple fewer commercials.

[ClockGameJohn]

[quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Nov 23 2003, 05:14 PM\'] That and a pricing game where the rules change during the gameplay...On Tuesday's "Price Is Right". [/quote]
 This is the most interesting and intriguiging thing I've read in a long time on this thread!