[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'215383\' date=\'May 11 2009, 05:15 AM\']You're reading an awful lot into it, Dave. I have no reason to believe Barker "maneuvered himself" into the nighttime show. I do know that they needed to replace Dennis James and Barker was the logical first choice. The money must have been good enough because adding a nighttime show meant doing three shows per day, something Barker had actively resisted for the daytime show.[/quote]
I had always assumed James was let go in favor of Barker. Did Dennis James, in fact, leave on his own terms?
I have to say, during the first few years of the show's run I saw a lot more of James' version than Barker's. There were no other game shows on Saturday nights, and the daytime run was generally at times too early to watch (i.e. I'd get home at 3:30 or so from school, in time for Match Game but too late from Price.