I listened to it a couple days ago, and the one thing that stood out to me most was how Dobkowitz sort of glossed over the importance of contestants for the show. Sure the games are important, but the contestants not only make the games more interesting, but they make Barker's job easier. Nowadays, the contestants don't shine as much, in part because of time constraints, so I think Drew sometimes feels he needs to "make" the funny happen, or else it won't happen at all. I think Barker fell into the same trap in his later years, too. Every other show seemed to have "an historic moment" to generate gratuitous applause, even if happened last month.
