[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'May 26 2005, 09:16 AM\']And I can't remember the last time Bob was able to deliver opening remarks at the start of The Hour Of Power. [/quote]
I thought he stopped doing the monologues a long time ago.
Since we know the time for spots will never be reduced, should they scale the number of pricing games played to four--two each half hour with the Showcase Showdown played by two contestants per segment instead of three?
I don't think that's really necessary. If I were to guess, I'd say that most games run between two to four minutes. I think careful planning could help free enough time for some interaction. Since Hole in One always takes at least six minutes to play as does Three Strikes (on a good day), it behooves The Powers That Be to make up for it. That's probably why some shows have skipped SP games all together.
My fix? Get the one-bids done with faster! There was a week of shows about a month back where the average time for one-bid rounds was around 20 seconds! That week had more interaction than any other, and that includes Barker's constant rambling about how fast the bids were coming! We're back to normal now, with people asking what the bids are more than once a round, the staring into space, and my personal fave, the Back to Barker Stance.
If it starts to get any more ridiculous, I say cut the one-bids. I know, I know. People are going to say, "That's the way it's always been done." To which I say, "That's not much of an argument." Times have changed since 1972, and the game should be able to as well. This strict following of a format is definitely more harm than good. Besides, I think it's safe to say that people only get really excited when playing for cars and cash and never for dining room groups (judging by their oh-so-fake facial expressions), and that they don't care too much about the ugly, overpriced baseball glove chair that they just won or the supply of Zim's Crack Creme that came with it.
The extra time would also allow for more playings of longer, more expensive, and arguably better car games like Pathfinder, Hole in One, Ten Chances and Temptation (instead of Money Game at Mach 2). This would also allow for more playings of very rare games like Shell Game, Joker, and Poker Game. That seems like more than a fair trade-off to me. Also, everyone would be spared the frustration of watching the sea of stupidity Contestants' Row can be. No more $420s. No more $...69s. No more one-unders. That's so much good right there.
People might also say, "But that's the only tie to the original PiR with Bill Cullen." To which I say, "So what?" Most people don't even know that a pre-Barker Price existed, anyways. Also, from all of the episodes I watched (plenty of them), I could say that the "one-bid only" round was the most disliked. I often heard an audible groan whenever it was that time, likely because of the obvious advantage the fourth bidder got. It's easily expendable.
