1) Why did Drew have a cane on today's (12/10) show?

2) Is it just me or are they now trying to speed up "One Away"? (One of the models now working the numbers, no "Oh, great SFX lady" shtick).

As for that, they probably had to shift everything into overdrive after the first Showcase Showdown went into double overtime.

1. So he had something with which to beat annoying contestants severely. (I'm looking at you, "Keira Knightly".)

2. Little-known fact: most of the show's models never had any interest in being models, but rather have always dreamed of being able to rotate giant yellow trilons. They finally got a union (International Amalgamated Federation of Models, Fashionistas and Other Professional Women, local 294) and got that worked into their contract.



(Seriously, at the start of the show, Drew said he hurt his toe.)

Doesn't he now have Rich stand behind him with a Taser to use on obnoxious contestants? :)

("Does Whoopi have a Taser? I'd bet she'd love to use it on Hasselbeck!")

Someone did not see the start of the show, I see.

The Giant Price Tag smashed his toe. (sarcastic...we don't know why.)


I'm going to play the new game, Inference This. About two or three weeks ago, we had Drew come in on a go-kart, seemingly have something on his foot, and One Away was played in the same manner. I think it has to do with the toe injury.

The editing/camera work was very different on this show. It looks like they were trying to shoot the show to hide Drew's limp (limp very noticeable during the first game)...kind of like how they shot Bill Cullen's shows in latter years.

That would be my guess, too. I will say that, as much of a traditionalist as I am, I'd be happy to see the drawn-out "how many numbers do I have right?" process go by the wayside. I thought it got old fast with Barker, and Drew hasn't changed my mind about it. If it saves time for other business (a likely reason for dropping it), so much the better.

When One Away began, didn't they just beep for the number of numbers a contestant got right? Something like-

Bob: How many numbers does she have right?
*beep* *beep* *beep*
Bob: You have three numbers right. What number do you want to change?

Apparently so. But, I like the "<Gentlemen/Ladies/Almighty Sound Effects Lady>, does she have X numbers right?"

I think the reason for the changes in One Away is because of Drew's injury (at least I hope so).

I guess I don't understand why a foot injury would necessitate not doing something that doesn't involve any walking to begin with.

Then again, maybe that is the cause. It's not like the show makes any sense this year, anyway.

Since when does walking to and from the game board, on camera, not involve, um, walking?

You could make the argument that the quicker the games go, the quicker he can get back to the go-kart during commercial breaks/stopdowns so he can stay off his foot.

Unless I'm missing something (which is likely since I didn't see the episode), I think Steve was directly referencing Bobby's assertion that they changed the One Away game because of Drew's bum foot.

Snap it up, get it played, go to the mondo series of commercials, action, action, action.
What's the running time sans commercials these days and what was it when TPiR first went to an hour?

Full episodes online run about 38-39 minutes. I can examine the first hour long show on my TPIR DVD really quickly for you.
EDIT: The 9/9/75 episode runs about 44-45 minutes.

But, God help me, I'm pointing out that Bobby might not be wrong. If they temporarily rejiggered the game so that Drew a) didn't have to move around on-camera any more than necessary, and b) didn't have to be on his feet any more than necessary, I can see them doing what people are reporting (I didn't see the show either) to accomplish that.

Models have been helping Drew on several games the last few shows - Spelling Bee, Bulls-Eye, and Dice Game to name three. It has to be because of his foot.

So they're still trying to cram in six IUFBs, six Pricing Games, two Showdowns, two Showcases and The Big Finish into a space six minutes smaller than the one they had when the format was first envisioned? Does anyone else see somethings screwy with that?

...which is why I'm all for altering certain practices/traditions of games to speed things up.

Yes, but to be fair, back then , there was a LOT of padding. Barker killed time at the start of the show, often befor IUFBs, and how often did he bring the girls out to talk?

I know that in the last years he seemed a helluva more robotic in his repetitive delivery....having 6 minutes less of padding will do that to you!

I was talking specifically about the whole "Ladies, do I have at least one number right?" routine -- but I think I can see the point about being able to get back off of his feet more quickly. I forget if it's been mentioned in this thread, but I guess the commercial stopdowns during these tapings were significantly longer than usual, so that seems to make sense.

But some of the funniest moments of the show sprung from the padding. Hayloft Ethel and Angelo from tpir.tv, for example. We don't see that anymore because once you land in the Row, they can't show you the next IUFB fast enough. And once you're on stage, they can't show you the prizes fast enough. Before, I put some of the blame on Barker being in his twilight years and not interacting as well as he used to, but Drew's even worse this season. You really get the feeling that he doesn't care about who you are, where you're from or what you do. He just wants you to win a car.

The feeling I get (based on nothing other than a hunch) is that Drew was told to keep the show moving and cut the other interaction to the bone. And that could be a bit why his demeanor may be suffering. He might not want to treat the contestants like cattle.

ADDED AFTER SEEING THE FINISH OF THE 12.16.08 EPISODE: I'm takin' it back. If you don't want to go Bert Parks over-the-top, I can understand it, but he seemed to be channeling the citizens of the planet Vulcan. My stars, man, look what just happened under your watch and your reaction is that it's just another day at the office? Stuff and nonsense.

Now that the OP's questions have been answered, I have a couple more of my own:

1) We know that TPIR's ratings have been slipping lately. But I think one cause hasn't been fully explored. The View is frequently promoted on ABC affiliate, but outside of an MDS or primetime special, I can't remember the last time I've seen a commercial for the show. When's the last time CBS really pushed Price on the air? I don't know if it's something they're used to not doing with Barker at the helm, but I would think they would start pulling things out of their hat to keep it on top.

2) I know that Score, OGM and Killer Tracks have done music for the show, but has anybody else?

With the exception of the Chenbot Morning Show, you can put the name of any other CBS Daytime offering in the sentence, "When's the last time CBS really pushed ______ on the air?"

Daytime Shows are pushed during daytime, Major Sports events are pushed during Primetime, and Primetime Programming is pushed....well, everywhere! Last time I checked, that seems to be the norm across all the networks. It's all about the dominant demographics at the time.

I disagree; they pimp the hell out of their daytime soaps. How hard would it be to get a few more Price promos in, esp. with a new host.

They even have some sweet custom bumpers for their soaps.

/Made me think I was watching an early-80s sitcom with the stop-motion. :-P

I wouldn't say OGM and Killer Tracks have "done" music for the show, as their music (as far as I know) was not composed especially for TPiR.
As far as music composed specifically for the show, Michael Karp composed music that was introduced in 2003 - the Million Dollar Spectacular opening/consolation music was composed by him. Edd Kalehoff wrote the music for the 1994 syndicated version as well as, of course, the original package by Score Productions. He also made the 2007 arrangements of the Come on Down, Big Wheel, and theme music. The show started using additional music of his in 2007, but the majority of those cues (if not all of them) were already written and recycled from other projects (the Tony Danza show and the "WCBS Grand" news theme among others).