Jan 11 2008 'Price is Right' Coming to DVD. What?

The perfect gift for your terminally ill friend or family member. Nothing says "You're so permanently sick that you need an equally permanent way to watch a show people only watch when home sick" like a collection of 26 Price is Right episodes. And what better way to painfully exit the world than guessing the price of flatware and an RV?

While the show has always served its purpose of providing modest company that breaks up the life insurance ads between 11 and noon, I can't imagine anyone actually going out of their way to watch such predicable, anodyne entertainment. I can say in all honesty that I've never once thought, "God, I could really go for that episode of The Price is Right from January 13, 1987 right now. Just one of those moods." Have you?

The Price is Right - Here It Comes [TV Shows on DVD]

Nov 2 2007 WGA Strike - One Writer's Perspective

As many of you already know, a Writers Guild strike is looming, and could very well begin on Monday unless a deal is reached over the weekend. You can find out more of the details here, but for a unique perspective on the situation, I've turned to veteran Price is Right writer and guild member Herman Bosse for the inside scoop:

Many of you may be surprised that there are writers on PiR. To you I say, pull your head out. You think Bob Barker came up with Plinko? Please. That guy was so busy chasing skirt, we could barely keep him on the stage. That excessively-long microphone was just a tether to keep him from running at some busty college broad in the audience.

Is this strike going to effect PiR? You'd better believe it is.

For one thing, say goodbye to any new and exciting pricing games. I hope you don't mind seeing Check Game, Lucky $even, and the rest of the 75 current games every day for the next six months, because that's all you're getting.

It's a shame, too, because I had this idea for a new one, where you guess the price of various smaller items to win a larger, more valuable item, that was gonna make Cliffhangers look like a piece of shit hanging off Drew Carey's fat ass.

Did you happen to see last week, when the typically mundane Showcase Showdown was gloriously enlivened by the surprise arrival of E.L.T.--the Extra Large Terrestrial? That was me. Needless to say, the audience was so in-stitches over this hilarious parody of the Steven Spielberg classic that they could barely shout their bid suggestions. Well, unless we can work something out by Monday, you can kiss that shit goodbye.

And good luck bringing some hotshot young assholes in here to make pricing games. As if these kids today know the value of a dollar. Hey, that's a pretty good name for a game: Value of a Dollar. I'd better get to work on that, just in case I have to go to work on Monday.

I think that was helpful. Right?

Oct 11 2007 Drew Carey is Hilarious as Host of 'Price is Right'

Contuining today's extensive game show coverage, CBS has a clip from the new Price is Right with Drew Carey, complete with a new, thickly-bespectacled logo to remind us that Carey still has the look of a '50s G.I.

If you were worried about the comedian's hosting abilities, his saying, "You gotta get your Plinko before you can go to the bathroom-o," should relieve your fears.

Oct 1 2007 New Price is Right Set Confusing, Ironic

When it was announced that Drew Carey would be taking hold of the reigns of The Price is Right, I worried they might try updating the set of the show to mimic the stark, poorly-lit future world of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Deal or No Deal, and basically every other idiotic game show to come out in the last ten years. (Honestly, does a show called Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader need to look like it's an Orwellian dystopia?)

So, here's the bad news: they did remodel the set.

But here's the strange news: they've remodeled it to somehow look more campy than it originally did.

Yes, as the above slideshow demonstrates, the environment that made the set of Match Game '76 look like a concept showroom has been renovated with a new, barely-noticeable change in logo and scenery. The outdated '60s and '70s-style patterns have been replaced with new '60 and '70s-style inspired patterns for reasons that are still unclear.

But where before the kitschy look rang of nostalgia and heritage, it has now become a desperate wink at the audience that says, "Hey, look how goofy we kept them! We get it!" Whatever executive OK'ed this decision was likely wearing a trucker hat and Members Only jacket and, between swigs of Pabst Blue Ribbon, had just finished explaining how he ironically likes Journey.

Thank Oscar for his telling slideshow of this tragedy.

Jul 24 2007 Drew Carey to Host Price is Right

Last night on The Late Show, Drew Carey announced he will be the new host of The Price is Right, taking over for Bob Barker. Now, I think they could have found a much better or much worse replacement for the recently retired host, but my main issue is just that they're continuing the show at all. I mean, really, what's the point? It's not like PiR is actually some great, revolutionary game show idea. Watching the hour-long show, like a visit to a dying grandpa, was done out of a sense of duty, nostalgia, and mild amusement with the outdated decor. You can't get rid of grandpa and expect me to keep visiting his house, even if he's been replaced with a younger, slightly funnier grandpa with thick glasses.

Question of the day: Will anyone be willing to run up and kiss Drew Carey?*

*including family members.