The results are in, and the new host of The Price is Right is...
Drew Carey.
Read that again. Drew Carey of Whose Line and his own lame sitcom is now the host of the Price is Right. Drew Carey, who hosts another game show on CBS, is now the host of the Price is Right.
That I find tragic about all of this is that the Price is Right is an American institution. Bob Barker was the host of the Price Is Right for 35 years, which means he took the gig about 1972. Bob Barker was a source of stability through the end of Vietnam, Watergate, disco, the end of the Cold War, and the Clinton era. America could depend on Barker to hock low-end Chevrolets, Johnson and Johnson prodicts, and cheap shoes in the name of competition, all of which showed that the American economy and American spirit were alive and well. Drew Carey can not bring that type of stability to the airwaves.
Bob Barker was American daytime television. Bob Barker was the game show. Forget Wink Martindale or Bob Eubanks or Bill Cullen, Bob Barker was the embodiment of this sort of television. Adam Sandler knew this and that is why Barker's appearance in Happy Gilmore works so well with our generation. We see Bob in a different light and it is shocking. Drew Carey is just another comic, who will seek movie roles and other hosting opportunities. He is bigger than the role and, therefore, will diminish its importance.
Rumor had it that Rosie O'Donnell had wanted the Price is Right job. Had she got it, you would see a similar post to this one but more angry and anti-CBS. CBS needed a nobody to host this show because the show is bigger than the person. Drew Carey is about two steps from the Surreal Life, but he is a somebody. And that's just wrong.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
A Travesty of an Epic Nature
2 comments:
Who are you to doubt Wink Martindale?!?
On another note, the last time a relatively unknown celebrity took over the reigns of an established game show, Ray Combs ended up hanging himself in a closet.
Bob Barker is going to be hard to replace regardless of who does it. I see what you mean by going with an unknown quantity and the advantage of not having any preconceived expectations about the new host of TPiR, but really, it's gonna be a toss up for anyone. Viewers might take to Carey or they might not, and Barker himself says Carey should do his own thing as host, not try to imitate Barker or anyone else.
Rumor had it that the TPiR job was offered to ESPN personality Dan Patrick, which would have been interesting to say the least.
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