Today was a day that was on my television calendar for a long time. At 11AM ET, a new face was on my TV welcoming me to The Price Is Right. And when the big (and redesigned) doors opened up and a portly guy with glasses walked through them, a 35-year-old institution suddenly became something else. This was not Bob Barker’s Price Is Right, or even the show I watched since I was 5 years old that my mom swears taught me how to count, this was now (as announcer Rich Fields said) "DROOOOOOOOOO Carey’s Show."
Carey hosted the show today like a substitute teacher on a snow day. He rushed through the explanations of games so fast, it was like he expected the contestants to know what they had to do on their own In the old days, Bob Barker would ask the people playing the games, “Do you know how to play this game?,” and sometimes the answer would come back “No,” giving Barker the chance to explain the game to people at home. I was waiting for Carey to ask how games were played so he would know what to do. I understand that Carey was chosen to give the game a little quicker (and younger) feel, but he seemed like someone playing the home version at a party and wanting to get the game over with so he could grab another beer.
What was missing from Carey’s hosting was the total sense of control Barker had over the show and the contestants. Barker seemed to actually care about what state they were from (which Carey breezed though poorly time after time), but he also knew that there were games to be played and even lost. Carey kept asking people if they wanted to change their minds in order to win, like he felt since he had millions of dollars in the bank, why should he deny a 22-year old college girl a new car? I think if one of the contestants asked him, “What do you think I should do Drew?,” he might have played the games for them.
But they just don’t make game show hosts like they used to. The hosts of the 60s and 70s knew that they could make a career hosting games like The Price Is Right. Did you ever see Monty Hall try to be anything else but the host of Let’s Make A Deal? Did Wink Martindale parlay Tic Tac Dough into a sitcom deal? Today, Carey made me think that this was a stopgap in his career, that maybe he’ll do The Price Is Right for a couple of years, then he’ll move on, either because it wasn’t his thing, or (gasp) CBS cancels it.
I also didn’t like that there was no reference to his predecessor. When Johnny handed the Tonight Show desk to Jay, everyone made a big stink over how the new guy didn’t show respect to the one he replaced. Carey, unfortunately carried on that sad tradition. Even when they played a game called “Barker’s Bargain Bar” (to be fair, they could have changed the name to something else), he made a joke that the game was named after “Ezekiel Barker.” In fact, the only time there was even a hint of a tribute to the old show was when Drew Carey reminded me to spay and neuter my pets, and that line was delivered as a throwaway, like he had to cram it in before the end of the show, as opposed to an actual recommendation to the audience.
Now I know that I’m treating the re-launch of The Price Is Right like someone reviewing a remake of Citizen Kane, but I have been watching the show for nearly 80% of my life, so I feel like I’m an expert on how the show should be done. I understand it’s Carey’s 1st day on the job, but he’s going to have to really step it up if the show is going to survive into its 5th decade. I would hate to see the next Price is Right primetime special be a farewell, but its seems its all in the hands of Drew Carey, who has a long way to go.
