Bob Barker to ‘come on down’ to the unemployment office
I have been watching “The Price Is Right” this week, because I wanted to see Bob Barker’s last few shows before he retires on Friday, and it is making me inexplicably wistful. I haven’t seen more than about 10 episodes in the last 20 years, but I watched it every day when I was kid. Bob has been hosting the show for literally my entire life. And now he’s going to stop. How can that be?! I’ve never known a world in which Bob Barker was not hosting “The Price Is Right.” I don’t even know what that world will look like!
So I’ve been TiVoing it this week, watching it while I eat lunch, and it’s easy to see why millions of people watch it all the time. You can complain if you want about how it promotes materialism, but I don’t care: Seeing people win money and prizes is exciting. I’d even say it’s uplifting. When someone is awarded a car or a bedroom set or whatever, they are genuinely happy about it, and it’s hard not to feel some of that joy yourself, too. It’s an hour of feel-good programming, five days a week.
Yesterday a father of four won a minivan, something he probably actually needs. He was ecstatic. What’s not to love about a show that brings people happiness?
In fact, I even enjoy it when people lose. I’m sad for them, but I’m happy because I get to hear this sound effect. I could listen to that all day and be happy.
What’s amazing is that after 35 years, Bob is still an effortlessly charming, funny, and entertaining host. The sensation when those doors slide open and he takes the stage at the top of the show is electric: That audience LOVES him. They are nearly delirious with joy at being in his presence. I can’t say I blame them, either. Whoever takes his place when the new season begins in September will have some mighty big shoes to fill.
Bob’s final episode airs Friday on CBS at whatever the usual time is for “The Price Is Right” to be on. What, 9, 10 in the morning, something like that? If you can’t watch it then, CBS is re-airing it Friday night in prime time. Don’t miss your last chance to see Bob in action before he retires and eventually goes to that great tanning bed in the sky!
Feel free to share your own Bob Barker/”The Price Is Right” memories below. Have any of our readers here ever been on the show? Do tell!
(P.S. I wrote this column about the show a couple years ago. It’s as true now as it was 21 months ago….)
June 14th, 2007 at 10:38 am
I’ve always loved the mountain climber game, where the little man with a pic axe climbs the mountain a little more for each dollar you are off on a price. He sings the most obnoxiously wonderful yodelly song on his way up and if he doesn’t jump off the top of the mountain, you win!! During the summer when I was a kid I’d make my mom call me in from playing whenever that game was on. I was such a weird child.
June 14th, 2007 at 10:51 am
I have also always loved the yodeling game. And the song is not obnoxious at all. It is what the angels will be singing in heaven.
June 14th, 2007 at 11:11 am
I’m 40 and my husband is 27. There are very few things that we both did as children (what a difference a decade makes) but we both grew up watching The Price is Right with our Mom’s.
June 14th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Rosie sucks.
I too grew up watching the Price is Right. It is probably the best game show ever done and it will never be the same without Bob as host. They already tried it once in 1994 when they started The New Price is Right with Doug Davidson as host. It failed miserably.
June 14th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
When I was pregnant (and very emotional) I was watching one morning and cried with joy when a little old lady won both showcases. If I was ever on the show I would lose because I have no idea how much things cost.
June 14th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Yodel-ay-ee… I loved Plinko. Plinko was the coolest because you won money and not those “adult prizes.”
Was the Doug Davidson show also when they tried to do a prime time half-hour game? I remember it just wasn’t the same…
I have always wanted to go on The Price Is Right. Anyone want to go?
June 14th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
We got up early one morning, drove 4 hours, and tried to get on the show, but when we got there it turned out they were taping another show that day, so we went to Knots Berry Farm instead.
June 14th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
I went to see a taping of The Price is Right a few years back. Getting into the studio is a grueling journey that requires waking up at an ungodly hour and standing in line after line. By the time you get in, you have to go to the bathroom so bad you pray that Rod does not call your name for fear of peeing your pants on TV. Bob Barker, however, more than makes up for the inconvenience. The television screen does wonders for him. When you see him live you think he is going to crumble into dust each time a elderly woman tackles him on stage. He seems, however, to be a genuinely nice guy. During commercial breaks, he reminisces with the audience, and ask questions about where we all came from, how long we have been watching, etc. I remember there was a Korean woman who was asked to “come on down” and, before bidding, she told Bob about how her mother (who was also in the audience) loved the show despite not speaking English and recently moving to the US. After the show, Bob made it a point to meet the mother and give her an autographed photo. Truly a nice guy, and I do believe he sincerely wants us all to get our pets spade or neutered.
Bye bye Bob!
June 14th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Also, my Young Women leader won a car on the show. It was so fun to watch her.
June 14th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
I woke up at the god-awful early hour once to “come on down” to the taping of one of the shows. After waiting in line for 3 hours (we had our name tags and everything) they came out and told us that Bob wasn’t feeling well and they would tape the show another day. That day sucked. I ditched 3 classes to be there! Thanks for paying for my education mom and dad!
June 14th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
I went to the show once, and I didn’t get on, but the guy next to me in line did. I knew the exact price of the prize he was bidding on, but he didn’t turn around and look at me for guidance, the way so many contestants do, so he didn’t get it.
My daughter, Joy, went to the show four or five years ago with a group of people, and she went to the bathroom when they were going back to the cars and got left behind. Only one of the drivers had a cell phone, and Joy didn’t have one. It was scary and ugly and leaves bad feelings when I think about it, so I prefer to think of the olden days when my kids were little and Eric watched Price is Right every day with me. He called it “Pwi Pwite” before he could talk, and “Bobarker” was his first multi-syllable word. He loved Bobarker.
June 14th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
We went to a taping but didn’t get called on down. Bob was very gracious. And also completely orange.
The gal who won the day was called Creasy. Creasy! She deserved to win just for having to live with being called Creasy her whole life.
Also, they don’t allow kids to the taping, but they had the kid from “Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman” there that day and he came out on the stage and waved and then left. It was and is still the high point of my life.
June 14th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Man, I havent seen an episode of the Price is Right in years, yet just the mentioning of the “losing sound” brought those farting trumpets right to my ears! Wohoo!!
June 15th, 2007 at 6:53 am
I’m actually old enough to remember “The Price Is Right” BEFORE it was hosted by Bob Barker. In 1958, as I recall, the host was Bill Cullen.
June 15th, 2007 at 9:58 am
I was at a friend’s house when she told me that her mom had been on the Price is Right and had won some furniture. We watched the tape of her very excited Mama winning and jumping up and down. I asked if they had ever actually received the couches her Mama had won and she said, “Look at what you’re sitting on.”
My butt was parked on Bob Barker’s loveseat. It was awesome.
June 17th, 2007 at 12:55 am
The original Price is Right with Bill Cullen was a half hour show, similar only in title. http://userdata.acd.net/ottinger/Cullen/shows/price.html
The fact that I know that tells you something about me, I suppose.
I tried going twice to a taping of TPIR–first time, Bob Barker had taken sick on a trip to DC and somehow that made news, so we knew the taping was postponed.
Second time, my daughter and I went and had tickets etc,–the morning of the show, we slept through the alarm clock and it was after 9:00am before we woke up. Too late!!
I have loved the show for years but it seems like in the last few years, the contestants got stupider than normal and made some really lousy choices in bids etc.
June 19th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
If you have a large group going you can make a ‘reservation’ and then you don’t have to be there quite as early. I went with a large group of friends and one of the guys made it onstage and even won the final showcase! It was awesome, we all ran up on stage for the credits and jumped around and crammed in his car. It was a great day! I taped the episode, but no longer have a VCR. Someday I’ll figure out how to get it onto a CD or DVD or YouTube or something.