# Bob Barker retiring **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646 "2006-10-31T21:32:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/1 "2006-10-31T21:32:57Z")
[Link](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061031/ap_en_tv/tv_bob_barker_retires) It’s the end of an era. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/2 "2006-10-31T21:47:59Z")
Can I just say now that I want Jim J Bullock to be the new host? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/3 "2006-10-31T21:49:36Z")
Mr Barker says he doesn’t care who replaces him as long as they are spayed or neutered. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/4 "2006-10-31T21:51:24Z")
I am truly shocked he has lasted this long. I went to a taping of Price Is Right in the early 90’s, and between tapings Bob Barker was rambling aloud like a man who was two brain cells away from dementia…but I have to give him credit, when the cameras came back on, you couldn’t tell it was the same guy who was mumbling nonsense a few minutes earlier. And for a guy who is 83 planning his retirement in June - (a full 8 months from now!) - he certainly seems pretty confident about his health and well-being. Hell, I can’t plan what I am going to do for Thanksgiving. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/5 "2006-10-31T23:37:11Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > It’s the end of an era. An era that needed ending. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/6 "2006-10-31T23:42:55Z")
He’s not being, er, “put to sleep” is he? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/7 "2006-11-01T03:41:52Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] He’s not being, er, “put to sleep” is he? [/QUOTE] Nah, there’s a little old lady in Des Moines that runs a shelter for unwanted game show hosts. She has Wink Martindale, Monty Hall and Bob Eubanks there. She also stuffed Art Fleming and put him on the mantle. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/8 "2006-11-01T04:29:44Z")
I happened to catch an episode of The Price is Right a week or two ago, the first time in probably a decade I’d seen it. I was amazed at how frail and old Bob looked; I wondered how long he’d be able to keep going. I’m sorry to see him go, even though I couldn’t care less about whether some stranger knows how much a tin of Turtle Wax costs. He’s been doing the show since I was 10 months old; hard to believe one of the mainstays of TV is hanging it up. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/9 "2006-11-01T04:48:41Z")
To me, Price is Right is over. When my dad and I completely couldn’t communicate and seemed to have no common ground between us, we still sat and watched the Price is Right together and cheered the games. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/10 "2006-11-01T05:18:11Z")
It’s great for him to go out on the top of his game, having whupped Adam Sandler good. Lots of people keep hanging on, until some punk takes them out. As it stands, one of his finest moment will be that “Bitch!” he tossed over his shoulder at Sandler as he stalks away. That’s the way to finish up a fine career. I just hope he doesn’t get tempted by the money and offers to make a come-back and take on someone like Jason Alexander. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/11 "2006-11-01T05:40:35Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] Mr Barker says he doesn’t care who replaces him as long as they are spayed or neutered. [/QUOTE] So Bullock it is, then. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/12 "2006-11-01T05:53:37Z")
On his final broadcast, he will personally enter the Showcase Showdown. If he wins, he is allowed to live. ---
**Author:** ![Foldup\_Rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Foldup\_Rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foldup_Rabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/13 "2006-11-01T05:55:46Z")
Baby Foldup Rabbit’s first full sentence: “Come on down!” I am quite heartbroken. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/14 "2006-11-01T07:10:27Z")
Erg, I feel weirder than I thought I would about this. I mean, it’s inevitable, it had to happen, and hell, I never watch it - but it’s always been on the TV in the background of my life. As a tiny toddler, it would be on while I was playing and my mother was doing housework, or at my grandmother’s house when it was raining and nothing else was on… cripes, even while baking Christmas cookies, if I had the radio on, my mother or brother would have the TV going in the other room, and the familiar noises of the theme music or bells dinging and people screaming, or that familiar “you lose” music would be playing… it’s what went on while I was living my life. I… just… kind of always thought it would be in the background of my children’s lives, too, for some silly reason. Even if I conceived _right now_, they’d still miss it. Heh. Ah, well. Something else will take its place, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/15 "2006-11-01T13:14:47Z")
I’m not too surprised. I caught a couple episodes recently and he’s really starting to show his age. I remember one woman came up and hugged him with enough force that he had to sit down for a while before he could go on. It’s still sad to see him go though. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/16 "2006-11-01T13:26:25Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] To me, Price is Right is over. When my dad and I completely couldn’t communicate and seemed to have no common ground between us, we still sat and watched the Price is Right together and cheered the games. [/QUOTE] I feel the same. I used to watch it with my great-grandmother… Hold me. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/17 "2006-11-01T14:08:37Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] I feel the same. I used to watch it with my great-grandmother… Hold me. ☹ [/QUOTE] {{Dung Beetle}} Better now? Who in the world could ever take his place? Bob Barker _is_ The Price Is Right. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/18 "2006-11-01T14:32:23Z")
Well, that ruins my theory. I thought that Bob Barker had been replaced with a robot decades ago. I guess he was human all this time. Seriously, I’m sad to see him go. I had a friend sit in the audience and actually got called to “come on down!”. She still talks about it. I used to watch “The Price is Right” every morning while I was getting ready for classes in college. Like **Honey** said, I can’t imagine who could fill his shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/19 "2006-11-01T14:45:06Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] I feel the same. I used to watch it with my great-grandmother… Hold me. ☹ [/QUOTE] _hugs Dung Beetle and Honey_ ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646/20 "2006-11-01T16:00:34Z")
Is CBS planning to continue the show without him? Is there a shortlist of possible replacements? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-barker-retiring/378646.md?page=2)