Drew Carey...Come on down! You're the next host of The Price is Right!

Cafe Society
21

I don’t hate plinko because nobody’s won it (winning meaning getting all 5 chips into the $10,000 slot). I hate it because it’s a BORING, OVERPLAYED game. If they played it once a week, it would be great. If they played it for something other than cash, it might be less boring. I never got how dropping chips down a pegboard became the most popular game on that show.

Personally, I found Golden Road to be my favorite game, #1 because it takes up the entire stage and requires a different opening to the show (which is why it’s always played first) and #2 they give away CRAZY prizes on that game, which they make the contestants work for. Other games I really enjoyed were Pathfinder, Punch-A-Bunch, Bonkers, The Race Game, and 10 Chances (look it up on youtube, this game has more hilarious moments than any game in history).

Plinko isn’t my least favorite game, however. As most dopers know, Three Strikes is the cheapest game they have, because the ENTIRE chances of winning or losing are based on luck. It doesn’t matter if you know all 5 digits to the car, or if you don’t know any, cuz the only way to win is to pull all of the digits and put them in place before you pull the third X. You can take 50 guesses before pulling the last X if you are lucky, or pull all 3 X’s in a row. Secret X has a similar problem, although that game at least gives you a chance to increase your odds. And I seriously doubt anybody has ever gone to the TPIR hoping to play Double Prices, nor has any viewer ever thought “boy, I hope they play double prices today! It’s so exciting…will they pick the right or wrong price?”

22

I like the one with yodeling.

23

“Welcome to The Price is Right, where the product descriptions are made up and the life stories of the contestants don’t matter. Yes, just like a Barker’s Beauty Lawsuit…”

24

Plinko used to be quite rare, with the show going for weeks without it. At least that’s what I remember.
3 Strikes is no longer played with three strike discs, only one that is returned to the bag if drawn. The odds are much better, but not great. The car, according Wikipedia, is a high-end car costing more than $30,000, so with higher risk comes greater reward.

25

On-topic Family Guy clip.

26

I was in the audience of Price Is Right about 15 years ago and Bob Barker was babbling incoherently during commercials as if he had the onset of Alzheimers. I am being totally serious! I am shocked he lasted this long.

I think Drew Carey could do a great job and breathe some life into the show, although I do admit there will be some heavy homophobia going on. Look for even more contestants to be young, white, blonde and with huge tits. Think “Girls Gone Wild” with Plinko chips and bids like “$9,000” for a new Corvette.

27

The Mountain Climber Game! My favorite! They don’t do that one enough to suit me. Didn’t they have a problem with the sound on that game once and the contestant took the mike and did the yodeling?

I agree, Plinko is boring.

28

One of the interesting things about the Price is right is that it’s essentially just a bunch of carnival games.
Mechanical, largely, too. I’d think any new game they add really should follow the tradition, and be something where the essential guts of the game are entirely visible. No electronics except to add glitz.

29

Uh… what time is it on, again? I need to set my TiVo.

30

Craig Ferguson said last night that the girls were going to be renamed “Carey’s Cuties” and that they’d all be ex-strippers.

I think Ferguson was kidding about the strippers, but you never know. Ferguson and Carey are friends, of course, from “The Drew Carey Show.”

31

TV is changing; many people don’t watch primetime, or specifically, primetime network anymore. Early mornings and daytime are big areas for growth. Ever notice morning news programs are starting earlier & earlier?

People DO watch the Price is Right. There is a LOT of money there, and outstanding ratings.

It’s one of the reasons CBS affiliates do so well with noon newscasts (it’s the best rated at my station; I bet we could fly bars and still make a profit…)

32

Will the contestants have to make their opening bids in the form of a
hoedown?

33

“We will bring you the limp and beaten body of Drew Carey!”

Hmm… it lacks something.

34

Yeah, I forgot to mention Cliffhangers! Besides the goofy nature of the game, it’s also pretty suspenseful, since the cost of the prize items isn’t revealed immediately, and not until the mountain climber stops…I’ve seen so many times when he’s stopped at 24 out of the 25 spaces.

Essentially the problem with three strikes is that whether or not they reuse the X, if the contestant has any shot of winning, the greatest odds that they can get are 50:50. If they start by pulling the first two X’s, and then get 4 of the numbers in place, then all that’s left in the bag is the 5th number and the third X. Assuming both chips are identical in size and feel (and it’d be really stupid if they weren’t), the game essentially comes down to a 50:50 chance of pulling the 5th number. Likewise, if the contestant places the first 4 numbers, and all that is left are the 5th number and the 3 X’s, then the contestant will have a 25% chance of pulling the 5th number, and then a 33% chance if he pulls the first X, and then finally 50% that he’ll win the car. The factor that a contestant may have no idea where the first 4 numbers go and have to pull a number 5 (or more, if the contestant is either nervous or not paying attention, and guesses a number for the same slot twice) times really is insignificant, since we all know that every random drawing has its own set of odds, which do not accumulate from round to round. Anyway, my point is that 3 Strikes is the only car game where winning or losing is based more on luck than skill. If you know the price of the car in Lucky 7 or El Cheapo, you will win it…

another game I forgot to mention that I hate for its luck aspect is a newer game, where there are 16 boxes, one of which contains cash. By guessing the price of smaller boxes, you can eliminate 8 of the boxes, and then 4 more of them, and then 2 more, leaving you with two to pick from. You open one box, and then get a 50:50 chance of winning the cash. I’ve seen so many contestants play the game perfectly, and then walk away with nothing more than a coffee maker and a DVD of Disney’s classic Dumbo.

I wasn’t going to mention it cuz I was already getting mentioned for my dislike of Plinko, but this might be a good time to get rid of the wheel, and introduce a new method of narrowing down contestants. The wheel IS fun to watch, but twice a day, every day, really is overkill, and it essentially IS a luck game, since most contestants have no idea how to aim the wheel (and I think many people who do get the dollar on two spins get lucky and then ACT like they have skillz). Didn’t the primetime version of TPIR have multiple games to narrow the contestants, the wheel just being one of them?

35

Yes, it’s called Powers of Ten. But since it’s on CBS, I guess he’s able to host two shows at one.

36

That’s been done already. The audience was not happy.

37

Try radio.

Bob Barker: hosted a talk show on KNX in LA.
Wink Martindale: DJ on WPLI in Jackson, MS.
Bill Cullen: hosted radio programs, presumably on WCBS.

38

Did anybody ever win that game, especially with the original rules? The link doesn’t say, except for a couple people who sort-of cheated to win.

39

About the only one I can think of is Tom Bergeron.

40

Then shouldn’t the host be a chain-smoking, illiterate sex offender with missing teeth?