The Price Is Right Tribute Special
By bohus
The Price Is Right is a long-lived American game show. I say this for our overseas friends, since there is no American alive who doesn't know about The Price Is Right. The show has been on every morning for more than 35 years with eternal charmer Bob Barker. Instead of one central game, TPIR is a collection of dozens of mini games that involve guessing the prices of anything from a pack of gum to his & hers Lincoln Continentals.
You can attribute the longevity of the show to a number of factors. Since the games are based around the prices of groceries and other consumer products, the TV audience can play along at home.
Another indisputable draw is host Bob Barker. For more than 5000 episodes of TPIR, he has been able to share his old-time broadcaster affability with three generations of viewers. It's not just oldsters with nostalgia in their hearts still interested the show - college kids go positively ballistic when they're chosen to go up on stage to guess the price of denture cleanser.
Barker is retiring this June after 50 continuous years on television (he hosted other game shows such as the madcap Truth or Consequences). Thursday night CBS is broadcasting a retrospective of Barker's work, and of course you can still catch the octogenarian host every morning for another month. There's also a link below to watch some videos on CBS' website (there are also plenty of great moments on YouTube).
Barker's tenure on the tube has garnered a number of records. TPIR is the longest running TV game show, among the longest running daily programs (it's been the only daytime game show on TV in the last 15 years), and Barker has been on television continuously for fifty years. I don't think that the phoney-baloney saccharine sincerity of some other hosts and other exasperatingly moronic gameshows (Deal Or No Deal, I'm looking at you...) are in any danger of threatening Bob Barker's amazing record.
Game shows have come and gone, and TPIR has weathered all the trends. The set has seen little change since 1972, many of the games are still around and have become bona fide classics, and Bob Barker's consistent warmth has served to make him king of game show hosts.
Read our article about Bob's signature microphone
