A year or so ago, The Price is Right did a special episode where they filled the audience (and therefore, Contestants' Row) with devout fans who knew the show backward, forwards and sideways. In connection with that, a little documentary was produced about how the show is done.
To the horror of certain people I know, I prefer Drew Carey as host of the show over Bob Barker, especially Mr. Barker's last decade or so when the show was mainly about how much the audience adored him as opposed to the games being played. I don't watch it every day or even every week but I sometimes like to tune it in, just for the comfort of knowing it's there and that so many people are having such a good time because of it.
It's now being done at a studio out in Glendale after years of emanating from Studio 33 at CBS Television City — the same studio where I once saw Red Skelton do his show, the same studio where Carol Burnett (and others) did their shows for years…the same studio where I worked a few times. It was an amazing production in that studio which was not built for a series that had to roll out a new car or a boat every ten minutes. A couple of times, I got to see the show from backstage, watching as the stagehands did the impossible over and over, getting every prize and every game board into its marks precisely on cue.
Really, really impressive…and I loved the sense of history about it all. Alas, CBS Television City (a facility devoted to television production) is turning into Television City (a real estate development which, at least for its first few years will have some television production on its premises). It won't be…it can't be the same. But The Price is Right will go on…and on…and on. There's something I like about that.