Tuesday, December 20, 2005

CC investigates "The Price is Right"

As TheCSO and I were getting dressed this morning, I flipped on the TV to check on the NY Transit strike and ended up watching "The Price is Right." I'd watched it all the time with the ChaliceGrandmother as a kid and it was weird to see it again.

Bob Barker had brown hair when I watched.

The odd thing was, they never seemed to do a closeup of any of "Barker's Beauties" (Does he still call them that? He did in 1987.)

At first I wondered if it was because they were the same girls. Like Vanna White, perhaps Diane and Holly had been allowed to age with the show.

I checked the Price as Right website, which, oddly enough, exists.

Doesn't look like they've kept the same girls. Well, that sucks.

The did have an FAQ where people from all over America write in to say:

I saw the show today and was wanting to know where I could purchase the 5 piece dinette I saw. I believe it was called cosmopolitan 5 piece dinette set but I am not for sure. It had a stainless bottom and 5 different colored chairs. Any information would be appreciated.

And answers are provided.

Weird.

CC

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used to see this program all the time too, because my Grandmother watched it. I wonder if the reason that "Barker's Beauties" have been toned down is the big sexual harrassment lawsuit he was slapped with by Diane in the mid-1990s (don't remember how it ended but Barker did admit to sleeping with her).

The Price is Right is something of a cult hit among the current college crowd. I think it's sort of a consciously ironic thing--hey man, this show is so dumb and retro that it's cool!--plus, undergrads are often at home in front of the television in the morning rather than at work (or at class, especially when trying to get over a previous night bender).

I asked my 90-something-year-old grandmother why she watched the show a few years ago. From her reply it seemed that for her The Price is Right was a way for her to keep up with the prices of products and plugged into the world of choice and consumption now that she was way too old and frail/blind/etc to go out and do her own shopping. After eight decades or so when shopping for herself and the family had been a major regular activity and part of her role in life, The Price is Right provided a way to "keep in the game," so to speak.

Chalicechick said...

Diane sued Bob Barker? Wow. I totally missed that.

You're right, Psyton. Bringing back soul train would rock.

CC