The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: SuperMatch93 on June 20, 2019, 06:09:46 PM
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Roger Dobkowitz posted this on Facebook today:
The word that I have just heard from a backstage source is that Mike Richards is leaving the Price Is Right.
https://www.facebook.com/538567054/posts/10156546270132055/ (https://www.facebook.com/538567054/posts/10156546270132055/)
Certainly an interesting development if true.
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How many have suggested, "maybe they'll rehire you, oh great and powerful Dobs and you will bring the spirit of Grand Poobah Barker with you and MAKE TPiR GREAT AGAIN"?
EDIT: Took a look at the post itself and that's EXACTLY what most of them are doing...genuinely pathetic on multiple levels...
Perhaps if they rehire ole Rog, they can add a reflecting pool to the set so The Dobs can walk on water...seems that is among his many talents according to his many "fans"...
JakeT
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Randy West posted the same thing with more detail minutes later. If it's true, according to the source that told Randy, Mike will be taking a position at Sony to help them bring more game shows to air.
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Randy West posted the same thing with more detail minutes later. If it's true, according to the source that told Randy, Mike will be taking a position at Sony to help them bring more game shows to air.
So, without question, this is a step-up for Richards, which certainly won't please the uberLFATs...
JakeT
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Randy West posted the same thing with more detail minutes later. If it's true, according to the source that told Randy, Mike will be taking a position at Sony to help them bring more game shows to air.
Is it asking too much to hope for a daytime version of Pyramid on ABC?
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Randy West posted the same thing with more detail minutes later. If it's true, according to the source that told Randy, Mike will be taking a position at Sony to help them bring more game shows to air.
So, without question, this is a step-up for Richards, which certainly won't please the uberLFATs...
JakeT
Lol it hasn't from what i've seen
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I think we'd all like to see Roger return, but CBS would NEVER let that happen. CBS likes Drew, they implemented some of the changes we've seen in the last 12 years, it wasn't all Mike. As long as Drew is there, I don't think the show would change much if at all under someone else, but there's always speculation of whether Drew would want to continue the show with someone else as EP.
TPIR has had a few EP changes in the Barker era, and while us die hard fans could pick apart the changes done with the EPs, anyone else would hardly notice.
I am gonna go out on a limb and saw that Drew will NOT become the new EP. I don't think he would want that title officially, even though he already has a lot of say about how to conduct the show. If anything, someone already there will be promoted, and it'll be business as usual.
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I think we'd all like to see Roger return
Nah.
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Chris, it's okay if you disagree, I know there are some on here that may not like what Roger has done with the show, but I wish you would elaborate on WHY you wouldn't want Roger back. (Not that I am saying that's even an option... it would be no more probable than Bob returning to host.)
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Matt : not everything needs to be explained to within an inch of its life.
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On a side note, Roger turns 74 next month.
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Chris, it's okay if you disagree, I know there are some on here that may not like what Roger has done with the show, but I wish you would elaborate on WHY you wouldn't want Roger back. (Not that I am saying that's even an option... it would be no more probable than Bob returning to host.)
Nobody said they hate what he did. Would you go back to a job that fired you, regardless of how justified or unjustified it was? Having personally gone through such a situation, I’ll say it’s not fun, and I would have zero desire to return, at least not without a hefty raise.
The folks who constantly gripe on Roger’s page refuse to understand that times have changed. It’s not 1992, and Drew himself said he wanted to get away from the old way of doing things and not be Barker 2.0. The same fans fail to see that the last several years of Bob’s era were dry and monotonous.
You don’t have to like the current era, but you also don’t have to watch. And from what I’ve seen on Roger’s Facebook, it’s a whole lotta people claiming to hate the show now, yet know exactly what happened on this week’s episodes.
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Mike Richards is also the EP of LMAD. Is he leaving that show as well?
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If anything, someone already there will be promoted, and it'll be business as usual.
This
Nobody said they hate what he did. Would you go back to a job that fired you, regardless of how justified or unjustified it was? Having personally gone through such a situation, I’ll say it’s not fun, and I would have zero desire to return, at least not without a hefty raise.
Even if they made him an offer, I strongly believe he would want full control which I would doubt Fremantle would give him.
I would suspect that if he did return, one of the first things he would do get rid of the themed shows
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I think we'd all like to see Roger return <SNIP>
"All" is a rather overwhelming term...and not even remotely accurate...
Roger Dobkowitz is the Norma Desmond of the game show production world and his fanbois are collectively his faithful Max...
Why it is so hard for some to give up the ghost?
JakeT
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I think we'd all like to see Roger return <SNIP>
Why it is so hard for some to give up the ghost?
I think part of the problem is people who are unable to differentiate between changes they'd like to see vs. Roger returning.
I personally think the good majority of theme shows are stupid. That can change without Roger being re-hired; the chance of that happening is about as good as Kliest and co. being re-admitted to this board.
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Call me a big kid, but I can enjoy theme shows on a superficial level. The festive set changes to mark Christmas were always welcome with me, so Summer Beach Party or whatever aesthetic theme they want to do is six-of-one for me.
But I'm not sure what you get out of having contestant teams. There's not enough time to allow their personalities to shine if they're say, married couples, and I don't think watching two people discuss what numbers they want to pick in Money Game is worth it either. But I honestly haven't watched enough of those type of theme shows to have a definitive opinion: what does the group think? For those that have watched them, do they get some extra mileage out of having more than one person play at each podium?
-Jason
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But I'm not sure what you get out of having contestant teams. There's not enough time to allow their personalities to shine if they're say, married couples, and I don't think watching two people discuss what numbers they want to pick in Money Game is worth it either. But I honestly haven't watched enough of those type of theme shows to have a definitive opinion: what does the group think? For those that have watched them, do they get some extra mileage out of having more than one person play at each podium?
Honestly, there's extra contestants, and that's pretty much it. It doesn't add much of anything, but it hasn't really hurt, either.
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Chris, it's okay if you disagree, I know there are some on here that may not like what Roger has done with the show, but I wish you would elaborate on WHY you wouldn't want Roger back. (Not that I am saying that's even an option... it would be no more probable than Bob returning to host.)
Nobody said they hate what he did. Would you go back to a job that fired you, regardless of how justified or unjustified it was? Having personally gone through such a situation, I’ll say it’s not fun, and I would have zero desire to return, at least not without a hefty raise.
The folks who constantly gripe on Roger’s page refuse to understand that times have changed. It’s not 1992, and Drew himself said he wanted to get away from the old way of doing things and not be Barker 2.0. The same fans fail to see that the last several years of Bob’s era were dry and monotonous.
You don’t have to like the current era, but you also don’t have to watch. And from what I’ve seen on Roger’s Facebook, it’s a whole lotta people claiming to hate the show now, yet know exactly what happened on this week’s episodes.
I will say this, when I see "new" TPIRs posted from while Johnny Olson was there, I am much more excited than those posted from after Johnny died. For me TPIR was in its prime in the Johnny Olson years. Rod brought a lot to the show, but his on screen involvement would decrease somewhere around season 26, then season 31, he wasn't on camera at all, with one exception of the start of season 32, his last on camera appearance. Despite some behind the scenes drama that happened in the last almost 10 years of the show, I found reason to enjoy it. I think increased time constraints restricted Bob from doing what he did best, and I think that was harder for him to do a quality show. As much as I respected Rod, I did think Rich Fields brought a new energy that Rod just didn't have towards the end. (I'm talking about before he became ill) I consider myself as Bob would describe a "loyal friend and true", but I do find it harder to enjoy the current run of the show. The only time I would watch is for April Fools or Halloween, because I always thought they did those shows right, and are fun.
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But I'm not sure what you get out of having contestant teams. There's not enough time to allow their personalities to shine if they're say, married couples, and I don't think watching two people discuss what numbers they want to pick in Money Game is worth it either. But I honestly haven't watched enough of those type of theme shows to have a definitive opinion: what does the group think? For those that have watched them, do they get some extra mileage out of having more than one person play at each podium?
Honestly, there's extra contestants, and that's pretty much it. It doesn't add much of anything, but it hasn't really hurt, either.
From the perspective of Stan, I can imagine it would be more difficult to select pairs of contestants, because one person in the pair may not be the most ideal while the other would be a good fit, but he can't split them up! In other words, both players have to fit the mold, or neither get on the show.
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Do you not grasp the irony of, in spite of your glowing words about Roger, that the period that you consider TPiR's prime aka "the Johnny Olson years" was pretty much BEFORE Roger was promoted to producer?
JakeT
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I will admit I wasn't a Mike Richards fan. When I first heard most of what he planned for TPIR, I thought he was nuts. But a dozen years later, his track record is pretty good. He brought a couple of things to TPIR that it sorely needed - a shot of adrenaline and an update to the 21st century.
The last few years with Bob, the show was on automatic pilot. Occasionally there was a new game but other than that, meh. But with the arrival of Drew, some changes came to be. The set was updated. Some of the games were updated. When I first saw the new Clock Game, I said "Whoa!" That was proof to me that they can do things right. The theme weeks have become annual events. Modern technology now allows them to show trips on giant screens. They no longer have to make huge signs that take up a lot a space and made the show look dated. The contestant displays show bids in different fonts and on different backgrounds. They hired a couple of male models. While doing all this, they also managed to introduce new games. I like Rat Race and Pay The Rent.
Apparently, all this impressed Sony enough to offer Richards a job. Most of what he did has made TPIR a better show. No, I don't see Roger coming back, no matter how much the LFATs on Facebook stroke his ego. As for Drew, I have mixed feelings about him. He's come a long way from his first couple of seasons, but he's still fumbling the rules to some games. But bottom line, management is happy, so he's not going anywhere. I realize that as a viewer, I can tune in to watch or not.
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When I first saw this I thought "YouTube Bloggers?" but I figured if it had any credence, it would've had to almost certainly have been a voluntary departure. A decade-ish of the same job is a really long time, and Richards is still probably young enough (and likely wealthy enough) to do whatever he wanted if he decided to do something else.
As for the product he leaves behind, TBH, after a couple of years of "rebellion" it seems to have settled on what it wants to be, which is just The Way Things Were But Slightly Different. Event weeks are novel, but not disruptive, and everything else I see is pretty bog standard for TPIR, at least as much standard as you can fit into 38 minutes.
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Jake, that may be true, but my reasons for not getting the same enjoyment have nothing to do with Roger.
Johnny Olson was an immense talent on and off camera. Rod Roddy had some great moments on camera too, but then as the show progressed, he was on camera less and less. I saw noticeable changes in Bob's demeanor after the 25th year, he got testier with slower contestants, and that wasn't fun to watch. Yes, he does seem to "phone it in" on some shows, but as I said before, I found reasons to still enjoy watching the show, although maybe I wasn't watching as frequently. Bob also seemed to want to get the show over with on his last show, as I am sure I talked about before. He sharply refused hugs, kisses, handshakes, which seemed to shock some of the audience, although with great reluctance, when a lady pleaded with Bob to kiss him because she was recently a contestant and forgot, Bob slowly came down the steps to the audience and walked to her and let her kiss him.
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I honestly don't mind most of the theme shows. The contestant pairs don't really do much for me. I probably need my eyes checked, but the biggest change I'd make at this point would be to tone down the set.
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PA decade-ish of the same job is a really long time, and Richards is still probably young enough (and likely wealthy enough) to do whatever he wanted if he decided to do something else.
I recall that his ride of choice is a Maserati. I think he will be fine in the interim.
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Jake, that may be true, but my reasons for not getting the same enjoyment have nothing to do with Roger.
Then I am somehow missing your point of suggesting that "we'd all like to see Roger return" and your interest in questioning the motives of those who didn't agree with that statement...
JakeT
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Jake, I guess it was my assumption that, while it would be unrealistic for Roger to come back to produce the show, I thought that everyone thought that it would still be nice if he would come back. When Chris replied with a simple "nah", that kind of threw me off. So, obviously, to paraphrase the adage, "I should never assume, because I made an ass of everyone, and me."
There are some that wouldn't want Roger back, and that's okay. Either they're going to promote someone that's already there, then everything would remain pretty much the same, or maybe they'll get someone else, and we might see some changes, or it wouldn't matter who they get, and everything stays the same.
What if someone posted something on here, and I replied with "I disagree" or "WRONG" and nothing more. Wouldn't you want to know why I disagree?
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What if someone posted something on here, and I replied with "I disagree" or "WRONG" and nothing more. Wouldn't you want to know why I disagree?
In your case, honestly? No.
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I regret even entering the conversation, but I think you need someone who will treat the show with a combo of reverence and fresh eyes. Mike did that, and it eventually worked out; I question whether a new RD era would be as open to trying to keep the show relevant to younger audiences.
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I don't think it would. He's made it perfectly clear he doesn't agree with many of the changes made- even the ones that clearly work or are similar (and even better) than what he did.
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What if someone posted something on here, and I replied with "I disagree" or "WRONG" and nothing more. Wouldn't you want to know why I disagree?
In your case, honestly? No.
Meeeooowwww...
JakeT
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I'll ignore Mimsy for the moment... :-)
Now Roger has posted that someone else "key to TPIR" is also going to leave the show, as well as other staffers. Let the speculations on that begin. I'm thinking Stan Blits.
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Unless I’m missing someone, there’s only 4 long time Price staffers left.
Adam Sandler - Since 1995
Sue MacIntyre - Since 1991
Gina Nyman - Mid 80’s?
Stan Blits - Since 1980
I’m thinking Stan myself.
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In reality, until something more has been announced, how is anything Roger Dobkowitz says anything more than speculation either? Last time I checked, he no longer produces the show and I have great doubts that he's among the current regime's inner circle...
JakeT
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Word spreads quickly around TVC.
He could still be friendly with people on the show directly.
Or he could be friends with someone who works at the facility and heard it through them.
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Word spreads quickly around TVC.
He could still be friendly with people on the show directly.
Or he could be friends with someone who works at the facility and heard it through them.
And that contradicts what I just said how exactly?
Perhaps further clarification of my statement is necessary: ROGER DOBKOWITZ IS NO LONGER AN AUTHORITY IN ANY WAY OF THE GOINGS-ON RELATED TO "THE PRICE IS RIGHT"...
Anything he states is purely gossip/grapevine chatter...
Is that better?
JakeT
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I would be very surprised if Roger wasn't close to most if not all of those few remaining "key personnel". If any of them left, he'd be the first to know.
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It’s official...
https://www.google.com/amp/s/variety.com/2019/tv/news/price-is-right-lets-make-a-deal-mike-richards-1203253682/amp/
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Unless I’m missing someone, there’s only 4 long time Price staffers left.
Adam Sandler - Since 1995
Sue MacIntyre - Since 1991
Gina Nyman - Mid 80’s?
Stan Blits - Since 1980
Down to 3...
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Anything he states is purely gossip/grapevine chatter...
Even though this is now official, I'll just chime in to say that while he is no longer there, he does have friends left and he didn't burn bridges on the way out given the way he was shown the door. While I did initially take the rumor with a grain of salt, he's not some nobody when it comes to the Price is Right. I'm going to be more inclined to believe him than "Randommemberxyz" on Golden-Road. I know his FB makes him seem like a bitter old man, but those are his opinions. I doubt he's sitting around thinking up false rumors he can spread.
He recently posted about potential changes coming to the show including accelerating the taping schedule (not much more than they're doing now, in reality) and losing a longtime staffer, as John alluded to above. We'll see if, how, or when these changes will go into effect.
FWIW, I attended a taping of LMAD this past week and he came out onto the stage to fix something on the floor. So, he's still working for Fremantle as of now. His Sony job doesn't start until September. It'll be interesting to see how the change off will happen in the middle of LMAD's taping season and before/during Price's.
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Anything he states is purely gossip/grapevine chatter...
Even though this is now official, I'll just chime in to say that while he is no longer there, he does have friends left and he didn't burn bridges on the way out given the way he was shown the door. While I did initially take the rumor with a grain of salt, he's not some nobody when it comes to the Price is Right. I'm going to be more inclined to believe him than "Randommemberxyz" on Golden-Road. I know his FB makes him seem like a bitter old man, but those are his opinions. I doubt he's sitting around thinking up false rumors he can spread.
Two things:
I never once accused him of "thinking up false rumors he can spread"...your words, not mine...
And while you can say he didn't "burn bridges on the way out", he frequently trashes the current production team relentlessly in an effort to get the LFATs all hot and bothered...why anyone currently involved in the show would share info with him (not saying they don't) when he shows the current regime so much disrespect is beyond me...
"seem like a bitter old man"? Ya think?
JakeT
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I never once accused him of "thinking up false rumors he can spread"...your words, not mine...
Never implied you did. I was simply stating that Roger says a lot of things, but baseless rumors usually aren't among them. So while it was still worthy a mild grain of salt, it was out of the ordinary to get something like that from him.
And while you can say he didn't "burn bridges on the way out", he frequently trashes the current production team relentlessly in an effort to get the LFATs all hot and bothered...why anyone currently involved in the show would share info with him (not saying they don't) when he shows the current regime so much disrespect is beyond me...
I can't say for sure, but my hunch would be that perhaps some of those remaining staffers weren't (and perhaps still aren't) fans of some of the changes made since his departure and agree with him more than they don't. Some of Roger's relationships with staffers run almost 40 years deep. And I doubt Facebook statuses about stuff they probably agree on is going to change that.
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Unless I’m missing someone, there’s only 4 long time Price staffers left.
Adam Sandler - Since 1995
Sue MacIntyre - Since 1991
Gina Nyman - Mid 80’s?
Stan Blits - Since 1980
Down to 3...
Who else has left?
I don't keep up with the show any more, but I assume Karen Russak (Roger's sister in law) is long gone?
Roger coming back has about as much chance of happening as old man Goodson rising from the grave to fire everyone. I don't know why people clamor for it.
The last time I was on the set Syd Vinnedge showed up. He kept to the stage left side of the stage and Roger kept to the stage right side of the stage, and never the twain did meet.
Stan started with the company in early 1979, about a month after I started. He was promoted from CBS page.
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The last time I was on the set Syd Vinnedge showed up. He kept to the stage left side of the stage and Roger kept to the stage right side of the stage, and never the twain did meet.
I believe you were also there when Drew did his audience rehearsal. That was a site to see
I had seen Syd in the studio many times and the feeling I got was that most avoided him if possible but acted like they were happy to see him if they couldn’t.
Most times I saw him he was reading a newspaper.
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Most times I saw him he was reading a newspaper.
Well he wasn't reading the rules of "Danger Price".
I think he owns a small piece of the show, unfortunately.
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The last time I was on the set Syd Vinnedge showed up. He kept to the stage left side of the stage and Roger kept to the stage right side of the stage, and never the twain did meet.
I had seen Syd in the studio many times and the feeling I got was that most avoided him if possible but acted like they were happy to see him if they couldn’t.
Most times I saw him he was reading a newspaper.
Is Syd the one who came up with the Hollywood background they had around 1992 or so? That looked so hideous and out of place.
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The last time I was on the set Syd Vinnedge showed up. He kept to the stage left side of the stage and Roger kept to the stage right side of the stage, and never the twain did meet.
I had seen Syd in the studio many times and the feeling I got was that most avoided him if possible but acted like they were happy to see him if they couldn’t.
Most times I saw him he was reading a newspaper.
Is Syd the one who came up with the Hollywood background they had around 1992 or so? That looked so hideous and out of place.
Yes in 2002.
Though I didn't much care for the Daytime one, the Nighttime one looked great.
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Unless I’m missing someone, there’s only 4 long time Price staffers left.
Adam Sandler - Since 1995
Sue MacIntyre - Since 1991
Gina Nyman - Mid 80’s?
Stan Blits - Since 1980
I’m thinking Stan myself.
Upon watching a show from 1981, Gina appears on the credits, so a minimum of 38 years.
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They're all approaching retirement age.
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Last week I watched the July 4 special, which I would say counts as a theme show. There are a few small things I don't like in terms of scripted patter and the like but in the main the things that irritated me in 2002-2007 still chafe in 2019, and Drew isn't going to stop saying "Next prize please" or "keep it or spin."
Back in the old days the show would come up with new games and ditch old ones (even ones I liked) so there has always been a sense of experimentation. To that end I don't mind if they try stuff to see what lands or what explodes in the hangar. My hope is that they are judicious about what falls in what category. (College Rivalry episode doesn't do it for me, Celebrity Week I could take or leave but I always enjoy Best of 20xx. So it's not all good or awful.)
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The replacements have been named...
https://deadline.com/2019/07/evelyn-warfel-ep-showrunner-the-price-is-right-john-quinn-lets-make-a-deal-1202646533/