The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: TimK2003 on April 03, 2020, 09:44:16 PM
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Roger Dobkowitz made a post on Facebook questioning the future of TPIR (which can also be applied to LMAD) once the COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed:
Here's a question I would like to ask my friends to think about...what will become of the Price is Right this year? Almost any TV show can tape without an audience (Jeopardy, Wheel, and even Dancing with the Stars). However, Price NEEDS an audience. When this emergency is over and people begin slowly to go back to normal lives, I am sure it will be slow. We will probably still keep a social distance for awhile. It will probably be a long, long, time until we are 100% normal.
So....when the show attempts to tape again, will people be willing to attend, will they require the audience to sit 6 feet apart, would they dare to attempt to preselect contestants and only have them in the studio. I worry that the show will be quite harmed in the next 12 months. They might have to go on hiatus until 2021
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I know that Roger still has a bit of animosity regarding his old employer, but he does have a few valid questions.
I guess that would also apply to the types of prizes both shows will offer as well. I think cruises will be off the table for a long time and any trips requiring an air flight I would think as well.
Is this the time CBS considers moving out of TV City to a smaller studio (CBS Radford or other) given the amount of people they now have to pay to see TPIR?
Maybe Mike Richards unknowingly chose the right time to jump ship and go to Sony??
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I think the better question to ask isn't "Will Price be ready for the fall?" but instead "Will there actually be a fall TV season?"
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The lack of an audience will certainly be the most noticeable on TPIR, but it's not impossible.
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I don't think it's as big of a deal as it's made out to be. They may have to go to online interviewing contestants in the LA area for a while and bringing 9 of them in at a time, possibly with a family member or friend, but the game itself wouldn't be affected. The question to me is how Drew's hosting would be affected, since he tends to play towards the studio audience more than the home audience.
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Given that the fall season (which, to be honest, could be a thing of the past once we start seeing a semblance of normalcy) starts in September, a show like TPIR should not have to worry about resuming production until August.
I do think that once the curve flattens and lawmakers start lifting stay-at-home orders, quarantines, etc., it will be a slow process to get back to "normal." But I also believe people want to experience some kind of normalcy again ASAP.
To be honest, I don't think TPIR and LMAD are on the top of CBS's "to-do" list on how to move forward in the COVID-19 era at this time. The Eye is probably much more concerned about the fate of its summer and fall "reality" shows (TAR and Survivor suspending production, Big Brother and Love Island both in a flux).
JD
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I think Roger is overreacting a little. First off, given how many people different governors have seen defying stay-at-home and social distancing orders, I'm sure that once those are lifted in some capacity, people who are abiding will be itching to go anywhere and everywhere to get out of the house. I'd doubt that any show in LA would have trouble getting an audience. Second, TPIR is a show that has previously taped an episode with half an audience in past when a bad storm hit the area. If they can do that, they can let in a half capacity audience that features some distance between folks. In fact, TPIR in Argentina (https://i.imgur.com/LVtvyZ6.png) has recently done episodes with a very sparse audience, probably about 10 or so people (though they didn't do much social distancing in the episode I saw). I think Price will be fine.
I mean, honestly, he's bringing up social distancing guidelines and what game show currently on the air could even begin to abide by them? Until Millionaire returns (or if Mental Samurai ever gets a chance to film its second season), to my knowledge, there are no game shows on the air that feature a single solo player playing by themselves. Every show features contestants/panelists sitting near each other for either game play reasons or directorial reasons, or requires their solo players to come from an audience (TPIR/LMAD). Wheel of Fortune would be impossible to adjust because the three contestants have to be in front of the wheel to spin it. The families in Family Feud have to be next to each other to confer for stealing. I'd could go all day finding holes to poke into different shows.
To be honest, I don't think TPIR and LMAD are on the top of CBS's "to-do" list on how to move forward in the COVID-19 era at this time. The Eye is probably much more concerned about the fate of its summer and fall "reality" shows (TAR and Survivor suspending production, Big Brother and Love Island both in a flux).
Honestly, that would probably be the reason TPIR and LMAD would be at the top of CBS's "to-do" list because it would be much easier to put both of those shows back into production and filming ASAP than it would be to arrange filming locations and travel plans for Survivor and TAR (and the challenges in TAR). Just like TPIR came in handy in a pinch during the 2008 Writer's Strike, equally if there's no filmed programming on their end and won't be for a while, they could start pumping out TPIR and LMAD episodes quickly. TPIR has done 1 to 2 day turnarounds from taping to airing in the past and LMAD's done at least a 7 day or less turnaround; though I'm not saying they would do turnarounds that quick. Just that both shows present themselves as cheap and quick fill-ins that are going to be exactly what CBS will probably end up needing once this is all over.
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Maybe Mark Richards unknowingly chose the right time to jump ship and go to Sony??
*Mike
Honestly, I don't think he's got it that much easier over at Sony. This must be a literal nightmare for them right now, especially in the middle of a regime change, and especially after already having things go haywire with Pat earlier in the season. Also, this season has seen Wheel dive head first into almost bi-weekly sweepstakes for European tours from Collette and cruises from Carnival and because of how built into the week they were (and Collette and Carnival both suspending operations), they've pulled two weeks worth of shows that probably aren't going to air for a while. And just like Price and LMAD, he's going to have to figure out what shows from what seasons he's going to send to stations for airing over the course of the summer and potentially longer. He'll also have to determine when/how to pick up the contestant selection process to get contestants whenever they can start filming both shows again.
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Given that the fall season (which, to be honest, could be a thing of the past once we start seeing a semblance of normalcy) starts in September, a show like TPIR should not have to worry about resuming production until August.
The potential kink for Price here is that they're actually not done taping the current season yet. There's still 26 shows they haven't done, including two that are supposed to air before the scheduled resumption of production on May 11 (and God knows if that will hold).
Now, given the circumstances, they could certainly decide to just scrap those episodes altogether, but otherwise, shutting down until August isn't really gonna work.
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I know i'm going to get a lot of flack for this answer, but......
The average, common viewer does not notice the minutia that we, the above-average, uncommon, abnormal game show fan observes.
They can rerun the entire season and most if not all won't notice a thing. Rerun last years season - the prices haven't changed all that much.
If anything (ugh, get ready) - this may be a good thing for the show - because the work-stop keeps them well under budget for the season - and maybe, just maybe, that can be amortized into future seasons.
Oh, and screw Roger. Seriously. It takes a lot for me to lose respect for someone and their work - but he wasn't friggin Watson to Barker's Holmes. He produced a friggin game show, and 10 years later, he still has it stuck in his craw that he was wronged, and no one else should do his job. I left a TV station in town 10 years ago and I was pissed that my contract wasn't renewed for budget reasons - and it left me sore - but you get over it, and you learn to take that pissy-ness and use it to work towards a new job. I got one - at the competition - i work my ass off, and it gives me great pleasure to know that my ratings up against my old station.....dominate.
If Roger is THE EP to have on your team, why hasn't he worked in 10 years?
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Maybe Mark Richards unknowingly chose the right time to jump ship and go to Sony??
*Mike
Honestly, I don't think he's got it that much easier over at Sony. This must be a literal nightmare for them right now, especially in the middle of a regime change, and especially after already having things go haywire with Pat earlier in the season.
This. Either way, Mike was inheriting a challenge, which became an even bigger one this season with both hosts having health issues and now COVID. At this point, he’s probably having to curate a larger summer rerun schedule.
Roger is a bitter dude who’s been waiting for the show to fail since he left. The first couple times that Roger fielded questions on FB re: Price was fine, but now his comments on the show have at least a hint of sourness to them, and the LFATs love to go to his page and feed the flame. I was done with him last year when Elizabeth Banks got the PYL job and he made some stupid comments about it.
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Roger is a bitter dude who’s been waiting for the show to fail since he left. The first couple times that Roger fielded questions on FB re: Price was fine, but now his comments on the show have at least a hint of sourness to them, and the LFATs love to go to his page and feed the flame. I was done with him last year when Elizabeth Banks got the PYL job and he made some stupid comments about it.
That's my biggest takeaway from his posts as well. It's been what, 12 years since he was fired? I've been there before. It sucks. But like Matt, my greatest opportunities came from being fired. Hell, I should probably send my former managers a fruit basket. :P Also, as much as it sucks, in a situation like that, reflecting on where you could've improved doesn't hurt. It is what it is.
I get it, Roger's page is where the fanboys converse about a show they ironically find unwatchable, and he's found common ground there. But, the current staff lives rent free in his head, mainly because to him, change is bad, and everything is wrong because it's not Bob's way from 40 years ago.
As for the show itself, the transition companies have had to make is not easy. Depending on technology, some transitions will go smoother, and it's a learning process for everyone. But just like I don't see the NBA or MLB folding, I don't believe the most popular game show in daytime is in grave danger because they had to take an indefinite hiatus. I don't know the financial side of the industry, but I imagine reruns are still lucrative as long as the ratings remain solid.
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The average, common viewer does not notice the minutia that we, the above-average, uncommon, abnormal game show fan observes.
I grab the last ten minutes of Wheel of Fortune as a lead-in to Jeopardy every night. Had the program guide not said so nor the bonus envelope had $36,000 in it I would not have known they were in reruns right now.
If CBS really wanted to go off the reservation they could air episodes of TPIR from when Bob was on the show--anyone who wasn't watching pre-2007 may not have seen the original article. If we don't get current television while this once-in-a-century situation resolves it would be the least of our problems.
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If CBS really wanted to go off the reservation they could air episodes of TPIR from when Bob was on the show--anyone who wasn't watching pre-2007 may not have seen the original article.
Which actually isn't unprecedented. When CBS aired the Pillsbury Bake-Off's in the late-90s, they aired the contest at 11, then a classic half-hour TPiR at 11:30. It's not like they don't have a vast library of episodes.
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If CBS really wanted to go off the reservation they could air episodes of TPIR from when Bob was on the show--anyone who wasn't watching pre-2007 may not have seen the original article. If we don't get current television while this once-in-a-century situation resolves it would be the least of our problems.
This. There are 9000+ shows in the can, pick a bunch of them and rando-air them. Promote it as best-of-Price with Bob and Drew and I'd assume the ratings would be up.
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I was thinking to myself a couple of weeks ago - if they can't start the season's production on time, why not run "classics" for a spell, or throw in a week of vintage shows here and there?
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I was thinking to myself a couple of weeks ago - if they can't start the season's production on time, why not run "classics" for a spell, or throw in a week of vintage shows here and there?
Absolutely. They’ve got so many different ways they can curate these episodes that it’s a relatively easy lift. Take the easy route and run one from each season, and that’s good for nine weeks.
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Which actually isn't unprecedented. When CBS aired the Pillsbury Bake-Off's in the late-90s, they aired the contest at 11, then a classic half-hour TPiR at 11:30. It's not like they don't have a vast library of episodes.
But the way they had to chop out many of the pregnant pauses in gameplay during the "classic" episode to meet the current time restraints, it looked like Bob was on a double latte with a Jolt Cola chaser.
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The average, common viewer does not notice the minutia that we, the above-average, uncommon, abnormal game show fan observes.
I grab the last ten minutes of Wheel of Fortune as a lead-in to Jeopardy every night. Had the program guide not said so nor the bonus envelope had $36,000 in it I would not have known they were in reruns right now.
I believe he was referring specifically to The Price is Right because, game show fan or not, Wheel of Fortune has painted themselves in a corner where every season is different and regular viewers will notice. The bonus envelope is always an obvious difference now, especially when Pat will sometimes mention why the minimum is that amount. Also, this season having the triple toss up will probably cause some folks to also take note at its disappearance and the 1/2 Car's reappearance.
To that effect, WOF has put the OAD in the bottom corner of the screen at the top of every repeat episode. Something they already did this season when they had to put in a rerun week in Pat's absence.
I also really like the idea of putting "Best Of" branding on old episodes of Price and pulling from the vault of both Bob and Drew episodes. I'm sure no one would care and rerunning Bob episodes would probably be worthy of news mention or a Twitter trend.
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I believe he was referring specifically to The Price is Right because, game show fan or not, Wheel of Fortune has painted themselves in a corner where every season is different and regular viewers will notice. The bonus envelope is always an obvious difference now, especially when Pat will sometimes mention why the minimum is that amount. Also, this season having the triple toss up will probably cause some folks to also take note at its disappearance and the 1/2 Car's reappearance.
I dunno...it's been at least a year since I've watched Wheel, and I prolly wouldn't even notice some of those change. The average nightly viewer may know the show's been on forever, but I doubt they'd put 2+2 together and ask why the bonus round minimum is suddenly, say, $34,000, as opposed to $37K. Honestly, there's times where I have to do the math on my fingers about what season it is.
/Aside from the car offered, I'd swear all of Feud's episodes were shot in 2013
//That and the different intro from when they shot at Universal for Steve's first year
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Back in the day, NBC fielded reruns of Classic Concentration for, what, two and a half years without viewers giving a bother?
Price will be fine. If they have to restart sans audience there are workarounds although people on the internet will complain (they'll do that anyway).
And if it isn't fine?, 48 years is a *damned* good run.
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But the way they had to chop out many of the pregnant pauses in gameplay during the "classic" episode to meet the current time restraints, it looked like Bob was on a double latte with a Jolt Cola chaser.
This is an interesting point. A quick look on Youtube shows an hour-long commercial-free episode from 1999 clocking in at exactly 40 minutes; a decade earlier has 42-43, and about 44 in 1979. I think it could still be done, but a lot of banter might have to go, and if it means saving 30 seconds, I imagine they'd use the generic CBS closing credits with promos for their shows, given how long a 70s credit roll could run.
Maybe run the Barker classics on Fridays, and air Drew's older seasons M-Th. By my math, there's about 2,000 or so episodes from his run alone.
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Life is going to have to return to normal at some point. People are already itching to go back to Work,Bars,Clubs etc.
Tv shows will eventually return back to normal.
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Life is going to have to return to normal at some point. People are already itching to go back to Work,Bars,Clubs etc.
Tv shows will eventually return back to normal.
Well, we're all gonna have to suck it up and wait.
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They won't, but it would be fun if they'd try Bill Cullen's version with four players bidding on stuff the whole show.. The desk would have to be longer to accomodate six feet apart.
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They won't, but it would be fun if they'd try Bill Cullen's version with four players bidding on stuff the whole show.. The desk would have to be longer to accomodate six feet apart.
They actually do have a longer Contestants' Row for family episodes. I'm kind of curious now how long it is.
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And another Dob-bie Downer (if you choose to look at it that way) post...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157363716592055&set=a.10151371586032055&type=3&theater
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I read that. I was wondering if Roger hired Darryl Heine as his copywriter.
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And another Dob-bie Downer (if you choose to look at it that way) post...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157363716592055&set=a.10151371586032055&type=3&theater
Bonus points for Dobbie Downer. Using that from here on out.
The funny thing is that even thought he calls Scenario #3 the worst one, the way he describes it makes it sound like that's what he REALLY wants to happen.
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The funny thing is that even thought he calls Scenario #3 the worst one, the way he describes it makes it sound like that's what he REALLY wants to happen.
That was very much the impression that I got as well.
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The funny thing is that even thought he calls Scenario #3 the worst one, the way he describes it makes it sound like that's what he REALLY wants to happen.
That was very much the impression that I got as well.
When I saw him refer to Drew as the overpaid host, I immediately got the vibe that he was trying to project.
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I'm kind of curious now how long it is.
Oh, if I had a nickel.
/I'd have zero nickels
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I chuckled when I saw this on his Facebook page tonight.
(https://i.imgur.com/3J53EJK.jpg)
I'm betting he isn't chuckling about it. :D
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I chuckled when I saw this on his Facebook page tonight.
(https://i.imgur.com/3J53EJK.jpg)
I'm betting he isn't chuckling about it. :D
Well, certainly someone had to ask...probably didn't appreciate it, did Dobbie, but still, it's satisfying to see someone call him on his bitterness.
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I chuckled when I saw this on his Facebook page tonight.
(https://i.imgur.com/3J53EJK.jpg)
I'm betting he isn't chuckling about it. :D
Roger’s response is that, according to CBS, Drew wanted to bring in his own people. It sucks and it’s not fair, but that’s business and hardly unheard of.
In another thread he says he believes the network made a huge, expensive mistake and won’t admit it. The show seems to be doing just fine, but what do I know? It’s really too bad that he and the fanboys will never admit the show ran on autopilot for the last five or so years of Bob’s tenure. Remember all the showcases “that deal with the word __”?
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It’s really too bad that he and the fanboys will never admit the show ran on autopilot for the last five or so years of Bob’s tenure. Remember all the showcases “that deal with the word __”?
Or all the Showcases that had generic cartoonish standees playing the male roles that would've otherwise been handled by the announcer.
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Remember all the showcases “that deal with the word __”?
As opposed to nowadays, where most of the time they don't bother to give the showcases a theme at all.
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Remember all the showcases “that deal with the word __”?
As opposed to nowadays, where most of the time they don't bother to give the showcases a theme at all.
Honestly, I would rather have that than the showcases from the last few years of bob's shows.
/and most of the shows from Drew's second season
//well, not the soap opera showcase
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Unfortunately timing restraints mean these kind of showcases can't be played anymore...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eieBApXIKc8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Md2UZaNdTw
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Deadline posted an article (https://www.projectcasting.com/news/when-filming-will-start/?fbclid=IwAR0759c-U0ELpBws16GkPhpYFocnKVfaIJWUmkRCfhFi9YWTU1vFbMHlybk) that said filming on shows and movies won't resume until the fall at the earliest. I imagine the same applies for game shows.
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https://www.facebook.com/Rogerdob/posts/10157483350832055 (https://www.facebook.com/Rogerdob/posts/10157483350832055)
Roger just posted a suggestion that the show should tape in Orlando- partly since they seem to be opening early, and partly because he doesn't think Drew would go, so they could get rid of him.
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https://www.facebook.com/Rogerdob/posts/10157483350832055 (https://www.facebook.com/Rogerdob/posts/10157483350832055)
Roger just posted a suggestion that the show should tape in Orlando- partly since they seem to be opening early, and partly because he doesn't think Drew would go, so they could get rid of him.
Stay classy!
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https://www.facebook.com/Rogerdob/posts/10157483350832055 (https://www.facebook.com/Rogerdob/posts/10157483350832055)
Roger just posted a suggestion that the show should tape in Orlando- partly since they seem to be opening early, and partly because he doesn't think Drew would go, so they could get rid of him.
Why would Drew not go with them? Is he on a no-fly list or something?
(I seriously don't know what would possess this man to think a change in scenery would result in Drew not following. Is he that desperate?)
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[...]Is he that desperate?
You're damn straight. Still pontificating about "his show" to the masses who hang on every word. One would think that if his opinion was as revered as he seems to feel it is, he would have been scooped by another show when he was fired from Price and/or still finding work to this day as a consultant.
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Well, what was he expecting? When his services became available there weren't a whole hell of a lot of shows in production, and he was no spring chicken either.
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His shot at Drew notwithstanding, moving to Orlando wouldn't be a bad idea if it does come with cheaper costs like he said. Certainly wouldn't be the first daytime show to relocate to save money.
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I seem to remember Steve Harvey's first year of Feud originated from Universal Orlando (and taped in Atlanta for several years), as well as several years from Atlanta. Millionaire's later seasons came from Vegas, and Millionaire (one season) and several other daytime series moved to Connecticut at one point
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Wasn't Millionaire there for two years? I believe that Chris Harrison cut his Millionaire teeth in Stamford.
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Wasn't Millionaire there for two years? I believe that Chris Harrison cut his Millionaire teeth in Stamford.
Went looking:
The entirety of Regis' and Meredith's run originated from ABC's studios in Manhattan. When Cedric the Entertainer took over in 2013, the show moved to East Harlem. The show switched to Terry Crews when it moved to Stamford the next year. Terry's sole season and Chris' first season originated from there, at which point the show moved to Vegas it's last three years. Kimmel's run originates from LA.
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His shot at Drew notwithstanding, moving to Orlando wouldn't be a bad idea if it does come with cheaper costs like he said. Certainly wouldn't be the first daytime show to relocate to save money.
Either way, though, they're still gonna be paying someone to host the show and said person's gonna wanna be paid...plus it would be awfully shortsighted to assume that the host of the show won't follow the production he's put over a decade of his life into just because it's moving.
Like I said earlier in this thread: the logic is so baffling. Almost as bad as Darryl Heine's.
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the logic is so baffling
It is. Rich Fields made an announcement on his own FB page a week or so ago about how he has a big announcement on June 1. The classic price fanbois have instantly taken that to mean that he will be announcing Price again. I mean, I *could* see it, considering George Gray is recovering....But something tells me that's not it.
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It's easier for shows like Feud, and especially Millionaire to bounce from coast to coast since there is pretty much one basic set for each with no set variance (additional props and games) from episode to episode.
For something like TPIR and LMAD, you have more pieces/parts to the sets (3 doors, individual games, and boatloads of prizes of various sizes). To this point it may be getting in the "cost-prohibitive" level if either or both of these shows would "move" to the East Coast and either bringing the entire sets and all the individual games/props associated with each show or replicating the sets/props/etc... from scratch.
Although, there IS a traveling TPIR Live set or two with limited games that travels around North America, and LMAD has a much simpler inventory of games and props that they would have to move or replicate.
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The Price is Right did travel once and it sounded like it was a nightmare the one time they did.
If the show did move to another state it would probably be worth it if the move was for something longer than a year. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't consider it worth the cost. Though transporting the prizes wouldn't be a problem. They wouldn't take the prizes with them, they'd just start getting them from dealerships and suppliers in the area where they'd move to.
I think while shows like Millionaire and Feud moved easily and even LMAD has had other locations, that Price is linked to California. Hollywood has been mentioned in the opening spiel for over 20 years now. Orlando doesn't have that same ring to it. Maybe if the show had moved to NYC to placate Tom Bergeron (as he claimed, though I think he mentioned Connecticut) they could've used the Big Apple as a name.
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His shot at Drew notwithstanding, moving to Orlando wouldn't be a bad idea if it does come with cheaper costs like he said. Certainly wouldn't be the first daytime show to relocate to save money.
Either way, though, they're still gonna be paying someone to host the show and said person's gonna wanna be paid...plus it would be awfully shortsighted to assume that the host of the show won't follow the production he's put over a decade of his life into just because it's moving.
Hence my "His shot at Drew notwithstanding." There are good reasons to move to Orlando. And yes, the idea that Drew wouldn't come along is ridiculous.
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Even if they could tape TPIR in a nearer future, what about social distancing and such? What difference would it make where they tape if they still have to seat everyone 6 feet apart? Also, a lot is lost when we have contestants wearing masks and can't really see their reactions.
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Price doesn't need an audience, necessarily. Contestants introduced from off-stage instead of an audience call-up. Heck, if you REALLY need to drop the headcount, eliminate contestant's row, and give each contestant some added talk time before the game.
You'll get a lot of hemming and hawing about it not being the way it *should* be done, but it totally COULD be done that way.
And if Drew doesn't want to continue the show but the show's going to change substantially enough (format, taping location, etc) that it wouldn't be what he agreed to host and could potentially cause contract issues? Let him out and hire someone else. Bye
Ideal? Hell no. But they totally could.
Also, a lot is lost when we have contestants wearing masks and can't really see their reactions.
What? Like 95% of excitement and reactions are whole-face combined with body language (and, you know, words/yelling). A mask covers the nose and mouth but isn't going to inhibit *being able to tell the contestants are excited*. It's not like playing Peekabo with a toddler.
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Price doesn't need an audience, necessarily. Contestants introduced from off-stage instead of an audience call-up. Heck, if you REALLY need to drop the headcount, eliminate contestant's row, and give each contestant some added talk time before the game.
You'll get a lot of hemming and hawing about it not being the way it *should* be done, but it totally COULD be done that way.
Yeah, kind of like the Davidson format. The wheel can still be done without people right next to each other as could the Showcases with some extra spacing.
Just acknowledge that given the circumstances, they have to do this episode a bit differently. Not like they have anything to hide.
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And if Drew doesn't want to continue the show but the show's going to change substantially enough (format, taping location, etc) that it wouldn't be what he agreed to host and could potentially cause contract issues? Let him out and hire someone else. Bye
Ideal? Hell no. But they totally could.
Facts. I have nothing against Drew, but he’s also not irreplaceable. It’s not like there hasn’t been a traveling stage show for the last decade with a rotating lineup of hosts. There’s also a former announcer in Florida who could probably take the reins if push came to shove.
Universal is a pretty appealing option, and I like the idea of the show going the Davidson route with no Contestants Row. The purists would do their typical whining, but I gather the average daytime viewer wouldn’t care one way or another, so long as they get to see games like Plinko or Cliffhangers.
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Facts. I have nothing against Drew, but he’s also not irreplaceable. It’s not like there hasn’t been a traveling stage show for the last decade with a rotating lineup of hosts. There’s also a former announcer in Florida who could probably take the reins if push came to shove.
Universal is a pretty appealing option, and I like the idea of the show going the Davidson route with no Contestants Row. The purists would do their typical whining, but I gather the average daytime viewer wouldn’t care one way or another, so long as they get to see games like Plinko or Cliffhangers.
I agree that there wouldn't be nearly as much lamenting over Drew leaving, even after 13(!) years. Les Moonves was his champion to begin with and he's long gone. That being said, I don't think they're gonna seriously contemplate their options until September rolls around if this continues. They've been able to air episodes as soon as the day after they were taped, so no reason to panic anytime soon.
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Although, there IS a traveling TPIR Live set or two with limited games that travels around North America, and LMAD has a much simpler inventory of games and props that they would have to move or replicate.
LMAD is getting up there in terms of props and games, especially if you throw in the Zonks. Conversely, there are a decent number of pricing games that could probably either fit in a truck or be rebuilt with a monitor.
That being said, this was probably Roger reading a news item or social media post about the BS in Florida surrounding what's considered essential and thought "huh, wouldn't that be something?"
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For all the talk about moving of props and the set and finding new prizes I did not see anyone mention that this would require an entire staff of people to move or lose a gig.
I am by no means a regular watcher of TPIR or LMAD anymore but I realize that each show is made up of a bunch of people who made it what they are. What nobody has brought up I don't think the idea of taking a page from Jackpot--have the onstage contestant in a box like the Expert on the Hill and then that gives Drew or Wayne the freedom to move about the stage as they need.
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Even going through the list on golden-road.net to help refresh my memory, there aren't that many games where I would even consider hauling a large, game-specific prop cross-country for a temporary engagement, assuming that I had enough budget for virtual or cardboard versions of the rest. Plinko, obviously, because there's too much happening with physics to make a simulation worthwhile. The prop in Cliff Hangers is 100% chrome and yet there's just something about having the physical representation of the climber fall off at the end of the track. Similarly, Punch a Bunch loses something when you reduce it to "pick a space and we'll tell you what's there." Maybe the track from Rat Race, but I kind of feel like you could get away with using animation to simulate the "race" to the rats finishing in a randomly-selected order.
The putting green in Hole In One is also a physical component that's essential to the game, but I would be surprised if it cost more than a few hundred bucks to build a completely new one.
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As much as I like Roger, the comments about relocating the production are just plain ridiculous.
A temporary relocation even if it is across the valley for a production like Price is Right isn't feasible; across the country is nonsensical. Plus, if they can't tape in L.A., they realistically shouldn't be taping anywhere, no matter whether there is an open jurisdiction.
I'm sure the internal projection is going to be for a long-term shutdown, at least for planning purposes, and a possible resumption of taping for September 2021. (Plan for the worst, and scale back from there.) There are enough episodes in the can to have a whole year of reruns, even though the network might not like it. If the network pushed to return to production too soon, the unions wouldn't allow it. If somehow they got past the unions, I don't see how their insurers would allow it, either. Even if they paid a higher insurance premium, would the landlord of TVC allow their facility to be used, knowing they have a liability of letting the general public into their building, no matter how many disclaimers or signs they have plastered all over the place?
All productions have to be ready for the unthinkable and unspoken possibility of a long layoff.
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have the onstage contestant in a box like the Expert on the Hill and then that gives Drew or Wayne the freedom to move about the stage as they need.
This means Plinko no longer works, which is a big plus.
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Well, perhaps a glimpse into the future, but Cash Explosion returned this past week with the hosts in studio and monitors set up on stage while their contestants played from home with home setups. I've posted it into the video section.
This wouldn't work with every pricing game of course, but there's still plenty to have fun with.
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I think the one thing that we have in favor of being able to do stuff on screens is that we are now sixty years removed from the scandals.