The Price Is Wrong, Or Is It?

We went home for lunch on Monday. It's one of the advantages of living only a couple miles from work, now. While we were eating, we had The Price Is Right on the TV. There are a few things that really bugged me about it.

First, how old is Bob Barker? He's been asking people to spay or neuter their pets since before the Civil War. I'm starting to wonder if he's actually Ponce de Leon.

And what's with the weird cult following? Do people hope that he'll pass on the secret to eternal life? I don't know about you, but if I told women to reach in my pocket to get money, I'd get punched, arrested or sued. Bob does it (well, maybe not now), and he's just a cool guy.

Is this the most ridiculous concept for a game show ever? People win prizes they don't want based on whether or not they know the price of a tube of denture cream. I hope that the only time in my life I ever need to know the price of Super Poli-Grip is for this show.

The whole Barker's Beauties thing has always creeped me out (Stepford wives just aren't my thing). It bugged me even more after the sexual harassment suit and firing one of the models for gaining about 15 pounds (allegedly of course). Today, I heard Bob tell contestants to take a look at what Fire had for them to bid on. Fire? Have we started recruiting American Gladiatiors to be Barker's Beauties now? I'm worried that next we'll have Blaze and Laser carrying out..."A new car!!!!"

Finally, has the audience finally made the transition to full-blown "Let's Make A Deal" mode? Everyone has a shirt just for the occasion so that they can show off whatever their cause is or get a little more camera time by having something cute about Bob Barker on the shirt. When you stop to think about it, this show really was the beginning of what would become reality TV: people who may or may not care about why they are actually there, trying to get on television and maybe win something. There's not much difference between these people and the ones on Big Brother, when it comes down to it.

Yeah, I'm complaining a bunch, but hey at least it's not Judge Judy or Jerry Springer. The reality of it is that whether there are problems with the show or not, people watch. People watch because they can play along and because it allows them to feel like they could do better that the actual contestants. You don't have to be able to spell or work out word puzzles (Wheel of Fortune). You don't have to have an encyclopedic knowledge base (Jeopardy). You don't have to put up with that guy who used to be Al on Home Improvement (Family Feud). You just have to be better than someone else at guessing a price. In the end, it's the everyman game, and I guess that's what its appeal is.

Until later...