THE PRICE is Right is stuck between a rock and a hard place, and despite high ratings and decent ratings, viewers are growing tired of the show’s tried-and-true format.
Fans of the show are begging the long-running game show and its host, Drew Carey, to raise the bar, as a source exclusively asked The US Sun: “Where’s the innovation?”
THE PRICE IS BORING
A high-profile member of broadcast TV criticizes Drew Carey’s “shockingly traditional” approach to hosting as the reason The Price is Right can often feel like “old TV.”
Bill Todman and Mark Goodson revived their 1960s game show in September 1972, and the popular game show has aired more than 9,000 episodes since its premiere.
And despite some changes to the show’s format over the years, The Price is Right continues to rely “on minigames and format quirks that have barely changed in half a century,” a source told The US Sun.
Longtime viewers and new fans have shared their thoughts about the game show on social media, claiming that some games, like Lucky Seven and 3 Strikes, are “too difficult,” “unlucky” or “unfair.”
Read more about the right price
Some fans even labeled certain minigames, like Rat Race, as “scary” and begged the producers to remove the game from the show.
“I think Drew is living a little in the past, keeping this job for so many years, but he has loved the format since he was a kid,” the source told The US Sun.
Drew Carey has stated that although he watched the game show growing up, he wasn’t always a fan.
“I watched [game shows],” he said Today in June 2024.
“I kind of despised it, honestly. Being a game show host, I was like, ‘Yeah, game show host…’ But it’s really fun and great,” he said of the show he hosted. for “18 Seasons and Counting.”
WHERE IS THE REMOTE?
“Drew says he wants to keep this job for the rest of his career, and when you just look at the ratings, he’s still one of the biggest draws on daytime TV across the country,” the source revealed.
The Price is Right is currently the third most popular show on CBS, according to US TVDB.
It is also the 19th most popular program on TV, watched, on average, by 3 to 4 million people per day.
“But who is actually watching this show? It’s tricky to determine exactly how many prisons, nursing homes and hospitals show The Price is Right every day, but it’s certainly a high percentage,” the source continued.
Like many game shows, The Price is Right had to adapt to pique the interest of younger viewers.
The price is right, hosts
The Price is Right first appeared on TV in 1972. Fans fell in love with the game show so much that it has been on the air for over 50 years. Over that time, the show has had a few different hosts. Find out who they are below.
Bob Barker – 1972 to June 2007 (also became executive producer in 1988)
Drew Carey – October 2007 to present
Dennis James – replaced Bob in 1974 when he missed four episodes, also presented the nighttime version
Craig Ferguson – 2014 April Fools’ Day Special
The main changes to the program, however, are in the prizes they award.
Gone are the grandfather clocks and sewing machine kits that were seen on the show in the 70s and 80s.
Instead, the program now includes popular items like VR headsets and other electronics, subscription boxes, and millennials’ most prized “possession” experiences like week-long vacations and cooking classes.
However, the same cannot be said for the show’s lack of innovation when it comes to gameplay.
“If there is a primary problem with the program, it is around innovation,” revealed the source.
“Since then [former executive producer and close confidante of Drew Carey] Mike Richards has left the series, something is missing and everything seems to be on autopilot,” they said.
“Yes, they’ve had some recent success with primetime specials and stunts like full episodes featuring only pairs of identical twins as contestants, but this is a show that builds on a lot of old ideas and Drew follows all of their suggestions. of the work that Bob Barker did for 35 years.”
Bob Barker was the series’ longest-serving host, telling viewers to “get down!” from 1972 until his retirement in June 2007.
THE PRICE NEEDS SOME SPICE
“The show is not a place where Drew experiments with or launches new comedy bits,” the source continued.
“In fact, some of the jokes he tells contestants when the cameras are off during commercial breaks are downright cheesy and I don’t think he would tell them on a real stand-up comedy stage.”
Drew started out as a comedian and actor and starred in his own sitcom, The Drew Carey Show.
“And especially since Mike Richards left five years ago, Drew isn’t helping much behind the scenes, but he doesn’t need to.
“It’s a full-on job for him and he does it in a very predictable and reliable way,” the source added.
“Everything in the series revolves around Drew’s surprisingly traditional and mellow approach.
“Even the show’s logo has barely changed in 50 years,” the source said.
The Price is Right logo has undergone some cosmetic improvements, although, as the source said, the changes have been minimal at best.
The show, however, has moved to a new studio in Glendale, California ahead of its 52nd season, which premieres in September 2023.
“The CBS philosophy is: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and The Price is Right may be the best example of that in all of television.
“Drew and the Price is Right team trust what works and that’s [what has] has kept them on the air all these years,” the source revealed.
Drew, who has hosted the game show since Bob Barker’s retirement in 2007, has hosted The Price is Right for 17 years.
“I just show up, clock in and hope to have a job every day,” said the host TV insider in June.
Time will tell if Drew’s reliability – and predictability – will keep him around or if the series will change things up in the future.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story