The King of Showcases

Thirty seconds. That's how long I had my face in my hands when I read the news.

In a week that has seen us mourn the losses of wrestling icons Terry Funk and Bray Wyatt, we are mourning yet another loss. Bob Barker, the longtime iconic host of The Price is Right, passed away on August 26, 2023--only 108 days short of his 100th birthday. Again, I buried my face in my hands for a half of a minute after reading this, because The Price is Right was a massive part of my childhood. The show was my jam. Still is.

For years, I've read tweets about how kids would skip school to watch The Price is Right; I never did, but on days off from school and during summer breaks, I had my TV on CBS at 10AM. Well, actually, I had my TV on CBS at 9AM, because back then, CBS had Family Feud on before The Price Is Right, so it was a good two hours of quality game shows.

Regarding the man himself, Robert William Barker was born on December 12, 1923 in Darrington, Washington, and it was in 1950 that his broadcasting career began as the host of his own radio show, The Bob Barker Show. It was in 1956 that Barker began his long run as the host of the long-running game show, Truth or Consequences, which started as a radio show in 1940 before airing on television a decade later. Barker hosted the series, which aired on NBC and in syndication during his run, for 19 years, but during that time, CBS came calling.

In 1972, Mark Goodson and Bill Todman were cooking up a revival of the classic Price is Right game show from 1956, but their planned host was Dennis James. CBS greenlit the show, but on the condition that Bob Barker serve as the emcee, and on September 4, 1972, Bob Barker took his place as the host of what was known as The New Price is Right. The show was a half-hour long for the first three years before experimenting with a hour-long format in September 1975, which later became permanent after ratings were high.

My exposure to this iconic game show began in 1990, when I was five years old. By that time, the show had a second announcer; the original announcer was Johnny Olson, who coined the famous "Come on down!" catchphrase. Olson's stint lasted from Episode 1 until his death in October 1985, and he was replaced by Rod Roddy, who served as the show's announcer during my childhood. Another thing that changed involved a part of Bob Barker: his hair. In 1987, Barker decided to take a step in not fighting Father Time and renounce the use of hair dye, allowing his hair to naturally gray and eventually become that familiar white color.

Barker definitely had his verbal moments while hosting; even on Truth or Consequences, he ended his program by saying, "May all your consequences be happy ones." As we all know, Barker was a big time animal activist, as was his late wife, Dorothy Jo Gideon, and it was in 1982 that he started ending every episode of The Price is Right with the familiar closing statement: "Help control the pet population; have your pets spayed or neutered." Barker had his funny moments as well; habitually, if the contestant was on the possible verge of winning, he would intentionally create dramatic moment to increase the excitement. Usually when he's about to reveal the one price that could possibly be a game winner, Barker would turn to the contestant and hype up the moment, usually twice before making that reveal.

The funniest signature moment often took place during the Range Game, where the object of the game has a range moving upward, and the contestant presses a red button to stop it, doing so only if they believe that the actual retail price of the prize is within that $150 range. Before the game is played, Barker usually says, "Don't stop the range unless you are absolutely sure that you know the absolute retail price, because we can't start it again for x hours ("x" often varied, it could be 23, 29, or 37)."

Bob Barker hosted The Price is Right from Episode 1 in 1972 until 2007; the first 35 years of the reborn game show's existence. Since 2007, the show has been hosted by comedian Drew Carey, though Barker had made guest appearances on the show. Barker made other known appearances outside of The Price is Right, but of course, his most known cameo was this:

On February 16, 1996, Happy Gilmore hit the big screen, starring Adam Sandler as the titular hockey player-turned-golfer. The film is highly regarded as one of Sandler's best, and the main reason (among many) was the famous scene with Bob Barker. Following his date with Virginia Venit (Julie Bowen), Happy participates in the Celebrity/Pro event, where he is introduced to Bob Barker as his partner. After Donald (the heckler portrayed by Joe Flaherty) hassles Happy ("Hey, Gilmore! You suck, ya jackass!"), we see Happy say to Barker: "I'd like to punch that guy in the face, but I can't because I'd get in trouble. I bet you get a lot of that on Let's Make a Deal."

What follows is a series of bad plays as Happy tries his damnedest not to let Donald get to him, all the while, Barker's frustration with Happy's bad play increases to the point where he tosses his club ("This guy sucks!"). After Barker quips about Happy's lack of talent (in golf and hockey), Happy decks him, leading to a fight between Happy and Barker, which the latter (age 72 at the time) is easily winning. Happy does manage to get a headbutt in, as well as the following parting shot:

"The price is wrong, bitch."

However, Barker clutches Happy's throat, and takes him down easily. "I think you've had enough," Barker says, but after seeing Happy start to rise up ("No?"), he kicks him in the head and says:

"Now you've had enough...bitch."

Without question, the scene with Bob Barker was the best moment in the film, and it's resulted in Sandler referencing The Price is Right in a few of his later movies, such as I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, which came out in 2007, the year that Barker retired from hosting. Bob Barker also made a guest appearance on WWE's Monday Night Raw in September of 2009, during the period where Raw had weekly guest hosts. Barker hosted a Price is Right-style segment known as "The Price is Raw," which included this memorable moment with Chris Jericho, who stated in a later interview that he had to keep himself from laughing over Barker's hilarious performance and delivery.

In recent weeks, I've heard many talk about a "Mount Rushmore" for game show hosts. It was even a subjected question on a recent episode of Celebrity Family Feud. Many say that the Mount Rushmore for game show hosts consists of Steve Harvey, Pat Sajak, Alex Trebek, and of course, Bob Barker. You'll get no argument from me in that regard, though I would put Bob Barker in the lead in that group. The man, the legend, the icon, the very best constant in my TV-viewing childhood, Bob Barker left a lasting impact on fans of daytime TV and game show enthusiasts such as myself.