Bob Barker Proves He's Still Got It

It was an event many had dared not hope for since 2007. It had been hyped since it was actually recorded, back in September. It was Bob Barker's return to The Price Is Right in today's episode. And it was actually pretty great!

I admit, my impression from said hype was that Barker would be, if not replacing current host Drew Carey, at least co-hosting or job-sharing all this week. That was not the case. What's actually happened is that the show has put on a special Pet Adoption Week, in honour of one of Barker's most beloved philanthropic causes, which has been not just a fine tribute to the man for his ninetieth birthday, but completely adorable as well. And Barker will only be in a single one of this week's episode's — today's, the day of Bob's actual birthday — so if you'll excuse me, I'm just going to go ahead and cancel the DVR recording I had set for tomorrow. And even though Barker is only intermittently involved in the proceedings, it's a delight.

Our first glimpse of Bob comes when he appears to plug the day's adoptable dog: a puppy named PB.

You can't really tell in that shot, but that puppy maybe tops out at three pounds, and he's in a little puppy onesie, AND the onesie is embroidered with a picture of a birthday cake. Assuming you haven't just died from the cuteness, let's move on.

Next, we see Bob doing something that, we're told, he has never done before: calling a contestant to come on doooooooown! He calls a woman named Evelyn (who later tells Drew that though that's her legal name on her driver's license, she goes by Gail, so I'll call her that), who quickly gets out of Contestants' Row...and then wins a car...and then hits $1.00 on her first spin, thus winning $1000 and breezing into the Showcase Showdown.

And now, I have to pause. As I mentioned on the latest episode of the podcast, when Drew Carey made his Price Is Right début in 2007, the then-management of Television Without Pity — Sarah, Dave, and me, plus our two editors Linda Holmes and Joe Reid — were all sharing an office and a large TV, and we watched at least the first week of Drew's tenure. And if you remember anything about those first five episodes, other than how much you missed Bob Barker, it may be that the contestants were quite lucky. Suspiciously lucky, you might say. Now, I am obviously not in a position to throw around any reckless accusations, and I'm not. I know that game shows have been very tightly regulated since the scandals around Twenty One, so I am explicitly not saying that the producers of The Price Is Right did anything behind the scenes to goose the excitement factor for Drew's first few episodes. And I'm also not saying there's anything fishy in the fact that the one and only person Bob Barker ever did and maybe ever will invite to "come on down" did just about as well in the game as it's possible to do.

Anyway: the episode's best moment came at said Showcase Showdown. Because she was the bigger winner going into it, Gail got first pick of showcases and passed the first — because, I happen to think, it included a car, one of which Gail had already won, whereas her opponent, Hollie, had not, and because Gail is a nice old lady and not a greedy jerk, or because someone maybe suggested that she should so that the man who called her down — Bob — could present it to her. (I mean, something had to have happened here, right? If Gail had bid on the first showcase, would Bob have come out to present the second one to Hollie, just because?) (Well, maybe "just because" it's the better showcase.) (Fine.)

So then Bob comes out from behind the curtain and tells her they're practically soulmates and vamps like a boss as he tells her the prizes: a trip to Hawaii, another trip to St. Louis (involving the Cardinals), and yet another car. And Bob is incredible: he makes an instant connection with Gail; he tells a charming personal story about the baseball trip; and if he's reading off cue cards, it really doesn't show. He's warm and smooth and encouraging and makes it all look easy. Drew is fine enough — I've been watching him this week, and he's definitely gotten better since that first week — but I also heard him tell another contestant, "Just a reminder: if you make a mistake in this game, you lose everything, so it's a lose-everything game if you make a mistake."

But Bob is the best, and though I certainly don't begrudge him the chance to spend his days relaxing — it's literally all I am trying to do all the time — seeing him back where he belongs made my whole Game Show Week.

Oh yeah: Gail lost her showcase. Couldn't you hear Bob trying to coach you into saying your bid wasn't $39,000 but $29,000? Because I could! Way to go off-script, lady!