Happy Birthday, “The Price Is Right”! Now in its 53rd season, the iconic gameshow is 10,000 episodes old. And like a fine wine, it has aged very well, thanks in large part to its host of 18 years, Drew Carey.
“They told me it was my 3,317th episode. Sometimes I feel like it’s not that long, and sometimes I feel like I’ve always been there,” he says. When it’s pointed out to him that he has been host for one-third of its run, he adds with a laugh, “Bob Barker is two-thirds. I’m still the new guy!”
Carey says he’ll never forget walking out on that stage at CBS Television City in Los Angeles and hearing “Come on down!” for the first time. What he remembers most: the decibel-ringing exuberance of the audience.
“I couldn’t believe how loud it was,” he recalls. “I thought my hair was gonna blow back. I used to wear an Apple watch. I had to change the settings because all of a sudden, my watch was going off all the time during the show, telling me I was in a loud environment.”
Barker served as host from its 1972 premiere until his retirement in 2007, during which time he earned a total of 18 Daytime Emmys. Carey had been known for appearances on the comedy club circuit, leading his own sitcom and hosting the improv show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” He was only on CBS’s radar because he filmed the game show pilot “The Power of 10.” From the start of “TPIR,” he heard, “You have big shoes to fill,” referring to Barker’s legendary status.
But Carey always went into it with a very healthy frame of mind: “I don’t need to walk in his shoes; I brought my own shoes.”
“I want to honor the show — certainly — and not forget about the importance of him and the path that he blazed,” Carey says. “It’s very important to keep the memory of Bob alive. I’m not replacing anybody. I’m just doing a show that he used to do.”
As he saw it, it was a matter of wanting “to not be responsible for ruining the show or killing it,” he laughs. “I knew there was such a culture there, and I really wanted to honor that culture and not rock the boat. And I also wanted to make it my own, but without stepping on anybody’s toes.”
For 35 years, everything was designed around Barker, from the camera direction to the sets and lighting. And, in a way, it was frozen in that time. When Carey joined, he compares his influence on the change to “remodeling your house.”
“It was the same structure, but it needed new drapes and wallpaper, you know what I mean?” he asks. “You don’t wanna change the show, but you wanna freshen it up a little bit.”
One large difference was that Barker was introduced as “the star of the show,” while Carey asked to be presented with, “Here’s your host.”
“It seems like a small thing, but it wasn’t to me,” he says. “I am not the star of the show; the contestants are the star. I’m not downplaying my role on the show, but people tune in to see the interaction of the contestants, and they want somebody there to interact with them in a good way — because they’re the stars.”
