Thursday, October 18, 2007

The Drew Carey Show

Drew Carey had some big shoes to fill when he stepped into hosting duties on the CBS daytime juggernaut The Price is Right this week, and I'm pleased with how he's done.

Aside from a few opening week jitters (he seemed a little like an over-eager party host, or maybe a guy on an awkward first date), he seems to have settled in pretty nicely. For example, when a contestant who won the pricing game came up on stage with an "I love you, Drew!" He shot back with an "I like you as a friend, Aura." Not bad.

Not to say he wasn't without stumbles. He referred to Phillips Magnesium, a "remedy" in TPIR speak, as "caplets for constipation stuff." He also seemed to rush through the rules for the games. But those things are easily fixed, and he showed progress even by Wednesday's show.

The hardest part will be duplicating Bob Barker's showmanship. Bob had a knack for knowing when to rush because the contestant had lost and when to draw out the anticipation before a big win. Not an easy thing to duplicate, but Carey has comedic timing, which should help him along the way.

Bob's shadow looms large, too. A game where you have to decide which price is a better deal is called "Barker's Bargain Bin." In his debut show, Carey wisely addressed the elephant on the stage, saying the game was "named after The Price is Right founder, Ezekiel Barker."

Carey already passed my first test: He decided to keep Barker's skinny microphone.

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