For Bob Barker, the time is right

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By ROB OWEN
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Wednesday, May 09, 2007

"The Price Is Right" host Bob Barker disproves the conventional wisdom about how to draw young viewers. Despite his white hair and his show airing in daytime -- largely the viewing province of the elderly -- Barker has been attracting college students to tapings of "The Price Is Right" for years.

Admittedly, he may have gained some youth cred by punching out Adam Sandler in "Happy Gilmore," but Barker insists his game show has never bowed to the latest and greatest bells and whistles.

"We are an old-fashioned game show," Barker said during a January CBS press conference. "And this old-fashioned game show is a phenomenal success. And why? Because it's a people show."

As for his skills as a host, Barker credits one trait in particular.

"One thing at which I excel is listening," he said. "I listen to what the person I'm talking with is saying. Some hosts are so concerned about what they're going to say next or how they're going to top this contestant, that they're not really listening."

Barker's tenure as host of "The Price Is Right" -- which stretches back to 1972 -- will end later this year (a date for his final episode had not been set at press time, nor had his successor been announced), with its final episodes taping early next month. This week CBS honors Barker's 50 years in show business with two specials.

At 8 p.m. EDT/PDT Wednesday (May 16), "The Price Is Right Million Dollar Spectacular" gives contestants an opportunity to win bigger prizes and a chance to spin the wheel to win $1 million.

At 8 p.m. Thursday (May 17), "Bob Barker: A Celebration of 50 Years on Television" will feature the host's reminiscences about his career and his favorite games from "Price Is Right."

"There are none that I don't like or they wouldn't be on the show," Barker said in January. "But, in general, I like the games that give me an opportunity to have fun with the contestant, to interact with the contestant."

Well, he likes that interaction up to a point. One of his most memorable moments turned out to be the first in a series.

"I had a Samoan woman pick me up as if I were a child and just throw me around," Barker said. "And frankly, I was terrified."

A year later, another Samoan came on down to Contestant's Row, Barker said, and again he was picked up. Another year later, a third Samoan was on the show.

"This time I had her raise her right hand and swear that if she got on-stage, she would not lay a hand on me," Barker said. "And she swore. And she got up on-stage, she won a car and picked me up higher than either one of the other two had picked me up.

"I don't know what it is about me and Samoans, but I'm never going to Samoa."

Barker got into broadcasting after a stint in the Navy and then college. He first worked in radio, including an audience-participation show. Barker's late wife, Dorothy Jo, heard the program and said that was what Barker should be doing full-time.

In 1956, producer Ralph Edwards hired Barker to host "Truth or Consequences." Barker even remembers exactly when he learned of his new job: Dec. 21 at five minutes past noon.

"That is the most important thing that had ever happened to me professionally or will ever happen to me professionally because it changed my life," Barker said.

The only real blemishes in Barker's "Price" tenure are several lawsuits brought by female employees. All were settled out of court, which Barker said was not his choice; the show's production company chose to settle.

"They were distortions, exaggerations or outright falsehoods, and we could prove that in court," Barker said. "But it's good business to settle when you can settle for far less than the lawsuit would cost."

Barker said he's heard one question most often since announcing his retirement, and the 83-year-old has crafted a succinct response: "I want to retire while I'm still young."

(Rob Owen can be reached at rowen(at) post-gazette.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.shns.com.)