The Price is Recession

Just about everyone is cutting back in these economic times. Heck, look at all the articles I had to cut back in writing here, to save newsprint.

You wouldn't think about it in normal economic times, because the overload of consumerism seems so normal -- but I imagine game shows must be getting hit harder than we expect. The current killer of media -- news, programming, papers, internet -- is a lack of advertising revenue. With no one buying, companies are forced to slash their ad budgets to save cash. So it comes as no surprise that game shows -- for example, The Price is Right -- are not immune. After all, The Price is Right is nothing more than an hour-long commercial. I've always wondered how the FCC lets that slide. I just figured Bob Barker must have fathered everyone on the FCC board, but I'm not sure about Drew.

Recently, The Price is Right has taken a major nosedive. Again, not just because of Drew Carey. Take, for instance, the prizes in the showcase. Now, when I was a kid, those showcases were out of control. You'd get a shitty first price, to warm up you up -- essentially a fluffer, so to speak, to get you ready for your big scene. You know, like a toaster or a washing machine or a piece of carpet. Then you'd get a medium prize, like a new dining room or a golf cart or a big ass TV. Finally, you'd get the monster prize. The prize that you could never afford if you worked your whole lousy life as a bartender/student/old person or whoever else competes on TPIR. The monster prize used to be a motor home, or a trip around the world, or a night with Barker's Beauties. Sigh, if only.

Now, look at today's Showcases:

Showcase #1: An arcade game, a trip to Cannes, France, and $1500 "gambling money."
Showcase #2: A coffeemaker, some shitty Seattle's Best coffee, and a Chevy Cobalt.

Hmmm so you're telling me I have to choose between Pacman and forcibly wasting my prize money in a shitty tourist town -- or a caffeine high in a shitty American car that will likely kill me in my ride home? Umm, I bid $10 trillion, Drew. Thanks.

I don't blame The Price is Right. They're doing the best they can. They hired Drew Carey to save a few million a year. The fired all the hot Beauties, because apparently, unattractive girls cost less. And they started handing out crappy prizes, because the big-ticket advertisers weren't willing to give away a Cessna anymore. I get it.

Maybe pretty soon they're just do away with The Price is Right, and save money by merging it with other CBS programming.

CSI: Showcase Showdown, Two and a Half Dollars, or How I Met Your Outbidder.