What? No Happy Gilmore Moment?

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Bob Barker quickly retreated from his statement that Drew Carey was "not exciting" as the host of CBS' long-running daytime gameshow, "The Price is Right". He apologized yesterday for his earlier statement to a TMZ reporter in which, when asked what he thought of his replacement on the show, Drew Carey, Bob screwed up his face and said, "I tried to make the show exciting, Drew doesn't." When Barker saw how much media attention his remark was garnering, he quickly apologized and withdrew his earlier remark. It was noted that Barker continues to collect royalties from the show as long as it's being broadcast, so it was not in his financial interest to besmirch the show. But Barker is also a very sophisticated, classy man, and we believe that being snarky about another entertainer is just not in his nature. Drew Carey commented that he didn't take Barker's original comments personally.

More Like a Lob

We love Bob Barker. He's smart, classy, sophisticated, and a t.v. legend. He was on t.v. for over fifty years hosting two long-running shows, "Truth or Consequences" and "The Price is Right", and never once failed to make his daily appearances on those shows fun and entertaining. He finally retired from television in 2009, handing the hosting job of "The Price is Right" over to Drew Carey, and suddenly, overnight, one of our favorite shows wilted before our eyes. We know Bob Barker, we love Bob Barker, and Drew Carey, you are no Bob Barker. Carey adds no zip to the show, no sense of fun; he just seems to go through the motions while fumbling or laughing uncomfortably. He just doesn't have the personality of a Bob Barker, and never should have taken over the reigns of this show.
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We've often wondered what Bob Barker thought of his replacement and today, we got our answer. Bob was caught by a TMZ videographer on the street who asked him what he thought of Drew Carey, and Bob said, to paraphrase, that "...he, (Bob), tried to make the show exciting, and Drew doesn't do that...". The media is blaring with headlines like, "Bob Barker Slams Drew Carey!". Don't believe everything you read. If you watch the video, Bob doesn't "slam" him at all, it's more like a soft lob. Bob simply makes a quiet comment about the difference between he and Carey. And it's true; Bob was an old-fashioned entertainer, he knew how to sell the show, thus the name "Barker". His style was like a carnival barker's, whose job it is to sell tickets, no matter how weak or corny the show inside the tent. Drew is too ironic, too post-modern to allow himself to wallow in the corn of the show; not that he's not funny or talented, he's just not the right person to host a daytime t.v. gameshow.
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Despite the inflated dust-up between Bob and Drew, the other thing we noticed when watching the video on Bob on the street is how, at 86, the man is still alert, funny, interesting and loaded with charisma. Why is this guy not still on t.v.? He's more entertaining in a 30 second video on the street than most people are with a script and millions of dollars of production values. Forget Betty White, it's Bob Barker who needs to be back on t.v.!
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Below is the link to the video of Bob Barker on TMZ:
http://www.tmz.com/videos?autoplay=true&mediaKey=e9a41ac7-42ca-4975-8f6b-6eccc816924d&isShareURL=true