Bob Barker - Retired

Bob Barker, television legend and avid ASPCA spokesperson, taped his last hosted episode of the super-popular Price is Right gameshow on Wednesday, June 6, 2007. For more than 35 years Barker has summoned contestants to the stage on over 9,000 episodes.

Here's a little history for you braniacs out there, complements of the great and powerful Wikipedia:


"The original format, which first aired on the NBC and ABC television networks in the United States from 1956 until 1965, hosted by Bill Cullen, generally involved four contestants bidding on lavish prizes; after a predetermined number of bids, the player whose bid was closest to the correct value of the prize (without going over) would win it. At show's end, the player who had won the most (by dollar value) was declared the champion and returned to play again on the next episode.

In 1957 an Australian version made its debut on ATN-7."

"An updated version of the format premiered in the United States on the CBS television network on September 4, 1972 [1]. In this new iteration, contestants place one bid on an offered prize; the player who bid closest (but not over) then got to play one of several mini-games (dubbed Pricing Games in most countries) for an additional prize. One contestant, through various elimination formats, could find themselves winning a large showcase of prizes at the show's conclusion. Originally thirty minutes long, the show was expanded to its current hour-long format in the fall of 1975. At this time, a new feature was introduced, involving a large wheel with various amounts up to one dollar, which contestants were asked to spin. The contestant who came closest to one dollar in either one or two spins, without going over, was brought back to compete in the Showcase at the end of the show. The three winners of each half-hour segment get the chance to spin the wheel, with the winner of each spin competing against one another.

The 1972 American version, hosted by Bob Barker, is still currently airing as of May 2007 on CBS and is believed to be the second longest-running game show on television, trailing only the Spanish-language variety show Sábado Gigante [2]; it is also the longest running five-days-a-week game show in the world. (Wheel of Fortune began its syndicated run in 1983[3], and Jeopardy! followed in 1984.[4]) The Price Is Right is one of only two game show franchises to be seen nationally in either first-run network or syndication airings in the US in every decade from the 1950s onward; the other is To Tell the Truth, another show created by Bob Stewart for Goodson-Todman."

Thanks for all the good times Bob, we're gonna miss ya.

-Brian www.lemonshirt.blogspot.com