The new season of The Price Is Right

With tremendous excitement, I announce the new season of the Price Is Right. Change is upon us all as my beloved Bob Barker has moved on to greener pastures while Drew Carey is the new host. As if I could let this historic event pass without a live blogging. As if!

Oooh, jazzier theme, a new pastel color scheme, and fun camera angles.

Thomas Plow is the first name of this season. Congratulations, Thomas. You are the first contestant on the Price is Right!

New host Drew Carey emerges to a raucous crowd, some of whom are chanting "Drew! Drew! Drew!" I receive the same ovation upon walking into work every day.

Prize: Scuba Equipment
Contestant 1 1800 (2114! Winner)
Contestant 2 650
Contestant 3 1200
Contestant 4 1300

The winner, Bernard, becomes so excited about his game in which he has a chance to win a new jeep that he runs over a hugs it before he's won it. Bernard plays the money game and, listening to his wife's advice, emerges victorious. He again races over to the jeep and hugs the model. His wife is understandably less thrilled about the groping than the jeep.

Prize: Side-by-side refrigerator and freezer
Contestant 1 2000 (Winner! 2098!)
Contestant 2 2500
Contestant 3 25200, 2560
Contestant 4 2650

No, contestant 3 is not a typo. She originally bid "twenty-five two hundred." Bob Barker came out of the crowd to punch her in the face. She lost.

Winner Peggy is going to play Cliffhanger, which Peggy has annoyingly renamed "Yodel Man." Whatever. The prize is a trip to Bali. I'd throw the game, but Peggy seems excited about the trip. Peggy thought some utensils were $25 and not $20. Good start, nonetheless. Hand held Sudoku Game, she nails at $30 putting her in great shape heading into the final prize. She likewise guesses a phone as being $40. Peggy is off to Bali. Better her than me.

Prize: Exercise Bike - The JR model
Contestant 1 850
Contestant 2 800
Contestant 3 850 (the person two ahead of her bid 850), 895 (same genius as before with 25200, yet she wins with the prize worth 1000)
Contestant 4 700

The winner is Dora, or her name sounds like Dora. I can't read her name tag because her hair is too long, which in turn has deprived her brain of oxygen. Dora loves Drew and hugs him excessively before going into a failed hand spring in which she nearly broke her ankle. Dora will play In the Bag. Great game where retail shopping can result in $16,000. Her second selection (an easy step) is booed incessantly by the audience who are now coming to realize Dora is dumb. The audience saves her on two occasions when Drew allows her to change her original selections. The audience is responsible for Dora winning $16,000, and she collapses to the ground in an unnecessary display of drama. Perhaps it's apparent I do not care for Dumb Dora.

-Peggy spins: $1.00 on first try. $1,000! Yay Peggy!
-Dumb Dora spins 70 cents and 55 cents. Mercifully, she is eliminated.
-Bernard is unable to spin the wheel all the way around. He is a large, strong man and this is embarrassing. His second spin sucks, too, and a trap door swallows him up.
-Peggy's bonus spin nets her no extra money, but smiles for everyone.

Prize: Dinette Set
Contestant 1 999
Contestant 2 1100 (1,199! Winner!)
Contestant 3 1350
Contestant 4 1450

The winner is Thomas who will play Easy As 1, 2, 3. The game is in fact easy as the title describes. Thomas places three wooden blocks in front of three products in order from cheapest to most extensive. After prancing around the stage looking for audience approval, Thomas does in fact win.

Prize: BBQ Grill
Contestant 1 1250 (1500 Winner!
Contestant 2 1850
Contestant 3 1000
Contestant 4 1245 (Great bid, moron. Way to give yourself 5 numbers)

This contestant is a sorority girl proudly displaying her Greek letters. She has an opportunity to win a new car playing the One Away game. The audience is booing, and the audience has done well so far. Things look bad for sorority girl. In fact, she only has 2 of the 5 numbers correct upon first try. The audience applauds her second try. Things look good for sorority girl. She wins the car. Fantastic audience today.

Prize Hammock
Contestant 1 795 (Winner of some incredibly pricey hammocks, $811)
Contestant 2 1000
Contestant 3 1200
Contestant 4 1

Gregory is your winner and he's playing Barker's Bargain Bar. Ah, I remember Bob. What a guy. Anyway, Gregory must pick which of two prices features a more reduced price. Gregory takes his 50-50 shot and comes away with a computer and a wine cabinet, wrapping up a perfect show in which every contestant won their game.

Drew mentions an interesting fact in that this is the 77th perfect show in Price Is Right history. That'll probably be worthwhile information in the course of my day.

-Thomas spins 50 cents and then 20 for a grand total of 70 cents.
-Gregory says hi to Lindsay in the audience and finds himself with 95 cents.
-Sorority girl is smiling and happy. She gets a 35 and a 65 to win her a thousands dollars.
-Sorority girl falls into Drew after her weak spin, and she wins nothing.

Showcase Showdown
-Sorority Girl passes the first set of prizes.
-Peggy bids $15,000 on a bedroom set and a wave runner. (Actual price: $20,543, Difference 5543. Loser.)
-Sorority Girl bids $25,000 on a huge HD TV, a hot tub, a travel trailer (Actual price: $27,275, Difference of $2,275. Winner! Hugs and smiling and waving and prize touring ensue!)

Thoughts on Drew's first go round: I thought he did alright. When you do something for the first time that someone else has done for 200 years, it's going to be different and an adjustment. He regularly referred to the announcer by his whole name as well as addressing each of the models in a Deal or No Deal-esque manner. He did seem rushed at parts and getting excited at weird times, but for a first time, it was acceptable. In 200 years, he might even be as good as Bob Barker.

Photo from AccessHollywood