You've probably seen or read promos for a new documentary that is gleefully airing all the dirty laundry of The Price is Right from back when it was one of television’s most popular and beloved game shows.
With Bob Barker as host, Johnny Olson as announcer, and a trio of models – Janice Pennington, Dian Parkinson and Holly Hallstrom – viewers came to know and love, that show remains a fond memory for those who grew up with it. Summer mornings, sick days, snow days, we relaxed on the couch watching contestants play games, try to win a car, and guess at the cost of everything from baked beans to Samsonite luggage, all without committing the unpardonable sin of not going over the actual retail price.
Most if not all the documentary’s “revelations” had already leaked out years ago – backstage affairs, racism allegations, lawsuits and more lawsuits, with Barker at the center of the turmoil and no longer around to defend himself.
Here is my question: Is it wrong that I really don’t care?
I know that sounds harsh, but I’m being honest. I’m not without sympathy if someone is mistreated at work, but if decades have passed since the supposed transgressions, dredging them up now in documentaries seems more about vengeance than justice, or maybe it’s just about the paycheck.
Uncovering dirt after someone dies is a popular sport these days. And my response after being exposed to such scandals is always the same: Now that I know, what am I supposed to do?
I can’t erase the happy memories. I don’t want to. As I’ve entered my 60s my memories have only grown more precious. I walk through a house full of memories every day. A home that is now empty except for me. The connection I’ve forged with the shows I write about dates back more than half a century. The memories experienced when I watch them again are as fond now as they’ve ever been.
As I wrote in a previous blog, it was the longevity of The Price is Right and this cast that, as it did with soap operas, made the show so special. Janice was pointing at “brand new cars!” when I was 8 years old. She was still doing it when I graduated high school. And she was still doing it when I graduated college, and for more than 10 years after that.
Am I supposed to hate Bob Barker now? How about Michael Landon, Danny Bonaduce, Robert Blake, Roseanne, Darlene Gillespie, James Farentino, Dana Plato…shall I keep going? With some celebrities their sins are paragraph one in any story about them; for others it barely merits a mention. Should I only disown those who acted out of cruelty, and not mental illness or desperation? How would I know which is which?
We’ve had this conversation once before, of course, back in 2015 when I wrote about Bill Cosby. Despite all the accolades that made him one of television’s most influential creators, the legacy of his work has been permanently tarnished. “Good,” some will say. “What a shame,” others lament.
These are issues beyond television, and everyone must decide for themselves where to draw the line. But I think we can all agree that condemnation and banishment come much faster than they used to and cast a much wider net.
These are issues beyond television, and everyone must decide for themselves where to draw the line. But I think we can all agree that condemnation and banishment come much faster than they used to and cast a much wider net.
Revelations about union activist Cesar Chavez emerged at about the same time as those about Bob Barker – also for things that happened half a century ago. Within days if not minutes, events were canceled and workmen set about removing his name from public spaces. Statues of Christopher Columbus have been toppled. San Francisco tried removing the names of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson from schools because they owned slaves. And Tiger Woods got another DUI last week.
None of us are the sum of all our virtues or the sum of all our sins, no matter how exceptional the virtue or how despicable the sin. But on the great scandal scale, those attached to The Price is Right seem positively benign. Some border on ridiculous. According to one article, “After some models expressed concern about their treatment on the set of The Price Is Right, CBS initiated a 10-second rule where people couldn’t stare at models for longer than 10 seconds.”
Wait – men like to look at beautiful models? Shocking!
None of us are the sum of all our virtues or the sum of all our sins, no matter how exceptional the virtue or how despicable the sin. But on the great scandal scale, those attached to The Price is Right seem positively benign. Some border on ridiculous. According to one article, “After some models expressed concern about their treatment on the set of The Price Is Right, CBS initiated a 10-second rule where people couldn’t stare at models for longer than 10 seconds.”
Wait – men like to look at beautiful models? Shocking!
We also need to keep in mind that the longer ago the alleged behavior, the fewer people still around to validate the allegations. Luckily, Price is Right producer Roger Dobkowitz is still around. He was there for 36 years, and this was his response to the documentary:
“This so-called “expose” makes me realize that there are some people in this world who will happily exaggerate and create falsehoods in order to justify a personal hateful vendetta against a person in order to draw attention to themselves. Making the situation worse is the fact that the accused is deceased, and therefore, making it impossible for the accused to defend himself. The adjective “brave” should never be used in reference to a person attacking a dead person.
The show was a happy place…our working environment was the envy of other shows. Staff rarely quit...the dozens of women who were in our repertoire of models came back year after year, happy to be on our show. The only unhappy people, as would be found in any company, were the ones that didn't get the raise they wanted, the ones that didn't get the promotion they thought they deserved, and the ones that were terminated for not doing their job.”
I hope he’s right. But regardless I’ve about had my fill of the scandal factories “tearing the lid” off beloved programs and personalities and inviting all of us to share in their disdain. Instead, I’ll follow the guidance found in the Gospel of Luke - “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
“But what fun is that?” say the bottom feeders at E! behind the Price is Right doc and other explorations of the dark side of television.
Perhaps someday someone will take a closer look at what goes on behind the scenes at E!. Wouldn’t that be something.
"The unpardonable sin" is going over the actual retail price.
ReplyDeleteI have watched the current iteration of TPIR since Day One - I was instantly hooked (I think we're about the same age). Bob Barker was a great host and knew exactly how to get the best out of contestants. But he was also a predator and a sexist. This is not just an isolated incident - it was a pattern, with multiple alleged incidents with multiple women and then he used his power to punish women like Janice who supported the alleged victims. You apparently don't care about what happened to them - only that an entertainment channel chronicled the abuses of an idol.
Anyone can feel however they want about Bob - I have very mixed emotions. But I have long tired of conservatives who make breathless, idiotic statements like "Must I hate John Doe now?" to ignore the trespasses committed. As TPIR: The Barker Years is available on multiple platforms (which I watch), Bob isn't being cancelled. As for the scandal mill, it has always been part of Hollywood. It's not surprising that a special like this would come out after Barker's death - it happens all the time after celebs pass.
I'm glad that TPIR appears to be treating its models better - I will never forgive TPTB for the way Janice was fired.
Thanks for responding and for the (correct) edit regarding actual retail prices. The rest merits a longer discussion that would be difficult to have here.
DeleteGood title, great piece. I really enjoyed your commentary David, you're a real writer. I had to smile reading your early memories of Price is Right, I felt like I was reading my own. Haven't seen the show in many years, but Bob Barker was the best. I couldn't agree more with what you wrote here either, and people who live in glass houses.... now I would say the Bill Cosby thing is entirely different. If even a fraction of what all his accusers said was true, than the man was a sorry monster and obliterated his own hard-earned title of America's Dad. But this? Your scorn is well placed.
ReplyDeleteThanks Doug. Yes, the Cosby accusations are far more serious and deserving of punishment.
DeleteAs a side note: I'm not on social media anymore but I sometimes lurk on Reddit, including the Price is Right section. It's amazing how many people will dump on Bob Barker's hosting – as if revelations about him affect how good he was as host? – and at the same time endlessly talk about how great a host Drew Carey is.
ReplyDeleteSorry. Drew Carey seems like a perfectly nice guy but he is terrible as Price is Right host. For several reasons (Carey, the over the top screaming of contestants, the lame prizes, the fact they don't even give the brand names of the products anymore, etc), the show is a shell of its former self.
Social media has certainly coarsened the culture - and I agree about Drew. I don't think I've watched more than a handful of episodes and that was enough to realize it's not the same show anymore.
DeleteMr. Sassone, how does Drew Carey stink as host of "The Price is Right"?
DeleteI cannot stand Drew Carey. I don't find him funny, his sitcom was terrible, and he's not a good host. To me, he seems to bear a strong resemblance to the show's original host, Bill Cullen, whom I happen to like. I love watching his version of "The Price Is Right" online. I love the show's brand new host even more. Canadians can now watch "The Price Is Right" every Tuesday at 8 pm on CITY-TV hosted by Canadian comedy superstar Howie Mandel. That's one show I'm not going to miss this year.
DeleteNo offense, Mr. Hofstede, but what about Vince McMahon? Unlike Bob Barker, McMahon is still alive. Remember when McMahon went on trial for distributing anabolic steroids to his wrestlers? (Yes, I know he was acquitted.) Remember when the Mr. McMahon character made Trish Stratus bark like a dog? I imagine you are aware that McMahon has been accused of sex trafficking. McMahon's son-in-law, retired wrestler Paul "Triple H" Levesque, may not be doing a particularly good job of running World Wrestling Entertainment these days, but...
ReplyDeleteThe debate is not about whether famous people do bad things - it's about dredging up 50 year-old scores to make a buck. McMahon's on-screen antics were part of the show; how he conducted himself in private is now being litigated.
DeleteExcellent point here David, and an excellent post. As is the case with so many things in life, the reason why we do something is as important as what we do. In this case, it's one thing to bring scandal to light in the search for justice; it's another thing altogether to do it simply to make money and spread calumnity (a specific sin regarding speaking ill of others that does not distinguish as to whether or not the accusations are true; even if they are, it can still be sinful on the part of the person making the statements). At the risk of being presumptuous, it seems to me that this was done more in the quest for profit than the quest for truth. Great article!
DeleteThank you Mitchell - I figured this might be a divisive piece, but I'm glad some understand the point I was attempting to make.
DeleteJanice Pennington's firing (28 years) came with the takeover of Pearson Television by Radio Television Luxembourg (RTL Group) in 2000. It was a corporate decision by the new owners of the show, which had ownership changes throughout the 1990's after Mark Goodson's death, most notably by European broadcasters.
DeleteAnd true, the models are being treated better. Rachel Reynolds has de facto become the show's senior personality, not Drew Carey (who is in his 19th year), as the Mrs. David Delucci is now in her 23rd year on the show. We're now seeing each model's pregnancy announced on air and at least two models have had their children presenting alongside them for special occasions. Look at the way Reynolds was treated as a week-to-week model in the later Barker era and now as a senior leader and supervisor of models in the Carey era (she lives in Louisiana, not California). I would not be surprised to see her to 2031 to beat Janice Pennington and take a leadership role at the show (she is 43, but Amber Lancaster, who started in the first year of Carey and has a son, is older at 45).
One Reddit post noted that the J. Pennington-Parkinson-Halstrom pair ran 16 years, while now at 18 years it's been Reynolds-Lancaster-Arbalaez, whose roles have increased on the show including helping target daytime's female audience with male models they helped select and they are not on every episode, they are effectively integrated. One example of this was the 2022 episode where a contestant won both Showcases, but he only thought he won one. By putting wireless microphones on the contestants and models, the emotional outburst of the double showcase winner was heard as Reynolds tells the winner of his double.
You wonder why Barker and RTL decided to go with a week-to-week model instead of having permanent ones in 2000 (reverted in 2009 back to five, and now six models, but only two models a show in order to allow the four parents -- the three longest serving women are all mothers, and James O'Halloran is a father -- to tend to their children).
Interesting info - thank you for sharing.
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