CBS To Air Bob Barker ‘The Price Is Right’ Special on Aug. 31
Special shows first host on the job back in ‘72 and clips of exuberant contestants
CBS salutes the late Bob Barker with The Price is Right: A Tribute to Bob Barker, which airs in primetime Thursday, August 31. Barker, who hosted The Price is Right for 35 years, died August 26. Drew Carey, who took over as host of the game show in 2007, hosts the one-hour special.
“This tribute to the legendary Bob Barker will bring back great memories for generations of The Price is Right fans who loved Bob, his humor, his ability to connect with contestants and his innate talent for making the most out of every moment,” Margot Wain, senior VP of daytime programs, CBS, said. “Bob was one-of-a-kind; he’ll be remembered as an extraordinary host, a devoted animal activist, and, as he would put it, ‘a loyal friend and true.’ We’re so pleased to be able to salute his many accomplishments and honor his memory in this way.”
Barker was 99 when he died.
The special will show Barker on his first day on what was then called The New Price is Right, the show’s transition from 30 minutes to 60 minutes in 1975, the first look at the Plinko game, the renaming of the show’s soundstage as “The Bob Barker Studio,” Barker’s final day on the job and returning to the show on his 90th birthday, on April Fool’s Day and to promote his book Priceless Memories.
There will also be video montages of emotional contestants after they’re told to “come on down” and after they won some loot.
The Price Is Right is produced by Fremantle, with Evelyn Warfel as the executive producer/showrunner.
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Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.