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The Good, Bad and the Ugly: "The Price
Is Right" Australia Revival
by Jim Williams
Originally Posted:
May 12th, 2012
"The Price Is Right" is back down under...and to put
things mildly, people aren't exactly thrilled about it.
The following commentary will serve more or less as my
review of the new version of the venerable game show
classic.
***THE GOOD***
It was a no brainer for 7 to bring Larry Emdur back to
the gig he became most famous for. Emdur already serves
as one of the co-anchors for the network's morning news
and entertainment program "The Morning Show". And, as
you may remember, last year Emdur flew to Los Angeles to
do a report on "The Price is Right" which led to cameos
on the actual program which led to rumors of a revived
version of "Price" down under which led to the new
Australian "Price" on the air today. Emdur is, in the
truest sense, an absolute professional. He knows when to
play things up for levity and when to build the drama.
And he seemed genuinely touched by the reaction he
received on his first show back in the saddle. He may
well be the best active emcee for "Price" on the planet.
I also have to say that I do like the set down under.
Based off the look of the highly successful French
version of "Price", "Le Juste Prix", the new set is eye
catching, albeit small. Lots of flashing lights and a
great use of video wall technology on the set's big
doors.
***THE BAD***
When "Price" was on 9 Network in the 1990s and 2000s,
the show's announcer was Shawn "Cossie" Cosgrove. His
easy going and effortless style along with his rapport
with Emdur made him a great announcer and second banana.
Since the show moved to 7, a new announcer was called
upon.
This guy.
His name is Brodie Young and from his entrance on the
first episode (saying that he wanted to shorten the
show's signature phrase to "COD", I almost immediately
wanted him off my screen. I know television executives
(a.k.a. know-it-alls, nitwits, or morons) are always
wanting to cater to a younger audience. And apparently
catering to a younger audience means hiring an announcer
who could pass for the Australian version of Vince
Offer. He's actually not too horrible when it comes to
reading copy for prizes, but when it comes time for a
new contestant to come on down, "Cossie" he ain't. Young
is borderline carnival barker-esque when it comes to
calling people to the floor as he has a tendency to
stretch out the call downs as if he's the center of
attention. For the sake of comparison to an American
"Price" announcer, think of Brodie Young as fill in
"Price" announcer Paul Boland with an extra side of ham.
***THE UGLY (& THE REST)***
Oh, this is where it gets lengthy. As a matter of fact,
this section will double also as an explanation on what
exactly happens after a contestant gets to come on down
since most of the nuts and bolts of the show are indeed
"UGLY".
No longer do you have to win your way on stage to play a
pricing game. Contestant's row is a thing of the past.
Hmmm, where have I seen this before?
Ah yes, "The New Price is Right" with Doug Davidson. And
we all know how well THAT clicked with loyal friends and
true stateside.
Well, Australia pretty much went that route with the
front half of the show.
So, you get called to play a pricing game immediately.
And more often than not what do you get a chance to win?
What the? Big W?
Big W is essentially the Australian equivalent of
Wal-Mart. The overwhelming majority of the pricing games
are played for either a Big W shopping spree or prizes
available from Big W. Big W sponsors the show and the
show logo shows up eleventy billion times a show between
props, prize reads, and commercial breaks. This sort of
practice is not unheard of, of course. "Atinale Al
Precio", the Mexican version of "Price" hosted by the
great Marco Antonio Regil did this sort of sponsorship
with retailers frequently. But, on the show down under
it reeks of cheapness. Which reminds me...
THIS SHOW IS DIRT (BLEEP)IN' CHEAP! The prizes for
winning pricing games are in the $1,500-$2,000 range. To
put things in perspective, when Emdur first hosted
"Price" in 1993, they were giving away more than that in
prizes per pricing game on a regular basis...AND THAT
WAS ALMOST 20 YEARS AGO!
Also, you can actually purchase some of the items
featured on the show on a special website mentioned
sporadically during the program. Hmmm, where have I seen
this before?
And no, I'm not talking about Ed and Livinia's
"Temptation". I'm talking about the bastardized American
version where announcer Rolonda Watts "knows you want"
their merchandise and Rossi Morreale has one thing to
offer: lots of love.
I should correct my earlier statement on just how cheap
the new "Price" is. There is a pricing game where
someone can win a $3,000 Big W shopping spree.
Yes, Australian Plinko is now played for Tiddly Winks.
Take a look at the board layout below.
This has to be some cruel joke, right? The maximum
number of chips a contestant can win is only 3 (1 given
at the start, 2 the contestant can earn additionally),
so with all the luck of the Outback, a contestant can
possibly win $3,000 at Big (BLEEP)in' W. Give me a
break.
At the end of 3 pricing games, the 2 contestants who
have won the most in Big W prizes advance to the
showcase playoff...
...unless we have multiple losers as we had in the
premiere episode. Look familiar? Look a little like
contestant's row? Well, that's because it pretty much
is. The contestants in question will bid on an item
described by Emdur. The closest to its actual retail
price without going over makes it into the showcase
playoff.
The Australian "Price" showcase playoff is essentially
the same as it ever was. They show the showcase (which
now has fewer prizes and a low-mid end automobile) and
then the two contestants bid back and forth from the
base range given (i.e. between $27,000 and $28,000)
until one contestant nails the actual value of the
showcase.
Then as on other versions of the show down under,
the aim is to rank the prizes in the showcase from lowest to highest.
Unlike other versions of the show down under, the
rankings must be made and locked in within a 40 second
time limit. This, to me, reeks of change for the sake of
change. And what would happen if they didn't get the
prizes ranked in the allotted 40 seconds? It hasn't
happened yet, but inevitably it will.
And that's what 7 Network would like to pass off to the
Australian public as "The Price is Right". But, is the
Australian public that gullible?
***SUMMATION***
Save for the era when they gave away "mega showcases" in
primetime, Aussie "Price" wasn't really a big budget
show. But, they used to offer a variety of prizes (and
decent cars) at a variety of prices. Now, it's become a
glorified infomercial for Big W with low end prize
packages and shopping sprees for "lucky" winners.
The miniscule budget of "Price" is made even more
laughable when one notes that it's the lead-in to "Deal
or No Deal", a show that offers a top prize of $250,000
and, with some regularity, gives contestants a solid
shot at walking home with a 5 figure payday.
The response to the new "Price" is shown in the ratings.
The premiere episode Monday was watched by 536,000
viewers. The second episode was watched by just 402,000
viewers. That's a 25% drop from episode 1 to episode 2!
I share their thoughts. The fans of "Price" in Australia
deserve better and so does emcee Larry Emdur.
If I could sum up the show in two words, I must quote
the words Larry Emdur often ended his last run of
"Price" episodes with, "Game over."
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