Barker 'fine' with exclusion from 'Price Is Right' special
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Bob Barker hosted "The Price Is Right" for 35 years, but he wasn't invited to participate in the game show's 40th anniversary special.
The 88-year-old TV personality says the show's producers "chose to ignore me, which is fine."
The 40th anniversary special episode of TV's longest-running game show aired Tuesday morning and featured returning contestants from the past four decades. Barker is shown in several clips but was not invited to appear on the program or attend the taping.
"They haven't even offered me a DVD," Barker said in an interview Tuesday. Show producers had no comment.
Barker, a longtime animal activist who advised his viewers each day to "Help control the pet population: Have your pets spayed or neutered," thinks he was omitted from the anniversary show "because I have been critical of them for giving away prizes that I consider inappropriate."
He complained to producers for awarding tickets to Sea World and the Calgary Stampede as prizes. Both organizations "are notorious for animal abuse," Barker said.
(Sea World says on its website that "the animals in our care are content and healthy." The Calgary Stampede says it works with the Calgary Humane Society and the Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to ensure its animals receive proper care.)
During his reign as host, Barker asked the show to stop giving away fur coats and leather jackets and they obliged.
"We really became very careful about what we put on the show," he said. "Had I been the executive producer, they would not have even considered bringing me tickets to the Calgary Stampede of all things."
Barker has donated millions of dollars to animal-rights causes since retiring from "The Price Is Right" in 2007. He was replaced by Drew Carey, who hosted Tuesday's anniversary episode.
Barker's last appearance on the show - which is taped at CBS' Bob Barker studio - was in 2009.
He insists he's fine with not being included in the anniversary episode, but said, "When you celebrate a 40th anniversary, you would think you'd have the fellow who did the show for 35 years there."
Barker's first appearance on "Price" in 1972 was among the clips included in the anniversary special.
Had he been invited to attend, he said he would have repeated his show-closing refrain about spaying and neutering pets.
"That's my message on any occasion and every occasion," he said.
Barker added that he had planned to watch the special but missed it: He had it down on his calendar for Wednesday.
The 88-year-old TV personality says the show's producers "chose to ignore me, which is fine."
The 40th anniversary special episode of TV's longest-running game show aired Tuesday morning and featured returning contestants from the past four decades. Barker is shown in several clips but was not invited to appear on the program or attend the taping.
"They haven't even offered me a DVD," Barker said in an interview Tuesday. Show producers had no comment.
Barker, a longtime animal activist who advised his viewers each day to "Help control the pet population: Have your pets spayed or neutered," thinks he was omitted from the anniversary show "because I have been critical of them for giving away prizes that I consider inappropriate."
He complained to producers for awarding tickets to Sea World and the Calgary Stampede as prizes. Both organizations "are notorious for animal abuse," Barker said.
(Sea World says on its website that "the animals in our care are content and healthy." The Calgary Stampede says it works with the Calgary Humane Society and the Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to ensure its animals receive proper care.)
During his reign as host, Barker asked the show to stop giving away fur coats and leather jackets and they obliged.
"We really became very careful about what we put on the show," he said. "Had I been the executive producer, they would not have even considered bringing me tickets to the Calgary Stampede of all things."
Barker has donated millions of dollars to animal-rights causes since retiring from "The Price Is Right" in 2007. He was replaced by Drew Carey, who hosted Tuesday's anniversary episode.
Barker's last appearance on the show - which is taped at CBS' Bob Barker studio - was in 2009.
He insists he's fine with not being included in the anniversary episode, but said, "When you celebrate a 40th anniversary, you would think you'd have the fellow who did the show for 35 years there."
Barker's first appearance on "Price" in 1972 was among the clips included in the anniversary special.
Had he been invited to attend, he said he would have repeated his show-closing refrain about spaying and neutering pets.
"That's my message on any occasion and every occasion," he said.
Barker added that he had planned to watch the special but missed it: He had it down on his calendar for Wednesday.
I love Bob's dedication to his beliefs. He is the first person who got me thinking about why we should spay and neuter. We should because it is cruel not to and there will never be enough homes for all the unwanted cats and dogs out there.
What a disrespectful way to treat Bob...
Well that's effed up! Bob Barker still IS the Price is Right. Always will be. The fact that he was excluded from the 40th anniversary is just plain bs.
The producers should have centered the the 40th anniversary special around Bob Barker. Given him a big fat King's chair and let him host 1 more show.
Â
That's how it should have been done!
That is BS. Alot of people made alot of money because of Bob Barker -- if it wasn't for him, there probably would have been no show. The least they could do is include him to show their appreciation and respect.Â
Wow! Some ungreatful losers the producers must be. He's really the only reason those producers still have a job 'cause Bob built that show! Guess I had a new good reason for not watching it anymore.
@Zoso Haven't really watched it since Bob Barker left. Drew Carrey just isn't the same.
I can't wrap my head around that. The PIR is synonymous with Bob Barker. To me, it's like trying to enjoy Christmas without Santa. You just can't.
 @MacGyver! Maybe I'm just too old but whenever I hear of The Price is Right I think of Bill Cullen.
 @Furd  @MacGyver! And when I hear Bob Barker's name I still think of Truth or Consequences :-)
 @Furd  @Crashbox  @MacGyver! I guess i should have said that i am so old i forgot who Bob Barker was....senior moment.....never mind.
 @Grumpa  @Crashbox  @MacGyver! You don't remember Bob Barker? You MUST be a kid. Barney on How I Met Your Mother (played by Neil Patrick Harris) told everyone his father was Bob Barker. The Shanmonster (do a Google) told her little sister as a baby to, "Say Bob Barker" so often that her first words WERE "Say Bob Barker". Bob Barker is as much a part of early television as are Jack Benny, Groucho Marx, and George Burns.
 @Crashbox  @Furd  @MacGyver! I remember watching Truth or Consequences when my age was in single digits. For a while he had a chimpanzee do the buzzer for wrong answers or the time period before answering. I remember he called the Chimp Beulah the buzzer.
 @Crashbox  @Furd  @MacGyver! I don't even remember who Bob Barker is?  :-)
Given the fact that they've systematically removed just about every Barker-era person from the production staff, this doesn't surprise me. I actually got to go see a taping back when Bob Barker was still hosting, and although Drew Carey does a reasonable job, he's no Bob Barker.
I quit watching The Price is Right when Bob retired. My goal as a child was to be on the show when I turned 18, and when I turned 18 he retired. Drew doesn't do a terrible job at the show, it just isn't the same without Bob. Shame on the producers for ignoring him, he made the show worth watching.Â
 @Melissa Foster Displaying respect obviously for some... remains elusive. Shameful indeed.
Bob Barker,
Your tireless work with animals right is sooooooooo much more important than The Price Is Right Show.
Shame on them for ignoring the person who gave them success, I admire you so much for your conviction to the rights of animals.
Keep up the good fight Bob. America loves you!!!
The fact that Bob Barker wasn't invited to the anniversary special was no accident. Â How incredibly RUDE of the producers. Â These people wouldn't have a job today were it not for the incredibly loyal following created by Bob Barker. Â
Â
The only fitting punishment I can come up with is the producers need to be spayed or neutered. Â I certainly wouldn't want to see this sort of behavior exhibited by their offspring.
 @JoeKing Funny!
That's America now days for you. Ignore a guy who made your show what it is just because of his personal opinions/moral views. Freedom to think no longer exists.
 @Barlion You are dead on. In the new USSA freedom of thought and expression (speech) are no longer allowed unless you are supporting the party line. Remember this when you vote in November.