Okay, I've watched a few episodes of The Price is Right as hosted by Drew Carey and I can't help but commit heresy: I think he's a much better host than Bob Barker ever was…or at least, he will be if he gets a wee bit more comfortable in the role. He still has the look of a guy who can't believe he got the job but that will pass. He's also still trying to do Barker's show, as opposed to Drew Carey's, which is probably wise. Carey is a much funnier guy than the format requires and my sense is that he's been advised, or perhaps has decided on his own, not to change things too much his first few weeks. Devout Price is Right fans first have to accept that he's worthy of their favorite show before they'll be ready to tolerate anything different. So he's suppressing his urges to be a little looser and to not do everything the way Bob did.
I already like him more than Barker. He doesn't have that smarmy self-adoration. He actually seems to like the contestants and not because they're fawning over him — which so far, thankfully, they're not. Carey's "nice guy" image doesn't appear to be a mask that he dons when the cameras are on. I never felt that way about his predecessor. I'll bet the people who work on that stage over at CBS are a lot happier now, too.
When I first heard it was going to be Carey, I thought that was a poor fit. Now, I'm thinking not. The Price is Right formula has gotten very stale over the years. Everything that could possibly happen in a game of Plinko or The Money Game has happened a thousand times, and even adding new games won't reduce the sensation of déjà vu because they won't be that different from the old games. CBS, I gather, first went looking for someone who could replicate the Barker style, then realized that was exactly what they didn't want. The one thing that could keep that show going for a while is a host who breaks away from that and makes it his own. Drew Carey has the capacity to do that. I think I'll wait a couple of months and then tune in and see him doing it.