Bob Barker's last show hosting The Price is Right aired Friday, ending a career of over 50 years in television and 35 years as host of America's longest running game show. As great a game as Price is, it's longevity without a doubt lends itself to its host, who in an ever changing world has been one of the few constants we could always count on seeing. As one of the show's producers said in a recent inteview, "half the country does not know life without Bob Barker," which is definitely true for me and most of you reading this. Whether it was a sick day from school or waking up late during summer vacation, Bob has consistently been there at 10 AM bringing the same passion and excitement to every show day in and day out. And for many of us who have grown up watching Price, he's become almost like a surrogate grandfather in a way - spending an hour with us each day, making us laugh and smile, and giving away really nice (and not to mention very expensive) gifts.
Perhaps that's a part of why his popularity has never wavered but has actually grown over the years. In a culture that increasingly values and emphasizes youth, it's remarkable to see someone at 83 years old be as popular with college freshman as he is with senior citizens. You can tell just by the commercials for life insurance, adjustable beds, and denture adhesive that the show isn't exactly marketed to the MTV generation. However for college students everywhere a trip to The Price is Right has become a standard ritual which will no doubt continue when the new host takes over.
Speaking of which, it's still to be decided who Bob's successor will be. The search has already taken a few months and potentials have been auditioned, but as of yet nobody has been found to take his place. Hopefully this is a sign that they are taking this process very seriously, but there are some who feel that the show should have ended with Bob leaving, as The Price is Right is so much identified with him that it'd be futile to continue on. I myself believe the show can go on without Bob, but it's going to be tough to do since although the show has changed throughout the years, those changes have almost always been gradual. From the look of the set to the music cues and the pricing game rotation, all of those changes have happened little by little to shape the Price that we see today. Undoubtedly the transition from Bob to another host will be the most drastic change the show has ever experienced, which is why the show's future lies in finding the right host to take over. Perhaps the difficulty in finding someone is due to the fact that Bob was just so good at what he did. The bar is set high and so are expectations, and even though it'd be unfair in some ways to compare the new host to Bob, comparisons will be made.
I myself was lucky enough to fulfill a childhood dream and become a contestant on the show a few years ago. It was definitely a thrill to play Cliffhangers and win some furniture among other prizes. But to meet Bob Barker and experience first hand the warmth, wit, and charm of America's premiere game show host will always be an experience I remember as absolutely priceless.
I'm sure by now most everyone has seen the pictures of Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho. In the more than two weeks since the tragedy a lot of questions have been raised. How could someone in his mental state get a gun so easily? Did the campus officials do all that they could to secure the school? Could mental health authorities have taken better care of him? There's no doubt that these questions will be tossed around and debated for the weeks and months ahead.
For me, however, the most chilling aspect of this tragedy isn't any of those issues, as important as they are. It's the fact that this wasn't your stereotypical mass murderer who committed this. He wasn't a deranged postal worker or a trenchcoat-wearing rebel addicted to violent video games. No, he was an Asian-American in his mid-twenties, just like myself and I'm sure most of the people reading this. When the shootings first happened, I don't think anyone could have predicted that the perpetrator would look like someone we all might typically know. Just looking at some of his pictures circulating in the media, they could have very easily come right out of my high school yearbook.
And yet, that's the sobering nature of human evil. It doesn't discriminate based on race, age, class, or any other factors we use to distinguish ourselves from each other. It's a truth as universal as the earth is round, and as enduring as the Bible which states that "There is no one righteous, not even one." (Romans 3:10) There is a belief out there that human nature is essentially good, but I don't think an event like this is necessary to disprove that. All we have to do is examine our own lives and realize the almost instinctual ease with which we do bad, as opposed to the sometimes grudging reluctance it takes us to do good. Just the fact that morality has to be taught shows that our natural inclination isn't toward goodness, as we're only taught the things that we don't already know. This may be a hard truth for some, but the sooner we realize just how often we violate that objective moral standard set by God Himself, hopefully the sooner we come to embracing the mercy and forgiveness provided by His Son, Jesus Christ.
There you see me, my friend Noah, and his girlfriend Amy at the Viejas Casino Outlets for the Deal on Wheels Casting Tour last Saturday. We were there along with about 15,000 other people (give or take a few) trying their luck in getting on the show and a shot at winning $1 million. Knowing that there would be a ton of people we planned to get an early start getting there at 6:45 AM as they were starting to audition people starting at 10:00. But by the time we got there about 4,000 people were already ahead of us, and when everything was done with we had been there for 9 hours, over 8 of which were standing in line.
It was definitely a long wait, but in some respects in wasn't as bad as it could've been. I really don't know of any other place where you could get thousands of people to stand in line for so long and not have a riot break out. Obviously I'm sure the chance at winning big money, however remote it is, tends to put people in a more positive state of mind then they otherwise would be. Also a really smart move was having a live band play some really groovin' music towards the end of the line, which helped a lot in keeping the mood upbeat.
Amy and I actually didn't try out, but were there to support Noah who's a big fan of the show and could obviously put $1 million to good use. I'm sure many of you are wondering why a game show aficionado like myself didn't audition, especially after waiting for so long. Don't get me wrong, Deal is a great just show, but personally I'm just more into playing games of skill. And that's the great thing about that show, since it is a game of chance just about anyone from any walk of life can get on and play, which is obviously why so many people showed up to audition.
How exactly then do you audition for a show that's based on chance? Well it basically all comes down to personality and how uniquely you can present yourself. While standing in line the casting director told everyone the importance of talking about themselves, not about how much they like the show, or how gorgeous the models are, but how to make yourself shine and be remembered at the end of the day out of the thousands of people there. As if that isn't hard enough, you get all of 20 seconds to speak and impress the casting staff. At least that's what they told you how long you get, watching it happen it seemed like everyone went over 20 seconds but nobody was cut off. Also there was a girl standing behind the casting director with a stopwatch which she never used or even looked at, so it seemed like they wanted everyone to be in a mindset of keeping their intros brief without strictly enforcing it.
So what made Noah stand out from 15,000 people? Well I think he had a few things going for him, such as just having his supporters there with him in person which many people didn't seem to have. He also brought pictures of his darling 9 year old twin boys and turned them in with his application (they really go for the cute factor on that show). Not to mention he had with him probably the most authentic looking case prop there, thank you very much.
So there you have it, it was a long day but I got to hang out with friends I don't get to see too often, and experienced the craziness of a casting call with thousands of other people. So to me it was still worth it to go even if he doesn't get on Deal of No Deal. My feet however were another story, as after standing in line for so long they seemed to be asking another question at the end of the day - Feel or No Feel?
Well this blogging thing is going great isn't it? I've been averaging what, one post a month since February? Not that I haven't had any ideas, but the hard part is just getting them down onto the computer. There will be some fun stuff later this week though, I promise.
As for now since Easter has just passed I wanted to post a few thoughts about it. I know for many it's a day filled with hunting eggs and having the family over for dinner. Now nobody's against any of those things (unless of course you're PETA), but for Christians like me it's the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Throughout the morning I was able to reflect on that through an early Easter service and the regular Sunday morning service at my church. And to be quite honest I don't know if the resurrection is something we Christians think about as often as we should. Yes, it is one of the core beliefs of Christianity, but is it something we reflect on very much outside of this time every year?
And I definitely include myself in this, but I think we tend to naturally drift towards the forgiveness aspect of the gospel, and why wouldn't we? The Bible is clear that everyone is a sinner, as Romans 3:23 states "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," and Scripture is also clear about the consequences of sin as the first part of Romans 6:23 states "For the wages of sin is death," an eternal death spent in hell separated from God.
However there is hope, as the second part of Romans 6:23 says "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Jesus was a sinless man, but the irony is He died a sinner's death in being whipped and beaten, nailed on a cross, and left to die. His death is what God uses as payment for our sins, and how God makes available the forgiveness that we need to live our current life obedient to Him, and to live our next life in heaven eternally with Him.
That's not it though, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:4 "that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve." As Pastor Jeff spoke this morning he reminded us how essential the resurrection is to the gospel, and how the belief in it is necessary to be saved. The fact is that if Christ did not rise from the dead, then Christianity is patently false. There is no hope in a dead savior, but there is hope only in the One who conquered death and came to save from eternal death those who repent of their sins and place their faith in Him alone.
I don't think I've ever been prouder of my home country than I am at this moment. So what have they done now to gain my enthusiastic praise? No, they haven't turned away from their socialistic tendencies, nor have they renounced hockey as a national sport. Instead, they've imported one of America's most treasured resources - hot women with loads of cash - into their living room television sets. That's right, they now have a version of Deal or No Deal to call their own, complete with Canadian models, a Canadian banker, and of course a Canadian host (whom you should be able to recognize). Check it out here:
(Translation: Loonie = $1 and Toonie = $2)
Now many of you know I was born in Canada and spent the first six years of my life there, and when people bring that up I typically like to downplay that fact. Not that it's something I'm necessarily ashamed of, but let's face it - America is just so much better. Seriously, we're talking about a country whose three most abundant natural resources are snow, ice, and slush. Don't get me wrong, I would like to go back and visit there sometime, but maybe when global warming can heat it up a few degrees, just enough so that I can feel my extremeties.
P.S. Follow this link if you want to watch the rest of the show (this is Episode 1).
