Is The Price Is Right headed for a comeback?
According to News Limited, it appears that Seven is keen to revive the age-old format to run back-to-back with Deal Or No Deal in the important lead-in hour to the 6.00pm news.
It is tipped that the revamped Price Is Right will be hosted by Larry Emdur (pictured), currently co-host of Seven’s popular The Morning Show and who hosted two previous versions of The Price Is Right for the Nine Network. Emdur has also hosted game shows Family Double Dare, The Main Event, Cash Bonanza and Wheel Of Fortune.
News of the planned revival comes after a wave of nostalgia for the format following the recent passing of Ian Turpie who hosted the game show during the 1980s for both the Seven and Ten networks.
The Price Is Right is certainly one of the most enduring of game show formats on Australian television – usually enjoying a few years on air before taking a break and then resurfacing to an enthusiastic reception.
It made its first appearance in the late 1950s with separate versions in each of Sydney and Melbourne. A ‘national’ version, hosted by Horrie Dargie, launched as a daytime program on the Seven Network in 1963.
Ten years later the 0-10 Network revived the titled, based on the updated format launched in the US, with host Garry Meadows. The program was so successful in its daytime format that the network expanded it to run in prime-time as well.
The Seven Network then launched The New Price Is Right, hosted by Turpie, in September 1981 on the back of failed early-evening game shows Celebrity Tattletales and Catch Us If You Can. The show was a hit and ran for around four years. Turpie reprised his role as host when Ten launched The Price Is Right as a Saturday night program as part of its ill-fated 10 TV Australia line-up of 1989.
Nine then revived The Price Is Right with Emdur as host for several years during the 1990s and then again in 2003. The show last appeared in 2005.
Last year Emdur made a guest appearance on the US version of The Price Is Right as part of that show’s 40th anniversary celebration.
The recycling of classic TV show formats is hardly new but appears to be a trend among American producers and has seen the revival of some former Australian favourites, including Hey Hey It’s Saturday, It’s A Knockout, Young Talent Time and the recent announcement of a remake of drama series Prisoner, but success in this strategy is proving to be hard to come by. However, The Price Is Right is one format that seems to always bounce back on a high.
Source: News.com.au
