Bob Barker/ Jerry Lewis Done Wrong / "Rebranding"

[LizzieMaine]

Then in the sixties they were replaced by a new cadre of hip young executives...

"When I hear the phrase 'hip young whatever' I reach for my pistol."

 

[Retro_GI_Jane]

Next thing will be the 1980's version of "future" teens - mohawks, plastic sunglasses with slits, fingerless gloves, chains and burnt denim jackets. Or wait, was that already cool?

It was and is making it's way there again. We were at the mall this past weekend and one of the window displays in teeny bopper stores suddenly had me flashing back to the late 80s/early 90s LA Gear adverts I remember seeing everywhere.

 

[AmateisGal]

Yes - the 80s fashion is back. While school shopping with my daughter, I saw many things that I would have had in elementary and high school. Colored jeans, for one. I've also noticeda few girls at my daughter's middle school with the side ponytail. Ugh.

 

[kiwilrdg]

I am really surprised that the ad execs of today think that in order to attract a younger demographic you need to chase away your current target market.

Rather than just ignoring the icons of both programs they should have found ways to work them into the shows. Recent TV shows and movies have proven that the young, hip youth of today only like stale, second-rate remakes of older things so they would do better by bringing back the old and calling it retro for the youth and classic for the current target demographics.

Wait, that won't work. Who ever heard of a TV show that the whole family can watch together.

 

[Noirblack]

Does it matter much if Bob Barker isn't invited to a 40th anniversary for The Price is Right? The whole show was nothing but marketing. It isn't like The Price Is Right is an important piece of cultural heritage. If anything, all it did was give away trash and trinkets and fuel consumer desire. The entire show was a commercial. Bob Barker was just the friendly, smiling, sun-tanned face on the TV screen.

The consumer watching the show was lucky enough to learn the price of a package of Rice A Roni while the contestant tried to win a Datsun. It seems strange to say that marketing has taken over the show since it was always transparently about marketing.

 

[AmateisGal]

Aww, c'mon. He was the face of that show for years and years and YEARS. I used to watch it during the summer all the time when I was little. Heck, I even played it at home, practicing my "modeling moves" by running my hands over toasters and furniture. lol

For me, yeah, it was a piece of my childhood, and as that is what Bob Barker is most known for, yes, he should have been invited.

I wouldn't say it is relevant to "classical culture" or "high-brow" culture or whatever you want to call it, but popular culture? Yes, I'd say that show was important in that aspect.

 

[Undertow]

Does it matter much if Bob Barker isn't invited to a 40th anniversary for The Price is Right? The whole show was nothing but marketing. It isn't like The Price Is Right is an important piece of cultural heritage. If anything, all it did was give away trash and trinkets and fuel consumer desire. The entire show was a commercial. Bob Barker was just the friendly, smiling, sun-tanned face on the TV screen.

The consumer watching the show was lucky enough to learn the price of a package of Rice A Roni while the contestant tried to win a Datsun. It seems strange to say that marketing has taken over the show since it was always transparently about marketing.

He-Man, a transparent marketing device, decides to celebrate it's 30 Years of mastering the Universe. The cartoon kicks off with all of the characters - except Skeletor. Sure, the show can go on without the "old" bad guy, but anyone that ever watched the original cartoon knows that He-Man battles Skeletor, plain and simple. However, instead of Skeletor, He-Man can battle the frightening Ninja Pirate Cat; some amalgamation of various online memes that the Boys in Marketing think would be REALLY cool (and quite easy to sell)! How fun.

Television shows that have aired for decades and become, more or less, icons of pop culture nostalgia deserve a certain level of care. You can trounce them as much as you like, and discuss their various pros and cons, but if we're going to continue the legacy of, say, Mr. Rogers and we're going to air the 50th Anniversary episode, it would be nice to extend an offer to any living members of the original cast. See what I mean?

 

[Tomasso]

Bob Barker was just the friendly, smiling, sun-tanned face on the TV screen.

And behind the screen he was a total ahole to everybody he worked with, from producers to the kid who held the idiot cards. And Jerry Lewis was no walk in the park either. Lots of burnt bridges there that caught up to them in the end.

 

[AmateisGal]

Well put, Undertow.

 

[Noirblack]

He-Man, a transparent marketing device, decides to celebrate it's 30 Years of mastering the Universe. The cartoon kicks off with all of the characters - except Skeletor. Sure, the show can go on without the "old" bad guy, but anyone that ever watched the original cartoon knows that He-Man battles Skeletor, plain and simple. However, instead of Skeletor, He-Man can battle the frightening Ninja Pirate Cat; some amalgamation of various online memes that the Boys in Marketing think would be REALLY cool (and quite easy to sell)! How fun.

Television shows that have aired for decades and become, more or less, icons of pop culture nostalgia deserve a certain level of care. You can trounce them as much as you like, and discuss their various pros and cons, but if we're going to continue the legacy of, say, Mr. Rogers and we're going to air the 50th Anniversary episode, it would be nice to extend an offer to any living members of the original cast. See what I mean?

Undertow, I'm not familiar with the He-Man show. But wouldn't there be a difference between a character being left out of a reunion and a host (who it sounds like might have been the author of his own misfortune).

If you have a story-based program, even if it is a marketing tool for toys, it has to be well written enough to have kids watching it. Part of that is the characters have to be compelling - you have to care about and root for the good guys and you have to dislike and want the bad guys to lose. In the case of that kind of TV show, it would make sense to have all the living cast members back. Such a show would require both the heroes and the villains to make it work.

By contrast, there is no story telling in The Price Is Right. It is just a showcase for consumer goods. They even used that term. What good did Bob Barker do that makes one care about him? He has his spay and neuter message, but that's about all you'd know about him from watching the show itself. He wasn't exactly out there battling evil day after day. The only reason one thinks one likes him is because he is pleasant on the TV screen and you are extremely familiar with him. Would it have been nice of the producers to invite him? Yes. But considering that he merely helped put flashy consumer goods in front of a lot of viewers is his exclusion an affront to society? No. (In my opinion). He was just another cog on the marketing wheel.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Barker's best work...

[video=youtube;caQ0n_ANqq0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caQ0n_ANqq0[/video]

 

[kiwilrdg]

Yes. But considering that he merely helped put flashy consumer goods in front of a lot of viewers is his exclusion an affront to society? No. (In my opinion). He was just another cog on the marketing wheel.

I am not angry in either case. I may ruffle some feathers but BOTH shows are marketing. The show being about buying certain items at a store or a certain charity that you should give your money to. Either one is trying to influence your decision. I do not refer to the motive, only to the goal of the shows.

I think the yound ad execs do not realize that the old hosts are expected by the older generations because they were the first hosts and will bring a nostalgic feeling to the generations because they grew up watching them. The young ad execs may bring in a new generation of viewers, but at a cost of some of the current viewers. The idea that involving old people does not sell has proven itself wrong, Betty White is a perfect example.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I don't think anyone has claimed that either program *isn't* marketing, and that wasn't the point PSG was concerned with anyway. The real issue here is exactly what other posters in the thread have emphasized -- the disregard and disrespect shown for older individuals who made the programs successful. Marketing is simply the reason why this disrespect and disregard are being shown.

The whole Betty White phenomenon annoys me. She's been a successful actress for sixty years, but now she's been turned into an "ironic" parody of herself. That she seems happy to go along with this is beside the point -- that point being that the whole point of the parody is "Hey look, this old lady says dirty words. Whoa, we're pretty hip for appreciating that." They aren't respecting or honoring her -- they're simply using her the same way they use an ironic t-shirt slogan.

 

[kiwilrdg]

The whole Betty White phenomenon annoys me. She's been a successful actress for sixty years, but now she's been turned into an "ironic" parody of herself. That she seems happy to go along with this is beside the point -- that point being that the whole point of the parody is "Hey look, this old lady says dirty words. Whoa, we're pretty hip for appreciating that." They aren't respecting or honoring her -- they're simply using her the same way they use an ironic t-shirt slogan.

She is just using a comedy character type that has been used many times. It was done with Barbra Billingsley in Airplane and even Bob Barker in Happy Gilmore. The same type of character was used in many classic movies (just fiesty old codgers, cussing was not needed). It is a caracter type that is also loved in dramatic and adventure roles. I just mentiond Betty White as an example of how the young ad execs ignore other generations even when they have proved to be succesful tools in marketing.

The real issue here is exactly what other posters in the thread have emphasized -- the disregard and disrespect shown for older individuals who made the programs successful. Marketing is simply the reason why this disrespect and disregard are being shown.

The shows are based on marketing so I could understand them doing that if the shows were not succesful. Both shows were still successful when the hosts were replaced so it appears to not only be disrespectful, but not very good marketing either.

On the other side of the issue, I can understand that Bob Barker does have some problems with the types of prizes being given today because of his animal rights conviction. I do not know what issues Mr. Lewis and the MDA telethon stall may have (it must be major issues because he is very dedicated to helping MDA.) I would imagine that there were negotiations that were not able to overcome the issues. It is really very professional on the parts of both the actors and the producers to keep the issues they dealt with under wraps.

 

[Feraud]

The whole Betty White phenomenon annoys me. She's been a successful actress for sixty years, but now she's been turned into an "ironic" parody of herself. That she seems happy to go along with this is beside the point -- that point being that the whole point of the parody is "Hey look, this old lady says dirty words. Whoa, we're pretty hip for appreciating that." They aren't respecting or honoring her -- they're simply using her the same way they use an ironic t-shirt slogan.

Thank you for mentioning this. I've been disgusted with how SNL handled her appearance on the show. This woman has a full acting resume and the best they could do was to have the old girl utter some dirty words. Imagine that..an old person using foul language. I felt embarrassed for the writers for having no more imagination than that.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Exactly. I don't give a fat flying damn if "it's been done before," nor do I have a problem with old ladies using foul language. I could swear any of them right off the floor any night of the week. The point is exactly as Feraud puts it -- it's a cheap, sleazy, shopworn gag in which any prim-looking old lady could be used. It makes no use whatever of Betty White's specific talents, and it does nothing but pander to the stunted tastes of a "youth audience" forever rooted in a Beavis-and-Butthead-level of adolesence. Nuts to that.

 

[kiwilrdg]

it's a cheap, sleazy, shopworn gag in which any prim-looking old lady could be used. It makes no use whatever of Betty White's specific talents, and it does nothing but pander to the stunted tastes of a "youth audience" forever rooted in a Beavis-and-Butthead-level of adolesence. Nuts to that.

I agree but I think it is more a case of poor writing. The same character is better conveyed if there are well written lines. The implication is stronger than actually saying the word. Betty White could pull off the characters that she has been playing much better if her lines did not actually use profanity. If well placed innuendo was used they could provide humor on several levels at once.
I am sorry for inserting this tangent.

 

[Mocheman]

Exactly. I don't give a fat flying damn if "it's been done before," nor do I have a problem with old ladies using foul language. I could swear any of them right off the floor any night of the week. The point is exactly as Feraud puts it -- it's a cheap, sleazy, shopworn gag in which any prim-looking old lady could be used. It makes no use whatever of Betty White's specific talents, and it does nothing but pander to the stunted tastes of a "youth audience" forever rooted in a Beavis-and-Butthead-level of adolesence. Nuts to that.

It's just lazy writing like putting fart/burp gags in a kid's movie for easy laughs.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think it's a good point to be raised -- because it's just another example of the youth-marketing disregard for older performers. "No need to come up with any kind of interesting material for the old bag, just bleep her out a few times and they'll lap it up."

 

[Undertow]

But considering that he merely helped put flashy consumer goods in front of a lot of viewers is his exclusion an affront to society? No. (In my opinion). He was just another cog on the marketing wheel.

So why bother get to know your bus driver? He's just the same loser that takes you from point A to point B, right? He's just a mouthpiece of the Metro Transit Authority. You're not riding the bus to see him, you're riding the bus to get to the library.

If we have no personal relationship with our bus driver, and he serves no other purpose but to drive our bus, we should having nothing else to do with him?

Certainly, if we approached every aspect of life with a cold, cynical eyes, things like nostalgia would have no place in our hearts. However, as it is, when Mr. X appears on The Y Show for 35 years, it would be graceful and show some tact to invite Mr. X back for the Anniversary episode, if not at least to sit in the audience.

I suggest that folks become fond of other folks over the years, regardless of their position. You may not personally know, or care about, your grocery store produce manager, but if you see the guy/gal every other day for 30 years, you might feel a tinge of sadness if they suddenly appear in the obituaries. Same rule applies to The Price is Right.