Giggling at the antics of the slap-happy contestants who “come on down” at what he calls “the happiest place on Earth,” Drew Carey looks like he’s having a blast, and looks right at home, on the spiffed-up set of The Price Is Right as he takes over as host today. There’s no fuss and no ceremony, and outside of the introduction telling us we’re at the Bob Barker Studio in Television City, and that one of the games is still called “Barker’s Bargain Bar,” and that Carey chooses to sign off with the traditional plea to have your pets spayed, there’s no actual homage to the former host as the new Price era begins.And yet, probably the greatest tribute to Bob Barker is that the show goes on, and goes on effortlessly with its funny-looking new ringleader, who appears to be genuinely tickled at the breathless excitement of the frantic folks who come to play the game. When one of the contestants does a cartwheel after taking the stage, C...
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Who's doing what for whom this pilot season (per Variety and the Reporter):• Emmy winner Christina Applegate, long wooed to return to network TV, has opted to star as an amnesiac woman in the ABC comedy Sam I Am. Jean Smart is Sam's mom, and Tim Russ (Star Trek: Voyager) is also in the cast.• As first scooped by the Ausiello Report, Judging Amy Brenneman and Merrin Dungey (Alias) have come on board the Grey's Anatomy spin-off, playing Violet and Naomi.• Melanie Griffith will guest on the pilot for the CBS musical drama Viva Laughlin. A conniving sexpot, Griffith's character could go recurring.• Drew Carey's Diedrich Bader is the loyal friend of CBS' Skip Tracer.• Jamey Sheridan (Law & Order: CI) is a wife-beater turned zombie in CBS' Babylon Fields.• Stephanie Childers (Studio 60) is the mother of ABC's American Family.• Ty Burrell (Out of Practice, indeed) is an ace reporter for Fox's Action News.
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