Bob Barker Is Ready to Step On Down

After 35 years of disclosing the "actual retail price," 50 years overall in television, and a bevy of Emmys, Bob Barker has announced that he is ready to step down as the host of CBS' long-running The Price Is Right. "I will be 83 years old on December 12," he tells the Associated Press, "and I've decided to retire while I'm still young." Barker, who has been pondering hanging up his microphone "for at least 10 years," admits that he's "reaching the age where the constant effort to be there and do the show physically is a lot for me. Better [to leave] a year too soon than a year too late." The silver-haired icon will host his final "Showcase Showdown" in June 2007, and even at this early point I can tell you that it will be grossly overpriced. I mean, $21,200 for a Jet Ski, a three-day trip to Rhode Island and a jukebox?! But seriously, folks... my college chums and I used to schedule classes around TPIR, and Bob, god bless his cat-spaying, dog-neutering soul, will be missed.