Bob Barker makes his valedictory speech - TCA Report

Ever since I got CBS's TCA schedule a couple of days ago, I was looking forward to this moment: an hour-long Q&A session with the soon-to-retire Bob Barker. In celebration of 35 years on The Price is Right, 50 years on TV, and his June departure from the long-running game show, the network decided to juice up the crowd by having them wear TPiR-style name tags and play with replicas of the Plinko board, the big wheel, and the Dice Game. After everyone came back inside the ballroom, Barker came out to a standing ovation...

Well, not exactly. But considering the fact that a fair number of the jaded and grouchy critics actually applauded, well, that's probably the TCA equivalent of a standing O. Barker noticed this:

"On The Price is Right, I get a hell of a lot more applause than that." when a few more people applauded, he said, "I usually get a standing ovation," which led me and a few others to stand up. What the hell, the guy deserves it.

Anyway, Bob regaled us in the schtick he used when he first announced his retirement: "In December, I became 83 years old. And I want to retire while I'm still young." He jokingly replied when asked what he's going to do next, "Perhaps I'm missing something; I thought after you retire, you don't do anything. I plan on going into bodybuilding and become Governor of California. I thought I'd go directly into the movies. They were going to make Happy Gilmore 2, but Adam Sandler's doctor said he can't get another beating so that's out."

In some serious moments, though, he did tell us what he'll work on: the D.J. and T Foundation, which is named after his wife (Dorothy Jo) and mother (nicknamed Tillie). It's an organization that subsidizes spay and neuter operations for pet owners who can't afford him. He'll also work to get two elephants, one at the L.A. Zoo and one at the Anchorage Zoo, into animal sanctuaries.

He recalled the day -- December 21, 1956, at five minutes past noon -- that Ralph Edwards asked him to host Truth or Consequences. At the time, he was just a local radio host; this was his first national TV experience (at 42, no less). "It's the most important thing that happened to me professionally, because it changed my life," Barker said. He revealed that on every December 21st, he'd get together with Edwards (who died in 2005) and at 12:05 PM they'd drink a toast to Bob's career.

His scariest guests? Samoans, of course. He told the story of the three Samoans who picked him up and threw him around, even one that promised she wouldn't do that.

I asked him a couple of questions during the conference. First of all, how does he stay so energetic on the show, even now? "Booze," he quipped. "Actually, not until I get home." He went on to answer, "For one thing, I really enjoy what I do. If I didn't, I probably would have retired long time ago." Despite some aches and pains, he feels great. And his vegetarian diet, which he's been following for 30 years, has helped.

He told the story about how he got his first job in radio (he wore his Naval Air Core uniform to interview with a station manager that loved airplanes), how his wife encouraged him to keep doing audience participation shows, and how then-CBS president Bud Grant told Mark Goodson that he'd only put The New Price is Right, as it was called when it began in 1972, on the air if Bob was the host,

Why does TPiR, something even Bob called "an old-fashioned show," still work after all these years? "It's a people show. If I have fun with a contestant I will go three minutes over, but I make it up later (by speeding up another game)." They shoot the show in real time. " People like live television. It's fast moving. I have fun with the audience, with the people in Contestant's Row and the people on stage."

Don't ask him to predict what game shows would survive nowadays, though. "I saw Deal or No Deal just long enough to get an idea. I Never would have predicted its success because it's the same thing time after time after time. But I didn't think Survivor would work either."

He even addressed the lawsuits against him and the show that were settled out of court. "I didn't chose to settle any of them out of court. I chose to go to court but the company that owned the show chose to settle and I understand that." He and the show's staff wanted to go to court because they thought the lawsuits were frivolous. But it was cheaper for the owners to settle than fight.

The final show, to be aired a few weeks after its tentative June 6 taping date, will be like a normal show with a goodbye from Bob at the end. But Barker said there will be a primetime special celebrating his 50 years and his retirement. It will have four games instead of the usual six, a million-dollar big wheel, and clips galore.

After the session, a throng of reporters, including me, came up to Bob to get more private remarks. He doesn't know who's going to replace him -- and they haven't asked him for advice yet -- but he plans to watch the show with the new host. He hopes they won't remake the show, just keep it the way it is and have a new host. Any new host will need to learn the games, which is probably the hardest part. He came to the CBS all-star "happy hour" party but didn't stay long; I wanted to speak to him and tell him how much enjoyment he and the show have given me over the years, but too many CBS stars -- including Boomer Esiason and Shannon Sharpe of The NFL Today -- wanted pictures of him for me to get too close.

Oh well. I'll just have the memory of Bob talking about every college student's favorite line of his, courtesy of Billy Madison: "Here I've been in television for 50 years and what will I be remembered for? 'The Price is Right, bitch!'"