Changes, some big some small, are coming to America's oldest game show. 'The Price is Right' is suddenly in the news this week, thanks to an old scandal, a departing major player, and reports of tweaks to the show's format that could mean more frills and less game play. Longtime fans may be grumbling and asking themselves WWBBD? (What would Bob Barker do?)

The biggest change is the departure of longtime announcer Rich Fields, which Fields himself confirmed last week in a statement to fans. Fields, who has told contestants to "come on down" since 2004, wrote that his replacement will be an improv comic, someone who'll be chosen via on-air auditions.

It's not clear whether Fields was let go, quit to pursue greener pastures (he'll still be working for CBS as a weatherman), or left because of the new direction the show is taking. As Fields put it, producer Mike Richards has "explained to me that he loves having the 'house bands' and 'live performers' all the time on 'TPiR' and that he hopes to make it more of a 'variety show within a game show.' He believes that having a comedian at the announcer's position from now on will enhance this new change in direction."

Asked about Fields' departure, Manfred Westphal, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications for FremantleMedia, the company that produces the show, told TV Squad, "We did not renew Mr. Fields' contract. We do not further discuss the contractual particulars of our on-air talent."

Certainly, the timing of Fields' announcement is curious, coming the same week as the news that a new pricing game is coming with the biggest payoff in 'Price Is Right' history, as well as the revelations in a much-buzzed-about Esquire magazine article about what really happened on the day in 2008 when a contestant won both showcases with a suspicious, unprecedented, on-the-nose price guess.

Word of the new game appeared on game show news site BuzzerBlog, which says that the game is called "Pay the Rent" and offers a $100,000 payoff for its top prize. That's about four times the value of a typical showcase package. When it debuts this fall, it'll be the second new game introduced on the show in recent months; another game, "Rat Race," introduced at the end of last season, has proved popular among fans.

Games don't evolve very often on 'Price is Right,' but that may change with the publication last week of Esquire's piece, 'TV's Crowning Moment of Awesome.' The article recounts the story of Terry Kniess, the contestant who landed the improbably perfect bid during an episode that aired in December 2008. Kniess claims his winning bid was a combination of luck and memorization (he'd studied the show and memorized the prices of hundreds of recurring products), though it didn't hurt that Ted Slauson, another longtime fan and careful student of the show's recurring products, was in the studio audience that day helpfully shouting out prices to the contestants.

At the time, the show's crew feared that the implausible event was somehow the retribution of Roger Dobkowitz, who'd been the show's producer for 36 years until Richards replaced him weeks earlier. That sense of horror and shock was why host Drew Carey, who'd replaced retiring 35-year-veteran host Barker only a year earlier, appeared so underwhelmed by Kniess's victory, and why CBS buried the episode, taped months earlier, in the dead of December, Esquire reports.

There was no evidence, however, that Dobkowitz was involved; maybe it was just karmic retribution. Still, the show has had to take measures to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future, measures like moving recognizable longtime fans to the back rows where the contestants can't hear or see them, or rotating more new products into the prize lineup, or introducing trickier games with more dependence on luck.

Terry Kniess's perfect bid on 'The Price Is Right'


Inevitably, says BuzzerBlog's Alex Davis, fans will complain about all these changes. "The hardcore fans won't be happy because many have an axe to grind," Davis tells TV Squad. "Those hardcore fans won't be happy with anything unless they go back to the way it was 20-25 years ago."

As for the addition of comics and musicians to the show, that's something that's already been happening for a while. It's certainly something that Carey, with his background in improv comedy, feels comfortable with, though it would never have been allowed in Barker's day.

In his statement, Fields didn't express an opinion about whether the increased time for performers will be good or bad for the show; in fact, he seemed to make a point of not saying anything critical about Richards or Carey, whom Fields called his "biggest champion," and who had nothing to do with the "change in direction," Fields said.

"I think people are making too much of the 'variety show within a game show' comment," Davis says, adding that he doesn't think the performances will cut into game play too much. "This is a 'wait and see' thing more than anything. Frankly, the show is rushed now as it is (it's down to around 38 minutes of show), so a change may not be the worst thing ever."

As for who's in line to replace Fields, Davis says one candidate named is J.D. Roberto, whose TV hosting résumé includes 'Shop Til You Drop' and 'Reality Remix,' and who has also hosted the 'Price Is Right' live stage show in Las Vegas. He also notes that on 'Let's Make a Deal,' the announcer is an improv comic, Jonathan Mangum, a friend of host Wayne Brady. Both Brady and Carey have improv comedy backgrounds as well; Brady was a popular regular on Carey's version of 'Whose Line is It Anyway?'

CBS has yet to formally announce any names of candidates. In response to TV Squad's queries about the developments cited in this post, CBS Director of Media Relations Cindy Marshall suggested that more new games are on their way. "We will be announcing details of any new games shortly," she told TV Squad. As for other changes, she said, "Stay tuned for next season and find out." She declined to comment on Fields' departure or any fallout from the events depicted in the Esquire article.

Davis says it's been common to hear fan complaints about changes on 'Price Is Right' for three years, ever since the show lost Barker (and Dobkowitz, and the old cast of product display models), but that fans eventually get on board and accept the tweaks. "The show obviously needs to tread lightly and not just toss everything out of the window, though," he adds. "This is a very established show and you can't massively alter anything without damage."

(Follow Gary Susman on Twitter @garysusman.)