No one will replace Bob Barker as host of The Price is Right. Not the statement you probably had in mind when you read the title of this post, but it is undeniably true. With 35 years and tens of thousands of episodes under his belt, Barker and TPIR became a single entity. And, at least in the short term, his successor would always be compared to Bob, no matter who was chosen to host the mother of all daytime game shows. Heck, the Pope could have been chosen to host and people would say 'Yea, the Pontiff is good, but he isn't Bob.'

With that out of the way I can say that Drew Carey is the right man to take the microphone as host of The Price is Right.

Well, after all the hemming and hawing about who was going to replace Bob Barker on The Price is Right, we finally have a name. And, apparently, a signature pair of glasses to go along with it.

According to James Hibberd of TV Week, Drew Carey has been signed to host the venerable game show. CBS decided to offer Carey the job after seeing his hosting skills in action on The Power of Ten. The plan is to have Carey announce the move tonight on Late Night with David Letterman.

This seems like a no-brainer, and I wonder why they haven't done it before. A video game based on The Price Is Right will be in stores in time for Christmas.

Now, that will be long after the CBS show picks a new host to replace Bob Barker (the latest rumor: Drew Carey could get the gig, if he audtions and his new game show Power of 10 does well in the ratings), so there's no word on there will be any host depicted in the game. But all the classic games will be there: Contestant's Row, Plinko, the Showcase Showdown, and there will be real products in the game just like on the TV show.

I just hope they also have annoying, screaming audience members who can confuse the contestants, and women who run down the aisle and their boobs fall out of their dresses.

It looks like the long search for the new host of The Price Is Right is down to two: Sarah Silverman and David Hasselhoff.

Just kidding! The New York Post is reporting that producers have narrowed it down to two contestants: Mark Steines and Todd Newton. Steines is a host on Entertainment Tonight (he'll keep the job if he gets the PIR gig), and Newton has hosted several game shows, including a PIR show in Las Vegas. The pay for the job is reportedly near $3 million a year. Nice.

Hmmm...I'm not sure about this. But I guess they're both competent hosts. It looks like producers are going for the safer choices (male, slightly older, experienced) than going with someone like Mario Lopez or Ian Ziering.

This is odd. We've been covering this whole "who is going to replace Bob Barker" story for several months now, and this is the first time I've heard Dan Patrick's name come up.

But the ESPN Radio host told listeners yesterday that although he didn't audition to be the new host of The Price Is Right, producers of the CBS game show did indeed call him and ask if he wanted to audition. He said, um, no. (OK, I added the "um" part, but you can probably imagine he was thinking it that way.)

Rosie O'Donnell has answered the prayers of many longtime Price Is Right fans: she has taken herself out of the running for the hosting job.

Of course, no one officially offered her the job, but she did meet with the show's producers for lunch last week. She would love to host the show, but as she says on her latest video blog, she doesn't want to uproot her family and move out to L.A., where the show is taped. She knows that a lot of people would, but she doesn't need the money and would rather take on projects that would keep her in New York.

So now we're down to only 47 other people who could host.

[via TV Tattle]

Mario Lopez...George Hamilton...Mark Steines...and now Ian Ziering? Are the producers serious about keeping The Price Is Right going, or are they just trying to find a way to end the show now that Bob Barker has left?

Yup, the former Beverly Hills, 90210 and Dancing with the Stars star (and I'll always remember him from The Guiding Light many years ago) auditioned for the gig last week. So the list seems to actually be growing. Besides the names above, don't forget John O'Hurley, Todd Newton, and The Early Show's Dave Price, who should insist on the job since he has the right name for it.

Oh, and Rosie O'Donnell is meeting with producers this week. Radar has a sneak peek at what a Rosie-hosted TPIR might be like.

Yesterday was a big day for Bob Barker, now the former host of The Price is Right. His final episode of The Price is Right aired in primetime, just before he won a Daytime Emmy for Best Game Show Host. After the Emmys, Barker spoke to the press about what the future holds for his beloved game show.

Barker said that Rosie O'Donnell is in talks to take his place as host. And he gave her a little boost, saying, "There's no doubt in my mind she could do the show. Now, whether they want a lady host, I don't know." So far, the producers have only auditioned men. The top male contenders are said to be Todd Newton of E!, Mark Steines of Entertainment Tonight, George Hamilton and John O'Hurley.

I'm not so sure about Rosie (TV Squadder Paul is absolutely against it!). She has a wicked side to her that she would have to suppress on The Price is Right, which may make her seem disingenuous.

Seriously. Mario Lopez is supposedly one of the three finalists in the running to take over for Bob Barker when he retires from the long-running CBS game show later this year. The other two finalists? Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Donald Trump.

OK, I'm kidding about those last two names. But would they be more of a ridiculous choice than Dancing with the Stars star Lopez? What do producers see in him that they say, "you know, he might be a good replacement for Bob?"