As Gary told you the other day, Rich Fields has been let go from his position as the announcer on 'The Price is Right.' This is too bad. Fields has done a fine job since taking over the role in 2004, having a good rapport with both Bob Barker and now Drew Carey.

There's a lot of talk about what they're going to do. Fields himself said in a statement on his site that they're going to be auditioning stand-up comics. Alex at BuzzerBlog says that besides former 'Shop 'Til You Drop' host J.D. Roberto announcing an episode this week (the show has started taping new episodes for the fall this week), comics Jeff Davis and Brad Sherwood will try out too.

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."

It's tough to pull off an April Fool's Day prank and not look like a complete tool. Believe me, we've tried it more than once here at TV Squad. Either the joke is so subtle no one gets it, or it's so obvious and over the top that people start to think we've had our senses of humor surgically removed.

I wanted to give that caveat before I talk about what Drew Carey and the folks at 'The Price is Right' did to celebrate April Fool's Day today. If you didn't see it, Kathy Kinney made her second appearance on the show as her old 'Drew Carey Show' character Mimi Bobeck. This time, Mimi has been given the reins of the show by the folks at CBS, and she not only has made a few changes, but she's watching her arch-nemesis Drew's every move.

The gag worked in places. But the problem with carrying a gag like this through an hour-long game show is that you actually have to play the games in a straightforward manner. And that's where things broke down. Video of Drew's and Mimi's intro is after the jump.

I can't imagine the discipline and training it must take to be a top notch TV game show announcer. But whether it involves daily gargling, diction concentration exercises or repeating phrases like "My grandmother brought candy to the bigamist" over and over, it must take a toll on your sanity.

That's the only explanation I can fathom for The Price Is Right announcer Rich Fields' slow cognitive eradication as evidenced by this video. Let's hope gets a "brand new braaaiin" real soon.

If you didn't watch today's episode of The Price is Right, you missed a woman wearing a "Substitute Teachers Need Random Sets Too" t-shirt (which I'm still not sure I understand), a woman winning a set of Star Trek Pez dispensers (!),Drew Carey showing what the price card looks like inside that envelope used on Contestants Row (not sure if we've ever seen that before), and a woman flapping her arms up and down like a bird in excitement, even though she didn't win a car in the Lucky 7 game (side note: that game is impossible to win now). Oh, and you also missed Bob Barker return to the show he hosted for over 30 years.

Barker made his first appearance on the show since his retirement to promote his new memoir, Priceless Memories. He showed up during the showcases. After the jump, his appearance (along with interviews and some behind the scenes footage).

It's more than a little ironic (or tragic, depending on how much you give a rat's ass) that the most successful game show in the history of American television has never had a truly worthy home game. One worthy enough to give to loser contestants so they can win against their own friends and family at home because God is a cruel comedian.

Seriously, God should get his own Mark Twain Prize.

Now after more than 35 years on the air, there is such a game: The Price is Right video game. And it's so well done and fun that it could crush the soul of a 300-pound linebacker from Obetz, Ohio who lost out on his chance to be the only guy in town who owns a Chrysler Crossfire.

I've been watching The Price is Right since the 70's and I thought I had seen everything: prizes break, people falling down, April Fool's Day jokes being played on contestants, boobs popping out of shirts. But today I saw something that I'm sure is going to be talked about a lot.

During the showcase, the first contestant came very, very close to the actual retail price. I think she was something like $480.00 off (I didn't record the show so I'm going on memory here). It looked like she was going to win, until they got to the other contestant. He bid $23,743, and then host Drew Carey announced the actual retail price as...$23,743. That's right, the contestant got the price exactly right.

If I were to win a prize on The Price is Right - perhaps a new Broyhill sofa, some dinnerware from The Michael C. Fina Company, or a new car - I wouldn't jump up and down. In fact, I don't think that a car is even such a great prize to win. But I can understand why contestants who win some of the bigger prizes would want to jump up and down and celebrate.

However, I don't understand why contestants jump up and down before they win a prize.

Jason's post earlier today about The Price Is Right reminded me of something I've been thinking about for years: what are the best and worst prizes you can win on the show?

This is all personal opinion, of course. Where I might frown or shrug at a prize I might win another person will scream and jump down about. But I think there are certainly some prizes we can all agree are pretty lame. Below are the six that come to mind. Five of them you'll probably agree with, but I bet several of you will have a problem with number six.

Ever since The Price is Right's Bob Barker announced his retirement, game show fans have been bandying about names of possible replacements. The names most commonly mentioned are Todd Newton, who hosts the TPiR road show, Marc Summers of FoodTV's Unwrapped (and the late, lamented Nick game show Double Dare), and Rich Fields, the show's current announcer. But an unexpected name is coming out of left field, and may be a strong contender: Dave Price.

The Early Show's weatherman and all-around goofball recently signed a new deal with CBS, and according to an article in the New York Daily News, that contract also calls for him to do "entertainment-based projects" for the network. In addition, the story reports that he was at the offices of TPiR producer Fremantle Media doing a mock run-through of the show for a small audience (who responded to a Craigslist ad, for crissakes). CBS is saying that it's too early to even talk about a replacement for Barker.