I am a week late. All I can say is it has been one hell of a week, and it's a miracle I didn't come unglued after it.

Trips to see The Price Is Right are usually a lengthy process, but it's definitely gotten much more crazy in recent weeks, with everyone trying to "come on down" to Television City and see Bob one last time.

I got into line around 8:30 pm, complete with dinner, munchies, and 29 people ahead of me already. No joke. The first people got into line at 5:30 pm!

Mike joined me a bit later, thanks to a little snafu... He accidentially left the ticket in my apartment. After nearly going all the way back to Riverside for it, he realized he still had the e-ticket in his email box. So while I set up camp, he ran off to a net cafe, printed the ticket, and returned.

And camp is quite appropriate, as I definitely threw the term "Camp Barker" around a few dozen times through the night. That is what Fairfax has become - a camp.

As usual, we met our share of interesting people in line. We had a couple of Bears fanatics (so much for that joke about the Colts and marajuana both being smoked in a Bowl) in line right in front of us (poor guys) - one of which managed to get called down to Contestant's Row (okay, maybe not so poor after all). They were quite nuts, and definitely did their part to add to the insanity of the long night/day.

Just in front of them was a woman and her husband, who went on a K-Mart run earlier and bought a package of socks. She was kind enough to give us each a pair - thank goodness! It was colder than I expected, and thanks to a problem with one of my toes, I was in sandals. We, of course, rewarded them with breakfast, which they clearly enjoyed.

Another group of people sat up all night, and stayed up all day, and had more energy than I ever did at their age. They even came across one of the rats that resides in the bushes along Fairfax, and eventually named him "Ricky".

"Ricky" sure gave us some laughs as well. One person commented that "He wants to see Bob, too!". And after "Ricky" ran up toward the front of the line, there were a few jokes about him cutting up in line.

Speaking of which, we did have that take place. A woman from New Jersey arrived around 4 am, and tried to bribe people to let her go in with them - including us. On one hand, I felt her pain, and was almost tempted to just let her come in with us. On the other hand, I would've been making that decision for a few hundred people - not just myself. She eventually did manage to talk the "Ricky" group into letting them join her.

Sadly, though, we did get some bad news in line: One of the guys right behind us had attempted one of the Monday tapings, and told us about a page who "would be a great announcer if Rich became host". He also added that this page had the day off. It didn't take long to realize that he was indeed referring to Chuck.

Damn. No Chuck!

Of course, that didn't keep us from starting up a Chuck chant at 8 am, which prompted one of the pages to say (visibly irritated) "Chuck isn't here today."

Speaking of which, it's my understanding that Chuck chants have become quite routine at Television City. It looks like we created a monster on August 31!

However, quite honestly, these lines have gotten insane. 150-200 people turned away at 6:00 am after over 300 order of arrival slips were given out. Another 150 or so turned away at 8:00 am, after over 100 stand-by numbers were given out. The last person to get a priority number was roughly #126, and he arrived before 2:30 am.

And, from what I understand, huge turnouts and huge turnaways have been par for the course throughout all of January... Things have gotten so crazy that they can get TWO full audiences out of the line, and they will no longer do group bookings after February.

In other words, if you want to see the Bob Farewell Tour in person, show up early.. DAMNED early.

I'm almost afraid to see what it'll be like come May and early June.

More than once that night, I said that maybe it's time to relocate tapings to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Because at the rate we're going, we may need 70,000 seats by then!

Once we got into grounds of Television City, the energy wasn't quite there. Sure, there was the usual chattering and fun and cheering, but this definitely wasn't August 31. Part of it surely was no Chuck, but I think some of us were just plain exhausted. I know I was - I was going on 24 hours with nothing but a few catnaps, and lots of sugar and caffeine by that point.

I think part of it was so many people coming to see Bob one last time, and so many "We'll miss you, Bob" shirts. I know people are going to miss him - I'M definitely going to! - but I just think these shirts contributed to a somewhat darker atmosphere. An atmosphere that, sadly, carried into the studio itself.

If I had any say in it, I'd be telling people to keep such shirts at home until the last few weeks. I mean, the producers want us to party, but it's getting harder and harder to party when it feels like it's just a countdown to the end of Bob's career.

Fortunately, unlike the previous taping, they wasted no time getting us into the studio rather quickly after the interviews. It's a good thing, because at that point I was now on 28 hours with very little sleep, and the more I sat still, the more I wanted to sleep...

Let's just say it's a good thing they didn't offer a bed during the show - I would've been tempted to run up on stage and make use of it!

Though, I can't complain one bit about the music that greeted me as I entered: An Esther megamix! They must've known I was coming! After all, it's only appropriate to play some Madonna with Maddy in the house!

Sadly, though, they didn't pick me, so maybe they didn't really realize it. Damn.

The taping itself seemed rushed (and somewhat dark), as if they didn't want the commercial breaks to turn into a funeral (and, yes, the majority of the people who raised their hands discussed Bob's retirement, or brought up how much they would miss him). I would imagine that commercials breaks for the last two months or so have been filled with discussion/questions/comments about Bob's pending retirement, and it's certainly had to have had an affect on the atmosphere.

Heck, even Rich's warmup was rushed - very quick, and he didn't give me a chance to shout out that he was 22. Damn.

We did get a few Barkerisms despite that, though:

After one too many people brought up Bob's retirement (saying they'd miss him, etc.): "Don't rush me!"

After a young woman raised her hand to ask if Bob was married (*groan*), then Bob said he was a widower (shouldn't anyone who claims to be a fan of Bob know that Dorothy Jo has been gone for 25 years now and NOT bring it up?) and she tried to set him up with his grandmother: "You know you're getting old when people try to set you up with their grandmothers!"

Another person asked if Bob had any kids who could take over as host for him: "No, I gave them all away on Truth Or Consequences!" (Bob and Dorothy Jo, of course, never had any, sadly).

We had another person ask if Bob still celebrates the start of his career the same way (the toast with Ralph Edwards). Bob, of course, pointed out that Ralph Edwards passed away (ironically, on the day of my very first taping), and went into a lengthy story about his hiring.

(Death and retirement. Notice a recuring theme here? No wonder this taping felt somewhat dark!)

Mike also raised his hand to make our voices heard and state that Rich should be hired to become the next host of TPIR. The look on Rich's face was priceless - he definitely looked more than a bit shocked to have someone speak up for him getting the job.

As far as the show itself, again, I won't say much until it airs of March 1, outside of saying I was pleased to see a few games played that I hadn't seen played in the past. Variety is a nice thing, after all...

That being said, I would like to touch on my losing streak of getting picked in closing. I'm now 0 for 5, while seeing people attending their first taping getting picked - a few of which have been more than a bit over the top during their interviews.

At this point, I am lost. Do I just go apeshit during the interview? Do I show up dressed like I am auditioning to star in Pretty Woman?

I keep thinking about old Doc Graham in Field Of Dreams, who of course never got to hit in the major leagues, and sharing his dream of what he would've wanted it to be like. I think about how, for just a few minutes, I'd like to find myself a part of a show that has meant so much to me for nearly three decades, and wondering if my dream is slipping away.

At this point, I am seriously finding myself looking around for my own Ray Kinsella. Where is he when I need him?!

I'm trying to keep the faith, I'm trying to keep my fingers crossed, but time and circumstances are making me wonder if my chances may have slipped away.

Labels: Barker Worship, Camp Barker, Chuck, That's What Friends Are For