Bob(bing) for the “Truth”

 

On August 26, Bob Barker passed away, less than four months shy of his 100^th birthday. When the list of all-time greatest game show hosts is made, if Barker is not #1, he is not far from it. Barker hosted game shows for over 50 years. Most people know him for the 35 years he hosted “The Price is Right,” from 1972-2007.

What most people DON’T know is Barker got his start as a game show host in 1956, with the show "Truth or Consequences,” something he did until 1975.

It was a show where people did some crazy stuff as you can see from a few clips here: 

To be on the show you had to be 18 years old. Every so often, they made exceptions.

My brother and sister are twins, with my brother one minute older. You will be hard-pressed to find two people more completely opposite than these two. If you didn’t know they were siblings – you would never guess that to be the case. I get in trouble for saying this, but: I am 100% sure if they were not siblings, they would never be friends. Everything one is – the other is not. They never would have hung out with the same group of people so there is no way they would have been friends. Growing up most people thought my brother and I were twins because we hung out together a lot and played all sorts of sports.

When we lived in San Pedro, Mom belonged to a group called “Westside Mothers of Twins.

One day in September 1971, this group gets a call from the "ToC" people saying they need young kids for a skit they wanted to do for the nighttime version of the show. Mom found out and said she would take me. They were looking for a pair of boys and girls to "play house." As soon as Mom said this, I told her I was going to be on TV. She downplayed it saying there was no guarantee. But I KNEW I was going to be on.

So, on September 28. 1971 – 52 years ago today – which is why I posted this on the day I am – Mom drove us to the studio where “ToC” was shot. It may have been over five decades ago, but I still remember a lot of it. That is because one of my biggest strengths is a great memory. I rarely forget anything that has happened to me. Coincidentally – this is also one of my biggest liabilities, too.

Before the show, Bob came into the audience to find the two boys and girls they needed. He spoke to a boy, but he was not very outgoing, so he got passed over. I was seated in an aisle seat and the next thing I knew - Bob was RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!! I made enough noise to get his attention knowing if he got away, so might my chance. He asked me to stand up. As soon as he asked me to stand, I KNEW IS WAS IN! Just getting his attention and having the chance to “audition” was all I needed. He spoke to me, and it didn't take long for him to ask me to walk down the stairs on to the stage. MEANING I WAS GOING TO BE ON THE SHOW! I remember looking up at my mother and seeing a look of “Oh my gosh – he is actually going to be on the show.” I was the first one on the stage and looking up at the audience was quite the rush knowing I AM GONNA BE ON TV!

Bob finds another boy and the two girls to complete the casting. We were taken backstage. We were told we were going to play "house." Keeping in mind it was 1971, the boys were told we would be coming home to our wife after a day at work (Sexist - I know - but back then, it was not….sadly). After that, it was up to us to say/do what we wanted.

The first couple goes and now it is my turn. I/we did not see them. I forget what they had us doing and where we were, but we were kept busy and had no idea what was taking place with the first couple. I guess the first couple was not as outgoing as they expected so they made a few changes to the set. I have no idea what they were.

Once on the set, they told us this was only a rehearsal, and it wasn't going to be taped, so we could do whatever we wanted. When we were done, we would do it again for real – or so we were told (More on that, later). As for the set, it was just the living room or kitchen area of the house for us to use. We were not in front of the studio audience, but in an area where it was only the two of us and a few camerapeople.

I have always had a fascination with planes. I wanted to be a pilot when I was a kid, and to this day, whenever a plane flies overhead and is close enough to see, I have to stop and watch. Before John Wayne Airport got modernized, passengers had to walk out to the plane and up a ramp of stairs (For those who have ever flown out of Long Beach, CA, airport – this is what John Wayne used to be). They also had an observation deck on the second floor that had a balcony for people to just stand outside and watch planes take off and land. I couldn’t even begin to count the hundreds of hours I stood on that deck and watched planes take off and land. The thought of this happening now is inconceivable but back then it was permitted. For those who are a tad older you can recall not even needing to show any ID to board a plane. I can recall a few times flying Northwest Airlines under a friend's name so he could get the Frequent Flier miles, since I would never use them. When my brother graduated from law school I flew to his ceremony under his name since he got a special price deal for being a college student.

So, when it came time for me to do my thing, the only logical choice to make was me being a pilot. The skit started with me coming home to my wife. She had “dinner” on the table for me and we were to talk about our day, and how it went. I don’t know why but when I came into the kitchen area for dinner, I brought a “TV” with me. It was not a real TV but that made little difference to me. Keep in mind the time we are talking about. It was a small, portable, black and white TV. I sat it down on the table, because isn’t that what a husband and wife do?

I remember telling her I had a bad day flying. I started the plane with the wrong key – this got a very loud laughing response from the audience. The whole time we were doing this it was shown to the studio audience, including my mother, so they could react to it live – as it was happening. I don’t remember what we talked about but knowing our age, it was almost certainly something we saw/heard our parents doing after dad came home from work.

I don’t recall how long our skit lasted, but it was no more than about five minutes. The one thing I very vividly recall was when we were done, I heard a male voice thanking us and saying we were done and did a great job. Recall the part where I said they told us we would do it once as a practice run and then do it again for real after that? That was a lie. They told us that so we would not be nervous and just act natural, knowing if they told us it was for real – we might not.

When we were done “my wife” and I were brought back into the studio audience so we could be with our parent(s) and told to hang around once the show was over to get our reward. I have no idea what the rest of the show was like. I really didn’t care. I was 7 and expect for maybe a dozen other kids who showed up hoping to get on, everyone else was at least in their late 20s with some being much older.

When the show ended, we headed back down to the stage where the 4 of us were greeted by someone from the show. The parents had to sign some paperwork for what we were given. I will never forget what I got: A scooter, wagon and $10 gift certificate to Bob’s Big Boy. Mom said I should have received a bicycle. Mom was right. As usual.

My wait to see my show was not a long one. It aired just 9 days later – October 7, 1971 (For those wondering how I know the day it was taped and aired it is because of 2 reasons: A long time acquaintance, Christi Grihalva, reached out to the production company - “Ralph Edwards Productions and found this out, and then I made a call, or two, on my own). Needless to say, my immediate family watched, as did many other members of my extended family – on our tiny black and white TV. The show started with the camera panning through the audience. I recall seeing myself in the audience wearing a horizontal striped shirt.

When it came time to air the skits, ours was second. Bob Barker was just like the rest of the audience, watching us do our thing backstage, with no one around. I saw him laughing once at something I said, as well as everyone else (Probably the “wrong key” airplane part).

Looking back on things, there is one thing I wish we did. Something we never thought of at the time: Recorded it on camera.

The reason we can watch old episodes of “I Love Lucy” is because when it aired, they had a camera recording what was on TV. It was done with maybe 8mm camera (Top of the line technology back then – for most people) but it was preserved.

When I spoke to someone at “Ralph Edwards” it was a good 30+ years later. He said the show was shot on “2-inch film.” He added they have no idea where any of the old shows are and even if I found some, odds are the film would be “liquid” because it decayed. He said even if we found the tape, finding something to play the film would be impossible. I spent hours and hours watching clips of old shows, just hoping someone might have it, as well as even trying to reach out to Bob Barker. No luck. Mom and I would easily pay $10,000 if someone had a copy and could transfer it into something we could watch now. Sadly, I know there is no hope.

Since my “ToC” appearance I have been on three other game shows. In 1989 I was on the ESPN show “Super Bowl of Sports Trivia.” My team won two games and made the semifinals but lost. Had we won the entire competition our prize was a trip to the Super Bowl that year. Looking back on things – maybe it is best we lost. That game saw my beloved Broncos play the 49ers – in what was the biggest blowout in SB history. The 49ers eked past my team, 55-10. IN 1995 I was on another ESPN show, “Sports on Tap,” a show set in a bar. In 2000 I was on the Fox Sports (Cable) show “Sports Geniuses.” I was way ahead after two rounds then pulled a “Cliff Clavin” and lost at the end. I was not to upset because I won a large TV instead of a trip to Lake Tahoe. For the few out there unfamiliar when I say I pulled a “Cliff Clavin” – here is what I mean, one of the classic “Cheers” episodes of all time:

By being on “ToC” with Bob Barker it now means I can take part in the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” This “game” where people choose an actor and then try and connect that actor to Kevin Bacon. The goal is to do it in no more than six steps. Before you laugh, it is shocking how this can be done for most actors. For those who want to try it, you can do so here: https://kevin-bacon.com/

For me – the steps are: 

**I am connected to Bob Barker through my appearance on “Truth or Consequences”

**Bob Barker was in “Happy Gilmore” with Adam Sandler. This produced one of the funniest and most watched clips in movie history: 

...and then in 2015 they revisited the scene: 

**Adam Sandler was in “Anger Management” with Jack Nicholson

**Jack Nicholson and Kevin Bacon were in “A Few Good Men”