It’s official… well, almost. Comic Drew Carey has confirmed that he will be replacing game show legend Bob Barker in the fall. Carey spilled the beans during a taping of the “Late Show with David Letterman.” The deal puts to end the massive amounts of speculation regarding who would fill Barker’s shoes at the CBS daytime game show “The Price is Right.”
Several months ago 83-year-old Barker announced he would be retiring, that opened the floodgates regarding who would be selected as the popular show’s new host. The front-runner (at least for a while) seemed to be outspoken talk show host and former “View” co-host Rosie O’Donnell.
But in the end 49-year-old Carey got the gig. Incidentally, he’ll also be hosting a new CBS primetime game show, “The Power of 10,” that will premiere next month. Carey’s other credits include starring in his own sitcom and hosting “Whose Line is It Anyway?,” a comic improvisational show.
Maybe it’s just that I’m not good at adjusting to change, but I have a hard time imagining throngs of people lining up to win a brand new car from Drew Carey. I wonder if the move will mean the end to gratuitous host kissing?
CAMPBELL JUMPS SHIP TO CNN
In what may be the worst kept secret in television, CNN confirmed today that Campbell Brown is leaving NBC to take a new hosting job at the cable news channel.
The announcement came roughly 24 hours after Brown bid a tearful goodbye to viewers on Sunday’s edition of “Weekend Today.” Talk about a belated newsflash, media outlets around the country have spent the past several weeks speculating that not only would Brown be jumping ship (allegedly because she was overlooked to fill Katie Couric’s shoes on the “Today” show—the gig went to Meredith Vieira), but that the NBC regular would be replacing CNN’s Paula Zahn who currently anchors the low-rated 5 p.m. newscast.
Brown wouldn’t deny that she was disappointed about not replacing Couric; rather she told reporters she decided to join CNN because “it’s a rare opportunity to build a show from scratch and put my mark on it.”
Brown officially starts at CNN in September, but won’t be seen on the air until November per her contract with NBC. Which means she will likely only be seen for about two months before she is scheduled to give birth to her first child.