'Price Is Right, 'Bob Barker Still Dazzle

When the winner of outstanding game show host was announced on May 19 at the Daytime Emmy Awards, even Bob Barker thought the prestigious trophy might go to a certain "millionaire" game show host.

But in the end, the Emmy's final answer was Barker, who tied in the category with "Hollywood Squares" host Tom Bergeron.

Barker has hosted "The Price is Right" since its beginning. This month, the CBS daytime mainstay celebrates its 28th year on the air, which makes it the longest-running game show in history.

With Barker's 14th Emmy win and the show's birthday coinciding, what better time to call on Barker, Rod Roddy and those lovely "Barker Beauties?"

Come On Down
The energy in Studio 33 at CBS Television City in Hollywood is wild.

I wait with Rod Roddy on the side of the stage for the show to start. He sports a trademark sequined jacket and a grin the size of his home state of Texas.

We're behind a curtain, but we can hear the crowd going crazy with anticipation on the other side.

It's Roddy's job to warm up the crowd before the show starts. I don't tell him that I think that if the crowd were any more "warmed up," we'd have to declare martial law.

CONTESTANT SECRETS So You Want To Be A 'Price Is Right' Contestant?

Roddy has become a household face as much for being Barker's sidekick announcer as for bellowing his famous: "Come on down, you're the next contestant on 'The Price Is Right.'"

I ask him who originated the signature phrase that makes potential contestants go ballistic.

"I think it was Mark Goodson who came up with that," Roddy says. "Johnny Olsen (the show's first announcer) originally was the guy who did that. And I inherited that when Johnny died. But it's a nice thing to inherit."

Where does he get those flashy duds?

"I make all these in Bangkok," he says. "I've gone 50 or 60 times to Bangkok. I do 40 or 50 at a time. I'm getting ready to go again."

Roddy laughs when he tell me that he has about "500 coats. My entire house is given over to these coats on salesmen's racks. The living room, the dining room, the kitchen, the extra bedroom, it's all wardrobe," he says. "It's like living in New York and eating at a different restaurant every night."

It's time for Roddy to go on. He turns to me and confesses, "I introduce myself."

Very much like the Wizard of Oz, Roddy announces himself to the studio audience over the microphone, steps beyond the curtain and into the waiting applause.

Showcase Showdown
Die-hard "Price Is Right" fans have waited for hours (sometimes a full day beginning at 5 a.m.) for the chance to take a coveted spot on "contestants' row."

Everyone from teenagers to seniors is gripped in awe as host Bob Barker steps onto the stage. With his trademark "skinny" microphone in hand and a twinkle in his eye, Barker crosses the stage with aplomb. The audience does, after all, love him.

The audience is on its feet cheering just for the sight of Barker. Well, actually, they're screaming.

Backstage, I chat with those famous "Barker Beauties," the hostesses who present the prizes and games.

The beautiful and charming Janice Pennington is the show's veteran model and an audience favorite.

She taped "The Price Is Right" pilot and stayed when the show was picked up 28 years ago.

"I was asked to do the show by (producer) Mark Goodson, and that was it," Pennington tells me.

I ask her what people say when they meet her. She tells me that people often feel like they already know her -- and with good reason.

"(The show) has become like their extended family in a number of ways," Pennington says. "You've been in their bedroom, their kitchen and their life for 28 years."

Why does she think the show is still so appealing?

Pennington says the bottom line is that "it's fun; people are having a great time. I think it comes back to the contestants because they have such a great energy. You can't help but get swept up in their joy."

Of her many memories, it's the bloopers that stand out in Pennington's mind.

"Oh, I've driven through Door Two. I hit the clutch instead of the brake," she tells me. "And we had the famous contestant who lost her top when she got down to contestants' row."

The next person I run into is also the newest Barker Beauty, Nikki Ziering. In case her last name sounds familiar, it's because she's married to actor Ian Ziering of "Beverly Hills 90210" fame. Ziering tells me that her husband visited the set the day before I did.

Ziering, a former Playboy Playmate and actress, tells me that being a model on the show is a dream come true.

"I used to watch the show when I was a kid," she says. "I used to stay home sick from school. I just remembered thinking when I watched the girls showing the prizes, 'That looks like a really great job; I would love to do that when I'm older.'"

The producers are calling for Ziering now, and she scoots away to show off a prize.

The third beauty, Kathleen Bradley, steps up to talk. Bradley broke the glass ceiling and new ground when she came on the show.

"I was the first black model on the show. I've been on 10 years now. Actually, I was added as the fourth model," Bradley says.

Bradley tells me that besides doing the show, she is touring with her band.

"I do have my Web site. I'm a singer. I have a group called the Love Machine," she tells me.

"We're like Tina Turner and the Temptations all rolled into one."

With Bradley's energy, I'm sure it's an act that you don't want to miss.

Quiet On The Set
"This is 14 (wins), and I was particularly pleased with it this year," Barker tells me about his latest Emmy Award. "The prime-time big-money quiz shows have had so much publicity, I thought that 'old Bob' may be lost in the shuffle this year, but by golly, I got it."

The show has wrapped and the audience is gone. We're sitting in director's chairs right on the stage of "The Price Is Right."

Barker is just as charming in person as he is on television.

I ask him where a guy keeps all those Emmy Awards.

"I had a cabinet made for the Emmys," he says. He smiles and then jokes, "And I want the Academy to understand that there is still room for more."

I ask him how he can keep the show so fresh every day after more than 5,000 episodes.

"I try to do it every day as if it's opening day. I thoroughly enjoy the show. If I didn't enjoy the show, I don't think it would be as successful as it is. If I just came out and went through the motions, I don't think it would be as successful as it is," Barker says. "But (the audience) realizes that I'm really having fun and they have fun right along with me."

I tell him that my favorite game is Plinko.

"Oh, Plinko is the most popular game on the show," Barker says.

What are the host's favorites?

"I like Plinko, but I like It's In the Bag. I had a lot of fun with the punch-board game, Three Strikes."

He adds in trademark good humor, "I like Hole In One (the golf game) if I make my putt. If I miss my putt, I hate that game."

Animal Lover
"I have always loved animals. As I became more and more aware of how terribly they are exploited, I just felt compelled to help them." Barker is telling me why he has been such an outspoken advocate for having pets spayed and neutered and other animal issues.

In fact, Barker famously refused to host the Miss USA pageant in 1987 if the producers used real fur in their contestant prize packages. Barker prevailed, and the pageant substituted synthetic fur. The next year, however, when the show refused to substitute synthetics, Barker walked the walk. After 21 years of hosting, he left the show.

The show went on without Barker, but the ratings plummeted by 29 percent.

"Let's just say it did not make me unhappy that their ratings went down," Barker tells me.

More importantly, Barker notes, his defiance brought awareness of animal cruelty to the forefront of public perception.

"More people learned of the cruelty to animals in the production of fur," he says. "They learned that it was not chic to wear fur, but an expression of cruelty to wear fur."

One More Spin
It's time to go home. I thank Barker and congratulate him on the show's birthday.

"When the late Mark Goodson, who created 'The Price Is Right,' called me and told me he wanted me to host the show, he said 'I think we'll get a good run out of it.' But neither one of us could have dreamed of 28 years," Barker says.

As we leave the studio, a work crew is starting to break down the set and move the Big Wheel off stage.

Before I leave, I sneak over and give the famous wheel a little spin, just to see how it would feel.

It felt just right.

The Big Scoop: