Priceless Memories - Bob Barker [11]
This was the plan: As the tour group arrived onstage, every light in the studio was to go out except for one powerful spotlight casting a pool of light directly on center stage. As you might have guessed, on cue, the sailor was to step into the pool of light, the mother would rush to her beloved son, the sister would join them, and familial happiness would reign. But all of this was not to be the case. We have all had really bad experiences with the best-laid plans, haven’t we?
As usual, I did my breathless buildup for the momentous moment. I would like to think that I had the folks in our studio on the edges of their seats—the folks at home, too, if they were seated when I received the signal that the tour group was stepping through the door. I asked the lighting man to douse the lights.
He more than cooperated. He shut down every light in the place, including the all-important spotlight. The entire studio was in total darkness, and it stayed that way for about two minutes, during which I had to keep talking in a desperate effort to keep viewers from thinking NBC had gone off the air—and to keep them from changing channels!
What did I say? I have no idea. But I did get a letter from a lady who wrote, “Bob, you do your best work in the dark.”
By the way, eventually we got the sailor and his mother together and everyone lived happily ever after.
• • •
There were many memorable moments on Truth or Consequences. I have a treasure chest of memories of all the fun we had doing that show. Of course, it was special to meet all the celebrity guests we had. But the average-person guests, the noncelebrities, were just as memorable.
Everyone knows I’m an animal lover, and I will tell you about another reunion featuring a boy and his dog that touched me as deeply as any reunion we ever did. We heard about a sailor who was stationed in Florida who had received orders to come out here to one of the naval bases around Los Angeles. He was married and had a little son, about nine or ten years old. The son had a basset hound, but he didn’t have the money to move the dog. So they left the dog with a friend in Florida, and they came out to California. The boy got a job delivering papers so he could save up enough money to get his dog out here. But it was going slowly. We heard about this and of course had the dog flown out here, and somehow we arranged to get the boy to the show and have him end up talking with me in the hallway, where we had a hidden camera and a hidden microphone. The boy didn’t know we were on the air. During our conversation he mentioned his dog. He said he was working to save money and bring him out here. I said, “You really love that dog, don’t you?”
And he said, “Oh, yes, I do.” The dog’s name was Bo.
At that moment, one of our people from the show comes down the hallway, and he’s leading Bo on a leash. The boy looks up at the dog, and says: “That looks like Bo!”
And I said, “That is Bo.”
And he just bolted for the dog. He hugged him and kissed him and hugged him some more. It was a precious moment. I was so touched I could hardly speak. I had tears in my eyes. And I wasn’t the only one. The cameramen were all crying, and later I mentioned it to the director, and he said, “Not only you, but the agency reps in the booth had tears in their eyes, and that doesn’t happen often.” That is one of the most touching moments we ever had.
I had thirty-five great years on The Price Is Right, but Truth or Consequences will always hold a special place in my heart for many reasons. It was my first national television job; I had the opportunity to work with one of my heroes, Ralph Edwards; and Dorothy Jo and I began to enjoy more financial security. We didn’t change our lifestyle much, but the opportunity to do the show was a fulfillment of a dream we had had. It was also a glorious pioneering