Priceless Memories - Bob Barker [2]
Ralph wanted to know if I was married, and I told him that I had married my high school sweetheart and that my wife produced my radio shows.
“Splendid,” he said. “I think we may be onto something here. I’ll be in touch.”
Incidentally, Paul Edwards was Ralph’s older brother. I ended up doing Truth or Consequences for Ralph for eighteen years, and not once did Ralph and I argue about money. Paul always handled that.
A few days after my first meeting with Ralph, he called me and said, “I’d like to have you come in and meet some of the people you’d be working with if you did Truth or Consequences.” I went back and had a pleasant meeting with them. At the end of the meeting, Ralph said, “I’ll be in touch.”
When I left I had no idea whether they liked me or not, but shortly thereafter Ralph called and invited me to another meeting. He wanted me to meet some of his representatives and a few others. At that time, MCA had both a talent and a production arm, and they represented Ralph. This time when I got there, I was looking at a roomful of people. Long before the movie Men in Black, MCA agents were often described by journalists and industry pundits as “the men in the black suits.” When I arrived, I found that their nickname was richly deserved. All three of the men from MCA were clad in practically identical black suits. Also present were executives from NBC, as well as a couple of people from Ralph’s production company. And, of course, Ralph himself. We sat and talked some more. At the end of the meeting, Ralph gave me a cheery smile and, like the previous meetings, said, “I’ll be in touch.”
By this time I was beginning to think, “Barker, can you tolerate many more of these meetings? Can you last through this?” In reality, only a short time had passed since our initial conversation, but the days between meetings seemed to stretch on interminably. I never knew when I’d hear from him again, or if I would hear from him again.
It was right around my birthday, December 12, when he finally called once more. Although the show was to be televised on NBC, Ralph, who had connections with all of the networks, asked me to come down to what is still the oldest CBS television station in the country, on Sunset Boulevard in what is known as Gower Gulch. At the time, it was the nerve center for all of CBS—nationally, locally, and everything else, I guess.
Ralph wanted me to do an audition before a live studio audience. We went over the script, and he told me what he wanted me to do. The show was a segment of Truth or Consequences. “Would you like to have somebody do the warm-up for you?” he asked.
“No,” I said, “I want to do it myself.”
“Bob, would you like to have someone select your contestants?”
“Thanks, Ralph, but no,” I responded. “I want to do that, too.”
After a warm introduction by a CBS staff announcer, I went onstage. As I went out into the studio audience to select my contestants, I tried not to look at Dorothy Jo. She was seated in the audience and leading the applause, laughing at every word I said, and turning to others who had no idea she was my wife and saying, “Isn’t he wonderful?”
I chose my contestants, and we did the show just like a live radio show. As many of you will recall, the basic idea of Truth or Consequences was simple. A contestant was asked a less than erudite question, such as “In the days of the Old West, what did it mean when a gunfighter had notches in his gun handle?” The correct answer was “termites.” For having failed to answer the question, the contestant had to pay the consequences, which would be a (hopefully) hilarious stunt. The basic idea of the show was simple enough, but the consequences could get complicated, as I shall describe later.
After you have done this for a few years, you know when it’s going well, and I knew this afternoon had gone well. I got laughs, and the “consequences” worked.
When I came off the stage, Ralph was waiting in the wings, smiling. I could tell he was pleased. “That went nicely,” he said warmly. “If you don’t do Truth or Consequences for