LOS ANGELES – In the summer of ’07, Bob Barker retired from his long-running job as host of The Price Is Right. The show took a few months hiatus as the producers searched for his replacement. Many people auditioned, but most were rejected for one reason or another. John O’Hurley, Mario Lopez, Mark Steines, George Hamilton, and Rosie O’Donnell were all front-runners at various points along the way. Even the local (to California) perennial happy guy and very gooberish Huell Howser was rumored to have been seriously considered. The gig, of course, was eventually won by comedian/actor Drew Carey (‘pictured’ above with some of my graphics).

It was along about this time of transition that I contacted some people at CBS regarding possible work. My website link (with my portfolio of work) was passed around, and I soon got a phone call from CBS Graphics. They thought I would be perfect for a special project they had in mind: refreshing The Price Is Right logo. New host, fresh look. Their only stipulation: don’t change it too much. I started by drawing the type in Illustrator. Once the type was just right, I gave it several treatments, including the ultimate winner shown at left (yes, that’s the original logo in the first paragraph). The Art Director/Set Decorator for the show, Bente, liked some of my presentation backgrounds and used them in her set. That’s me in the photo, standing next to a huge, pre-paint set piece at CBS.

Of course, I was delighted to see the “official unofficial” Tonight Show Tweet from @BigBley on Monday (and, heh heh, the real reason for this post):

A Late Night tradition that’s being carried over to the new Tonight Show: We still watch “The Price is Right” during the morning meeting!
10:30 AM May 18th from TwitterFox

Wow. Wait, let me think… I know! Maybe my connection with TPIR will work to my advantage in trying to get a job on Tonight. At least I know they’ve seen my work. I would describe how my work is varied (that I don’t just do game show logos). I have a lot of experience in not only graphic design and illustration, but also motion graphics and effects, too. Sounds simple enough.

I also saw on Monday that the show hired a new graphic designer, Eric McGilloway. Congratulations to Eric! That makes three designers including the incredible Kevin Frank & Pierre Bernard who came out from Late Night in New York. I know from working at NBC during my brief stint at Last Call with Carson Daly that Tonight with Jay has several, maybe even eight or so people. So hopefully Tonight with Conan will be looking for at least one more. That makes sense, right? I’m working on getting my stuff in front of a producer at the show. Stay tuned (this means all four of you readers, especially you, Uncle Paulie).

Credits: original Tonight Show meeting photo from www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com. I added the HD monitors with The Price Is Right screenshots. Drew with the microphone is a CBS press photo, photographer unknown. My friend at CBS, Vince, took the picture of me in the set department. The original for the doctored photo I did of Drew with the vintage ‘bowling team’ is from a collection at CBS Graphics. Click on it to see more doctored pictures.