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Rich Fields was one of the announcers on Wheel of Fortune following Charlie O’Donnell’s death in 2010 and had nothing but great things to say about his time working with Pat Sajak and Vanna White. “[They were] gracious, welcoming from the get-go,” Fields revealed on the Come On Big Money podcast. “Their attitude and personality interactions with me never changed from show number one to show number 58, or however many I did with them. [They’re] just really giving, professional people.” Fields was called in to temporarily replace O’Donnell the day after the show’s longtime announcer died on November 1, 2010. He was greeted warmly by Sajak. “Pat even said to me the very first day when I met him in his dressing room, ‘We all understand you’re coming in under very difficult circumstances, so just go ahead and do your best and make Charlie proud,'” he recalled. He went on to serve as announcer for 55 episodes,...

Kcal 9‘s weeknight anchor crew will be setting their alarm clocks a lot earlier. Sharon Tay, Rick Garcia and meteorologist Evelyn Taft are moving from Kcal’s weeknight 8 and 10 Pm newscasts to sister station CBS 2 for early morning duty. They’ll anchor the weekday 4:30 to 7 Am and 11- to 11:30 Am newscasts beginning November 18. They’re trading with current CBS 2 morning anchors Kent Shocknek and Suzie Suh and meteorologist Rich Fields who will move to the 8 and 10 Pm slot, also beginning on November 18. Sylvia Lopez and Leyna Nguyen will continue to anchor Kcal’s weeknight 9 Pm newscast. The moves were announced today by Steve Mauldin, President and General Manager, CBS 2 and Kcal 9. The trio of Tay, Garcia and Taft have proved to be a ratings success for Kcal 9 since they began working together in August 2010. Kcal 9 ranks first in viewers among newscasts in the highly competitive 10 Pm hour and has been No.

Filed under: Features

As Gary told you the other day, Rich Fields has been let go from his position as the announcer on 'The Price is Right.' This is too bad. Fields has done a fine job since taking over the role in 2004, having a good rapport with both Bob Barker and now Drew Carey.

There's a lot of talk about what they're going to do. Fields himself said in a statement on his site that they're going to be auditioning stand-up comics. Alex at BuzzerBlog says that besides former 'Shop 'Til You Drop' host J.D. Roberto announcing an episode this week (the show has started taping new episodes for the fall this week), comics Jeff Davis and Brad Sherwood will try out too.

 

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"Human Target" won't be just a boys' club next season. The Fox show has cast Indira Varma ("Rome," "Torchwood") as a new addition to Christopher Chance's (Mark Valley) team. [Deadline]

"$#*! My Dad Says" has recast the lead role of William Shatner's son, to whom much of the dad's $#*! gets said. Jonathan Sadowski ("Friday the 13th," "American Dreams") will star in the CBS sitcom, replacing Ryan Devlin ("Cougar Town"). [Variety]

Andrea Roth (pictured) of "Rescue Me" is joining the cast of the new CBS drama "Blue Bloods," where she'll play a love interest for Tom Selleck's NYPD chief. She replaces Wendy Moniz in the role. [EW]

Nickelodeon has greenlit a combination live-action/animated movie version of their show "Fairly OddParents," starring Drake Bell as the 23-year-old Timmy Turner. Jason Alexander and Cheryl Hines still star as Timmy's live-action godparents. [The Wrap]

NBC's midseason comedy "Friends with Benefits" has cast Zach Cregger ("The Whitest Kids U'Know...

Filed under: Features, TV News

Changes, some big some small, are coming to America's oldest game show. 'The Price is Right' is suddenly in the news this week, thanks to an old scandal, a departing major player, and reports of tweaks to the show's format that could mean more frills and less game play. Longtime fans may be grumbling and asking themselves Wwbbd? (What would Bob Barker do?)

The biggest change is the departure of longtime announcer Rich Fields, which Fields himself confirmed last week in a statement to fans. Fields, who has told contestants to "come on down" since 2004, wrote that his replacement will be an improv comic, someone who'll be chosen via on-air auditions.

It's not clear whether Fields was let go, quit to pursue greener pastures (he'll still be working for CBS as a weatherman), or left because of the new direction the show is taking.

On Sunday, February 28th, Batman's Adam West posted a message on his Facebook page that said, "Sitting in the dressing room at CBS. Woke up at 6am to drive to La to film a promo for The Price Is Right new iPhone app. Really funny script and I get to drive the Batmobile!"

The commercial's now been released, features Price Is Right announcer Rich Fields, and is a lot of fun. Bam! Zap! Take a look!

I can't imagine the discipline and training it must take to be a top notch TV game show announcer. But whether it involves daily gargling, diction concentration exercises or repeating phrases like "My grandmother brought candy to the bigamist" over and over, it must take a toll on your sanity.

That's the only explanation I can fathom for The Price Is Right announcer Rich Fields' slow cognitive eradication as evidenced by this video. Let's hope gets a "brand new braaaiin" real soon.

 

Filed under: Video, Celebrities, Game Show, Reality-Free

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