Price Is Right Snubs Barker

The Price Is Right 40th anniversary special aired yesterday, and considering that it included contestants from the past four decades, you'd probably assume it would also have included the show's host of 35 years. But, nope, though Bob Barker was shown in a few clips, he wasn't actually invited to be on the show. Producers "chose to ignore me, which is fine," the 88-year-old Barker tells the AP. "They haven't even offered me a DVD."

No comment from the producers, but Barker has a theory: He's an animal activist, and has scolded the show for giving away "inappropriate" prizes like tickets to Sea World and the Calgary Stampede, both of which "are notorious for animal abuse," Barker says. While he hosted, Barker convinced the show to stop giving fur and leather clothing as prizes. "Had I been the executive producer," he adds, "they would not have even considered bringing me tickets to the Calgary Stampede of all things." (More The Price Is Right stories.)