Monty Brinton/CBSYou longtime readers may remember that I have a certain, well, history when it comes to The Price Is Right. It was that very show that forced me to use my birth-given name (Barker's rules!) in order to participate, forcing me out from behind the spectacles of my previous penname, Wanda, to far less glamorous but real one of Kristin.
Well, apparently, I'm not the only one with a special place in the ol' ticker for the fabulous world of Barker's Beauties, Plinko and the Showcase Showdown. In fact, our beloved Neil Patrick Harris has always dreamed of being a TPIR contestant, but as a previous Doogielicious child star, couldn't exactly blend into the crowd.
"I once had the chance to tour the set and watch them tape," he says. "But you're sort of standing in the wings and never actually get the opportunity to be up on that stage and be a contestant."
Well, leave it to the How I Met Your Mother producers to make Harris' TPIR aspirations a reality! In this Monday's episode, his alter ego Barney suits up and seeks out the suit-wearin' man he believes to be his father: The one and only Mr. Bob Barker. Seriously, what could be better?
And for Neil, let's just say the experience was not unlike winning the car, the dining room set and the lifetime supply of Rice-A-Roni! “I was head over heels," Harris says while on the TPIR set. "This fulfilled quite the dream!”
Of course, as expected, the Barnito Supreme turns out to be anything but an average Price player. Poor Bob Barker didn’t know quite what to make of him. But in real life, the two made a great acting team and got along swimmingly. “[Working with Bob] was great,” Neil grins. “I mean, we’re on hallowed ground here. This is his turf. We sort of slid in at the end of an actual episode of the show that had just finished taping, and I thought that he might be tired. But he totally played along! We did multiple takes, and he took direction, and we ad-libbed some stuff. It was great. So much fun, and he was a trooper. And a terrific hugger.”
But is Bob really Barnara's daddy? You'll have to watch How I Met Your Mother to find out, Monday night on CBS.
And by the way, this fan-favorite show hasn't yet been picked up for another season, so tell your friends to watch, too, will ya?
—Additional reporting by Korbi Ghosh