Bob Barker: “Price” Feud with Drew Carey Would be “Idiocy”

The skinny mike is in good hands after all.

Bob Barker said he never meant to disparage his replacement as host of “The Price of Right,” Drew Carey, a day after calling the funnyman not “exciting.”

“He’s a charming man, and kind and gracious,” Barker told EW.com. “To think that I would say anything derogatory about him is idiocy.”

On Tuesday, the retired 35-year host was caught on tape giving a TMZ cameraman his two cents on the state of the long-running game show on CBS with Carey at the helm.

“I tried to make the show really exciting and uh, he doesn’t do that,” Barker said. “He plays the games.”

Barker told EW Wednesday that he “would be a fool” to slam Carey, in part because he has a financial stake in the show's continued success.

“I would not criticize Drew Carey. I would not criticize this show. I would not criticize CBS … because I have a sizable royalty that I am paid every year this show is on, and it’s going on for years,” Barker said. “I would be an absolute fool. I hope this show stays on for years.”

In June 2007, Barker capped a 50-year career in showbiz -- including 6,586 episodes on the CBS game show -- by relinquishing his long, slender mike to Carey.

Barker said Wednesday that when he turned the show over to Carey, he told him to host it his way.

“And that’s what he has done,” Barker told EW. “Obviously, it’s successful.”

He said he planned to “keep his mouth” shut when approached on the street for comment in the future.
 

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