Drew Carey to host "The Price Is Right"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Drew Carey, come on down! You’re the next host of “The Price is Right.”

The beefy, bespectacled actor-comedian revealed on a taping of the CBS “Late Show with David Letterman” on Monday that he has just signed on to succeed the recently retired Bob Barker as host of America’s longest-running game show.

“It’s a done deal. I’m the new host of ‘The Price Is Right,’” Carey said during a guest appearance on Letterman’s program that airs on Monday night, according to a transcript released by CBS.

Carey -- who starred on his own ABC sitcom “The Drew Carey Show” for several years and hosted the improvisational comedy “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” -- was recently named host of another CBS game show, “Power of 10,” a weekly prime-time series that debuts in August.

A CBS spokeswoman said Carey will now star on both series.

Carey, 49, acknowledged during a gathering of TV critics in Beverly Hills last week he was in talks with producers of “The Price Is Right” and joked that the show would not require him to work too hard.

“All I’m doing is giving away prizes, and it’s not even my money,” he said.

Barker, 83, ended his 35-year tenure as host of “The Price Is Right” when he retired last month from 50 years on national television. His final “Price Is Right” broadcast aired on June 15, and the show will remain in summer reruns until launching its new season with Carey in the fall.

“The Price Is Right” features members of the studio audience who are beckoned to the stage when the announcer calls “Come on down!” to compete for prizes by guessing the cost of various items on display.

Barker had hosted the show since it began its current CBS daytime run in 1972.

“Well, history says that this will be a nice, long career for you as host of ‘The Price Is Right,’” Letterman said to Carey, who replied: “It’s fun doing a show for years and years, isn’t it?”