By Rob N. LeDonne

Bob Barker announced he is retiring after 35 years as the host of the long-running daytime television staple “The Price Is Right”. Barker, who will celebrate his 83rd birthday in December, has taped 6,482 episodes of the game show to date. His finale will air sometime in June.

“I probably made up my mind four or five days ago,” he explained in a recent interview made after the announcement. “I got up in the morning and I was rushing around to the fax machine, to the telephone, to get the mail, trying to get to the studio, and I thought, ‘Now’s the time.'”Barker, who ends every episode with, “Help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered,” says that after retiring he will focus even more of his attention on animal control. There is no word yet whether the show will go on without Barker, but one thing is for sure- it has been extremely popular ever since its infancy. “The show was top-rated when we started, and we have never had a ratings problem. How many shows can say that over, five years, 10 years, let alone 35 years?”