General Questions
From Golden-Road.net FAQ
When and in what order did the pricing games debut?
In the following list, episodes that were aired out of order are shown with the date they should have aired on.
- Any Number -- September 4, 1972; first game
- Bonus Game -- September 4, 1972; second game
- Double Prices -- September 4, 1972; third game
- Grocery Game -- September 5, 1972; first game
- Bullseye ('72) -- September 5, 1972; second game
- Clock Game -- September 11, 1972
- Double Bullseye -- September 19, 1972
- Five Price Tags -- September 26, 1972
- Most Expensive -- October 16, 1972
- Money Game -- December 25, 1972
- Give or Keep -- December 27, 1972
- Range Game -- April 3, 1973
- Hi Lo -- April 9, 1973
- Double Digits -- April 20, 1973
- Lucky $even -- August 28, 1973
- Temptation -- September 7, 1973
- Mystery Price -- September 26, 1973
- Shell Game -- June 17, 1974
- Card Game -- July 4 or 5, 1974
- Race Game -- August 14, 1974
- Ten Chances -- July 15, 1975
- Golden Road -- August 19, 1975
- Poker Game -- September 9, 1975
- 1 Right Price -- September 11, 1975
- Danger Price -- January 8, 1976
- 3 Strikes -- February 11 or 12, 1976
- Hurdles -- February 19, 1976
- Cliff Hangers -- April 12, 1976
- Safe Crackers -- April 27, 1976
- Dice Game -- June 2, 1976
- Bullseye ('76) -- July 1, 1976
- Switcheroo -- October 22, 1976
- Hole in One -- May 9, 1977
- Squeeze Play -- September 13, 1977
- Secret "X" -- September 14, 1977
- Professor Price -- November 14, 1977
- Finish Line -- February 21, 1978
- Take Two -- June 23, 1978
- Shower Game -- September 4, 1978; third game
- It's Optional -- September 4, 1978; fifth game
- Punch a Bunch -- September 27, 1978
- Telephone Game -- November 1, 1978
- Penny Ante -- January 25, 1979
- Barker's Bargain Bar -- April 22, 1980
- Trader Bob -- April 29, 1980
- Grand Game -- May 16, 1980
- Now....and Then -- September 17, 1980
- Hit Me -- November 7, 1980
- Super Ball!! -- February 3, 1981
- Blank Check -- October 14, 1981
- Check-Out -- January 28, 1982
- Pick-a-Pair -- April 12, 1982
- Plinko -- January 3, 1983
- Master Key -- March 25, 1983
- The Phone Home Game -- September 12, 1983
- Walk of Fame -- November 4, 1983
- Balance Game ('84) -- April 9, 1984
- On the Nose -- September 14, 1984
- One Away -- December 4, 1984
- Bump -- September 13, 1985
- Add 'em Up -- September 11, 1986
- Pathfinder -- April 7, 1987
- Credit Card -- December 7, 1987
- Spelling Bee -- September 15, 1988
- $uper $aver -- May 10, 1989
- Make Your Move -- September 11, 1989
- 2 for the Price of 1 -- December 12, 1989
- Gallery Game -- September 10, 1990
- Swap Meet -- September 9, 1991
- Pick-a-Number -- January 31, 1992
- Switch? -- February 27, 1992
- Buy or Sell -- March 27, 1992
- Magic # -- September 14, 1992
- Cover Up -- September 13, 1993
- Joker -- February 14, 1994
- Side by Side -- May 10, 1994
- Barker's Marker$ -- September 12, 1994
- Freeze Frame -- February 22, 1995
- Split Decision -- November 9, 1995
- Shopping Spree -- January 17, 1996
- Eazy az 1 2 3 -- April 25, 1996
- It's in the Bag -- September 26, 1997
- Fortune Hunter -- November 21, 1997
- Line em Up -- March 10, 1998
- Clearance Sale -- September 21, 1998
- 1 Wrong Price -- October 23, 1998
- Push Over -- March 3, 1999
- Let 'em Roll -- September 20, 1999
- Flip Flop -- February 25, 2000
- Triple Play -- October 2, 2000
- That's Too Much! -- April 19, 2001
- Bonkers -- September 24, 2001
- Pass the Buck -- October 4, 2001
- Step Up -- February 7, 2002
- On the Spot -- January 27, 2003
- Time Is Money -- September 22, 2003
- Coming or Going -- October 2, 2003
- 1/2 Off -- May 28, 2004
- Pocket ¢hange -- January 10, 2005
- Balance Game ('06) -- February 6, 2006
- Stack the Deck -- October 9, 2006
- More or Less -- February 16, 2007
Is the end of the show called the "Showcase Showdown?"
No. The term “Showcase Showdown” refers to the Big Wheel. The end of the show is simply called “The Showcase.”
How do they decide which contestant in the Showcase is the Top Winner?
The contestant who has won more in cash and prizes during the course of the show is the Top Winner; the one who has won less is the Runner-Up.
How do they decide which displays the first four contestants stand at?
The first four contestants can stand at any spot in Contestants’ Row as long as it hasn’t been taken already. They can line up in any order they want.
Has there ever been a tie in the Showcase?
Yes. It's happened one time, on an episode in the first season of the ‘70s nighttime run. Each contestant won the showcase that she had bid on.
Has anyone ever bid perfectly on a showcase?
Yes. It happened one time, in the early ‘70s. Unfortunately, the Double Showcase rule hadn’t been invented yet, so the contestant only won his own showcase.
Many people who remember seeing the episode in question say that the winner’s podium displayed “00000” for his difference.
Is there some kind of bonus for bidding perfectly in the Showcase?
No. The contestant still wins both showcases for being within $250, but there’s no extra bonus specifically for a perfect bid.
What would happen if there was a tie in the Showcase with a difference of $250 or less?
There would be what I suppose would be called a “Double Double Showcase Win;” both contestants would win both showcases. Additionally, if such a thing were to occur on a $1,000,000 Spectacular, both contestants would also win a million dollars.
How many perfect shows have there been over the years?
78.
What's the most anyone has ever won on the show?
The biggest daytime win occurred on the 35th season premiere on September 18, 2006, where a contestant won $147,517, including three cars (a Dodge Caravan SE, a Saturn Sky, and a Dodge Viper SRT10) and both showcases.
The biggest primetime win occurred on MDS 17 on February 22, 2008, where a contestant won $1,153,908, including a Ford Escape Hybrid 4x4, a Cadillac XLR Convertible, both showcases and a million dollars, and an additional $20,000 from Grand Game.
I was a contestant on TPIR x number of years ago. Can I be a contestant again?
For 35 years, the answer to this question was "no;" however, the rule was amended in November, 2007, so if your appearance on the show was at least 10 years ago, you are allowed to be a contestant again.
The person from the audience who spun the Big Wheel after the Showcase on $1,000,000 Spectacular 12 is exempt from the above restriction, as he was not officially counted as a contestant.
I was a contestant on TPIR less than 10 years ago. Can I still go to another taping just to watch the show?
Of course! Ineligible contestants are always welcome back at the studio.
If the two Showcase Showdown winners have won exactly the same amount, how do they decide which one is the Top Winner in the Showcase?
As silly as this probably sounds, the contestants draw numbers out of a hat. They’ve actually had to do it a couple of times, too, which is the only reason we know the answer.
Similarly, if two contestants in a Showcase Showdown have won the same amount, a coin toss is used to decide which one spins the Big Wheel first.
How can I get tickets to the show?
If you would like to see The Price Is Right in person and have the chance to be a contestant, send your request, including the number of tickets and the date you wish to attend, along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:
TICKETS
“The Price Is Right”
CBS Television City
7800 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
90036
To order tickets online to The Price Is Right, simply go to CBS.com. Under "Shows" and "Daytime," select "The Price Is Right." Click on "Tickets" at the top of the page. It's that easy!
To order tickets over the phone, call 800-852-8909 for ticket information. Have ready the day you wish to go and the number of tickets you need. That's 800-852-8909, so come on down!
Or if you don’t feel like doing any of those things, you can normally pick up tickets for any episode at Television City’s box office up until the day before it tapes. However, this is taking a risk for those of you coming in from out of town –- the box office does run out of tickets sometimes.
A word of warning: there are more tickets for each episode than there are seats in the studio. A ticket does not guarantee admission, so if you want to get in, GET THERE EARLY.
What's it like to spend a day at the show?
One of our members who wishes to remain anonymous has written an excellent essay on the TPIR taping experience. You can read it here.
What does it mean to "win" a pricing game?
This is a surprisingly tricky question. The show’s official defintion of “winning” is as follows: a car game is won if the car is won; a cash game is won if the big prize announced at the beginning of the game is won (this means that Plinko has never been won); any other game is won if all of the main prizes being played for are won.
However, as is often the case in life, it’s not always that simple. There are many cases in which you can not win a game but not really lose it, either; for instance, winning $8,000 in It’s in the Bag, winning only one or two prizes in Race Game, or winning the 3-digit prize in Any Number. The show apparently recognizes these as “draws;” just as Bob or Drew will not declare a perfect show if there are five wins and $41,000 given away in Plinko, they will not declare them skunked if there are five losses and $100 given away in Plinko. Also, because it seems so goofy to say that Plinko has never been won, a lot of people consider it a “win” if the center slot is hit at least once. Based on what our site has been told by Roger, it seems that for an episode to truly be “winless,” nothing can be won in any of the pricing games beyond small prizes (a la Cliff Hangers or Switcheroo) and the Any Number piggy bank.
In addition to this, Super Ball!! and Walk of Fame sometimes blurred the above distinctions between types of games; they weren’t car games, but in each game, the final prize was a car sometimes. Under these circumstances, the games’ normal requirements prevailed, meaning that it was possible to win a car in your pricing game and still technically not win the game.
Which pricing games are considered cash games?
Punch a Bunch, Grand Game, Plinko, The Phone Home Game, It’s in the Bag, Fortune Hunter, and 1/2 Off.
I was watching the credits, and I saw the name "Adam Sandler." Is that the same guy from Happy Gilmore?
No. Price’s Adam Sandler is a different person; among his duties are setting up pricing game props and writing for the Showcase.
Does Game Show Network air reruns of The Price Is Right?
No. GSN does not have the rights to air any version of TPIR. We’ll let you know if this changes...but don’t hold your breath.
On Bob's $1,000,000 Spectaculars, why did the Big Wheel start on .05 in post-Showcase spins?
The show’s insurance policy for the $1,000,000 Spectaculars, which was written before the possibility of spinning after the Showcase was added, stated that the Big Wheel had to go at least 21 spaces for the million dollars to be awarded; as a result, when the post-Showcase spins were instituted, they couldn’t start the wheel on the dollar, even though it looks like doing so would make more sense. It had nothing to do with the wheel’s green sections; in fact, there was no $5,000 bonus awarded for landing on them after the Showcase.
Note that nothing in this answer affected the Showcase Showdowns, which worked just like they did on the daytime show (with the exception of the increased bonus, of course).
When a local station pre-empts CBS Daytime, why do they reschedule the soap operas but not Price?
The soap operas have complex storylines that, at least in theory, you have to watch every episode in order to follow. In contrast, each episode of Price is self-contained; one could argue that you must see an episode to predict which games will be played later in the week, but most people simply don’t pay attention to things like that. On top of that, stations generally get a lot more calls from complaining viewers when they pre-empt a soap opera than they do when they pre-empt Price (with the notable exception of cutting off the end of the Showcase).
In short, rescheduling the soaps is just seen as more important than rescheduling Price.
Was the show taken over by a new company during Season 30?
Not really. What actually happened was that Pearson decided to get out of the TV business and sold the Pearson Television division to FremantleMedia -– a company that had already partly owned the division, anyway. It’s still essentially under the same management.
When did Bob start his "spay or neuter" line at the end of the show?
He started saying it every so often sometime in the early ‘80s, around the time his wife died; she had been involved in animal rights, and he picked up her cause. I believe he started saying it on every episode in the early ‘90s.
What is the "replaced" game of Triple Play that people talk about occasionally?
On the October 28, 2003 episode (which also reran on December 30, 2003), the first game of the day was supposed to be Triple Play; in fact, the game was played, and the contestant playing it lost on the first car. However, during the taping stopdown while the crew was setting up for the next act, it was discovered that Bob had misheard a bid in Contestants’ Row, causing the wrong person to end up onstage. After discussing the situation and what to do about it for nearly an hour, it was decided to redo the entire first act of the show, using a different One-Bid prize and playing Money Game for Triple Play’s second car.
On the version of the episode that aired, the only part of the original first act that survived was the opening; everything after Bob pointing to the Item up for Bids was from the reshoot.
When was the perfect bid bonus in Contestants' Row instituted, and when did it change from $100 to $500?
The bonus was introduced sometime in the spring of 1977. It was increased to $500 on November 12, 1998. It was also upped to $500 in the later days of the Kennedy run.
Incidentally, on the $1,000,000 Spectaculars, the bonus is $1,000.
I saw a game on another site called "Do-It-Yourself." Why isn't it covered here?
Do-It-Yourself wasn’t a pricing game; it was a showcase. (Don’t feel bad –- it’s a common mistake.) It was used in late 1974 and early 1975. The showcase had three categories of prizes, each of which had three prizes in it. The contestant randomly chose a prize from each category, and those three prizes were then presented as the contestant’s showcase.
Do-It-Yourself wasn’t done very many times. Between needing to have nine prizes ready to go on display at a moment’s notice and having 27 different possible prices depending upon which prizes the contestant picked, there were just too many chances for something to go wrong.
What's the smallest Showcase overbid ever?
At least twice in the show’s history, on July 12, 1974, and October 19, 2004, a contestant has overbid on a showcase by only $1.
When was the Double Showcase rule instituted, and when was it changed?
The Double Showcase rule was introduced sometime in March or April of 1974. It was changed from “less than $100 away” to “$250 or less away” on the first show of Season 27, probably because no one had won both showcases during Season 26.
In games that use small prizes, which ones do the contestants win?
This varies from game to game:
- In Bonus Game, Five Price Tags, 1/2 Off, Joker, Master Key, Pathfinder, Plinko, Punch a Bunch, Secret “X”, Shell Game, and Super Ball!!, you win any prizes or sets of prizes whose prices you make correct guesses on.
- In Cliff Hangers, you win all three (or early on, four) items if you win; otherwise, you win all the ones you got past before the mountain climber went over the cliff.
- In Double Digits and Switcheroo, you win any prizes whose prices are right at the end of the game.
- In Finish Line and Give or Keep, you won the three prizes that you selected for the horse/”keep” column.
- In Trader Bob, you won the last item to have its price revealed before the game ended; this was the final item in the sequence if you won and the first item you picked incorrectly if you lost. The base prize and the correct items in the first two pairs were impossible to win.
- In Mystery Price, you won any items that you didn’t overbid on.
- In On the Spot, you won any prizes that you correctly matched with a price. (This made certain items impossible to win on the game’s last two playings.)
- In Spelling Bee, you win any prizes for which your bid was within $10 of the actual price; if you make a perfect bid on any of the prizes, you automatically win all three.
- In the original Balance Game, you received all five items if you lost, presumably because you used all of them; based on this, I would guess that if you won the game, you received any items whose prices were revealed.
- In Temptation, which is listed here for the sake of completion because it was regarded as a small prize game during the half-hour era, you won all the small prizes as long as you didn't go for the car and lose.
In games that use grocery products, do the contestants win any of the groceries?
With the exception of the first four playings of Grocery Game, in which the contestants were given supplies of all five products regardless of the game’s outcome, no. The groceries are just there for use in playing the games.
Why did The Price Is Right use only domestic cars from the early '90s through 2008?
After Desert Storm, Bob and the staff decided to stop using foreign cars as a show of patriotism.
I have an idea for a pricing game. How do I send it in?
Unfortunately, you don’t. For various legal reasons, Price can only accept game ideas from people who work for the show or its parent company, FremantleMedia.
What are Anvil Drop and The Incredible "T"?
Anvil Drop and The Incredible “T” are a couple of non-existant pricing games that appeared years ago in the dreams of our member Frank15. Since that time, they’ve sort of taken on lives of their own as inside jokes. They have nothing to do with the show in any reality-based sense, but they’ve been brought up so many times on our forums that I feel they merit being explained here.
Anvil Drop was exactly the same as Double Prices, except that there was an anvil hanging over the contestant’s head. As described by Frank, “if she picked the wrong price, the anvil would fall on her head, presumably killing her. Fortunately, she won.”
Frank’s original description of The Incredible “T” went as follows: “There were four Ts. You had to pick two of them, and if you didn’t get electrocuted (which one of the Ts would do to you if you touched it), you won.”
The post that introduced these games is unfortunately lost to time, as the original incarnation of our forums was deleted years ago; however, it has certainly left a legacy worthy of being associated with The Price Is Right.
Why didn't Bob used a cordless microphone?
Because he liked the corded one.
Why did Bob sometimes enter the studio through the audience instead of the Big Doors?
Generally for one of two reasons -– either the day’s first game is Golden Road, which takes up the entire stage and would be seen way too early with a Door #2 entrance, or the first game is something that blocks Door #2 and that couldn’t be completely set up during the first One-Bid. The second reason is most associated with Plinko and 3 Strikes, but it also applies to other games, such as Bonkers, One Away, and Pocket ¢hange.
Contrary to somewhat popular belief, Triple Play does not require an audience entrance, nor has it ever used one on a daytime show. The game’s set is contained entirely behind the Big Doors; as such, the host is able to use his normal Door #2 entrance when it is played with no trouble whatsoever.
There are exceptions to these things -– $1,000,000 Spectaculars have done audience entrances simply because the staff thought they would look neat in primetime (this is one of the causes of the Triple Play misconception); Any Number had one on April 2, 1996, when its 3-digit prize was hidden behind the Giant Price Tag; and there’s a Season 28 show with an audience entrance for Credit Card for no apparent reason.
At this point, Drew is not doing audience entrances; Golden Road's dots are being laid down during the first Item up for Bids so as not to give away the game early, and other games that would require audience entrances are simply not being scheduled first. It is unknown if this will change in the future.
When did Bob's hair turn gray?
Thursday, October 15, 1987 (which was probably really the October 22 show). Coincidentally, the TPIR sign behind the left side of the audience made its first appearance the same day, as did the third set of designs for the front of the Clam.
Has Bob or Drew ever entered from the Turntable at the top of the show?
Bob did it a single time -– September 14, 1988, on the third show of Season 17.
How many pricing games debut each year?
It varies. 16 games debuted during the show’s first season, and quite a few debuted in the fourth, sixth, and seventh seasons, after the hour conversion. Aside from that, there are generally 1-3 new games each year; Season 20 is the only year since the ‘70s to introduce four games, and no new games debuted in Seasons 25 and 36.
Do contestants actually win the amounts of change that they spin on the Big Wheel?
No. Those are only there for gameplay purposes. The only money that can be won in the Showcase Showdown are the bonuses of $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000.
Did the Double Showcase rule apply to the nighttime James/Barker or Kennedy versions of the show?
As far as is known, no.
When did the bonus spin and the green sections debut in the Showcase Showdowns?
In all likelihood, December of 1978. They are believed to have debuted on the same episode.
Why have several episodes since late Season 33 not had a small prize game?
Since almost none of the small prizes currently used on the show were provided by sponsors, Roger decided late in Season 33 that it was no longer necessary to play such a game in every single episode. He’s not actively excluding them...but if a lineup is taking shape in such a way that none of the small prize games can be fit in neatly, he’s no longer going to extra lengths to include one.
This principle was also briefly applied to grocery item games around January and February of Season 35.
How do they determine what order the contestants spin the Big Wheel in?
The contestants spin in order of how much they have won in cash and prizes thus far in the show, with the biggest winner in the half spinning last.
When did the major set change of 1975 occur?
The set’s “regular” color scheme first appeared on Tuesday, August 19, 1975. The last show with the brown set aired on Friday, August 15; the show that ran on Monday, August 18 was actually aired out of order, delayed from July 17.
Interestingly, the original yellow curtain was still behind the audience at this time and remained there at least through the end of the season. The red-blue-green-yellow curtains were in place by the second week of Season 4, though.
What order do the numbers appear in on the Big Wheel?
Starting and ending at the dollar, and going in the direction in which the wheel is spun:
100, 15, 80, 35, 60, 20, 40, 75, 55, 95, 50, 85, 30, 65, 10, 45, 70, 25, 90, 5, 100
The numbers also appeared in this order on the “Rainbow Wheel” used in the week of trial hour-long shows.
How do I read an episode's production number?
A daytime show’s production number consists of four digits followed by a letter (either D or K). The way to read them is best explained through an example, so let’s look at the number from the episode on which Shower Game and It’s Optional debuted: #2931D. The first three digits in the number are a week counter; here, they indicate that this episode is part of the 293rd week of first-run episodes. A “week” can contain as many as five episodes or as few as just one; a one-day-long week is most likely to occur around Christmas or at the end of a season. The fourth digit is simply a code for a weekday –- 1 = Monday, 2 = Tuesday, etc. “D” means “daytime,” and “K” means “thousand;” K replaced D in the numbers in week 1,000 so that a fifth digit wouldn’t have to be added to the numbering system. Since there is no week #000xK -– the numbers go straight from #9995D to #0011K –- the week indicated by any production number ending with K is actually one higher than it should be; for instance, “#3322K,” the production number of the Season 33 finale, is essentially shorthand for “#13312D” (although this is not meant to imply that the latter number is in any way official).
An interesting exception to this format is the show’s third episode; its production number is #0013D(R), with “R” presumably meaning “replacement.” It is in fact not the original third program; episode #0013D was discovered after it had finished taping to feature an ineligible contestant and was never aired. A similar thing happened near the end of Season 28, when a second episode #1513K was taped, with the original being shelved due to Contestants' Row getting shuffled around without anyone noticing and being redesignated as #1513X. There was also an episode thrown out early in the '70s nighttime run; its details are covered below in the paragraph on that series.
Also, during the first three seasons, the numbers appear to have been assigned to weeks of the year instead of weeks of new shows, as there are no episodes with the designations #042xD, #054xD, or #076xD. Week 42 -– June 18-22, 1973 –- and Week 54 –- September 10-14, 1973 -– were used to show episodes whose original airings were interrupted by coverage of Watergate; oddly, seven episodes from May and June ‘72 were redesignated at some point as #0415D through #0431D in CBS’s files, but the show’s own records retain their original production numbers. In Week 76 –- February 11-15, 1974 -– the show was pre-empted entirely due to a daily 90-minute special called CBS Daytime 90, a series of drama presentations intended to serve as pilots for potential series (none of which were ever picked up).
The first five daytime shows taped, which comprise the first week minus the replacement episode, actually have two production numbers -– the regular one, and a second one that corresponds to the taping order. Episodes 1, original 3, 4, 2, and 5 are labeled #0101-x, with x being 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. The practice was discontinued after the first week, so there’s no way of knowing for certain what the next number in the sequence would have been.
The ‘72-’80 nighttime show’s production numbers were simply the three-digit week counter followed by “N,” for “nighttime.” For example, the sixth episode of this run is #006N. (Note that due to the syndication practices in use during the ‘70s, the episodes in this run were not necessarily aired in the right order in all markets.) The third episode of the run, relabeled as #(003N), was thrown out and never aired due to a mistake during the Showcase that no one could figure out how to fix; a new #003N was taped to replace it later in the season.
The Kennedy version simply used an episode counter with no letters; for instance, the run’s sixth show was episode #006. The Davidson version is believed to have used an identical system.
The 25th Anniversary Special is labeled #0001S, and the 30th Anniversary Special in Las Vegas is labeled #0001LV.
The Price Is Right Salutes, the $1,000,000 Spectaculars, and A Celebration of Bob Barker's 50 Years in Television are considered a single series. They run on the same principle as the ‘70s nighttime show, with three digits followed by the letters “SP.” For instance, MDS 15 is #021SP.
We don’t know what system was used for the ‘86 Specials.
In which pricing games does knowing all of the prices NOT guarantee a win?
This list assumes that you know how to manipulate the prices in whatever way is necessary to play your game; for instance, it assumes that you can multiply and divide for Hit Me and that you know which hands beat which in Poker Game. It also assumes that you can move or talk quickly enough to make at least one guess in any timed game.
Card Game (prior to May 11, 2005), Double Bullseye (but only if you’re the second bidder), 1/2 Off, Hole in One, Joker, Let ‘em Roll, Master Key, On the Nose, Plinko, Punch a Bunch, Professor Price, Pass the Buck, The Phone Home Game, Secret “X”, Spelling Bee, Super Ball!!, and 3 Strikes.
Why do some grocery products and small prizes not have their brand names mentioned on the show?
When this happens, it means that the show just picked the item up at a local market or store and is not receiving any money from its manufacturer for displaying it. Since they’re not being paid for the appearances, they leave the brand name out of the prize copy in an attempt to give as little free advertising as possible.
Using non-sponsored items at all seems illogical at first glance, but in truth, it is necessary –- the show has been having trouble getting sponsors for years. The brand names were only cut from the non-sponsor plugs partway through Season 32, but even before then, it was generally possible to tell which products weren’t being paid for, as the prize copy the show writes for such items usually sounds very generic.
When did the various changes to Contestants' Row happen?
Here’s a timeline of the Row’s appearance:
- September 4, 1972: Contestants' Row has its original appearance of four brown eggcrate displays. Each display has a G-T asterisk on its left side that flashes when the contestant standing at it wins.
- August 19, 1975: Contestants' Row takes on its more familiar appearance, with a green border surrounding four sportstype displays that do not have asterisks. From left to right, the displays are red, green, orange and blue.
- Between September 24, 1981 and October 16, 1981: The green and blue displays switch places.
- Late 1984: The Row's green border becomes pink.
- Mid-to-late 1985: The pink border changes back to green.
- January 20, 2002: The blue display is changed to a much deeper shade of blue.
- January 31, 2003: The orange display is changed to yellow; additionally, the border immediately around each display becomes a marbled silver, and a black rim is placed on the interior edge of each display.
- October 15, 2007: The silver borders on the displays become much thinner, with most of each border changing back to green.
When a supply of a grocery product is awarded with an Item up for Bids, how large a supply does the winner receive?
Generally, the contestant wins $40 worth of the item. This should not be considered while bidding, as the grocery is not included in the price of the prize.
How did the Gameshow Marathon episode work?
On May 31, 2006, CBS premiered a series called Gameshow Marathon with an episode focused on The Price Is Right. The series featured celebrities playing game shows for charity (although it’s not clear exactly what the charities receieved), and the prizes won by the the winner of each episode (in Price’s case, the Showcase winner) were also chanced off to home viewers via a cell phone/internet contest. Ricki Lake hosted, as she did for all seven episodes of the series; Rich announced, and Shane, Rachel, and Lanisha served as the Beauties. Rich also announced the other six programs, and later episodes also featured Brandi, Rebecca, and Phire (as well as one-shot model Aly Sutton). The contestants were Paige Davis, Kathy Najimy, Tim Meadows, Lance Bass, Brande Roderick, and Leslie Nielsen.
The hour-long program opened with a retrospective on Price’s history, focusing on the Cullen and Barker versions; following this was what was essentially a half-hour game of TPIR with a Showcase Showdown shoehorned into it. The Showcase winner advanced to “Finalists’ Row”, indicating that she had earned the right to advance beyond the fourth episode of the marathon. The pricing games played were Hole in One, Plinko, and Race Game; Cliff Hangers was also present in case any of the other games would need to be subbed out.
Since the marathon was taped in Studio 46 and not Studio 33, a not-quite-duplicate set was built for Price, including a Turntable set, two Big Doors (both of which looked like Door #3), and a table for the Contestants’ Row displays to rest atop; the latter prop had a white front with two red Goodson-Todman asterisks on it, so as to look as close as possible to the appearance of the floor in front of Contestants’ Row in Studio 33. All of the pricing game props, the Contestants’ Row displays, the Big Wheel, the Showcase podiums, and the Race Game Curtain were the genuine articles.
Some further notes on the episode:
- The Hole in One contestant's second putt (which she missed) was edited out of the final program; this caused most viewers to incorrectly assume that the game's original rules were being used.
- Plinko was played for its standard primetime top prize of $100,000.
- A special rule was written for Plinko stating that every non-celebrity member of the audience would receive its fourth small prize if the contestant won that item's chip.
- A Plinko chip getting stuck was apparently edited out of the final program.
- The rules used for the Showcase Showdown were rather confusing and were not explained very clearly on the air; I will not attempt to explain them here, because there is no way I would get them right. The basic concept seemed to be that the two contestants who came nearest to a dollar without going over would advance to the Showcase.
- During the Showcase Showdown, the Big Wheel was shown using a variaton of the arrow graphic split-screen shot which has not been seen on the show since around 1995 or 1996; instead of using a black screen around the arrow and the wheel, the arrow was displayed over a full-screen shot of the Big Wheel.
- No mention of the Double Showcase rule was made during the Showcase, nor was it explained how a winner for Finalists' Row would be determined in the case of a tie. It is known that if there had been a Double Overbid, the contestants would have been told and allowed to make new bids, as was the case on the very first episodes.
The other six games played in the marathon were Let’s Make a Deal, Beat the Clock, Press Your Luck, Card Sharks, "Match Game ‘73," and Family Feud; despite its title, Match Game was actually played using the three-round Match Game PM format.
How many episodes of the daytime show are half-hour shows?
Counting the original third episode, 800. 739 of these made up the first three seasons; 39 were in September and October of Season 4; the next 16 were done to accomodate CBS Magazine during Seasons 4, 5, 6, and 7; and the last six were done in 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, and 1994 to accomodate the Pillsbury Bake-Off.
Which pricing games were played on the Kennedy version?
The nighttime show from Season 14 used 27 games: Any Number, Cliff Hangers, Clock Game, Danger Price, Dice Game and Deluxe Dice Game, Double Prices, Golden Road, Grand Game, Grocery Game, Hi Lo, Lucky Seven, Money Game and Big Money Game, Most Expensive, One Away, 1 Right Price, Pick a Pair, Plinko, Punch a Bunch, Race Game, Range Game, Safe Crackers, Secret “X”, Shell Game, Squeeze Play, Switcheroo, Take Two, and 3 Strikes.
How many episodes did the show's syndicated runs have?
The ‘70s nighttime show is believed to have lasted for 300 episodes over the course of eight seasons. The Kennedy version had 170 shows, and the Davidson version lasted only 80 episodes.
Has the show ever offered anything that couldn't be won?
Yes. The first three items in the correct trading sequence in Trader Bob could not be won, and the setups of the final two playings of On the Spot also resulted in some of the small prizes being unattainable.
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