FULL RECAP - TPiR 01/20/2010

[Wayoshi]

Anything cheesy is usually Greco's trap. You seem like an above average contestant though, so good job trying.

I'm surprised Cameron was considering 9...that means Greco was pretty close to getting beat. Maybe more contestants can figure out that evil soon.

You simply got caught by what many are calling "the most un-price-able prize ever". We never had an exact price on a private jet until today, only that it was about a 5k addition in previous trips...I *never* thought it went by the hour in that fashion.

[mrbrown2195]

How?  Unless something's changed since Roger was fired (and if it has, it just reinforces how little of a clue these people have about controlling the budget) or the prizes for whatever reason became unavailable, you can't do that.

Steve - I do recall past contestants who happened to have won iPhones with service that they couldn't get the prize, and instead got cash, regardless of whether or not they actually wanted the phone. Perhaps the same sort of thing could be happening here with the Blackberry Pearl?

[PIR85]

...except Joshua said everything in his showcase except the chair.

[mrbrown2195]

...yeah, I realize that... which is why I specifically pointed out the Blackberry, and prior examples of contestants getting cash instead of phones.

As for the other stuff, I have no clue why he got the option to take cash in lieu of prizes.

[WooWho]

How?  Unless something's changed since Roger was fired (and if it has, it just reinforces how little of a clue these people have about controlling the budget) or the prizes for whatever reason became unavailable, you can't do that.

Perhaps I should've been more clear.  They handed me the prize release form and said, "We're giving you cash for this, that, and the other..."  I didn't have a choice, it was already listed as cash on the prize form.  So no, I didn't get the option to take cash...they just thrust it upon me.

[jimlange]

Welcome to the forum Joshua and congrats on all of your winnings!!  I can help Josh and others clarify why he would be getting cash for his prizes.  Since Drew took over, a lot of prizes are there just for show and not to be given away.  In fact, it is there just for the plug itself.  So since the prize isn't being given away, the contestant who wins said prize(s) will get the announced value of that prize in cash.  You are all correct, you cannot substitute cash for the prize, but that is not the case here and hasn't been in a lot cases since Drew took over.  Josh had no option at all.  He either had to refuse it or take the cash for it.  But who would refuse cash!! In fact it happened on my show, which was Roger's last year as producer.  The first contestant won a computer in the first IUFB.  When signing paperwork, they told him it was there just for a show plug and CBS paid him cash for the value of the computer announced on the air.

[MrPlinko]

  Since Drew took over, a lot of prizes are there just for show and not to be given away.  In fact, it is there just for the plug itself.  So since the prize isn't being given away, the contestant who wins said prize(s) will get the announced value of that prize in cash. 

What is the reasoning behind this?  Are they in such a tight budget mode they can't afford to give several IUFB's away as prizes?  Are there specific prizes on the show to which this applies?  Researchers, do you have a list of such prizes that are prop only?

Welcome to the forums, Josh!!!  Sounds like you had a great time!!!!

Joe

[SteveGavazzi]

Are they in such a tight budget mode they can't afford to give several IUFB's away as prizes?

This is costing them more than it would to give away the prizes.  People might turn the prizes down, but nobody's going to refuse cash.

[trytobecharming]

Awesome to see Shell Game and awesome to see it won. Thank goodness everything after her first chip didn't matter. Oh yeah and I knew she had won before Drew even started the reveal, you know how? Watch the video again, if you want to. When Drew sat his microphone on the table and then started rattling the shells, you could hear it was either under 2 or 3.

I don't remember Bob or Drew annoucing the $500 bonus in Shell Game prior to a contestant winning all four chips before today's playing.

[rob79]

Two observations on this show from my perspective:

1) Five hours on a private jet is about the dumbest prize i've ever heard of

2) Why even offer a prize if there is no chance it is ACTUALLY gonna be awarded? This sorta seems a bit below the "up and up" if I say so myself.

[chad1m]

2) Why even offer a prize if there is no chance it is ACTUALLY gonna be awarded? This sorta seems a bit below the "up and up" if I say so myself.

It's standard game show practice, especially with prizes needed for
multiple use, like some of the ones on this show. And it's always been game show practice that if a prize is unavailable, one will be substituted of equal or greater value. Wheel of Fortune has done it off and on with cars in the bonus round since at least the '90s. I've even had a replacement prize offered to me personally, from GSN Live ($730 in Best Buy gift cards instead of a no-longer-available $730 HDTV.) So, yeah, it's not a new or uncommon concept at all. In most cases, it's a happening preferred by contestants!

[TheBigAK]

You're going to play shell game today.    If you find the hidden ball you win   $5932   ??

It seems to me that they should have to award the prize, not cash.   Unless for some reason the prize is no longer available.

[JoePlinko]

I'm getting the cash equivalent for everything in my Showcase except the chair.

That is awesome!  Congrats on the win.  How great is that what you thought you couldn't afford is instead given to you in cash.  Too bad it wasn't the Porche, that would have been awesome to all of the sudden be told "You get $50,000 instead!"

[Kirsten Vaccaro]

Whew...OK.  Now that I'm here...a detailed account!

First order of business to everyone's questions: I gave up that trip.  No way am I paying taxes on $25,000 airfare.  And while I'm at it, I'm getting the cash equivalent for everything in my Showcase except the chair, which I'm keeping (these dorm room chairs I'm sitting in suck big time).  And, of course, the TV, which incidentally arrived last Monday--just in time for the new semester!  (Of course, wanting to keep the ultimate secret, I haven't even taken it out of the box yet, but come this weekend...)

I kinda cheated and saw Grand Game behind the GPT even before it was lifted, so I was immediately thinking, "OK, I'll pick off the hard ones first and leave an obvious one to give me the easy $10K."  With that setup, no way was that happening.

As far as the last product goes...honestly, I had no idea the bandages were even there until Drew flipped the card down showing the price of the cheese.  And RIGHT before he did, I thought, "Oh, no, that's not the right one..."

Hey...at least I knew to stay away from the motor oil!  (IIRC, it was a little over $6...$6.39, I want to say?)

Cameron told me after he sat down next to me that, for the last number, he had "4, 5, 9" lodged into his brain and couldn't figure out which one he wanted to pick.  So, he turned to the crowd...and we all know what happened there.

(He also really wanted to swap One-Bid prizes with me after the show...)

Two funny things happened in Shell Game that were edited out: Drew messed around with the shells before the game, even picking some up (and inadvertently revealing the ball in the process).  He suddenly realizes, "Oh, jeez, I wasn't supposed to do that, was I?"  So they spin the game back around and it proceeded as usual, save for one instance where that blow dryer just wouldn't stand up straight.  And Tyra told everybody backstage that she was just married about a week before the taping, and she was so happy to have won that furniture.

The Showcases...oh, jeez.  Call it (if I may coin a new term here) "overphobia", but I figured the phone, desk, computer, chair, and service were around $5,000 total.  That trip, at least to me, couldn't have been more than $15,000, so I was originally thinking to bid around 18-20K.  Why I lowered it to what I bid...don't ask.  Chalk it up to overphobia.

So when they were setting up before the reveal, they left the desk on stage.  With my bid, there was no way I could've won, so I thought Jeff had  ed.  But of course, now we know what happened there...and man, I felt so terrible for him.

Overall, my energy level was hyped up much higher than it usually is (simply because I was so freakin' NERVOUS!), and I kinda feel bad for having won that Showcase the way I did, but I wouldn't trade that experience for the world.  Drew and Rich were so nice to me, and luck really was on my side.

How is Drew Carey & Rich Fields in person Joshua?

[whirlwood74]

Nice to see that old throwback grocery item in Grand Game:  Castrol GTX motor oil.

Unfortunately, Rich doesn't plug it like Johnny O. used to on the Nighttime Price is Right (in 1975):

"And to keep your car running smoothly, 33 quarts of...Castrol GTX...For all sizes & models of cars...Castrol lubrication for cars, motorcycles, & snowmobiles."

Here's how Rich should have plugged it 35 years later (in 2010):

"Use Castrol GTX to fight engine viscosity and thermal breakdown...Castrol...It's more than oil, it's liquid engineering."

I know that about 99.44% of grocery products on TPIR today are w/o fee plugs, but can't Rich take a page from his idol, Johnny Olson?