Yeah, that's my fault. I kept looking trying to distinguish the two, I kept seeing Gwendolyn.
While Gwendolyn and Manuela do look alike, one way to tell is that Manuela is shorter.
I'm surprised they played both Bonus Game and Plinko - usually they don't play two games with four (or more) two/three-digit prizes.
But why no Grocery Game?
This has happened before: the 2009 episode where Barker returned for the Showcase had Punch-a-Bunch and Plinko in its lineup. As for why there was no Grocery Game in this episode, there's a scheduling rule that says there can't be more than one GP game in the same show. They can get away with using two SP games, but not two GP ones.
As for the show itself...
Grand Game: Somehow I knew that either this or 1/2 Off would show up, with the $40,000 top prize. And Airplane Pamela gets her chance to claim the extra loot, but loses it all in the end. It was fun to hear her story of how she wanted a car, but then "a freakin' airplane comes along".
Any Number: Uliana's story of her 2004 accident involving the car she had won in the Dice Game two years earlier is the only thing more heartbreaking than the fact that she failed to win the truck.
Double Prices: OTOH, Dazettia provided an inspirational story of how she was homeless and then got a chance to play Plinko, thanks to a passerby who was willing to give her a ticket in order to make that dream a reality. Too bad she lost in her return, though.
Plinko: Kathleen was so lucky to get $11,000 to make up for her missing out on two SP's. Along with her Grand Game win from 1984, she's now taken $21,000 of CBS' money.
Bonus Game: I guess it's safe to say that Paul is the greatest Bonus Game player ever! I don't think we'll ever see a repeat performance like that ever again. WOW, a 1972 Monte Carlo??? And a new SP podium??? I wonder if we will also see that new SP podium when they play Shell Game in the season to come?
Double Cross: Larry is still fun to watch after his "You're Bob, I'm Larry" moment from back in '99. And he won the newest game in the rotation--lucky him!
Showcases: Holy crap, those were some expensive Showcases, but I somehow expected them to be that way, since this was the 40th anniversary of the first-ever episode of TPIR. I was rooting for Uliana to win, but it was nice to see Larry pull it out in the end.
Miscellaneous: Those retrospective clips were fun to watch, and it's a good thing that Drew remembered there was no SCSD until 1975 when he asked contestants what they got the first time they spun the Big Wheel. I think that only Pamela and Paul did not participate in their first go-around because they both played on half-hour episodes then; and with the exception of TNPIR in 1994-95, half-hour episodes proceeded from the third PG directly to the Showcase round. I, for one, am sick and tired of people complaining about Yolanda, but two players I would've liked to see were Bryan (who gave up $5,000 on Punch-a-Bunch, only to win $10,000) and Velma (who is most famous for mauling Bob after winning $11,000 on the Big Wheel in one of the 1986 Specials).
