Nearly all of the episodes of "The Price Is Right" from 1972 onward have been preserved to this day (though a couple of early episodes are missing, and I think some of the master tapes may have been damaged a number of years ago). However, nothing in this world is free, and the company that keeps all of the show's tapes in climate-controlled storage charges for access (in order to cover their overhead).
And since "I'm just really curious" isn't enough justification to spend company money to access the tapes, there was no way for me to access the video of older episodes that I wanted to see. Still, after enough begging, I did get to see a copy of one episode that I know we've always had questions about -- 2571D.
Out of respect to my former employers and coworkers, I'm not going to put up any video. But this episode is important enough to the history of the show that I can't
not share its contents, so hopefully an episode summary with screen grabs will be considered okay.
So with that, I give you...
The camera repeatedly zooms in and out on the "HOUR POWER" text while the technical director quickly taps the camera's feed on and off, with no effort to sync the motions together. Even by today's standards, this is quite a bit of sensory overload.
The first four contestants (all women, of course) come on down, Janice hands Bob his microphone, and we jump right into the first item up for bids:
A Pontiac Comfort-Mate recliner and swivel rocker. Holly pretends to be asleep, then snaps to attention as the panels reveal the prize.
Bob reminds the contestants that all of the prices have been rounded to the nearest dollar (it always throws me off when he says that instead of explaining that the goal is to bid closest to the price without going over) and the contestants put in their bids:
Julia -- 400Barbara -- 375Marcella -- 325Susan -- 500From start to finish, it took a total of 16 seconds for all four contestants to place their bids. Nowadays, it's a minor miracle if the contestants can place a bid within 16 seconds
each.
The actual retail price is $588, and Susan follows Bob to the giant price tag, which has magically lowered at center stage following Bob's entrance through the doors. It wasn't uncommon for them to play giant price tag games in the first slot back in the 70s.
After a kiss, Bob invites a nervous Susan to look at all of the prizes she can win:
A Panasonic 19-inch color TV, an Amana side-by-side refrigerator/freezer, a Brother sewing machine, and Radio Shack stereo components. As was the custom at the time, before each individual prize is plugged, they cut to a shot of the contestant -- Susan is hanging on to Bob’s left arm for the entire duration of the copy.
As you all figured out when you saw the prizes, we're playing Danger Price. Is this what gave Jay Wolpert the inspiration to write his screenplay for "Pirates of the Caribbean" some 25 years later? No, of course not.
A quick explanation of the rules, and it's time to play. Not all of the audience is yelling suggestions, but of the ones that are, most are yelling "Two!", so Susan chooses number two and Janice reveals the price of the refrigerator.
I wonder if they realized that with such a tight shot, the chroma key effect is superfluous -- they could have used a split-screen and it would have essentially looked the same.
Now several of the audience members are yelling "Four!", so Susan chooses number four. I know they didn't worry about game conflicts so much back then, which is good, as this call-and-response is very similar to Most Expensive.
Then again, maybe the camera has just zoomed in too tight. I don't know what television safe zones were in 1977, but I'm pretty sure most home consoles would be cutting off that dollar sign on the far left.
Unfortunately, that was a loss. We see Janice start to reveal the price of the color TV, but Bob is already getting set to throw to commercial, so we cut back to Bob while Janice is at the halfway point of her reveal. My ability to rewind and pause tells me that the TV was $520; we never see the price of the sewing machine.
After a mere sixty seconds, the show is back and Johnny is calling down the next contestant. Here comes another video border and another item up for bids:
It's a Majestic freestanding fireplace. The models never kneel as the turntable is spinning around anymore.
Deborah -- 350Julia -- 600Barbara -- 610Marcella -- 550Four more quick bids, but the buzzer sounds, so the contestants need to bid again.
Deborah -- 320Julia -- 295Barbara -- 345Marcella -- 310The actual retail price is $330, and Deborah follows Bob, where once again the giant price tag is in place. As she arrives, she's crying a little bit. Bob consoles her -- she's made it onto the show, and she has a chance to win a big prize:
It's a 1978 Chevrolet Nova sedan. The camera slowly meanders into the door to take its close-up shot of the car -- Johnny has to read nine options before the plug is finished.
The giant price tag is still down as Bob tells Deborah that she's going to play a game that's only been played once before. And it begins with her meeting... Professor Price!
"Pomp and Circumstance" is played, and Bob explains how Professor Price will be keeping track of Deborah's correct and incorrect answers. Three correct answers wins the car. And now, it's time for everybody's favorite part of the "The Price Is Right": Bob Barker attempts to have a conversation with a puppet!
"Now Professor, you would like to see Deborah win, wouldn't you?"
Professor Price nods, and the audience laughs. Deborah laughs, too, which likely helps alleviate her nerves.
"She's a very sweet girl, and if—"
Professor Price nods again.
"Yes, Professor, she is -- a very sweet girl."
Bob decides to take a moment to talk to the actual human standing next to him, getting Deborah's assurance that if she wins the car, she won't cry.
"So you'll help all you can, won't you, Professor?"
Professor Price puts on his angry face and starts to shake his head "no." At which point the stagehand realizes that he's misinterpreted the question, so Professor Price's head makes an odd diagonal swivel to go to the nodding motion instead, with the facial expression changing mid-turn. So now Bob has to cover.
"No, he can't... he can't help you, you see. All he can do is keep score."
With that, Bob segues as quickly as he can to the game itself. He picks up a small stack of index cards and fans them toward Deborah.
I don't know how many cards there are, but for this playing of the game, the contestant will randomly choose which trivia questions are asked. Deborah takes a card from the center of the stack and, since nobody said otherwise, starts to turn it over.
"Don't look at it! Don't look at it -- the answer's on there."
Bob quickly takes the card back from Deborah before she can see anything, and asks the first question:
How many stars indicate the rank of a lieutenant general?
The audience was never admonished not to say anything, but they remain silent. After a couple of seconds, Deborah says, "Four."
Bob asks if four is the correct answer, and Professor Price shakes his head. Bob points out that one of the fingers on Professor Price's hand is pointing downward.
Yikes! Professor Price needs to see a dermatologist.
The correct answer is "three." So now it's time to get a correct answer by actually doing something related to prices. Bob asks to see the last two numbers in the four-digit price of the car.
Well... that may have been a tough question, but it's still a lucky draw. Because "three" was the correct answer to the question, Deborah must decide whether one of the first two numbers in the car's price is a 3. They've used some tricky car prices on this show in the past, but I don't think they'd be
that mean.
Deborah predicts that there is no 3 in the first two positions, and Professor Price nods his head in agreement. One correct answer; one incorrect answer.
Since the 3 wasn't in the price of the car, nothing is revealed and Bob fans the index cards out toward Deborah again. Deborah chooses the top card and this time, doesn't turn it over. Her next question:
Washington's picture is on the one-dollar bill. On which dollar bill is the picture of Abraham Lincoln?
This is quite a departure in difficulty from the previous question! Without hesitation, Deborah says that Lincoln is on the five-dollar bill.
Bob asks if that's right, and Professor Price nods his head.
Looks like the ol' Professor is developing a little arthritis, though.
Deborah says that she works with money all day long -- she works for a food stamp outlet. So that question was easy for her. Of course, while it hasn't been stated outright, if you realize that all of these answers are single-digit numbers, there were only two possible answers to that question.
One more correct answer, and Deborah wins the car. Is 5 one of the first two numbers in the price of the car?
I don't know my 1970s prices all that well, but it seems to me like a Nova should go for four or five thousand dollars by this point. Deborah immediately says that there is a 5 in the price of the car. Is she right, Professor?
The Professor nods his head, and the set immediately starts to go berserk!
Cut to the price being revealed as $5,133! Cut to the owl flapping its wings! Cut to Deborah hugging Bob! Cut to the clock spinning its hands! Cut to the audience! Cut to Deborah! Cut to the owl again!
As Bob addresses the camera to throw to commercial, a nodding Professor Price once again briefly switches to his scowling face and "no" headshake before resuming his nodding.
"Yes, that Professor Price, I have a feeling, is going to become a very popular fellow!" Bob says. And that's the last we ever see of the game.
