This recap from January 21, 1963 is notable as it is the last Monday night show on NBC. Since the start of the 1962-63 season, Price aired Mondays at 9:30 PM Eastern and was getting its butt kicked in the ratings by The Andy Griffith Show on CBS. Cue Don Pardo:
Tonight, these four people meet to compete for the prizes of a lifetime on... (opening fanfare from "Window Shopping") The Price Is Right, presented by Anacin, the headache remedy with a special combination of ingredients to relieve pain, fight depression and calm jittery nerves. Anacin. And now your host on The Price Is Right, and here he is...Bill Cullen!
Bill comes out to the usual loud cheers and applause from the Colonial Theater audience, and tells us that The Price Is Right will be moving to Fridays at 9:30 PM Eastern starting February 1st. The contestants:
The returning champion is Eileen Aronwald, a housewife from Somerset NJ, having won the championship last week with $14,638.
T. Elmer Corson is the previous week's sweepstakes winner from Rochester, NY.
Madeline Ryan is a housewife from Pittsfield MA.
Columbus Efrid is a charter boat captain from Carolina Beach, Carolina.
June Ferguson shows a gift package from the makers of Anacin, which all players get. First item up for bids: The Avanti car from Studebaker in aerodynamic wedge construction, is equipped with automatic transmission and a jet-thrust V-8 engine. Bidding on the Avanti at its F.O.B. delivered price, pont of entry South Bend, Indiana.
Mrs. Aronwald starts the bidding with the opening asked to be at least $1500, minimums at $100:
(*--frozen bid; [bz]--last bid buzzer)
-------1500 -------1700 -------1900 -------2000
-------2100 -------2200 -------2300 -------2400
-------2500 -------2800 -------3000 -------3100
-------3200 -------3400 -------3500 -------3600 [bz]
-----* 3800 -----* 5700 -----* 3500 -----* 5800
Actual retail price: $4855.89, with Mrs. Aronwald the winner.
Second item: A covered wagon barbecue set by Hasty Bake, made of redwood and wrought iron, complete with oven/rotisserie.
Mr. Corson starts and it's a one-bid item:
----------- -----* 2300 ------* 985 ------* 300
------* 990
Actual retail price: $1000, with Mrs. Aronwald winning again and she hit the bonus bell. For the bonus, her husband Morton is brought out, and together they must name as many food items as they can, alternating between each other, in one minute, winning $50 in groceries for every food they name successully. They racked up 30 items and won $1500 worth of groceries at an IGA Food Mart.
A new home sweepstakes is shown. The prize is ownership of a Chicken Delight Restaurant franchise store at 2921 S. LaCienega Blvd. in Los Angeles, California. It comes equipped with counters, cookers, appliances and motorcarts for home delivery service. Also included is a full set of the World Book Encyclopedia.
Third item is a blind bid. Bill has four large envelopes which he mixes up and passes out to the contestants. Each envelope contains a section of a photo of the item. The contestants look at their piece of the photo.
Mrs. Ryan opens anywhere, with minimums $25:
---------- ---------- -------100 -------125
-------150 -------175 -------200 -------225
-------300 [bz]----* 325 -----* 350 -----* 375
-----* 300
The item is brought out and it's what everyone thought it was: a set of multi-compartment carry-on luggage. Actual retail price: $250, everyone overbid. There was a bonus attached as well, but that went by the wayside.
Final item: a diamond ring from Marin jewelers consisting of 51 diamonds weighing 15.63 karats.
Mr. Efrid opens with the opening asked to be at least $3000, minimums at $100:
---------- ---------- ---------- ------3000
------3300 ------3400 ------3600 ------3700
------4000 ------4100 ------4500 ------4600
------4800 ------5000 ------5300 ------5400
------5600 ------5700 ------5900 ------6000
------6100 ------6200 ------6500 ------6600
------6700 ------6900 ------7000 ------7100
------7200 ------7300 ------7500 ------7600
------7700 ------7800 ------7900 ------8000
------8100 ------8500 ------8600 ----* 8000
------8700 ------9000 ------9100 ----* 8000
----* 8700 ------9200 ------9300 ----* 8000
----* 8700 ------9400 ------9500 ----* 8000
----* 8700 ------9600 ------9700 [bz]---* 8000
----* 8700 ----*10000 ----*10100
Actual retail price: $10200, with Mrs. Ryan the winner.
Final scores:
Mrs. Aronwald - $7355
Mr. Corson - $0 (he gets a set of American Tourister luggage)
Mrs. Ryan - $10200
Mr. Efrid - $0 (he gets the luggage as well)
Mrs. Ryan is the new champion and will return next week to defend. Mrs. Aronwald leaves with a two-week total of $21,993.
