Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much

[crinos43]

It is now on Hulu, so I got a chance to watch it yesterday.

I enjoyed it a lot. It was really cool to hear the history or how the exacta came to be.

I find it extremely off-putting though to hear that while Bob and Roger were all for contestants being able to perfectly bid items because of how often they were used, that Kathy Greco has the opposite opinion.

Ted had been to the show at least two DOZEN times. He was mentioned by Bob on camera multiple times BEFORE being a contestant. Seems to me like the only person who doesn't like seeing LfaTs around there was her.

[InfraredSight]

I also got a chance to watch this on Hulu today and it's an amazing documentary. I absolutely loved the history of what lead up to Teds pick and the exacta. I still feel bitter about how the whole thing was handled and I know it wouldn't have been handled that way if Rodger was still there. Stupid Kathy. She really ruined a great moment and prevented any future moments like that, even though it took over 35 years for that to happen. Once again, great doc. Thanks for all the effort.

[RedWing512]

I also got a chance to watch this on Hulu today and it's an amazing documentary. I absolutely loved the history of what lead up to Teds pick and the exacta. I still feel bitter about how the whole thing was handled and I know it wouldn't have been handled that way if Rodger was still there. Stupid Kathy. She really ruined a great moment and prevented any future moments like that, even though it took over 35 years for that to happen. Once again, great doc. Thanks for all the effort.

Would it have been handled differently if Roger was still there? Maybe. But given the circumstances, I feel like the staff at that time had ample reason to feel the way they did.

After Drew was hired, there were a handful of instances where others here started butting heads with TPTB (the one in particular that stands out to me was the guy that attended multiple tapings of Drew's MDSs and kept getting seated towards farther toward the back because he kept giving away exactas). I think the tipping point was after Roger got the can and everyone here went bat-shiat crazy. It's not that far-fetched for someone to believe it was a way for someone who was bitter about Roger's dismissal to sabotage Drew's version of the show by cheating, and I can see where Fingers could feel like having such an exacta could be perceived as such.

My point here is that it's wrong to point blame at just one person (i.e., Fingers), when this event was part of a larger happening that this very fandom played a part in coming about, even though no one here will probably admit it.

[Prizes]

Just got finished watching for some fun to wrap up the night. I have more thoughts later, but oh man the easter eggs. You guys were so freaking clever with this stuff, especially with your deliberation. Also hitting on the subtle Snoopy a few times on top of that. Love it! Won't spoil for those that haven't seen it, but I hope I'm not the only one to pick up on what you did.

As a prize tracker and memorizer (nearly 100 pages and counting!), yeah. One quick note I want to point out: Yeah, the interviews are 10 years old with Drew, but hah on the concept of not being able to exact Showcases anymore. There's at least once a season where they beg for it and a handful of other times where studying it makes it cake. Show repeats all the time now and I'd argue more than ever given the desired prizes from a younger demographic are more limited in scope. Credit to the show for making that change in the eyes of viewers, but with it comes easy trends to pick up, with a notable exception of some (not all, certainly not) designer goods that are not otherwise sold on American markets/in USD, and/or have been discounted.

One thing I wondered about with Ted, is if he used backwardization to derive prices? I know he's here, obviously. But should he not see this: Basically, something I do when I'm hunting prices down is I'll take a Showcase apart, piece by piece.

There might be 2 prizes I do know, but one I don't: So if we've got a France trip (oh god, Ted on trips wasn't kidding-even the excursions vary now for total ARP) for $13,336 I do know, and a Fiesta for $21,225 I know, but I'm not sure of the other item, I'll make the equation as follows: UP (Unknown Prize)=((ARP)-(France+Fiesta))). I will also do this for car options that aren't specifically available online, like Paint and Fabric protectant. This strat was hinted at, but not sure how far down the line it went.

The other question: Did Ted know the SC ARPs, or close enough to them (relatively speaking) the day of his airing? That's a dangerous game of what-if, but I'd have to ask myself that question if the Big Wheel and my science-based spins (relative weights, torque make that an equation as well) weren't kind to me.

[Ted]

One thing I wondered about with Ted, is if he used backwardization to derive prices? I know he's here, obviously. But should he not see this: Basically, something I do when I'm hunting prices down is I'll take a Showcase apart, piece by piece.

There might be 2 prizes I do know, but one I don't: So if we've got a France trip (oh god, Ted on trips wasn't kidding-even the excursions vary now for total ARP) for $13,336 I do know, and a Fiesta for $21,225 I know, but I'm not sure of the other item, I'll make the equation as follows: UP (Unknown Prize)=((ARP)-(France+Fiesta))). I will also do this for car options that aren't specifically available online, like Paint and Fabric protectant. This strat was hinted at, but not sure how far down the line it went.

The other question: Did Ted know the SC ARPs, or close enough to them (relatively speaking) the day of his airing? That's a dangerous game of what-if, but I'd have to ask myself that question if the Big Wheel and my science-based spins (relative weights, torque make that an equation as well) weren't kind to me.

1) Yes, and it took me a while to put that idea together. For years, I wouldn't bother tracking anything in the showcases, but I would always place my own bids on them when I watched. One day, in the summer of 1982 or 1983, I hit a showcase on the nose because I knew the prices of three of the four items in the showcase and estimated the carpeting to be $20 per square yard, giving me $800 for 40 square yards. When Bob read the price of $5,204, which matched my bid, I yelled louder than I probably ever have. Unfortunately, it took a few years for me to realize that by tracking the showcase prizes, I could backwards engineer some of the prices (in the way you described.) It also allowed me to go back and fill in blanks in the showcases if I determined the price of a prize later in the season. Ultimately, this is how I figured out the prizes of the boats, trailer, the hoverjet, the amphibious vehicle, etc. Also, the Lorren episode was a fluke because I got to see her paperwork after the show from that point on I was able to separate mattress prices from bed/bedroom prices and I also got to see the price of one of the bedding ensembles.

2) I think you are asking if I knew the price(s) of the showcase(s) on the day I was a contestant on the show. Yes and no. One showcase included a dining room, dinnerware, flatware, and a spa. Easy peasy. Except that not long before the previous season ended, the dining room had been in a showcase and I thought the price had gone up, so I would have been over had I been bidding on the showcase (however it's possible I would have talked myself into going with the original price of the dining room had I been in the position to bid on the showcase.)

As noted in the movie, I did hit a showcase on the nose at the Monday taping two days before I was selected. The contestant, however, was almost $7000 over the ARP. I also hit a showcase on the nose in the studio in 2005 when I was there with several friends. Didn't make a difference that time, either. As they say, the third time is the charm.

[dmaingame]

It is now on Hulu, so I got a chance to watch it yesterday.

I enjoyed it a lot. It was really cool to hear the history or how the exacta came to be.

I find it extremely off-putting though to hear that while Bob and Roger were all for contestants being able to perfectly bid items because of how often they were used, that Kathy Greco has the opposite opinion.

Ted had been to the show at least two DOZEN times. He was mentioned by Bob on camera multiple times BEFORE being a contestant. Seems to me like the only person who doesn't like seeing LfaTs around there was her.

Ted is a true LFaT.  For about a two year period, he seemed to be present at every taping.  I remember Bob and Rod both seemed genuinely delighted when he was finally called down as a contestant.   

[Bluescreen_ODeff]

Just watched the documentary not too long ago.  What I really liked was Ted's BASIC program he wrote of Price.  And just like BigJon's version, it looks WAY better than some official Price PC games of the era (You know which one I'm talking about).

Hey Ted, how long did it take you to write that program?  It looks very polished up!

[SteveGavazzi]

(i don't know how to do spoiler tags)

1.)  I don't even think we have spoiler tags.

2.)  Whether we do or not, this really, really didn't need spoiler space, which is why I edited it out of your post.

[Ted]

Just watched the documentary not too long ago.  What I really liked was Ted's BASIC program he wrote of Price.  And just like BigJon's version, it looks WAY better than some official Price PC games of the era (You know which one I'm talking about).

Hey Ted, how long did it take you to write that program?  It looks very polished up!

Long story short, it took two years. Some weekends, I could crank out as many as five games, but some games took much longer (Pathfinder, for example, was somewhat of a pain in the rear because I had to figure out code so that there wouldn't be two of the same number next to each other on the board or two choices to step to that were the same number).

And for those of you who are wondering, yes it was that horrible GameTek version of The Price Is Right that inspired me to write the program. After waiting forever for the GameTek version to arrive, I was very disappointed when it finally did arrive and decided to look into writing my own.

As a possibly interesting side note, in the documentary when I'm talking about the car in Card Game being $7,659 because I had seen it at a previous taping where they played Lucky Seven, and the action cuts to a computer game of Lucky Seven--well that is not from my BASIC game, but from even earlier (mid 80's, probably) when I would program individual games on my...wait for it...Texas Instruments TI-99/4A home computer. Yes, I still have the computer and I was happily surprised when I could not only get it working with my television set, but also was able to pull the programs off of the...again, wait for it...audio cassette tapes that they were on.

[SanAnMan]

I finally got a chance to watch this and I was thoroughly entertained. I loved all of Ted's stories, especially about how Bob was specifically calling him out on that one episode for constantly calling out exact prices. I was a little disappointed that Terry didn't seem to want to cooperate with this project, but I guess he has his own motives. Anyways, thanks for a fun documentary, and to Ted, just know that we fans appreciate you.

[Plinkoman]

I also was able to watch this. It was so good, I showed it to my mom. We're planning on our first trip to Price this December. It's interesting that when I was a kid, before the days of G-R.net, even before I was a lurker on the MSN boards, even I recognized that the show reused prizes and I was quite successful at memorizing their prices. Although it's a lot more difficult nowadays, some prizes still repeat and it still pays to watch The Price Is Right!

[nowhammies11]

Any chance you can dump the files of your BASIC Price games?

[GFinNY]

Wow! Though I still record and watch the show almost every day, I'd been out of the loop on participating here and paying close attention to the show, and totally missed the release of this documentary! A buddy at work mentioned it to me last week, and I immediately looked for it! Great job to all involved -- very interesting flick. It's available on Amazon Prime right now if anyone is looking to find it ...

I think the thing I found most interesting was how differently the hardcore fans are viewed now versus in the Roger/Barker era ... a noticeable change.

George

[SanAnMan]

For anyone interested, the video is currently free on Amazon Prime video.

[fortyfps]

thanks for all the kind words and support! also if you find yourself on a united or delta flight, we have been added to their rotation as well

we still have a 15 or 20 of the Loyal Friend And True signed blu-ray copies over at our Fortyfps BigCartel site for those looking to have one of the 100 we made!

cjw