They wanted Side By Side won, there was no way that was going to be the cheaper of the two.
Good lord, that video game package and the overbids on the one-bid.
We went from having expensive-ass TVs to cheap TVs back to insanely expensive TVs again. Weird, huh?
Pay the Rent was ridiculous, as others have said, way too easy or way too hard and there was almost no way these products were going to be set up to cause a loss. But having only one way to set them up is ridiculous too. Having two or three solutions, plus "it may not be the wisest decision to put the cheapest item in the mailbox" as part of the instructions to the player, might allow for enough wins to keep the game exciting but enough losses to save budget.
I really like the idea of what they did as an add-on for this shot, but I think they need to reduce just how much of it they do, but expand it for every single episode going forward.
...that is to say, every single prize won on The Price is Right, from the one-bids, to the regular game prizes, to cash wins, to mid-level prizes like the middle prize in Any Number to the along the way prizes in Golden Road or More or Less, to the showcases, there should be cash given to the contestant equal to what their tax burden will be.
I could even see the ad for it.
"Hello, I'm Drew Carey, host of The Price is Right...but before I was a game show host, I was a comedian. And like most comedians, I know when it's time to let a joke die."
*cut to every single time Drew has said something to the effect of "bad news...you're going to have to pay tax and title on this brand new car!"*
"And that's why, as a game show first, we'll be paying the taxes on every prize won by any of our contestants, for the rest of the life of The Price is Right, and on all other game shows or reality shows CBS airs!"
Follow this up with attempts to get the laws changed that prizes won, of any sort - game show winnings, lottery winnings, slot machine jackpots, etc. become exempt from taxation as they are in most other countries (Canada, Mexico, Europe, all have exemptions carved out for this, why are we behind in this regard?) Have CBS be the ones leading the charge, suddenly every time someone wins some life-changing sum of money, they think "wow, I would have had to give a third of this to the government, but now I don't, thanks CBS!" News stories reporting on record Powerball or Mega Millions numbers would end up referencing just why the law got changed. Someone hits a $2,000 jackpot in a casino, they get told "oh, there's no tax cut taken out any more, CBS changed that." There'd be so much good will for that network, it would pay huge dividends. Any money used to bribe enough politicians to ram it through Congress would be paid back tenfold if not more.
