Full taping report:
My lifelong friend Matt talked to me about planning a trip to Universal mid-October. I had a couple days off work and convinced him to check in on TPIR while we were there. BOY ARE WE GLAD WE DID.
I made “Flip” and “Flop” shirts as a gag, looking for something that would be easily visible in the audience on TV, assuming that was as far as it would go. Matt had seen a taping with me before and knew what to expect. Though he loved the atmosphere of the studio, he was initially planning on telling the pages he didn’t want to be chosen so he wouldn’t be stressed about getting onstage.
We had line vouchers, and arrived about an hour early. We were behind two women in pink (Melissa and Tiffany) we became friends with in line. Both had been on the show before, in
2013 and 2016; the former was hoping for her second shot.
I was recognized by some of the pages early on, and Matt had been with me to 4/4/23. Knowing that I wasn’t eligible and that Matt wasn’t intent on doing the interview, we felt zero pressure to do anything but enjoy the taping. We were relaxed, we felt welcome, we were having a good time, and we were among friends. It was a good, TPIR-ready mood.
At the last second, Matt changed his mind and did the interview. We were told that they were running out of time (we were 102-103 and there were only around 130 in line) and the interviews would be speedy. Everybody got no more than 10-15 seconds. Matt had a good, high-energy interview talking about his job and got a quick follow-up question. Melissa also stood out in the little time she had.
After the interview, we got snacks. We picked up bags of Cracker Jacks joking that it said “prize inside”. It was a sticker. Matt stuck his sticker on his shirt in the middle of the “O” in “FLOP”.
When we were led into the studio, we were placed in the back row in the center section, one row behind Melissa and Tiffany. A few minutes later, a page came to us and asked Matt and I to move to the back row of the stage right section, which was empty. They filled the area around us with twenty-ish seat fillers.
My first assumption behind the move to the back row side section was “oh, maybe we’re
too recognizable”. It seemed a plausible theory at the time, knowing the reasons other contestants had been placed on the back row in the past. I was 100% ready to cheer, have a good time, and hopefully steer some people in the right direction, no matter where we appeared on TV.
It turned out that wasn’t the reason we were moved to the side. It was because both Melissa AND Matt were selected as contestants and they didn’t want too many people coming from the same area.
When George called Matt’s name, both of us went into shock. It was a total surprise. Matt was glued to his seat for a few seconds in shock and disbelief and eventually stood up and his legs cooperated enough for him to Come On Down. Turns out he wouldn’t be geeking out about minute show details with me after all.
As of this taping, the video monitors facing the audience are blacked out during IUFBs. This is to stop the audience from looking up at the ceiling when they’re on cam and should be looking down at Contestants’ Row. (If you’re looking for people in the audience showing the underside of their chin to the camera in the audience during IUFBs from the first few months, you’ll easily find it.)
So when they revealed the pizza oven and solicited bids, a number of audience members were reluctant to shout out bids since they couldn’t see what the other players had bid. The good news was that it was easy to hear the bids the first time while everybody was getting used to the process.
My instinct when I saw the pizza oven was $1500s. We had fourth bidder advantage so I signaled $1351, which Matt took.
Actual price, $1,661. Matt is golden.
Matt wins, walks up in shock. I’m in shock too. Five minutes ago we were considering ourselves lucky we weren’t watching from the LMAD set and now he’s the first contestant onstage.
Drew does his usual bit asking Matt about his shirt. (If we had thought that there was a real chance Matt would get onstage, we would have planned a better standalone shirt than “FLOP”.) Matt points out his friend “FLIP” in the audience since the shirt doesn’t make any sense by itself. Drew says, “Well, we are in the right place for it, but we’re not playing Flip Flop. It’d be great if we were, because we’re standing right here. George, what is he playing for?”
“You’re gonna FLIP for this prize…” The doors open. George bellows “IT’S A NEW TRUCK!” At this moment we’re flooded with emotion. Matt drops in disbelief to the turntable floor. My knees buckle in the aisle. Oh, boy. Pressure’s on now. That truck looks expensive, easily in the $30s. I’m blacking out at this point, and I know nothing about Nissan trucks, but I struggle to listen to George’s copy. I can barely make them out but I think I hear the words “medic kit, trash bin”…
I also see four SPs getting wheeled out. It’s a fee game.
Finally George announces, “A fabulous prize worth–get this!–thirty four THOUSAND, nine hundred twenty four dollars!”
Whew. I don’t need to price the $34K car. It’s gotta be Bonus Game. That’s the only NCFC that makes sense. And since it’s for a $34K car, it’s not gonna be an easy Bonus Game, either. I’m bracing myself for some tricky prices and hoping I can signal Matt to zig when he should zag.
And the turntable spins around, and reveals…
Switcheroo.
Wait. Hang on a minute.
Switcheroo?
But George just read the price of the truck…
And in that instant, I realize that George had something in his prize copy that absolutely should not have been included in his prize copy.
There were no “tech wins”, no stopdowns. Obviously it was edited out for broadcast. Drew continued as if nothing had happened. But Drew definitely heard George say it, hence Drew saying “I’m pretty sure it’s got to be the car” when doing the final win reveal. [EDIT: I remember Drew saying that in studio, but it sounds like it was dubbed over with “show us the car.” Also, 9821 pointed out James’ hand is by the car reveal button before the car check mark lit up.]
Matt claims he didn’t hear George read the ARP (I’m sure he was in shock and the audience was cued to cheer when George was finishing his copy, drowning it out) but I did. Mostly.
My head was swimming with all the emotions of the moment, and the crowd drowned out part of it, but I was 80% sure Geroge said “twenty-four” and 98% sure he did not say “fourteen”. I start screaming “TWO IN CAR! TWO IN CAR!” I’m breaking every rule of audience protocol, but it’s my childhood friend onstage and a truck is on the line. Future pricegoers, don’t emulate my example.
The car was one of the first blocks placed, to the chagrin of Switcheroo purists everywhere. Process of elimination is usually the way to go, but NOT TODAY. During Matt’s second turn, he pointed at the car block as if to change it and I screamed “NO! NO!”. The audience wasn’t too happy and wanted him to change it, but we trusted each other.
When he won, we went ballistic. I couldn’t believe what just happened. Not only did he get called down, not only did he win his pricing game… he won a $34K truck that was absolutely not intended to be given away in the way that it was. Matt is the luckiest person in the world.
Matt told me when we reunited that it didn’t feel real. He told me it felt like we were doing another play episode of The Price is Right and he was obliging by playing along smiling and mugging for the cameras. It happened too quickly for it to sink in until he was back to his seat.
The next contestant is called… and wouldn’t you know, it’s Melissa, our friend from the line! I was trying to get her to stop Range Game in the middle, but Tiffany wanted her to keep going, and she let it go a little too long. Darn it.
Bad luck at the wheel for both Matt and Melissa, but we sure have nothing to complain about. Matt gets processed during the showcases. By the end of the episode he’s back to me with his blue binder. He’s already been informed the Nissan Frontier is not in stock and he’s going to be receiving $34K in cash in lieu of the truck. And as of this week, the pizza oven is already on its way.
Although Matt’s not receiving an actual truck, he DID get a license plate frame. He offered to trade it for one of my spare karaoke machines from my IUFB. Easiest trade of my life.
