FULL RECAP - TPiR MDS 04/30/2008

[padron3141]

That was a very good MDS, and it thought it was a pretty breezy and fast-moving hour.  I give that special episode this rating: 4.75/5.

Some quickie thoughts...

1.  Now it is within $500 of the ARP in the Showcase to win the $1M.  I can see it is going to more difficult to win that amount of money in that particular round, if ever again.

2.  Wow, there were that many models on the show?  Probably used as a ploy to counter those over at DOND.

3.  The "Pathfinder" game played so terrific!  I was thinking afterward that could have been the special $1M pricing game instead.

4.  Now, I thought Brandi's amusing 1950's homemaker look in the 2nd Showcase seemed to be a bit out of synch, particularly with that ill-fitting wig on her.

5.  While I may not be the only one watching this, I noticed that during the end credits and fee plug listings, there was a weird effect that seem to be in a different video mode of movement.  I watching this from the SD feed seen on the CBS O&O here in New York City.

[JokerFan]

Opening:  I liked the opening when the three previous $1,000,000 winners appeared.  I also liked how (some of) the models accompanied Drew when he came out the Big Doors.  It would have been better if a) all the models accompanied Drew and/or b) the models came out the Big Doors with Drew

Switcheroo:  The first time it appeared in primetime!  And it’s the Million Dollar Game!  I thought this might make a good million dollar game but being the first game, I doubted it until Drew said it would be.  I was also thinking if this was the Million Dollar Game, an EXACTA would be required.  Let’s just hope that this doesn’t continue the same way the first set of MDSs did—okay to not-so-okay Million Dollar Games.

Range Game:  My guess was $9750.  At first, I thought that Khamill thought she had to push the button to start the rangefinder.  I wonder what Khamill was doing when Drew was asking for the price to be lit up.

Pathfinder:  An EXACTA!  This should have been the Million Dollar Game with an EXACTA winning the $1,000,000.

That’s TOO Much: I guessed $29,921 because there was a $5,000 leap, although I’m not sure about the usual gaps during primetime and how they compared to this playing’s gaps.  Still would have guessed $29,921.

Grand Game:  I thought the set-up was easy (or at least, easier).  Great win, too!

Barker’s Bargain Bar:  First time since MDS #6!  I said the clock was the bigger bargain.  That price seemed so low since it was a primetime special.

Showcases:  They decreased the range.  It’s still an increase from daytime but not as large as previously.  This is the range that many people (myself included) wanted the increase to be.

Showcase 1:  $28,950?  Way, way low!

SC1: My Bid: $86,445 / Diff: $3,475
SC2: My Bid: $57,075 / Diff: $15,043

After Drew did the “spay and neuter line”, the show looked like it was in somewhat of a slow-motion.  You could see Denise jumping up at a slower pace than you’d expect.

Seven models?  I did notice there were four models modeling the first IUFB and three on-stage with Drew, but I just thought Tamiko hurried over to that prize.  I would stick with six, or maybe five, but definitely more than in daytime.

It should be noted that Lanisha was competing against herself tonight being as she was seen toting briefcase #2 over on Model Hill.

How strange yet interesting! 

[Mallory16]

Roo:...Nice to see it played for a million, but Roger knew the million would never get won with this setup.

You should know better, Fiery.  Just how many contestants just place random blocks in random slots?  Roger never knows anything when it comes to Switcheroo.  It's one of the pricing games he is least able to manipulate like that.

[SteveGavazzi]

Well, that was a completely insane lineup.  I think it's safe to say that Switcheroo and Pathfinder have never appeared together before!  I don't know that I'd say it's the first time two SP/car games have appeared together before, Frank...it's not outside the realm of possibility that Switcheroo and Five Price Tags were played in the same show during the '70s.

A ton of people in this thread have said that Pathfinder "could have been the million dollar game."  Has it occured to any of you that the reason you're using to justify this claim is in fact the exact reason it wasn't?

That's Too Much! was so supposed to be won.  That $4,000 gap just screamed...well, "That's too much!" I suppose.

And chris won the EVERLASTING DOBSTOPPER^TMPRIMETIME Award.

Why?

[Pikachu732001]

THE OPENING: Cool to see the Price Millionaires club open up the show. But what's with the idea of using all 7 models in the rota?

SWITCHEROO!!!(For A Cadillac....And A MILLION): I was dreaming up some possible MDS lineups some weeks back and I thought this game could be an MDG. Lo and behold, it was. FYI, I got two right as well.

RANGE GAME: I would have lost by $14! :brickwall:

PATHFINDER: An exacta, and a well-walked one as well. I had the exact pattern as well.

THAT'S TOO MUCH!(For the contestant on stage): I would've stopped at the 5th price. There was no way to continue on after hitting the 5th price.

GRAND GAME: Once again tripped me up on a grocery product game. This time I had the Alka-Seltzer instead of the Campo-Phenique.

(Ezekiel)BARKER'S BARGAIN BAR: These are exact words that I put down whilst playing:

Bowling Game        2,000-Not Good
GF Clock      Pick  3,000-[Borat]NOT![/Borat]

Showcases: I'm not going to reveal what I bid, because I did a double .

Lucky $even Index: 5.5/7 (Half point deduction for the strange pixilation whenever a graphic came up.)

[Heidi]

Finally, we see some different games played in an MDS.  I think the last time two SP games were played in the same show was on the 5,000th show in 1998 (and there was no GP game played at all; one game was Five Price Tags, I think the other was Cliff Hangers for a car, I'm still searching for the retro recap to confirm).

I thought the Million Dollar Game was great.  Contestants have gotten all 5 prices right on the first try in Switcheroo.

Nice to see Pathfinder in prime-time, it looks good against the black floor.

Seven models instead of five?  I wonder why they went with that, not that there's anything wrong with it.

[Bully]

good show!!

[Grand_game2004]

Switcheroo for the $1M game? I was skeptical!

Pathfinder: AWESOME WIN! I have to agree, this should've been the $1M game!

Over all, the show gets a rating of 8/10 from me!

[catdogwheel]

This episode had "hot and sexy" written all over! It was nice to see Adam, Cynthia, and Michael unite to do the opening for the show. Did anyone else see that the check's were from "Carey National Bank"? I loved that they added dollar signs illuminated on the side curtains in the audience. The other thing that was cool was Brandi and Lanisha each took one of Drew's arms to walk out with him. Oh and the spot light when Drew was making his entrance. Great job to everyone involved with the show! The only thing I thought was weird about the set was the black curtains behind the turntable. I know it's been that way for years up until Season 36, but it just looked weird. And great job to the person who had the special effect during the credits and the "come on downs". It almost looked like they were gonna use those clips for the upcoming movie that is gonna come out in a million years "The Price is Right: The movie"

Switcheroo- It was nice to see this game make the move to Primetime. To bad she didn't get the car.

Range Game- She doesn't have to feel so bad about not knowing where the Galapagos Islands are. I've never even heard of such a place.

Pathfinder- Boom-boom-boom-boom.

That's too Overplayed- Too bad she didn't win. Did anyone else notice that the winning price tag looked like $29,921 instead of $29,921?

Punch-.......I mean Grand Game- Yay for him!

Barker's Bargain Bar- Nicely done.

Showcases- That was funny when Tameko rammed that helicopter into the big doors. I didn't pay attention to see that they changed the range for getting both showcases and the million. A while back I thought $500 would be okay but now that you can win the million as well I think it should be $1,000. I say that because it isn't done often, even on the daytime show.

[PIR85]

Interesting changes this time around:

-  Projected $ signs on the audience curtains
-  No illuminated curtain behind the turntable or in the space between the turntable & door 1
-  No split screen during the SCSDs
-  Darkened audience lights throughout the show
-  Different camera angle during the mic handoff
-  Did Roger have a goatee!?
-  And, was that a new border in the split-screen during Range Game?

[duogals]

It would have been awesome if Pathfinder was the $1,000,000 dollar game.

[Joe_Capitano]

I'm having a hard time of this, but here's my thinking.

On the surface, one could argue that Pathfinder might make a good $1 Million game, but let's look closer. Pathfinder, in a way, is similar to Cover Up in that they're both progressive games.

But here's where they differ greatly: In Cover Up to win the million you'd have to hit all five digits on the first try - and the odds of that are much higher than they'd be in Pathfinder, where the odds of winning without loss actually improve as you go. On the final digit, your odds would be even at best. That's not tough enough when there's a cool Mil on the line.

Pathfinder, in my estimation, will never be a $1,000,000 Game.

[duogals]

I'm sorry Joe but i disagree on that.  Sometimes I play Pathfinder on the PC version of TPIR that I have and sometimes I don't even pick the right second number of the price.

[Mallory16]

I dunno', Joe.  The best possible odds for Pathfinder are 1 in 48, if we were to assume there are always only two choices for the fourth number.  If One Away, with a measly 1 in 32 odds, can be the $1 million game, Pathfinder seems pretty reasonable to me.

[PriceFanArmadillo]

Plus, there's a much greater build as the contestant gets closer and closer to the end of the line.  It's okay if it's only 50/50 at the end...the fact that they've even gotten that close is a huge thrill! 

It's conditional probability at it's finest...it may be 50/50, but remember, they've already beaten 23-to-1 odds to get there. 

Although, I must admit, it would probably have worked much better with Bob that it would with Drew.