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Studio 33 - Price is Right Discussion => The Price WAS Right => Cullen Era => Topic started by: Ccook on September 06, 2007, 07:10:06 AM

Title: Sept. 6, 1963
Post by: Ccook on September 06, 2007, 07:10:06 AM
Today marks 44 years ago that The Price Is Right had its final daytime and nighttime telecasts on NBC. Since it's unclear about the whereabouts of the last daytime show, the following will be an account of the final nighttime show which has not been screened on GSN in eight years.

The players were:

* - Returning champion Charles Reyes a salesman from Berkeley, Mich., who in his past two appearances racked up $34,782 in winnings. In the last show, he had won a bonus in which he was made an honorary judge in the Miss America Pageant. He toured the site of the pageant the week prior and talked with each contestant. Mr. Reyes then wrote the names of five girls he thought would be Miss America and those names were placed in a sealed envelope, turned over to the show on this telecast and would be opened on the next nighttime show (the first ABC show on September 18, eleven days after the pageant). If any of Mr. Reyes' picks made it to the semi-finals, he won $2500. If any of his picks became a finalist, he won $5000. If any of his picks was crowned Miss America, he won $10,000.
* - Arlene Fears, a housewife from Groton, Ct.
* - Paul Roberson, a plumber from Holly Hills, Fla.
* - Marilyn Peterson, a dance teacher from Long Island City, N.Y.

The first item up for bids was a Zenith color TV and hi-fi stereo unit.

Mr. Reyes was the opening bidder with minimum bids set at $100. Bidding went through the panel three times (the last-bid buzzer sounding after the second time) and after freezing the bids were as follows:

Reyes - 1350
Fears - 1450
Roberson - 1100
Peterson - 1250

Actual retail price: $1775, with Mrs. Fears winning the TV/stereo, and she hit the bonus bell. For her bonus, for $100 a pop, Mrs. Fears had to identify the TV personalities that Bill Cullen was impersonating or disguising himself as, which were Jack Benny, Groucho Marx and Mitch Miller (Mrs. Fears said Skitch Henderson, but they gave it to her anyway). For the last guess, she had to identify the personality whose face was obscured by a hand-held mask, which turned out to be announcer Don Pardo. Don was brought out as part of Bill's testimonial to him because as Price was moving to ABC, Don's contractual obligations to NBC kept him from going with them, and Bill wanted all to know that Price would not have been the success it turned out to be without Don Pardo's talents.

The second item was a wind-up toy dog named Flip-Flop. This was a one-bid item with Mrs. Fears starting. The bids (in dollars and cents; the numbers shown were how the totes displayed them):

Reyes - 1000
Fears - 995
Roberson - 750
Peterson - 849

Actual retail price: $7.98 with the item going to Mr. Roberson, and he hit the bonus as well. He won a live poodle with a newspaper tied to its collar. Mr. Roberson read the headline: PRICE IS RIGHT CONTESTANT WINS TRIP TO PARIS.

The winner of the home sweepstakes was announced. The price of the Dodge motor home and Lady Elgin diamond ring was $15,645.98, the winner being Robert Corp of Detroit, Mich., with his bid right on the nose. He won the prizes and would be flown to New York to appear as a contestant on the next nighttime show (first ABC nighttime show on September 18). The next sweepstakes offered the winner a choice of either a working oil well or $25,000 in cash.

The third item up for bids was wrought-iron outdoor furniture by Salterini. This was also a one-bid item with Mr. Roberson starting. The bids:

Reyes - 550
Fears - 985
Roberson - 1275
Peterson - 649

Actual retail price: $1999.45, with Mr. Roberson again the winner.

The final item was a business on wheels, the Sea Mac Kleen-Mobile, a mobile dry-cleaning unit. Minimums were $100 and Mrs. Peterson was the starter with the opening bid asked to be at least $5000. Bidding went on for a bit, and the bids after all were frozen were:

Reyes - 13750
Fears - 12000
Roberson - 12300
Peterson - 13850

Actual retail price: $17,950 with Mrs. Peterson the winner. The final totals were as follows:

Reyes - $0 (but he did win big on the previous two shows)
Fears - $2075
Roberson - $3588
Peterson - $17,950

Mrs. Peterson became the new champ and would return with sweepstakes winner Robert Corp on the next show, September 18 on ABC.
Title: Re: Sept. 6, 1963
Post by: wdm1219 on December 26, 2007, 05:10:42 AM
So I guess, you could say, that "Flip Flop" was on Price is Right as early as 1963?

That jumped right off the page at me.  Very nice recap of the B&W ep.  So odd to think of Price as having returning champions.  I get the impression when G&T created the new Price is Right, that they did not entertain the idea of returning champions, given the format of the program from 1972 - present. 
Title: Re: Sept. 6, 1963
Post by: Ccook on December 27, 2007, 12:51:22 PM
Quite right. It's been said that when G-T was reviving Price they used the original format during development, but acquiesced that the show would have been canceled in three months. So they went the audience-participation route (a la Let's Make A Deal), where returning champions weren't a nescessity. The rest is game show history.
Title: Re: Sept. 6, 1963
Post by: columbear2012 on January 27, 2012, 12:38:11 AM
Excuse the Lazarus act, but-do we know how the Miss America Bonus turned out? Thanks!
Title: Re: Sept. 6, 1963
Post by: Ccook on January 27, 2012, 06:38:02 AM
No we don't, because presumably the September 18, 1963 show (the first ABC nighttime show) does not exist. The winner of the pageant that year, however, was Jacqueline Mayer.
Title: Re: Sept. 6, 1963
Post by: columbear2012 on January 27, 2012, 08:05:42 PM
Awwww,nertz! :-[ Thanks for responding.
Title: Re: Sept. 6, 1963
Post by: Ccook on January 27, 2012, 08:33:53 PM
You're welcome. A little bit about Miss Meyer: in 1969 she suffered a stroke that nearly took her life. She's been a motivational speaker since then.
Title: Re: Sept. 6, 1963
Post by: columbear2012 on January 28, 2012, 10:38:17 AM
It is up-lifting to hear such a positive story about a former Miss America-thanks for the update,Ccook!