The Price is Right: The Barker Era on Pluto TV

[wink87]

And yet, somehow, the show would manage to continue using the 4-digit version of Dice Game all the way through to the January 8, 1988 episode.

I'd like to know the price of the car in that final 4 digit Dice Game playing....my guess is it probably was a Geo Metro or something along those lines.

[SamJ93]

I'd like to know the price of the car in that final 4 digit Dice Game playing....my guess is it probably was a Geo Metro or something along those lines.

A quick Google search led to this document (PDF) showing the base price of just about every new car in 1988, and there are actually more 4-digit Dice Game-friendly prices on there than I thought there would be. Including the Chevrolet Sprint (the forerunner to the Geo Metro) and Subaru Justy (which are the most likely models for what that last playing was), I count 8 different models that could be used with the right options.

[actual_retail_tice]

Except for recently, TPiR kept a minimum standard of car-niceness so that the cheapest cars seen on the show were always a couple of thousand dollars more than the cheapest car prices that actually existed at the time. In 1983, the year the episodes currently showing on Pluto are from, there were a number of cars with a MSRP in the $4000s and $5000s, but I guess the makers of the show felt it would look cheap (or even shady, if the cars were considered unsafe) to offer such low-priced vehicles. In 1983, the only time you might see a car under $6000 is if its price is not directly revealed, like in Master Key or Safe Crackers.

For a long time, the guideline for the minimum value of showcases (if there actually was one) looks like it was "must cost as least as much as the cheapest new car on the market". On the Pluto episodes, you occasionally see showcases in the $4000s, and pretty regularly in the $5000s. At some point not too much beyond 1983, they bumped up the minimum-niceness level of the showcases.

[pannoni1]

Another side effect about the introduction of Deluxe Dice Game that I've pointed out outside of this forum is that it allowed for Golden Road to start offering grand prizes in the mid-high $10K range based upon the final three playings of the season. 4834D offered a mediocre Chrysler LeBaron coupe at barely over $10K, and as you know a rather unimpressive Cadillac Cimarron was also offered earlier in the season. $10,000 surely didn't go as far by 1983 like it did in 1975, where you'd see those nice Cadillacs and Corvettes. But a $14K V8 Mustang, a $17K motorhome, and a $19K Cadillac Eldorado in that order rounded out S11 on the Golden Road, and suddenly the cars in the Cimarron/LeBaron range found a new home on Deluxe Dice Game. Season 12 will bring out the first G-R grand prizes above $20,000 to continue the trend, including the first C4 Corvette.

Speaking of jukebox cues, I've also heard Olivia Newtown-John's "Physical" and The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" on the latest set. Both big #1 hits in 1981-82 and the latter was even used as a Showcase cue.

[actual_retail_tice]

I also wonder whether the addition of Deluxe Dice Game (and eventually other 5-digit car games) made them feel more OK to downgrade Hole in One to regular cars and offer the second putt as compensation.

[Briguy]

Another side effect about the introduction of Deluxe Dice Game that I've pointed out outside of this forum is that it allowed for Golden Road to start offering grand prizes in the mid-high $10K range based upon the final three playings of the season. 4834D offered a mediocre Chrysler LeBaron coupe at barely over $10K, and as you know a rather unimpressive Cadillac Cimarron was also offered earlier in the season.

IIRC, the Chrysler LeBaron convertible that was offered in Golden Road had the Mark Cross leather package among its options, bumping the price of a base-model convertible (with no options) from the mid-$11,000 range to $15,012. And it was likely optioned-out, so – as we never knew what the exact price was, since in the two playings I've seen where the car was the grand prize it was not reached – my guess was that the car's price was somewhere near $16,000. Which is quite nice for 1982-1983.

The Cadillac Cimarron was $14,100, based on episodes that aired earlier in the season ... which was still a couple thousand more than what I suspect was the least-expensive grand prize for Golden Road in Season 11: the Mazda RX-7. (Some playings had Mazda's sports car at just barely above $10,000, although I'm guessing that for Golden Road playings the car had a few more options listed to put it in the $12,000-$13,000 range.)

At least that's better than what I suspect was the least-expensive car ever offered in Golden Road: A $10,990 Audi during the 1980-1981 season; a fully-optioned Chevrolet Caprice Classic sedan (including an aftermarket Astroroof) cost $1,500-$2,000 more than that Audi's price the same year. Now, Audis go for well over $50,000 and some have been Golden Road prizes at well over $75,000.

Brian

[MrPlinko]

Is Pluto TV editing episodes now?

Watching S11 EP 4943 Very choppy. Several Contestants Row edits. Also, does Bob know where the car cards are in Money Game? He built up suspense with 17 being the last number, before all money cards were filled and 17 was the back of the car!

Have not watched regulatory, so forgive if this is an obvious question.

Joe

[SeaBreeze341]

Yeah, I just had 4942 in the background last hour, and it was a mess.  It goes without saying that I likely need to get a new computer and a new Roku.  Plus, I will be relocating not to long from now, likely in a better spot for Internet service (and maybe a better provider).  Everything and anything helps, but even so the quality of the episodes and stream are fair enough.

Recently it has been rather choppy for me as well.  Several people have said the same thing.  It's not perfect and while one can improve his or her situation, there's only so much one can do.

For Money Game, it wouldn't appear that he knows where the winning numbers are; I've seen Bob go through 7 out of 9 or 8 out of 9 choices.  Could be suspense or just not knowing because he doesn't need to know.  Someone else might know the real answer, but whenever they're running short on time you'd think he would go to the correct response (be it Money Game or even Five Price Tags) right away if he knew (or if the producers signaled the correct decision)

[actual_retail_tice]

I think the choppiness might be some kind of signal problem, but I´m not sure.

Re: Money Game, I don´t know if Bob knew the locations of the car cards because he always stated he preferred for results to be as much of a surprise to him as the contestant; however, more often than not, I can see a win coming based on how Bob pulls the reveal. He´s more likely to do some kind of buildup for a win. I wonder if, like he mentioned one time in old-style Pick a Pair, he could see behind the cards well enough to tell whether it was going to be a win or not.

[saturn93]

I hope it is just that with a signal issue.  Watching 4944 on my phone small screen, and I do see some jumps in scene.

[C8]

Its been very choppy for me as well. You'll notice the commercials run short then it goes to a blue screen with a prize cue, then the show. Something seems to be wrong at Pluto. I'm sure they have all of 3 people working for them so who knows when it will get fixed.

Bob seems to know the producer's tricks with Money Game. Hence him always checking for "old el cheapo" or the old "front and back trick" before going elsewhere. If you watch enough episodes you'll see the producers loved to have fun with the placements and Bob knew it.

Remember in some ways, too, Bob is like us now. He was there for every show. When you offer the same prizes over and over again you get to know the prices.

There's also times when wins or losses are [super] obvious and Bob knew how to play it up.

[MSTieScott]

I don't know about the original Money Game board, but on the current board, when you stand right up against it, you can see deep enough behind some of the numbers to determine whether or not there's a dollar sign back there.

[pricefan18]

Remember in some ways, too, Bob is like us now. He was there for every show. When you offer the same prizes over and over again you get to know the prices.

There's also times when wins or losses are [super] obvious and Bob knew how to play it up.

This woulda been seen a lot in Barker's Bargain Bar especially......or Most Expensive. He might a comment like "I don't like your chances....." or...."I think you're a winner....." when a price was so high or so low before the final one was revealed. Even then, sometimes he got it wrong though, but more often than not he did not.

[Briguy]

I hope it is just that with a signal issue.  Watching 4944 on my phone small screen, and I do see some jumps in scene.

I think that's all this is, quite honestly. I've had some issues with signal and jumps as well.

Brian

[Briguy]

Also, does Bob know where the car cards are in Money Game? He built up suspense with 17 being the last number, before all money cards were filled and 17 was the back of the car!

I don't know if he did know. That said, the only one I could see ever knowing the answer beforehand was never a host of TPiR, and that would be Bob Eubanks. (Given how he appeared to run Card Sharks' bonus game in Money Cars – i.e., where the "CAR" card was; and the bonus round of Dream House (appearing to know the combination immediately upon an incorrect guess.)

But that could just have been preference or Eubanks asking for signals from offstage. It's just a guess, but Barker might simply have wanted to have the answers kept secret to help build suspense and keep the idea of playing along with the contestant.

Brian