This "first time taping guide" was originally posted in anticipation of attending the 10,000th episode, and has been updated as necessary for the new season as of July 2025.
Much of this has been covered in other threads scattered throughout, but it seems like a good idea to pull it all together in one place, as well as update things that have changed since the first tapings in July 2023. If you want more indepth info on any of these topics, I recommend checking out:
Travel Guide to Haven Studios in Glendale (July 2023) - getting to Glendale and hotel recommendations
The Studio Audience and You (July 2023) - about the audience experience
Season 52 New Studio Experience! (July 2023) - photos of the line experience at Charis Mission Church worked at the start of S52, although some of this has been updated
Taping Report: 7/28/2023 8:00 AM (July 2023) - a report of the first ever Haven Taping, how to get to the studio, the audition process, etc.
So you want to be on the Price is Right in 2023: A Guide (December 2022) - a now obsolete example of how casting happened in the COVID days, although some things are still relevant for interviews or for prospective LMAD contestants
So You're Going to Visit "The Price is Right?" (Jan 2008) - The Barker era post that inspired this all
Here's my summary:
Getting To the StudioIf you're flying from out of state, you'll want to go to either the Burbank or LAX airports. Burbank is preferred by many since the location is prime. It's only 15-20 minutes away from the studio. The downside is they don't have as many flights or terminals as LAX and you may need to take a connecting flight or pay a premium over LAX, but if time is at a premium (for example, if you're attending a taping the same day you travel), it's nice to have an airport so close.
LAX, of course, has many more inbound and outbound flights. It's 20 miles away from Glendale. With LA traffic, 20 miles can mean anywhere from a 60-100 minute drive. That still may be worth it to you (in most cases, it's worth it to me). I highly recommend getting TSA Precheck to avoid the long security lines.
If you're just doing TPIR, Ubering around is far cheaper than renting a car. LAX has public transit that can get you to Glendale in about 2 hours. The Flyaway Bus to and from Union Station-LAX can get you to and from a nice central location for $9.75. If time is not at a premium, you can Uber/public transit from Glendale to Union Station and save some money.
Public transit can only get you as far as downtown Glendale itself, however. There are no buses that can actually take you to Charis Mission Church, which is the holding area for contestants next to the studio. I highly recommend Ubering the last mile from downtown Glendale to the studio and back; it will take under 10 minutes and cost under $10 in most cases.
Whether you're arriving by Uber or car, set your GPS to 5005 Edenhurst Avenue, which is the parking lot for Charis Mission Church. They have ample parking, and it's free!
You'll likely take I-5 and get off on Exit 142 toward Colorado Street. Turn off on Colorado Blvd, then onto Edenhurst Ave with a strange roundabout. A page with a sandwich board saying "The Price is Right" should be there to welcome you and direct you further into the lot to find parking.
(Golden Road Brewing at that location is not an actual bar, it's some boring corporate offices--talk about a missed opportunity!)TicketsIf you're reading this, I'm assuming you have tickets, right? If not you can get them from
https://on-camera-audiences.com/shows/The_Price_is_Right#.
You must be 18 to attend a taping. Anyone in your party under the age of 18 will be turned away, unless it is a specially marked taping labeled as such on the website. Backpacks, suitcases, or large bags are not allowed in the studio, leave them in your car or hotel room. Alcohol and marijuana are also not allowed in line. Smaller bags that can fit underneath your seat are fine, and bringing snacks is encouraged.
The first 70-80ish tickets given out for any given taping are "PRIORITY TICKETS". They guarantee admission as long as you're there by the call time. They begin processing the line about an hour before call time; for example, for an 8AM call, they'll begin handing out Order Of Arrival numbers at 7AM. You do NOT need to be early if you have priority tickets, and in some cases they will admit you even if you're late until about 9:15.
After the first few dozen priority tickets are claimed on the website, they begin handing out "LINE VOUCHERS". These are admitted after priority tickets. They do NOT guarantee admission, but from my experience, showing up an hour before call (7AM for an 8AM call) is usually enough to ensure you'll be at the front of the line. The email OCA sends out says they typically admit all Line Vouchers who arrive by the call time, although factors outside of their control may reduce capacity. If you really, REALLY are nervous about getting in, come more than an hour early. In a full taping about 100 line vouchers may get in. The audience holds 170 people, so as long as you're early enough, your odds of getting in with a line voucher are good.
A lower OOA does not increase your odds of becoming a contestant. It can mean you'll be seated closer to the stage, although it by no means guarantees a front row seat or that you will be seated in the center section. Please do not spend the night camping in the Charis Mission Church parking lot trying to secure front row seats. It's not necessary, and it probably won't work. Spend the night in a hotel and freshen up.
Some tapings do not fill up with 170 ticketholders. In that case TPIR will put out a call for "Audience Fillers": paid actors who will sit in the back of the audience and fill empty seats. These people wear plainclothes without logos, do not receive OOA numbers, and are NOT eligible to be selected as contestants. Audience fillers do not participate with you in line or inside the church, and you'll only see them when they're inside the studio to fill empty seats.
The LineYou'll begin your wait outdoors in the parking lot. At first, everybody will form one big line. Around an hour before call time (7AM if call time is 8AM, for example) somebody from On Camera Audiences (OCA), a third-party company TPIR hires to help process audience members, will check your tickets. They will separate you into two lines: Priority and Line Voucher. Priority tickets, of course, will be processed first, but as long as you're among the first 100 Line Vouchers of the day, you shouldn't have trouble getting in.
When you are processed, you will be handed a sticker with a number on it from 001 to 170. This number is your Order Of Arrival number (OAA). The entire line will remain in this order for the next few hours. You'll also be led to a laptop where you'll be asked to fill out some electronic paperwork. You'll be asked to review rules and eligibility requirements. You'll state if you've been on a game show before and anyone you know who may work for CBS. You'll sign your likeness away in exchange for participating in the taping.
You'll then stop at a table and receive your very own World Famous Name Tag.
They'll write your legal first name as it appears on your ID; if you go by "Liz" but your ID says "Elizabeth", they will write "Elizabeth". They can be flexible with contestants in the process of legally changing their name but in 99.9% of cases they will go by what is on your ID.As of Season 54, name tag writers may be able to accommodate reasonable requests for your name tag. The rule seems to be that the name is derived from your legal name, so requests like "Junior" or "Cowboy" may not be accommodated.
You'll be led further to another table where they will scan your ID and verify you are who you say you are. You will still have to sign paperwork & process your ID with your legal name, and a page will come by and verify that your paperwork matches your ID. But once your legal name is in their system, they may be able to take some liberties with writing your name tag.
Upon having your photo taken, you'll be led to enter the church.
Charis Mission ChurchTPIR has worked out an arrangement with the nearby Charis Mission Church to use their building to hold and process contestants. It's mostly a Korean congregation, so you'll see TPIR decorations among Korean signage.
The line will lead you indoors, and at last you'll be able to sit down in a large room with many chairs. You'll be here for 1-2 hours. Dance music will be playing to keep the energy up and snacks, water, coffee, and bathrooms are provided.
You'll also be able to take a picture with props from the show. The MDS Showcase Podiums and the Kid's Week $25,000 bill are available as photo ops.
The InterviewOnce a sufficient number of contestants have been processed, they'll break the line into chunks of 10-15 and lead them to a different room for the all-important interview. They'll ask you to leave all your belongings behind and have nothing in your hands (you wouldn't be holding a water bottle in your hands if you were onstage with Drew, right?) and give you a brief summary of what they're looking for.
As you know from watching the show, TPIR wants contestants from all walks of life--they want a diverse group of all ages, races, and sizes as contestants. One thing they all have in common, however, is ENERGY. They are looking for people that 1) are genuinely excited to be there and 2) will play well off Drew.
I HIGHLY recommend spending time in line running practice interviews on your friends to prepare you for this. "Where are you from? What do you do?" Practice being able to answer these questions in a memorable way without saying "um" or "er." Then throw out follow up questions! Try to ask your friends in line something they might not have a prepared answer for.
I suggest this not because you can predict what the contestant coordinator will ask--you can't--but to get you into a loose frame of mind and see how you maintain the ability to think when hyped up on adrenaline. They throw curveballs in the interview to make sure you won't turn into a stammering mess if you make it onstage and Drew asks you a question.
Your interview group of 10-15 people will be led into a smaller room and either Hannah or Hayley will greet you with an extremely caffeinated welcome. Try to match their energy as best you can the entire time you're in the room, you never know when they're watching! You'll stand behind a blue taped line on the floor, and the interview commences!
One by one, they'll speak to each one of you for around 15-30 seconds, as their assistant cryptically takes notes. Answer their questions with as much energy as you can!
Think of it this way: if you're on TV, you have about 5 seconds to try to get all of America to fall in love with you and decide, "Hey, I like this guy; I hope he wins." That's what you need to do in this room. Be very excited and cheer when you're entering and leaving the room, and show them what you'd look like on air!
Hannah/Hayley may throw out follow-up questions to try to see if you can think on your feet. Stay loose, have fun, and roll with the punches with a big smile on your face. While having a unique story or talking points is good, what you say to Hannah/Hayley doesn't matter nearly as much as the way you say it.
There isn't a magic formula to getting called. They're looking for a Cross Section of America™. You know your story. You know why you're here. Now's your chance to show them. Be energetic, be enthusiastic, and show them why YOU are the greatest prospective contestant to walk through their doors, what YOU would bring to the show if you were called instead of the other 170 people here today.
There are a few don'ts, as well:
- When other people are being interviewed, don't chime in or make follow-up remarks. Let the person Hannah/Hayley is currently talking to be the star of the moment.
- Don't fake your enthusiasm by going over the top--they can tell if you're trying too hard. Being onstage, on the spot, filled with adrenaline tends to strip people down to their bare essence. An act isn't going to work. Be yourself. Be an energetic version of yourself, obviously, but be true to yourself.
- If asked your favorite game, try to avoid Plinko--or if it really is Plinko, come up with a unique reason for it. The goal is to stand out and be memorable, not to parrot what everybody else has said before. There is no "cheat code" answer to getting on TPIR.
After your interview, you'll be led back to your chairs and wait for everybody else to finish processing and being interviewed. They'll show an episode of TPIR that you'll all be able to play along with, and that's a hoot:
The StudioEventually, the time will come to enter the studio lot. You'll be led outdoors, across the church parking lot, and through a gate onto the Haven Studio lot. You'll check your phones and smartwatches in here at a table, which will be returned to you after the taping. You'll wait underneath some covered shade tarps for a few minutes, you'll be told to use the bathroom one last time (those production air-conditioned port-a-potties are a step up from what you might expect from a port-a-potty), and you'll be led into the studio. You'll go past Drew Carey Drive and Wayne Brady Way, past the LMAD set, and into the TPIR set. Yes, the set IS much, much smaller in person than you think it will be.
You'll be asked by an OCA member how many are in your party, and they'll assign you seats in the audience. You'll probably be separated from the other groups next to you in line. A low OOA number does not guarantee a front row seat, although they generally fill front to back in a scattered manner over all three sections. Once the audience is filled, the party music pumping through the speakers will transition to Crystal Waters' Come on Down, everybody will go nuts, George will come out and do his audience warmup, and before you know it... the taping will begin, the audience will roar the loudest cheer you've ever heard in your life, and away we go!
The TapingThe first four contestants will be called. The studio will be rapturously loud, and you will not be able to hear a single word George says. All "Come On Downs" are printed on giant cue cards a production assistant holds up. Maybe one of the names will be somebody you met in line. If you're
extraordinarily lucky, maybe one of them will be YOU!
Drew will walk out the doors, the jib will do its famous sweep across the audience, and all of America will see you making a face at the camera, and the show gets rolling!
Look to Contestant's Row when shouting advice during the IUFBs, not at the ceiling. There are program monitors mounted on the ceiling of the studio, but they're high enough you won't be able to see them without looking up. Like, REALLY far up. You'll have to tilt your head back to see them. Apparently production decided they didn't like seeing the bottom of the audience's chins on camera, so they will black the monitors out during IUFBs. Unless you're listening very closely, you may not hear the bids from "the four brain-dead people in Contestants' Row", as George puts it. But you'll probably hear Drew recap them.
You're reading this post on a hardcore TPIR message board, so you probably have some great advice to share with the "brain-dead" contestants onstage, and you DEFINITELY should help them! Few things are more satisfying than knowing that you helped a real-life person win an actual fabulous prize. But keep in mind they want to see and hear from a wide variety of people in the audience. One person getting the attention of everyone over and over doesn’t look good on camera.
I would suggest against:
- Yelling out advice before Drew gets a chance to explain the game. You may know how to play the game, but the audience at home doesn’t, and you need to give them a chance to catch up.
- Yelling advice during moments of silence. My rule of thumb would be “don’t yell anything unless your intent is to cue the rest of the audience to begin yelling things too.”
- Yelling out advice during George’s prize descriptions. It will get edited out anyway. George’s copy needs to be heard on the air without distractions. Hand motions to the contestant are probably okay during this time as long as they don’t whip the crowd into a frenzy.
During the commercial breaks, Drew will come out and interact with the audience. He'll take questions about the show, talk to random people in the crowd, and make jokes about their jobs. George really earns his keep as a sidekick and brings a TON to the environment. Drew is happy to sign things, but he may limit it to the first two or three people who ask (otherwise he'd be signing things all day).
If You Get CalledYou'll be led backstage after the show to an area with some paperwork, along with helpful members of the prize department who will inform you of your new tax responsibilities! In most cases, you will NOT be permitted to exchange things for cash--although an exception may be made if you are a contestant outside of California who wins a vehicle.
If you don't want a prize, you have 10 days to decide whether to forfeit it. You'll also be reminded that spoiling the show could result in losing all your prizes--the allowed phrase is "I went to a taping of The Price is Right that will air on [date] and I had a fabulous time!" Most prizes will be delivered within 90 days after your show's airdate. As of Season 53, it seems cash prizes will be delivered via direct deposit rather than cutting a physical check.
You'll also receive a lovely blue binder with your paperwork to take home, along with the giant cue card with your name on it and--if you're lucky enough to win a vehicle--your shiny "I WON THIS CAR ON THE PRICE IS RIGHT" license plate frame.
The three contestants who did not win their way up onstage will win $300, and the door prize winner will win $100. It comes with the same paperwork as everyone else.
If You Didn't Get CalledAfter the ninth Come On Down, the audience naturally lulls a bit as 160 people realize that they aren't going to be coming on stage today. George will keep spirits high by announcing that he is going to give away one more "Come On Down" at the end of the show. This is done in the form of a door prize raffle. They'll wheel out a hopper with numbered balls and pull one out, and if George draws your number, you'll get to Come On Down, he'll call your name, and you'll win $100. Former contestants ARE eligible for the door prize.
If you are seeing the second taping of the day (currently the 11:30 taping) and there are spots open in the third taping, George may invite you to stay for the third taping of the day. You'll exit the studio, and speak with an OCA member in black near the port-a-potties. They'll let you know if there is space. If so, you'll stand in a line, they'll assign you a new OOA, and write down your old one and your new one. You will not be interviewed again, but Hannah/Hayley will remember you off the strength of your first interview. People can and DO get called down off the strength of their first interview.
OCA requests that you do not book tickets to more than one show a day. If you want to see two shows a day, book the 11:30 taping only, and then when leaving the studio ask the OCA member near the port-a-potties about the possibility of getting into the 2PM.
The first taping of the day (currently the 8AM taping) is affectionately known as the "Frankentaping." We call it the "Frankentaping" because it recycles prizes and games from the other two tapings. Formerly in S52 this was called the “forbidden” or "third taping”. The air date for the "Frankentaping" will be delayed several weeks from the other two shows taping that day, so viewers will not notice the games or prizes being reused. NOBODY WHO ATTENDS THE DAY'S FIRST TAPING WILL BE ADMITTED INTO EITHER OF THE OTHER TWO TAPINGS OF THE DAY. Standards & Practices has said that it is unfair for people who've just seen those prizes and prices to compete against others seeing them for the first time. If you attend the 8AM taping, do not expect to get into either of the other tapings that day.As of July 2025, the "Frankentaping" practice has changed for the new season. The OCA site has said that for certain tape dates on the coming season, you will not be allowed to repeat from Show 1 to Show 3. There have also been promotional emails sent saying you can "double your chances" by attending the 7:30 AM show and asking to see another.
Presumably, this means you might be able to get tickets to the day's first taping, and stay for the second taping if there is room. You may also do the same from the second to the third taping. Under normal circumstances you cannot repeat from Show 1 to Show 3 unless the OCA website specifically states that is allowed.
Some tape days tape four shows in a day. In the past these have been special shows played for cash, airing on Fridays. Historically, on those tape days the audience is strictly limited to one show per day. Don't expect to see more than one show if you go on one of these dates. Again, this is speculation based on what has happened in the past and currently untested for the new season.
Conservatively, expect to be leaving the studio around 5 hours past your call time. An 8AM call would get out at 1PM, for example. A 2PM call (or an 11:30 call who got into two tapings) would get out around 7PM. If you're booking your flight around the taping schedule, take into account LA traffic. Give yourself longer than you think you'll need.
ConclusionRegardless of whether you've been called or not, or whether you get into a second taping or not, you will be leaving the studio on an incredible emotional high. As great as it is to watch The Price is Right on TV, being a part of actually filming an episode is easily ten times better. It’s like a Grateful Dead concert, or Mecca, or the metaphor of your choice. It still truly brings people together in a way that I’ve never seen before.
I've never had a bad experience in that studio. It's incredibly hard to describe. There isn't any experience like it. All of your cares will melt away. You'll see real live people that you met in line win actual fabulous prizes. You'll get to see a taping of the show you love and see that it's way, WAY better in person. If world peace exists, it looks like the inside of a Price is Right taping.
