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Studio 33 - Price is Right Discussion => The TALK Is Right => Topic started by: Kev347 on October 19, 2021, 10:34:13 PM
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Hey everyone! I was lucky enough to attend a taping of TPIR Live show in Chattanooga tonight. Mark Walberg was the host. It was apparently one of their first post-COVID shows. I'll do my best to give a game-by-game summary. As far as COVID precautions, contestants were required to wear a mask while on stage at all times even though masks were not required to attend the show. Also, no hugging; contestants generally stood about 3 feet apart from the host. That was about it.
Punch A Bunch - Every pricing game did have 4 different contestants called before it and a one-bid; this first one was a $1299 iMac. The top prize on Punch is still $5000. Everything on this went very similar to the way I saw it in 2015. Mark had a big fail and attempted to have the contestant punch only 1 hole at a time before he revealed them. Then, he kept forgetting the order. The contestant won 4 punches (I would say it was set up for 3; the last item was tough $9.97 outdoor Windex). The contestant's fourth punch was 4,8 so I'm glad they kept going after hitting 300, 500 and 300; 4,8 did indeed have $750. Where was the $5k? 4,10 of course :) This contestant got a big laugh by asking whether the show was using pre-COVID or post-COVID prices before the GP descriptions even started.
Clock Game (!) - This was the big surprise of the night. It has been awhile since this was used on TPIR Live shows. This used the new Drew-era set and also featured a bonus prize which the contestant would win if they correctly priced both smaller prizes within 30 seconds. The contestant did win; pricing a $210 ice machine and $530 margarita maker led to a nice trip to Hawaii.
Check-Out - This was another first for me, though I know this game has been around for awhile lately on TPIR Live. This was played for a fridge and "Ben and Jerry's for a year", a package worth $2400. This contestant really struggled and ended up finishing about $7 over despite the fact the setup wasn't very difficult.
Cliff Hangers - This was played for a trip to Hawaii.This playing may have been the highlight of the night. The contestant went 16-22-44 on their guesses and the items were $17, $30..and $60, so it was an exact step 25 win. The popular $44 robotic owl of the past has been replaced by a $60 back hair shaver (...). Not very nice. Glad it was won!
Intermission - At this point the show weirdly took a 15-minute break. I honestly felt this was to pad the length of the show out; even with this intermission the total show time was less than 2 hours.
SCSD - The wheel went as it always does, with 3 randomly chosen spinners. This time I was lucky enough to see somebody win a $100 bonus for spinning a dollar. Unfortunately, his bonus spin landed on 90 cents, so he came up just short of winning $500 for a green section hit or $5000 for the dollar.
Plinko - The one-bid before this was notable as it was essentially a TPIR Look of the Week with their model Rachel wearing a complete Coach outfit with purse and sunglasses from an "Italian manufacturer". ARP was just over $1000. Plinko itself was pretty standard; it's still a $2500 top prize with a $500 top prize per chip and easy setups. The contestant won $700. The contestant picked up chips themselves on this in a matter identical to the real show's post-COVID Plinko playings.
Showcase - Rather than doing a second showcase showdown, they simply selected the second contestant randomly, which I didn't love. Other than that, the showcase was similar to before. It featured a Honda Amigo scooter, a 3 night trip from Chattanooga to Hollywood, a 4 night trip from Chattanooga to Paris, and a Nissan Versa S (a base model with destination charges not included). The closest contestant without going over would win the trip to Hollywood, unless they were within $100, in which case they would win everything. Both contestants went way over. I won't spoil this one exactly, except to say that the showcases are still very cheap. Thankfully, in order to not end the show on a down note, they randomly selected someone from the audience to win the trip to Hollywood.
Overall, I had a fun time. I didn't love Mark as a host; not EVERYTHING has to be a joke, and he did mention Temptation Island a few too many times. He did have fun with the fact a lot of contestants ended up being from Cleveland, Tennessee though, which is a decent sized town about 20 miles up the road from here. But the setups overall ensure there will at least be some winning, and the stage experience still looks like it's a blast. Hopefully I get picked next time!
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Thanks for this. I live in the greater Chattanooga area and really wanted to go with my kids but it just didn’t work out.
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Thank you for this! I'll be going to the Columbia, SC show in a couple of days. Shame Todd Newton isn't the host, but I'm looking forward to seeing Mark L. Walberg. He came to Augusta one year with the show, but I was working at a rodeo that night.
The Showcase we had at the 2019 Augusta show was cheap- $20,500. Wondering if they will use the same prizes in Columbia as they did in Chattanooga. (Feel free to send me the price list, Kevin!) lol
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Sooooo……
I’ve come to find out Kev and I live pretty darn close to each other (relatively speaking), so that’s cool! The live show traveled up I-75 to Knoxville last night, and I attended my very first ‘taping.’ It’s a real shame I didn’t choose the Chattanooga show and have a G-R meetup — that show was just about the same distance away as Knoxville’s from where I live. Maybe next time!
Anyway, they definitely do not change up much of anything between shows, at least when they are 24 hours apart. We had the same host, same announcer and same model — which makes sense, given the short drive of maybe an hour or two between venues. Nearly all of the prizes and setups were exactly the same with only a few minor exceptions.
The first item up for bids was the very same iMac. I knew it was either $1299 or $1399. I didn’t want to cause a contestant to go over, so I went with the former price and yelled it as loud as I could just as Jim was finishing up the description. This yielded a few weird looks from the older ladies sitting in front of us. I mean, come on, what do you expect? That’s what you’re supposed to do! I would have exacta’d, but oh well.
Our first PG is indeed Punch. Like Kev’s show, the first three items were easy enough to guess, but the Windex (32 ounces) was definitely a trap. Everyone in the audience was yelling “lower” while I was the only one (it felt like) saying “higher,” and fortunately that’s what the contestant chose to win her fourth punch. Interestingly enough, our contestant also chose 4,8 on the last punch, which ended up being $500 and won. The first three punches were $300, $500 (which I screamed for her to keep knowing the odds…the only one doing so lol) and $100. And, as we’ve learned, the $5,000 was in 4,10.
I honestly don’t even remember the second IUFB because of the events that would soon unfold. I think it was a set of Callaway golf clubs? I know that was one of the prizes at one point, anyway. Can’t remember the ARP — I just know I low-balled it at like $600 and was called out by the ladies in front of us (don’t worry about me, watch the show!).
The contestant comes up on stage and mentions she is with a couple of special people. She’s with her husband, but more importantly, as she put it, her mother-in-law was also with them.
As it turns out, her mother-in-law was a former contestant on Bill Cullen’s “The Price is Right” all the way back in 1964 when she was 19 years old (76 now)! A thunderous ovation came over the crowd for her to come up on stage, to which Mark allowed. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch her name, although it’s doubtful we would be able to track down her show anyway. She apparently won a $500 stereo of some sort, if I heard correctly (it was super loud in there). They talked back and forth for a good five minutes. Mark joked they could make an entire show of just them talking for an hour.
Mark allows the mother-in-law to remain on stage as Clock Game is rolled out, but she wasn’t allowed to help. It was super cool to see the updated version in person, and best I can tell, it looks pretty much identical to the real deal! The prizes were a toolset and a SimplySafe smart home package. Unfortunately, I don’t recall the exact prices, but I want to say they were somewhere in the neighborhood of $489 and $579, respectively…I think? Could be off there a bit, but they were somewhere in that range.
The contestant wins the toolset with about 13 seconds remaining. She goes super high on her opening bid for the security system at like $1200 or something, and I thought it was all over. But she clearly knew this game and was able to recover quickly, winning with barely one second left! What a finish! The bonus prize was the same 4-night Hawaii trip, which couldn’t be that cheap. This was easily the nicest prize won all night and almost akin to something you would see on the main show, minus a couple nights on the trip!
With so much excitement at this point, I totally stopped keeping track of certain small details, so either the third or fourth IUFB has escaped me completely. One of the two was a Nintendo Switch package, complete with a Switch (32 gb), four games (looked like Breath of the Wild and MarioKart were among them) and a case of some sort. I shouted $540, knowing the games and Switch for sure totaled that amount, but it somehow came out to $640. $100 case maybe? No clue. My bid would have won, though.
Our third game was Check-Out with the same exact prize package of a fridge and a year’s worth of Ben and Jerry’s (cash probably), as featured in Kev’s show. The setup was easy enough, but the last couple of items could easily trick someone — a 44 count box of fish sticks ($6.30ish) and an 8 ounce can of WD-40 (under $4…can’t recall the exact price) that was deceptively cheap. The contestant’s total came out to over $24, while the actual total was around $20-$21, resulting in first full loss of the evening.
Unlike the main show, we went straight to the fourth IUFB, followed up by Cliffhangers. Based on the prices Kev described, I believe we had the exact same setup, although our first prize might have differed. I’m pretty sure ours came out to $16 (dog clothes). Second prize was $30 and the third prize was $60. While 20-30-40 would have barely resulted in a win, the contestant was most definitely not aware of this rule, blurting out “$9” for the first item, much to the dismay of the audience (lot of LFATs there!). She then went $25 on the second item. A bit better this time, only losing five spaces. The third item was an absolute trap, yet she nailed it on the nose with $60! I was in shock, thinking she had gone way over. I still would have won myself going with the rule we all know, but she played even better *not* knowing the rule!
Three contestants are called up to spin the wheel. One of them, Wayne, is a retired Navy veteran, assisted on stage by his son Wayne Jr. This resulted in some great banter between Mark and the two Waynes. The first two spinners go over, providing Wayne with an automatic showcase spot and a free spin that netted him only a nickel.
The final IUFB is presented — a collection of Coach designer accessories. ARP $1050.
At this point, I already knew what was coming… Plinko! For a chance to win up to $2,500 (this should really be $5,000, but whatever). It’s unfortunate we weren’t playing the real deal, because the contestant could not have played much better, winning $1,500 with two center slot hits and two $250 hits (and a zero hit)…based on board positions, this would have been a $22,000 win on the main show! She placed the chip in the center every time, which I’m convinced (and I believe some analysis here has proven) gives you the best chance at hitting the center slot. It certainly panned out this time!
We then get to the showcases with one new contestant called up. My first name is Anthony. Jim calls “Anthony…….” but it’s a different last name… bummer. What are the chances? Heh.
The same exact showcase Kev described was offered — the only different being the flights originate from Knoxville. After thinking it over some, I wonder if they simply attach a cash value for the plane tickets on the live shows. Otherwise, ticket costs can be all over the place, depending on where the show is taking place. I’m not sure if Kev remembers the price of their showcase, but ours came out to $21,860.
All in all, it was a super fun night with a surprising amount of energy I wasn’t expecting! I’d say a good half of the audience was dressed up like they were attending a real taping, and the studio (auditorium) sounded exactly like what I think the actual show’s sounds like! Mark was a great host, and Jim gave me George Gray vibes. The night would only have been made better if I had actually been called on down!
Some interesting quirks I noticed:
* The Plinko intro sound was played before every game, including Punch. That was really weird.
* One of the pricing games (I want to say Check-Out) used classic prize cues, which was super cool! This was the only time I caught that happening, but being so into the moment, it’s totally possible I missed another instance of it happening.
* Nearly all of the clips they show during intermissions are of the Drew era, pre-Season 43. There were only a handful, and I do mean only a few, clips from Season 43, onward — none of which were from the last few seasons.
* Unless I missed it, I don’t believe Mark made mention of this being the CBS show’s 50th year. If he did, they certainly didn’t make a big deal out of it, which seems like a huge miss.
* The set is still stuck in Season 41/42 and is definitely showing its age to anyone familiar with the current set. That said, it does look super cool, especially when the lights are dimmed and all the lights are flashing!
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I could have sworn when I saw TPIR Live back in 2018 that they picked two new people to play the Showcase, rather than using the winner of the SCSD and one new person. The SCSD had a flat cash prize for whoever won if they didn't get the dollar ($250 I think).
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As someone with tickets to next week’s show in Clearwater, thanks for these recaps. :-D
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Will the GR.net message boards cause a "perfect bid" incident on the "Live" show? Time will tell....let's see if they read us here.
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Will the GR.net message boards cause a "perfect bid" incident on the "Live" show? Time will tell....let's see if they read us here.
I doubt they care. If our ‘taping’ reports make headlines, it just means more ticket sales for the live show. They win either way. :P
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Well, we might get some new visitors to the site, because everyone was wondering how I knew so many prices and so much about the show! I referred them to this site! We were in the front row and we had the VIP/Spin the Wheel package.
Same format as the other reports mentioned; same $1,299 Apple computer for Punch-a-Bunch; easy setups on the first three grocery products; tricky fourth product (I got it right, thank you very much!). As for the Punchboard- 4,10 for the win. Contestant got three punches, only won $100.
Clock Game's IUFB was the golf club set- $845. Clocky for a $489 tool set and the home security package was $749; bonus prize was a trip to New Orleans. Coincidentally, I knew the price of the home security package because that's the EXACT SAME thing I bid on when I was called to Come on Down at the Augusta, GA show in 2019! Contestant came very close to winning; won the tool set in 15 seconds, but missed the security system by $1 (she bid $750 just as time ran out!). Also, the Clock Game set is a lot bigger than the show's version... and it's as ugly as homemade sin, IMHO.
The third IUFB was a miniature jukebox worth $1,450... and there is no way I would ever pay that much for that thing. Anyway, Check-Out was for the fridge and a year's supply of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. I can't remember the first product to save my life, but the others were Pupperoni's, Olive Oil, WD-40, and the fish sticks. The correct total was $21 and some change, but the contestant bit $27 and went way over.
Next was the Nintendo Switch package, which was $645. The winner played Cliffy for a trip to Hawaii. I'm proud to report that she listened to me (by now the people around me just waited to hear what I said and then shouted out to the contestants my advice) and bid $19 on the dog's clothing (ARP: $16), $28 on an electronic soap dispenser (ARP: $30), and $55 for the dreaded back shaver (ARP: $60). I shouted $20, $30, $60 for the three items, and she was looking right at me the whole time. Needless to say, she won the trip!
After an intermission they came back to spin the Big Wheel, which stayed on stage instead of where the Turntable would normally be. The first contestant, an older lady named Ernestine, barely got the Wheel around all the way, but it made one full revolution and landed on the dollar! The other two contestants went over, leaving Ernestine to try for her bonus spin. Once again making one full revolution... and one extra space, resulting in a $5,000 win! That was awesome to see in person!
The $1,050 Coach set was the last IUFB and Plinko was followed with an extremely easy set up- the "0, 5, or 9" rule worked for all the small prizes. The contestant got them all right and had all five Plinko chips. The first two went straight into the $500, the third and fifth both into $100, and the fourth into a zero. $1,200 on Plinko; not bad at all!
Then, lightning struck me a third time- my name was called for a TPIR merchandise package! Nothing too special, just a hat and a set of TPIR magnets, but, hey, I'll take it!
Next came the Showcase. Same exact things as before: Scooter, trip to Hollywood, trip to Paris, and the Nissan Versa. Apparently the price DOES fluctuate a tad depending on the flights, because the ARP of tonight's Showcase was $21,164. Ernestine mean to write down $26,000, but instead wrote down $26.00. They had to take was she wrote so a bid of $26 was entered; the other contestant bid over $32,000; meaning the Ernestine is headed to Hollywood!
Mark L. Walberg did great as host. He's from Florence, SC, and his sister was in the audience. He mentioned both his parents grew up in Columbia, SC, so he said it felt like he was back home again.
One other interesting thing: I had VIP tickets, so after the show was over we got to spin the Wheel. When I was on the TV show I first spun 0.35 in the first spin, which had me looking for the 0.65. Well, I finally got it tonight, just three years too late. That's what I landed on. Overall, it was a great experience, but now my voice is sore and I need some cough drops and some water!
Good luck to all future contestants! Hopefully we can have one of our own get up on the stage and break the bank with our supreme pricing knowledge!
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You now have me second guessing the showcase amount. I’m pretty sure I heard $21,860, but it was so loud in the auditorium, it’s possible I misheard. I believe Kev said their showcase came out $21,167 — just $3 more than yours. But then again, the flights make a difference (especially if there are a number of connector flights in between), so I guess it’s entirely possible ours really was that much more.
I also didn’t catch the five at the end of the Switch price, but again, I chalk that up to our venue being so darned loud. :P
Also… that fifth IUFB I couldn’t recall was indeed the jukebox, and it sounds like your Clock Game setup was exactly the same as ours (I also was correct in misremembering the prices there).
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I sat in the front row and each time Mark revealed a price he turned it around to show the audience... which was easy to see it in the front row!
Interesting note: all of the prices have been printed out on a card instead of hand-written, like the TV show does.