| Download Full TV Shows! Get thousands of episodes from your favorite TV series, only 59.85 |
Price is Right, TheFirst Aired in 1956 Bob Barker has started his 34th season (2005-2006) as host of The Price is Right. The Price is Right has long been a staple of daytime and nighttime television. It has lived 2 successful lives – once from 1956 to 1965 on NBC & abc and again on CBS daytime since 1972. Though substantially different in many ways, the object of both TPiR incarnations was identical – guess (bid) the retail price of items to win them. Details on the 2 versions follow: 1956-1965 version On November 26-30, 1956 "THE PRICE IS RIGHT" debuts on NBC-TV and the host of the show is Bill Cullen and that features 4 contestants, including a returning champion compete. A prize is announced and the contestants, one at a time make a bid on the item up for bid (IUFB). Unless otherwise announced each successive bid had to be a certain amount higher than the last one. If the contestant was satisfied with his/her bid at any time, they could "freeze" (hoping the opponents would go over in their attempt to outbid him/her). After an undefined time limit or all bidders "froze" the bids as Cullen read the actual retail price. The contestant coming closest to the ARP without going over that wins the item. Some prizes had a bonus prize that the contestant also won other times, the contestant got to play a bonus game for additional prizes. Usually, the bonuses came if the IUFB was below a certain amount: Nov. 26, 1956-Jan 3, 1958: $10. Jan. 6-Aug. 29, 1958: $20. Sep. 1, 1958-Sep. 2, 1960: $25. Sep. 5, 1960-Aug. 30, 1963: $50. Sep. 2, 1963-Sep. 3, 1965: $100. Certain prizes were designated as one-bid items, wherein opponents could bid either higher or lower than his or her opponent (kind of similar to the one-bid items on today's TPiR). Usuaully, a bonus prize was awarded with this item. Usually, 4 bidding games were played on each show with the last one having the grandest prizes (and there were lots of them, let me tell you). That last prize usually determined the show's winner. The winner was the contestant with the highest combined value of prizes; he/she returned to the next show to play again. A special feature of TPiR was the Home Viewer Sweepstakes, where home viewers got to bid on special showcases. The rate of accuracy among home contestants was stunning (many of them bidding exactly right, even down to the penny)! On September 9-13, 1963 when the show moved to abc (after 7 seasons on NBC), 1 star (playing for a home viewer or an audience member) played against 3 contestants. Gameplay was otherwise identical and Johnny Gilbert took over Don Pardo's announcing duties. The original TPiR had a reputation for the most outlandish prizes. For example: • A $23,000 mink sable (that went along with a $29.95 raccoon jacket). • Mobile homes and three-bedroom houses, worth anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000. • The long list of Cadillacs, Lincolns, Imperials, Chevrolet Corvettes, Mercedes-Benzes and other exotic foreign cars. • Business franchises, ranging from chicken sandwich restaurants to coin-operated laundries. • To go along with a barbecue pit: a mile of hot dogs and all the necessary condiments and buns to put them on. • Animals from around the world! One time, the show gave away an elephant to go along with a grand piano! • Four-seat airplanes, cabin cruisers and motorhomes (all air conditioned)! • Bit parts in movies. ... and much, much more! 1972-current version Except for reruns of the original Password, no game shows ran on CBS from 1968 to 1972. On Sept. 4-8, 1972, 3 new game shows debuted on the network's daytime schedule. 2 of them were The Joker's Wild and Gambit. Any guesses as to the third and last 1972 game show which lasts to this day? The Host and the star of "The New Price is Right" is Bob Barker, this revamped version played a little like this: At the beginning of each show, the announcer calls out the names of 4 contestants, imploring each to "Come on down!" A prize is announced for which each contestant (one at a time) bids on the item. After Barker announces the ARP (or the bidding process repeated if everyone overbids), the contestant who bid closest is invited onstage to play a pricing game for a larger prize. If a contestant's bid is exact, he/she wins a $500 bonus, taken from Barker's suit pocket (early on That's $100 also female contestants were allowed to reach into his pocket for the cash, but this practice has since been scrapped due to sexual harassment complaints). On the Armed Forced & Million Dollar Specials, the bonus for an exact bid is $1000. Frequently, an animal would be brought out on stage by one of the models during the IUFB prize plugs. Barker would then comment that the pet was availale for adoption (at an area animal shelter); he also encouraged viewers to visit their local humane society if they so desired and no, the animals DIDN'T come with the prizes, although once a live dog was in one of the showcases very early on. Pricing game prizes often included cars (American cars only since c. 1992; foreign cars were also offered before that, but it was discovered that animals were used in their testing), trips, rooms of furniture, cash and so forth. Furs were also given away during the early years, but this practice was dropped as per Barker's wishes, due to his involvement in animal rights issues. The episodes that have furs in them will rarely (if ever) be seen again since Bob Barker continues to fight against the re-airing of these episodes including the ones with Dennis James. However, the Bill Cullen-era episodes with furs are still available for airplay. When the show came back on September 4-8, 1972 (as a half-hour entry), there were 3 pricing games and there was little audience involvment. Today, more than 80 individual games, each with their own rules are rotated on the show. Some games involved pricing grocery or small, everyday items; others involved chance, deduction, skill and/or patience. Many games quickly became very popular; contestants champ at the bit to play such entries as Plinko, Ten Chances, Cliff Hangers, Any Number, Grocery Game, Range Game, Race Game and others. The Race Game, in particular, could have a very L.A. feel during the 1970s: one of the most common things that game offered were season tickets to the Dodgers, Rams, Lakers and Kings. This prize package fell apart after the Rams moved to Anaheim Stadium in 1980 (a mere stepping stone en route to St. Louis) and the Raiders stepped into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1982 (a mere stepping stone en route to Oakland). While each of the pricing games use only one player, there was one game (known by fans as Bullseye 2) which used two players. This game, which was retired during the first season, had the players alternating bids on a car or boat and the first to guess the price exactly won. The second contestant was determined by immediately playing another IUFB. Some of pricing games have been retired, thanks to mechanical malfunctions, complicated rules or the odds of winning are very low, CBS got negative responses from viewers about the game, the game didn't 'fit in' or simply because the game itself was just plain bad! Pictures, audio files and videos of most of the retired pricing games can be seen on various The Price is Right fan pages on the World Wide Web; however, three games have eluded videotape collectors of the show to this day. Those games - Finish Line(1977-1978), Telephone Game (1978) and Shower Game (1976-1977) - were all from the 1970s (before VCRs were common) and quickly retired after only a few playings. Game Show Network (now GSn) aired reruns of TPiR from 1994-2000, but episodes featuring the latter 3 games weren't even included in the rerun package. (UPDATE: As of 2004-2005, Golden Road found pictures of all 3 games, but you must register to see them). After each pricing game was played, one more contestant was called from the audience to "Come on down" and another one-bid item was shown for another pricing game was played and so on. Until the 1975-1976 season, the 2 contestants with the highest values after 3 pricing games go to the Showcase. Two showcases (i.e., prize packages worth several thousand dollars) were shown, one at a time. After the first one was shown, the top winning contestant had the choice to bid on the showcase or pass it to his/her opponent and force him/her to bid. The contestant coming closest without going over the ARP of his/her own showcase win his/her showcase. Of course, all Showcase round contestants who overbid or did not come the closest to the ARP of their showcase lost everything they were shown. Originally, the contestant could win only his/her showcase, but this changed early in the run, when a new rule was added wherein if a contestant's ARP came within less than $100 of his/her own showcase's ARP, they won everything in both showcases. In 1998, the rule was modified and contestants who were $250 or less away won both showcases. (Note: It's unknown if there are additional bonuses for a contestant who bids exactly on his/her showcase; it happened only once and that was early in the run, possibly before the $100 rule. Also, only twice have both contestants been eligible to win both showcases) The syndicated series was identical, except that it was hosted by veteran TV host Dennis James and the prizes were more upmarket that released from September 11-17, 1972. On December 1-5, 1975 the daytime show expanded from 30 to 60 minutes(1 Hour) and added a new feature called The Showcase Showdown played thusly: After three contestants have played their pricing games, each has the chance to spin a large "Big Wheel." The order of spinning is determined by winning with the player having won the least going first on up to the most. The Big Wheel contains 20 spaces each with numbers in the increments (amounts) of 5 cents, but in a mixed up order from 5 cents to $1. Each spinner gets up to 1-2 spins in an attempt to get as close to but not go over $1 total. If he/she didn't have $1 on the first spin, the contestant could either choose to spin again and hope to get a total score of $1 (or at least under) or stop at their current score and his/her opponents will go over $1 in their efforts to tie or get a better value. Hitting $1 exactly (or in a combination of two spins) meant a $1000 bonus; Going over $1 immediately losing that player from the Showcase. A 1-spin "spin-off" was held if 2 (or possibly all 3) contestants obtained the same value. Also, if the first two contestants go over $1, the third player automatically advances to the Showcase but is still entitled to one spin. When the showcase showdown was 1st introduced (during a week-long "experimental" 1-hour format on Sept. 8-12, 1975) it was actually a sideways spinning wheel and there's no $1000 bonus. When the hour-long show became permanent on December 1-5, 1975, the $1000 bonus was added and the current wheel we know and love today first used, though it didn't originally start at the $1 space and a slightly different sound effect was used. Starting in June 1978, contestants scoring $1 were now allowed to spin again in an attempt to win an additional $5000 (hitting the green sections above or below the $1 space, labeled 5 and 15 cents) or $10,000 for hitting the $1 space. If there were 2 or all 3 $1 winners, it would be a Spin-off as well as a Bonus Spin. The winners of each Showcase Showdowns advance to the Showcase. And before I forget, the Wheel must make at least one complete revolution for the spin to be counted, otherwise the audience (at Bob's encouragement) would boo its disapproval. The contestant was then required to spin again; Bob would help if the contestant asked or he/she was very elderly and it was obvious they would never be able to tug the wheel hard enough. However, during bonus spins, Bob would not allow the contestant to spin again if it failed to make one complete turn (this only happened once and as it turned out it was a spin-off, so the contestant had to spin again and sure enough she landed on $1). During the prime time specials that first aired in 2002, contestants that hit $1 during the bonus spin won $100,000. During the Million Dollar Specials airing in 2003, this bonus was updated to (appropriately enough) $1 million. Also, if no one hit $1 during the Showcase Showdown, the winner of his/her showcase got one final spin for $1 Million; if by chance there is a double overbid in this case, then a lucky audience member is called to "C'mon down!" and spin the wheel for $1 million. Numerous other changes have taken place through the years, and several prime-time specials have aired. TPiR's 5000th episode aired in March 1998 at which time the studio where the show is shot was renamed the Bob Barker studio. Also, the set and some of the pricing game boards went through numerous changes as well (due to inflation or to give it a modern look). The bloopers that have occurred on The Price is Right are among the most celebrated in TV history. Among the highlights: • In early 1976, a woman being called to Contestant's Row while in the ladies' room. Her husband had to get her, when she came barreling out. • At the beginning of an episode early in the 1977-1978 season, a woman wearing a tube top being invited to Come on Down, running fast enough for the tube top to slip downward (Barker: "She came on down and they came on out!"). • Also during 1977-1978, a woman who fainted when she learned she won her showcase (and $11,000 in prizes). The woman was OK, just overcome with excitement. • Samoan contestants who try – many of them successfully – to bear hug Bob upon winning their game. A 1980 playing of Grand Game (where the grand prize is $10,000 for successfully avoiding 2 of 6 items are more than an announced price) illustrates Bob's attempted getaway from a Samoan perfectly. Her name is Pauline & she became the first $10,000 Grand Game winner! • Cars with malfunctioning brakes and other prizes which give way at the wrong time. Usually one of the models is often the "victim" of these unfortunate mishaps. • The sets to almost every pricing game malfunctioning at one time or another. • Numerous "Wheelies" in which a contestant spins the wheel but pushes it too hard, he or she falls down. Also, there have been those fair share of contestants who claim to or actually don't understand how to play a given game. Most notable is Check Game (where the contestant writes in an amount that when added to the ARP of a prize, if the sum is between $5000 and $6000 ($3000 and $3500 back in the early 1980s, when the game was first introduced), they win). In addition, one game was victimized by a cheater – on the April 4, 2005 playing of Flip Flop (where a contestant is presented a string of two sets of two numbers, representing an incorrect price, and must correct one or both sets to win a prize). The contestant, after receiving input from the audience, pressed the reveal button without making any changes. Barker awarded the contestant the prize anyway, although many fans believe the player should have been disqualified, escorted out of the studio and the segment replaced. This game show has not been immune to inflation. In the 1970s, contestants only played for cars worth more than $10,000 if they played Golden Road or, on occassion, during the Showcase Showdown. By the early 1980s, the show began offering cars worth greater than $10,000 during some of its other games, requiring some updates to game rules and gameboards such as Any Number, Dice Game, Lucky Seven and 3 Strikes. In two of the Million Dollar Spectaculars, Golden Road was played for the biggest most expensive prizes in the show's history, worth more than $100,000 (a giant motorhome for the first one, but was not won and a luxourious boat for the second one, this time it was won). Also, Plinko, had originally been played for $25,000 cash prize, which was nearly unattainable (although a contestant did win $21,000 prior to the top prize's change to $50,000 in 1998). During the post-2002 prime time specials, the top prize was upped to $100,000 and for the prime-time specials only, the top cash prizes were $20,000 and $25,000 respectively, for Grand Game and Punch-a-Bunch (in the daytime version both games are played for $10,000.). The Price is Right has had 3 runs in syndication since 1972 as Follows: . 1972-1980: The aforementioned 30-minute "companion" to the daytime series. James hosted until 1976 with Barker presiding over the remainder of the run. • 1985-1986: Again, exactly like the daytime version (except that it was 30 minutes and there was no Showcase Showdown) with Tom Kennedy as host. • 1994-1995: Hosted by Doug Davidson (best known for The Young and the Restless) and announced by Burton Richardson (who had frequently filled in during Rod Roddy's illness and has since become a semi-regular upon Roddy's passing in October 2003. He is also the announcer for the current version of Family Feud). This version, also a 30-minute program was a radical change from the daytime version in the following ways: – No contestants row nor IUFB's; all contestants who were beckoned to "C'mon down!" immediately went onstage to play their pricing game. – Many of the pricing games were slightly altered (e.g., Hole in One ... or Two used small prizes instead of the usual grocery items; Clock Game used an electronic clock rather than the familiar sweep hand and prizes worth more than $1000 were offered (much like in the early-to-mid 1970s when cars were offered in that game) and Plinko used $2500 slots (in place of $100) and used higher-priced small prizes (3-digit instead of 2-digit and player had to guess higher/lower instead of which digit is right). – Alternating with the Big Wheel was a feature called The Price WAS Right wherein the contestant guessing closest to the ARP of an item featured in a classic commercial (usually from 25 or more years ago) won the show's one berth into the Showcase. – The Showcase round was structured a la the Range Game, wherein a contestant was given a range (anywhere from $4000 to $10,000, which they had selected in a blind draw and were not told of that range until the Showcase began). If the contestant stop the range finder and the ARP was within the range, they won. The show's hefty budget meant contestants could walk away with a bonanza worth more than $50,000! This latest syndicated version of TPiR never caught hold with the viewers and left after about 130 shows. The Price is Right has also international success with numerous countries. Pricing games, however are altered to fit that particular country's budget as well as the showcases themselves. The show has bid farewell to two of its most-beloved announcers (those who cry out "Come on down!"). Johnny Olson, a Goodson-Todman staple died in October 1985, shortly after the start of the 1985-1986 season and Olsen's successor, Rod Roddy passed on in October 2003 (after a battle with colon cancer). His final appearance was the first week of season 32 (2003-2004). After several months of announcers auditioning on air – Burton Richardson and Randy West being the most prominent – Rich Fields was selected to be the 3rd permanent announcer on the current version of The Price is Right. Also - some past TPIR contestants eventually become celebrities themselves - such as Vanna White in particular. She was called to "Come on down" in June 1980, but did not get out of contestant's row. Now, she is the "Letter Turner" on Wheel of Fortune (As a recurring joke, exemplified on TPiR's 25th anniversary special, Bob wonders what became of her). Other future stars include Rick Schroeder of NYPD Blue (you mean that show is still on?) and Linda Cardellini of ER. And aaaaaahhhhh, those Barker's Beauties! None of the models most associated with the show remain – Dian Parkinson left in 1993 due to a sexual harassment suit that was ultimately thrown out of court, while Holly Hallstrom departed in 1995 and Janice Pennington and Kathleen Bradley were ousted in 2000. Claudia Jordan and Brandi Sherwood are the two most frequent models today, though many others are referred to only by first name and are featured only once or twice before disappearing without explanation. NBC Broadcast Report November 26, 1956-December 28, 1956-Monday-Friday at 10:30-11:00am December 31, 1956-September 6, 1963-Monday-Friday at 11:00-11:30am September 23, 1957-June 9, 1958-Monday at 7:30-8:00pm June 26, 1958-September 11, 1958-Thursday at 10:00-10:30pm September 24, 1958-September 7, 1961-Wednesday at 8:30-9:00pm September 18, 1961-September 10, 1962-Monday at 8:30-9:00pm September 17, 1962-January 21, 1963-Monday at 9:30-10:00pm February 1, 1963-September 6, 1963-Friday at 9:30-10:00pm ABC Broadcast Report September 9, 1963-March 27, 1964-Monday-Friday at 11:00-11:30am September 18, 1963-November 27, 1963-Wednesday at 8:30-9:00pm December 6, 1963-September 11, 1964-Friday at 9:30-10:00pm March 30, 1964-December 25, 1964-Monday-Friday at 10:30-11:00am December 28, 1964-September 3, 1965-Monday-Friday at 11:30am-12Noon CBS Broadcast Report September 4, 1972-March 23, 1973-Monday-Friday at 10:30-11:00am March 26, 1973-August 15, 1975-Monday-Friday at 3:00-3:30pm August 15, 1975-November 28, 1975-Monday-Friday at 10:30-11:00am December 1, 1975-April 29, 1977-Monday-Friday at 10:00-11:00am May 2, 1977-November 4, 1977-Monday-Friday at 10:30-11:30am November 7, 1977-December 16, 1977-Monday-Friday at 10:00-11:00am December 19, 1977-April 20, 1979-Monday-Friday at 10:30-11:30am April 23, 1979-present-Monday-Friday at 11:00am-12Noon August 14, 1986-September 18, 1986-Thursday at 8:00-9:00pm May 23, 2002-July 4, 2002-Thursday at 8:00-9:00pm July 12, 2002-July 26, 2002-Friday at 9:00-10:00pm May 17, 2003-July 5, 2003-Saturday at 8:00-9:00pm February 3-11, 2004-Tuesday & Wednesday at 8:00-9:00pm May 8-22, 2004-Saturday at 8:00-9:00pm April 9-16, 2005-Saturday at 8:00-9:00pm. If you see any mistakes on this page or if you have more infomation about this show, please submit a comment |