The Price Is Right is an American game show centered on the pricing of merchandise and grocery products to win cash and prizes. The current version of the show premiered on September 4, 1972 on CBS and was hosted by Bob Barker until his retirement on June 15, 2007. Drew Carey succeeded Barker at the beginning of Season 36 on October 15, 2007. TV Guide named The Price Is Right the "greatest game show of all time". The show is well-known for its signature line of "Come on down!" when the announcer directs newly selected contestants to Contestants' Row.
The original version of The Price Is Right aired from 1956–1965 and was hosted by Bill Cullen. While retaining some elements of the earlier generation show, the 1972 revival added many new distinctive gameplay elements, and now has the distinction of being the longest continuously running game show in United States television history, with more than 7,000 episodes aired.
Taping for the show's 38th season began June 22, 2009, and the season premiere aired on September 21, 2009.
Overview
The gameplay on the show includes four distinct competition elements through which nine preliminary contestants (or six, depending on the show's running time) eventually are narrowed to two finalists.
One Bid
Main article: One BidOne Bid is a qualifying game, played with four contestants standing at the foot of the stage ("Contestants' Row"). A prize is shown and each player gives a bid for the item. The contestant who bids closest to the actual retail price of the prize, without going over, wins it and advances on to the stage for an individual pricing game. A contestant that bids the exact price also receives a cash bonus – $500 on the daytime episodes (originally $100 until 1998) and $1,000 on the prime time episodes. If all four contestants overbid, they all must bid again. Four initial contestants are chosen from the audience at the start of the show to play the first One Bid round; before each subsequent One Bid round, a new contestant is chosen from the audience to replace the previous winner.
Pricing games
Main article: List of The Price Is Right pricing gamesEach winner of the six One Bid rounds is called onto stage to play a pricing game to play for a prize or prizes valued at least several thousand dollars. There are currently over 60 pricing games in rotation. Regardless of whether or not the pricing game is won, all One Bid winners advance to the Showcase Showdown, which occurs twice in each hour-long episode, after every three pricing games. Each 30-minute episode featured three One Bids and pricing games, with the two on-stage contestants with the greatest winnings advancing to the Showcase.
Showcase Showdown
Since the expansion to 60 minutes in 1975, each episode features two Showcase Showdowns, occurring after the third and sixth pricing games. Each features the three contestants who played the preceding pricing games.
The contestants play in the order of the value of their winnings thus far (including in the One Bid round), with the contestant who has won the most spinning last. In the rare event two or all three players are tied in winnings, a coin toss or random drawing determines which player goes first.
The wheel contains twenty sections showing values from five cents through $1.00, in increments of five cents. The first contestant spins the wheel and may choose to stop with their score or spin again, adding the value of the second spin to their first. However, if a contestant's total score exceeds $1.00 they are eliminated from the game. The contestant whose score is nearest to $1.00 without going over advances to the Showcase at the end of each episode.
The wheel must make one complete downward revolution for the spin to qualify, and the contestant must spin again if the spin fails to do so. Disabled contestants or those otherwise unable to make a qualifying spin are generally assisted by either a family member/friend or the host.
Any contestant whose score equaled $1.00 (from either one spin or a combination of two spins) receives a $1,000 bonus. Beginning in December of 1978, contestants who spun $1.00 were also awarded a bonus spin at the end of the Showcase Showdown in addition to the $1,000. At this time, the 5¢ and 15¢ spaces (which are adjacent to the $1.00 space) were repainted green. For the bonus spin, the wheel is positioned on the 5¢ and the contestant takes their spin. From 1978 until 2008, if the wheel stopped on either green section, the contestant received a bonus of $5,000. If the wheel stopped on the $1.00 during the bonus spin, the contestant won an additional $10,000. Beginning September 2008, the bonuses were changed to $10,000 and $25,000, respectively. Unlike a regular spin, if the contestant fails to make a full revolution of the wheel in the bonus spin, they are not given another spin unless it is a spin-off, where it is spun for positioning only.
If, after all three contestants have competed, two or more contestants are tied with the leading score, each competes in a spin-off. The tied contestants are given one additional spin and the player who achieves the higher score advances to the showcase. Multiple spin-offs are played until the tie is broken. If two or more contestants tied with a score of $1.00, their bonus spin also determines their spin-off score.
The Showcase
Main article: The Showcase (The Price Is Right)The two qualifying contestants are shown a large prize package. The contestant with the larger total of cash and prizes (the "top winner") may either bid on that showcase or pass it to their opponent (the "runner-up"). A second prize package is then shown, and whichever contestant has not yet bid must bid on that showcase. The contestant who bids closer to the combined "actual retail price" of the items in their showcase without going over wins that showcase. If both contestants bid higher than the actual price of their own showcases, referred to as a "double overbid," neither contestant wins.
If the winning contestant bids within $250 of the price of their showcase, he or she wins both showcases. This rule was introduced in 1974 for a winner whose bid was "less than $100" under the price; the threshold was raised to "$250 or less" in 1998.
In 60-minute episodes, the Showcase participants are the winners of the two Showcase Showdowns. In the 30-minute format, the top two winners from the pricing games automatically advance to the Showcase.
Prizes
As of November 2009, the show had given away approximately US$250,000,000 in cash and prizes.
One Bid prizes generally range in value from $400 to $3,000 in the daytime show. The prizes offered in pricing games vary significantly, ranging from about $5,000 (in several games that are built for four-digit prizes) to the more rare prizes worth $50,000 or more (Plinko, Triple Play, or Golden Road). Pricing games with maximum prizes of less than $5,000 were either retired or readjusted by 2007. Showcases typically award a prize package worth between $15,000 and $40,000 in most daytime episodes, resulting in the typical top prize for a person who wins both a pricing game and a showcase to be around $30,000 to $50,000. Ceremonial episodes, such as a major season premiere or finale, or a milestone episode (such as the "5,000th" and "6,000th" episode), will have an increased budget similar to levels for the prime time series.
Many of the show's prizes and grocery items are provided through product placement.
From 1991–2008, almost all automobiles offered on the show were made by companies based in the United States, specifically the Big Three automobile manufacturers (although cars made by these companies' foreign subsidiaries were also offered). The move was made by Barker, in his capacity as executive producer, as a sign of patriotism during the first Iraq war in 1991.
Since Barker's retirement, cars made by foreign companies have been offered, most notably Hondas (a home-state issue; Honda's US operations are based in Marysville, Ohio, and both Carey and Fields are Cleveland-area natives). Through product placement, certain episodes feature Honda as the exclusive automobile manufacturer for vehicles offered on that episode. The major German, Japanese, and Korean manufacturers have all provided cars on the show since the ban was lifted.
Carey's libertarian views have influenced the show to lift other Barker-imposed prohibitions, such as offering products made of leather or leather seats in vehicles, and showing simulated meat props on barbecues and in ovens. The show has also offered couture clothing and accessories since Carey became host, featuring designers such as Coach Inc., Louis Vuitton and Limited Brands in an attempt to attract a younger demographic.
During the 1970s, Los Angeles-based sports teams offered prize packages that included season tickets to the teams' events, but these prizes had mostly disappeared by 1980 (since by then, most contestants were tourists from other parts of the country rather than Los Angeles residents as they were in the 70's). In 2008, the show began to offer new "dream fan" sports packages as prizes, including luxury suites, field-level tickets, and special access passes at various sports events, and travel packages to major sporting events
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