The Price Is Right
The Price is Right is a popular game show based on contestants guessing the retail prices of displayed prizes. The modern United States version, which premiered on September 4, 1972 and is hosted by Bob Barker, still airs today on CBS. The original 1956 version of the show was hosted by Bill Cullen. An Australian variant has Larry Emdur as the well recognized host of the game.
Unless otherwise specified, this article focuses on the 1972 CBS daytime format of The Price is Right. For extended information about the 1956 version, please see The Price is Right (1956).
Versions of the show
Several television shows bearing the name The Price is Right have aired over the years in the United States. The first Price is Right aired from 1956 to 1965. Hosted by Bill Cullen in the black and white television era, it was extremely popular. See The Price is Right (1956).
The most recognized version of the show premiered September 4, 1972, on CBS and has been hosted by Bob Barker through its entire broadcast run. The show was first called The New Price is Right (and shortly after its start simply renamed The Price is Right), and still airs today as the last network daytime game show that is still running.
Other short-lived versions of the show have aired as well. A weekly version of the show aired from 1972 through 1980. This show was hosted by Dennis James from 1972 to 1976, then Bob Barker from 1976 to 1980.
Two syndicated versions were attempted: in 1986 with host Tom Kennedy (The Nighttime Price is Right), and in 1994 with host Doug Davidson (The New Price is Right). Both of these quickly died out.
The Price is Right has even spread internationally; British versions have been hosted by Leslie Crowther (of Crackerjack fame) and Bruce Forsyth. It has also had several different runs in Australia, as well as versions in Germany (Der Preis ist Heiss), Mexico (Diga lo que Vale and Atinale al Precio), and Spain (El Precio Justo).
There are also versions in Italy (OK, il Prezzo e Giusto), Holland (Cash en Carlo), a French-Canadian version titled Misez Juste, and a French version titled Le Juste Prix.
Overview
The 1972 daytime incarnation of The Price is Right (hosted by Bob Barker) has the distinction of being the longest-running game show in television history. It has surpassed the previous record of 17 years and 7 months set by What's My Line?. Still airing today, it continues to extend its record, and aired its 6,000th episode on March 1, 2004. Notably, it is also the only daytime game show which has regularly aired on United States network television since January, 1994. Many believe "The Price is Right" has lasted so long because of Bob Barker's refusal to make significant changes to the show's look or format (for example, when his microphone broke, CBS didn't have an old style microphone to replace it; so a new microphone was simply put in an old-style casing.)
(Incidentally, the 6,000th show was *supposed* to air on March 9...but for some reason, CBS wanted it broadcast on the 1st, so its airdate was swapped with that of episode 5,994. Episode 6,001 aired on March 10. This is noted just in case anyone is actually trying to keep track of episode numbers.)
Johnny Olson was the show's original announcer. Olson was the first to call contestants to "Come on down!," which became the show's catch phrase. Olson died in 1985, and shortly afterwards, an on-air audition of several other announcers was held, and Rod Roddy was chosen to replace Olson. Roddy continued to do the show until two months before his death on October 27, 2003. After another on-air announcer audition, including Randy West and Burton Richardson (who announced the 1994 syndicated version), Rich Fields was named the show's permanent announcer on April 8, 2004.
The show experienced an unexpected garnering of younger college-age viewers in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Barker theorizes that they acquired these fans from his appearance in the Adam Sandler frat house favorite Happy Gilmore. He also suspects that these viewers remember the show from when they were children and their parents watched the show.
Game Description
Contestant selection
To quote a well-known line from the show, "If you'd like to see the Price is Right in person, send your request, including the number of tickets and the date you wish to attend, along with a self-addressed stamped envelope, to 'TICKETS: The Price is Right; CBS Television City; 7800 Beverly Blvd; Los Angeles, CA 90036.' Okay, Bob!"
On the day of a taping, a line begins for people who wish to see the show. The first number of people who show up who can fit in the studio are interviewed by the producers briefly, then allowed into the Bob Barker studio. Nine contestants are chosen by the production staff per taping from among this pool of people. Thus, anyone who attends the show (over the age of 18) has the potential to become a contestant on the Price is Right as well; this fact is one of the show's attractions.
Contestants' Row
The show opens with the announcer calling down the first four contestants for the show, as earlier picked, with the immortal catchphrase, "Come on down!" They line up in "Contestants' Row", where the 4 contestants bid on the price of a small prize, like a television, bicycle, or sofa. Each contestant bids in turn, and whoever declares a bid closest to the actual retail price of the prize without going over wins. If all contestants go over, then the process begins again. If a contestant bids exactly right, he gets a cash bonus of $500 (this bonus used to be $100).
Pricing games
The winner gets to play a "pricing game," where he or she can win a bigger prize like a car, a trip, or cash. As only one contestant is involved in a pricing game at a time, they tend to get the unanimous support of the audience. After the pricing game ends, a new contestant is selected for Contestants' Row, and the process begins again.
The Showcase Showdown
Six pricing games are played per show. After the 3rd and 6th pricing games, there is a "Showcase Showdown", so that 1 finalist per Showdown can be determined for the Showcase from among those who won their way out of Contestants' Row. The contestants, in order from the one who won the least to the top winner, spin a wheel with 20 sections marked $.05 to $1. After the first spin, the contestant has a chance to stay or spin again. The contestant's score is the sum of the two spins (or 1 spin if he decides to stay). The goal is to have the highest score without going over $1. Any contestant who goes over $1 is immediately eliminated. There is a rule that the wheel must go "all the way around" when spinning, to make it hard to aim for a specific square of the wheel.
If a contestant gets $1 in the "Showcase Showdown", he wins $1,000 and gets a "bonus spin". A score of $1 on the bonus spin yields a $10,000 bonus, and $.05 or $.15 (located below and above $1) yield a $5,000 bonus. The bonus spin starts with the wheel on the $.05, so that the contestant is never denied money for failing to get the wheel all the way around.
If 2 contestants are tied, there is a spinoff consisting of one spin only each. The $1,000 bonus and a bonus spin can still be earned in a spinoff. If two contestants tie with $1, there is a spin that is simultaneously a bonus spin and spinoff. However, a contestant cannot win more than one $1,000 bonus. Until the late '70s, however, there was no "bonus spin", and contestants simply won a $1,000 bonus every time they spun $1 (so if two people tied at $1 and had a spinoff, they could win another $1,000 bonus by spinning $1 again). Another interesting possibility is that if the first 2 contestants in a Showcase Showdown can go over, the 3rd contestant automatically makes it to the showcase, but he gets one spin to try to get $1 and win $1,000.
The Showcase
The 2 winners of the Showcase Showdowns in each episode make it to the Showcase. The Showcase usually involves several prizes connected by a little story, and tend to be worth several times the amount of any individual "pricing game". The goal, as in Contestants' Row, is to be the closest without going over. One showcase is shown, and the contestant with greatest winnings so far has the option to "bid or pass". After the bid is placed, the 2nd showcase is shown and bid upon by the remaining contestant.
If both contestants go over, nobody wins the Showcase. If the winner is within $250 of (used to be less than $100 away from) the price of his/her own showcase, he wins both showcases. If the two contestants are exactly the same distance from the actual prices (in other words, if there is a tie), each wins his/her own showcase. (This has happened exactly once.) If there is a tie where the difference is within $250, both contestants win both showcases. (This has never happened.)
The old half-hour version
From 1972 to 1975, The Price is Right was only one half hour long. It featured 3 pricing games rather than 6. There was no Showcase Showdown; the top 2 winners of the day participated in the Showcase. This was changed in 1975 to the hour-long version which is described above.
Barker's Beauties
The daily show featured models who became known as Barker's Beauties. From the mid-70s through most of the 80s these were Dian Parkinson, Holly Hallstrom and Janice Pennington. Controversy erupted in 1993 when Parkinson sued host Bob Barker for sexual harassment. Barker admitted to sexual involvement with Parkinson in the late 80s. In 1995, Hallstrom was dismissed from the show. When she subsequently complained that she had been fired for failing to lose weight, Barker sued her for libel and slander. Hallstrom replied with a countersuit. Pennington was fired shortly after having been subpoenaed to give testimony during Hallstrom's lawsuit.
New life in prime time
A series of six nighttime specials aired during the summer of 1986. Six nighttime specials saluting various branches of the United States armed forces aired during the summer of 2002. Eight nighttime "Million-Dollar Spectaculars" aired during 2003 with more planned for 2004; on these specials, a $1 on the bonus spin in the Showcase Showdown gives the contestant $1 million instead of the usual $10,000 (as of this writing, the top prize has never been won).
There have also been primetime specials for the show's 25th and 30th anniversaries.
Production Companies
The current version of the series was originally a Mark Goodson/Bill Todman production in association with CBS. Although CBS still has a hand in the production of the show, the Goodson/Todman unit has changed ownership over the years. After Todman passed away in 1979, the unit became known as simply Mark Goodson Productions. In the mid 1990s, the Goodson company was bought out by Pearson Television. Today, Pearson is now as Fremantle Media, and the series is now produced by Price Is Right Productions (a joint venture of Fremantle and CBS). Some fans associate this time as the start of a decline in the quality of the show. There are many recent changes that are disliked:
- The frequent turnover in models. Longtime models, such as Janice Pennington, who was with the Barker version since day one, have been fired to make the show more appealing to younger viewers.
- Some pricing games have not been adjusted to account for inflation.
- The announcer no longer appears on camera; traditionally, the late Johnny Olson and Rod Roddy made at least one on-air appearance per episode. Recently, though, this policy has been relaxed; Rich Fields has begun to appear at the end of the show alongside the rest of the cast with the Showcase winner.
Fremantle has done many failed remakes of other Goodson shows, such as Match Game (1998), To Tell The Truth (2000), and Card Sharks (2001). Two of their remakes have become somewhat popular: Family Feud (1998), and Whammy!: The All New Press Your Luck (2002), although only Feud is still in production.
Summary and Analysis of Selected Games
Contestants' Row
The four potential players are presented with a prize that they must all bid on once. Closest without going over wins.
The strategy for this game is interesting. Suppose the price is uniformly distributed between $1 and $1,000? What is the optimal bidding strategy?
The Showcase Showdown
See Showcase Showdown section above
The strategy here is also interesting. When should you choose to spin again? A simple computation or computer simulation will yield the answer. Historically, the show's consensus seems to be that $.60-$.65 is a score that a contestant should give serious thought to staying on with a single spin. Spinning on $.70 or above when it is not necessary is likely to get a bad reaction from the audience.
Any Number
The first game ever played on the show. The first number of the price of a car is shown, with the other four covered up, as well as the price of a three-digit prize, as well as the "piggy bank". Each of the digits 0-9 is used on the board once, including another instance of the first digit in the car. The contestant calls digits, and they are revealed wherever they are. The contestant wins the first prize that he uncovers all the digits of.
Barker's Bargain Bar
The contestant is given two prizes with prices below their actual retail prices. It is up to the contestant to determine which one is further below the actual retail price in order to win both prizes.
Barker's Marker$
The contestant is shown three prizes and four possible prices to place markers by; each marker represents a prize. He is also given $500 in cash. Once the markers are placed, Bob Barker reveals two prices that the contestant correctly placed markers by. This leaves one prize and two possible prices, one of which has a marker beside it. Barker gives the contestant two choices: give up the $500 and switch the marker to the unmarked price, or keep the money and leave the marker where it is. The contestant loses everything -- including the $500 -- if the unmarked price at the end of the game happens to be correct.
Bonus Game
Bonus Game was the second pricing game played on the first show in 1972 and is still played today. The game features four blue windows and four small prizes. The contestant must decide whether the actual price is higher or lower than the marked price on each of the four small prizes; the prizes the contestant guesses right are moved beside the blue windows. If the word "Bonus" lights up beside one of the prizes the contestant has right, they win the game's main prize (dubbed the "bonus prize"). If the contestant gets all four small prizes right, he automatically wins.
Buy or Sell
The contestant is shown three prizes with prices that are either above or below the actual retail prices. Contestants can "buy" items that they feel are underpriced, or "sell" them if they think they are overpriced. Once the contestant makes the decision, the actual price of the item is revealed, and the difference between the real and fake prices is added (or subtracted, if the contestant made an incorrect guess) to the bank. The contestant must have at least $1 in the bank at the end of the game in order to win the prizes; in recent years, contestants have also won the amount of money that is in the bank.
Card Game
This game is played for a car. First, the contestant draws from a special deck of 20 cards to determine how close he or she has to come to the price of the car without going over. (The values in that deck range from $500 to $2,000.) Then the contestant is given an opening bid of $10,000 and must draw from a regular deck of 52 playing cards to come closer to the actual retail price. (The value of each card is the number on the card multiplied by $100. Jacks, queens, and kings are each worth $1,000. Aces are wild; the contestant can make them any value at all.) The price is read once the contestant stops drawing, and the contestant has to come within the chosen price range without going over to win the car.
Card Game was originally played with no opening bid and aces were worth anything up to $1,000. In 1983, the rules were changed so that aces were wild and the contestant was given an opening bid of $2,000 (the game was called "The New Card Game" for a short time to reflect this). The opening bid was raised to $8,000 in 1993 and to $10,000 in 2001.
Check Game
For some reason, the rules of this game baffle many contestants, although it's really quite simple. The contestant writes a check for a certain amount. If the value of his check plus the price of the prize ends up between $5,000 and $6,000 (or $3,000 and $3,500 during the '80s), he wins.
Check-Out
The contestant must estimate prices of five products. The total must be within $2.00 of the actual total in order to win the prize. (The total was originally 50 cents, then $1.00)
Cliff Hangers
This is a fun game that has become a favorite of most "Price is Right" fans. It involves a large scoreboard of sorts featuring a stylized "mountain" slope ticked off from $0 on the base to $25 at the peak, as well as a cartoon "mountain climber" with an arrow below him, starting at the base ($0). The contestant must guess the prices of three small prizes without going over 25 steps. If the contestant's guess is correct, the mountain climber stays where he is and the game goes on. Otherwise, for every dollar of the disparity between the contestant's bid and the actual price, the mountain climber moves up one tick mark; i.e., if the contestant bid $33, and the price was $40, the disparity is $7, so the mountain climber climbs 7 steps. If the mountain climber has not fallen off the cliff (i.e., gone over the $25 mark) after bidding on all three items, the contestant wins.
As the mountain climber moves up the mountain, a yodeling song which has become extremely popular with fans is played.
This game is easily won by someone who watches the show regularly. Guessing 15/30/40 or 15/30/45 will almost always win.
Clock Game
The player is given thirty seconds to deduce the price of two prizes (one first, and then the other with leftover time). The contestant makes a guess, and the host says "higher" or "lower". The contestant is allowed to take shortcuts in pronunciation; for example, saying "nine seventy-one two three four five six seven eight nine" will test all prices in the range $971-$979. Any contestant who knows binary search will win easily; as such, this is the only game on the show in which skill guarantees a win. In recent years, a win on Clock Game also scores the contestant a $1000 bonus.
NOTE: The record is 06"00/30"00 (24"00 remaining)
Coming or Going
A contestant is presented with a prize, such as a trip or piece of furniture. He is presented with a string of four numbers, such that he has a choice. He may either set the numbers 'coming' (to get, say, $6,523), or going (to get $3,256). Note that the only difference between these two numbers is whether the first or last number is read first. A correct guess wins the prize. Odds of winning: 1:2.
Credit Card
The contestant is given a "credit limit" and must correctly choose three prizes out of five without going over the limit in order to win all five.
Danger Price
The contestant is shown four prizes and a "danger price" and picks the three prizes that are not that price in order to win all four. If the contestant chooses the prize with the "danger price" before the last correct price, the game is over and he/she loses. It was originally played on the turntable (with a skull-and-bones image as the game's logo), then behind the giant price tag, and finally behind Door #2 with the prizes, this is the only pricing game to have had three different stage set-ups.
Dice Game
This game is played for a car. The first digit of the car is given for free, but the contestant must roll dice to get the remaining four digits. After each roll, the contestant has to determine if the correct number was higher or lower than the number rolled if that number was not in the price. The price is revealed after the fourth roll, but the contestant loses with even one incorrect guess. Prices in the Dice Game do not contain zeroes or any numbers higher than six; however, this rule was not in place when the game debuted in 1976. There were only four numbers and four dice, and no free number was given. It was also difficult because numbers could range from 0-9 even though the dice has 1-6. The 1-6 numbers rule was put in effect shortly after the debut of the game. During the 1980s, if they played for a car with five digits, they played "Deluxe Dice Game" with 5 numbers and the first number given free.
Double Prices
One of the five original pricing games. Two prices are shown for a prize; pick the right one, and you win.
Easy as 1-2-3
This game is played for three prizes. It is up to the contestant to order the prices of those prizes from least expensive to most expensive by placing numbered blocks on the prize displays ("1" would be the least expensive prize, "2" the second least expensive, and "3" the most expensive). If successful, the contestant wins all three prizes.
Flip Flop
A contestant is presented with a prize, such as a trip or piece of furniture. He is presented with a string of four numbers -- a "wrong price" -- divided into two sets of two numbers. If, in an example, the numbers given are $42-03, he may: 'Flip', giving a prize of $2,403; 'Flop', giving a prize of $4,230; or 'Flip-Flop', giving a prize of $2,430. A correct guess wins the prize. Odds of winning: 1:3.
Golden Road
Golden Road, one of the show's most popular games, begins with a grocery item that is priced under $1. The two digits in that price are used to guess the concealed digit of a three-digit prize, giving the contestant a 50-50 chance. If the contestant guesses it correctly, that price is used to guess the concealed digit of a four-digit prize (1-3 odds). If that guess is correct, those four digits are used to guess the concealed digit of the five-digit prize at the end of the Golden Road (1-4 odds). That five-digit prize is usually the most expensive prize that's given on the show, such as a recreational vehicle or a luxury/sports car like a Cadillac or Dodge Viper with a price of at least $50,000. An incorrect guess at any time ends the game, though any prizes the contestant won up to that point are kept.
Grand Game
Six grocery items are shown, and the contestant has to determine which four items are priced below a certain "target price." The contestant starts with $1 in the bank, and a zero is added to the end of the bank with each correct guess. If the contestant finds all four items that are priced below the "target price," he or she wins $10,000. The game ends if an item priced above the "target" is chosen, but the contestant only loses his money if the game is lost on the last item.
The top prize was $20,000 on the recent primetime specials.
Grocery Game
One of the five original pricing games. Five grocery items are shown; the contestant must choose quantities of items to total between $6.75 to $7.00 (now $20 to $21). The running total is displayed on a manually operated cash register.
1/2 Off
This game, which debuted on the May 28, 2004, episode, is played for $10,000 in cash. The contestant is given 16 boxes – one of which contains the money – and three groups of two small prizes. One of the prizes has the correct price, the other has one that is one-half the actual retail price. If the contestant correctly picks the prize that is “half off,” half of the boxes are eliminated. If all three half-priced prizes are picked correctly, the contestant would have a choice of two boxes to pick from. The contestant opens the box after picking it and wins the $10,000 if the box contains the money.
Hi Lo
The contestant is shown six grocery items; he must pick the three highest-priced ones out of the group to win. There is no room for error, however; if chosen blindly, the odds of winning are 20:1.
Hit Me
Based on blackjack, in this game the contestant tries to win a prize by "beating the house hand" in a game of blackjack. To earn good cards, like aces and 10s, the contestant must price grocery items out correctly. (The prices shown are the actual retail prices multiplied by the appropriate value of the card.) If the contestant can pick and price out the items with the ace and the ten, the contestant wins the prize.
Hole in One
Always played for a car or other large prize, Hole in One begins with the announcer describing six grocery items. A contestant will try to guess the prices of these items from lowest to highest, and his choices will be placed on corresponding lines closer and closer to a golf hole. As long as an item is higher in price than the previous, the contestant is allowed to advance (and if the contestant gets ALL the items right, he gets a $500 bonus for doing so). When either an incorrect guess is made, or the $500 bonus is collected, it's time for the putting portion of the game. Bob Barker always attempts an 'inspiration putt' from the line furthest away from the hole, usually to the delight of the audience. Then the contestant, from whatever line he's earned, tries a putt as well. If he makes the putt, he wins the car. If not, Bob reveals that the game is, in fact, 'Hole in One...or Two!', and the contestant gets one last putt from his earned line to win. If neither put is made, the game is over.
It's in the Bag
This game involving grocery items is played for a cash prize of up to $16,000. Six grocery items are shown, as are five grocery bags with prices on them. The contestant has to match the product with the price shown on the bag (one product is never used). If the contestant correctly matches the first item with the first price, he or she wins $1,000 and has the option of doubling his or her money with each bag after that. The contestant can quit at any time before reaching the $16,000 top prize, but he or she loses everything with one incorrect guess.
Let 'em Roll
This game is played for a car. The contestant is given one roll of five special dice at the beginning of the game and could earn up to two more rolls by correctly guessing if a grocery item had a higher or lower price than the item before it (think Card Sharks with prices instead of cards). Each die that the contestant rolls has six sides: three of them have car pictures, and the other three sides have cash values of $500; $1,000; and $1,500. After each turn, the contestant has the option to keep the cash that was rolled or roll the non-car dice again (if he or she has earned any additional rolls). The contestant wins the car if the car picture appears on all five dice by the end of his or her last roll.
Lucky $even
A contestant is given seven one-dollar bills and after receiving the first digit of the price of the car, he or she has to guess the remaining four. If the guess is incorrect, the contestant loses one dollar for each number that the guess is off by (e.g., if the contestant guesses "5" but the correct answer is "7," the contestant loses two dollars). The contestant needs to have at least one dollar left at the end of the game to win the car.
Magic #
The contestant pulls a lever on a scoreboard to choose a "magic number" that falls between the prices of two prizes. If successful, the contestant wins both prizes.
Make Your Move
The contestant is shown a series of nine digits -- which contain the prices of three prizes -- and three markers. One marker represents a two-digit prize, one a three-digit prize, and one a four-digit prize. The contestant has to correctly place these markers under the appropriate prices without overlapping in order to win all three prizes.
Money Game
Nine cards with two-digit numbers appear on the board. The object is to find the two cards that make up the first two and last two digits of the price of the car (the middle digit of a five-digit price is given for free). The remaining seven cards are money values. The contestant wins the car if he chooses the two car price cards before revealing four money values; otherwise, he wins the total amount of money he drew.
Often, the two winning combinations are located adjacently on the game board. Other times, the card with the lowest number represents the last two numbers in the price (referred to by Bob Barker as the "El Cheapo" trick).
Most Expensive
The contestant is shown three prizes, and he or she has to determine which one is the most expensive of the three. If successful, he wins all three prizes.
Now... or Then
The contestant is given six grocery items and must determine if the price of the item is the price "now" (the day of taping) or "then" (a specified date several years before the taping). If three adjacent items on the pie-shaped board are chosen correctly, the contestant wins a prize.
One Away
The contestant is given the incorrect price of a car in this game. However, each digit in that price is either one number above or one number below the correct digit; it is up to the contestant to determine which way to change the number. Once all the digits are changed, the contestant asks if he or she has at least one number right. If he or she hears a car horn, the game continues; if not, the game ends. The contestant keeps asking how many numbers are right until he or she has every digit right (thus winning the car) or gets no response. If that happens, the contestant changes the appropriate number of digits that are incorrect. The price is revealed after the changes are made, and the contestant must have every digit correct to win the car.
1 Right Price
The contestant is shown two prizes and one price tag; he or she has to determine which prize the price belongs to. If correct, he or she wins both prizes.
1 Wrong Price
The contestant is shown three prices for three prizes. Two of the prices are correct; one is incorrect. If the contestant picks the prize with the incorrect price, he or she wins all three prizes.
Pass the Buck
The contestant is given one pick from six numbers on a board, with the opportunity to earn up to two more picks. He is shown two pairs of grocery items. In each pair, one item is shown with its correct price, and the other is marked at $1 below the actual retail price; if the contestant correctly "passes the buck" to the underpriced item, he or she wins an additional pick on the board.
One number on the board contains a new car, three contain cash values ($1,000; $3,000; or $5,000), and two contain the phrase "Lose Everything," which is self-explanatory. The contestant wins everything that is picked until he or she decides to stop picking or runs out of picks.
Originally, the game was played with eight numbers, with all three picks having to be earned with three pairs of grocery items. There was one car, four cash values ($1,000; $2,000; $3,000; and $5,000), and three numbers that contained "Lose Everything."
Pathfinder
The contestant plays on a 5-by-5 grid of 25 numbers in this game, which is played for a new car. The number in the center of the grid is the first digit in the price of the car (or an asterisk in the days of four-digit cars). The next digit in the price is one of the four numbers that are adjacent to it; the contestant guesses that digit by stepping on that number. If the guess is incorrect, the contestant can earn another chance by correctly guessing the price of one of three small prizes (he is given a choice of two prices, one of which is correct). The contestant wins if he steps on all of the correct digits in the price of the car -- which are always adjacent to each other on the board -- without making too many mistakes and running out of second-chance prizes.
Pick-a-Number
Price of prize is shown with one number missing. Pick right number from choice of three and win. This wins the vote for the most uninspired game ever, taking the title from Double Prices.
Pick-a-Pair
The contestant is shown six grocery items; each has the same price as exactly one of the other items. The contestant has two chances to pick two that have the same price.
This game is notable for enduring the most radical set change of any pricing game: The first Pick-a-Pair setup from the early 1980s had the products rotating around on a carousel. While fun to watch, it slowed the game up greatly, so a new setup was designed around 1990 where the products sat on an elongated table.
Plinko
The contestant drops large "Plinko Chips" from the top of the board; the chip bounces off numerous pegs on the way down, and the contestant is awarded the cash value of the slot the chip lands in. ($100 $500 $1000 $0 $10,000 $0 $1000] [$500 $100]
At the beginning of the game, the contestant is given one free chip, and can earn four more using four small prizes. For each one, he or she is given a wrong price. The contestant must decide whether the first number shown is the first number in the price, or the second number shown is the last (e.g. if the price shown is $45, the contestant must decide if the prize is $4_ or $_5). If correct, a chip is earned.
The odds of winning $50,000, assuming the board randomizes perfectly, are 1 in 59,000.
Originally, the top prize was $25,000, with $5000 in the center slot. On the primetime specials, the center slot is worth $20,000, for a total top prize of $100,000.
Punch a Bunch
In this game, the contestant earns punches on a 50-hole "Punchboard" by correctly guessing if the prices of four small prizes were higher or lower than the prices that were given. The contestant then punches out the number of holes on the board -- each of which has a cash value -- that he or she has earned. Bob Barker then pulls out the slip in the first hole and shows the contestant how much he or she has won. The contestant can either take the money or leave it and move on to the next punched hole (as they often do with lower cash amounts). The contestant must take the money from the last earned punch if he or she passes on the others.
The values on the Punchboard are $50, $100, $250, and $500 (10 holes apiece); $1,000 (5 holes); $5,000 (3 holes); and $10,000 (2 holes). Four holes -- one each of the four lowest values -- contain a "Second Chance," which allows the contestant to punch out another hole and add the values of the two holes together. Thus, a win of over $10,000 is possible, and has in fact happened more than once; for example, a contestant on the March 24, 2004, episode won $10,050.
On the recent primetime specials, the top prize was $25,000. The slip frequency is different in primetime: $250, $500, and $1,000 (15 holes apiece); $5,000 (3 holes); and $25,000 (2 holes). There are no "Second Chance" slips in primetime.
Punch a Bunch is often referred to as just "Punchboard."
Pushover
9 blocks with digits are shown (e.g. 649507185), contestant must push the blocks in the window of a four-digit price. Any impostor blocks that are pushed too far fall in a box and "go to China".
Once (maybe twice) a season, Pushover is played for a five-digit car.
Race Game
Four cards with prices are given to the contestant; he places the cards on the prizes he thinks matches the prices, then he pulls a lever to see how many he has right. If he has some wrong, he can make changes. All this must be accomplished in 45 seconds. Not unlike Mastermind with a time limit.
The current record for this pricing game is 07"xx seconds (38 seconds remaining), set in Season 31.
Overall, the world record is 06"xx seconds (39" seconds remaining)
Range Game
The contestant is shown a scale representing $600 worth of prices (say, from $800 up to $1400). Somewhere on the scale is the price of a prize. A red window that represents a $150 range moves up the scale; as soon as the contestant believes that it covers the price of the prize, he presses a button to stop it. If the price is indeed covered by the "rangefinder," the contestant wins the prize. Bob often jokes that once the rangefinder is stopped, it can't be started again for 37 hours, sometimes 29 and 43; back when the joke started in '80s, the length of time was usually "until next Saturday." When the game debuted in 1973, the game used a $50 rangefinder; the size was quickly increased to $100 and again to $150. About once a season, Range Game is played for a car.
Safe Crackers
A major prize and a smaller, 3-digit prize are locked in a giant safe. The price of the smaller item is the combination of the safe; the player is given the three digits and wins both prizes if s/he can open the safe.
Shell Game
After winning up to four chips by guessing whether the prices of small products are higher or lower than the displayed wrong prices, the contestant then places his chips in front of whichever of four plastic "shells" he believes houses a small rubber ball. He wins the bonus prize if he places a chip in front of the one with the ball. If he wins all four chips, he of course wins automatically; in this case, he is offered $500 if he can correctly choose which shell holds the ball in one guess.
After 26 years, Shell Game received a new set in 2001.
Shopping Spree
This game is the opposite of Credit Card -- the contestant is shown four prizes and must correctly pick three prizes whose prices go over a specified amount in order to win all four.
Spelling Bee
In this game, the contestant tries to win a car by spelling car out with three cards with the letters C-A-R or by getting one of two wild cards that have the word car written on them. The cards are hidden on a numbered board. There are many numbers, 1 through 30 and each contains a card behind it.
In order to get cards, the contestant earns chances by pricing smaller items. In this game, the price must be guessed and if it is within a specifed amount (usually ten dollars), then the item is won and a chance to take a card is given. If an item's price is guessed exactly, the contestant wins all of the small prizes and gets all of the card chances.
NOTE: There are numbered hexagonal cards greater than 30. As a result, there are 30 MORE cards range from 31 to 60, but those are for sports-utility vehicles; S-U-V.
Squeeze Play
A five-digit string of numbers is shown (say, "51892"); the contestant must remove one of the three middle numbers to form the price of the prize (so if he thinks the price is $5892, he'd remove the "1").
On the very, very rare occasions that Squeeze Play is played for a car, the contestant has four digits that he can remove instead of three.
Switcheroo
In this game, the contestant learns about many prizes from small to large, usually 5 in total. Each prize has a digit missing from its price. All of the missing digits are then presented to the contestant in the form of dice.
The contestant then tries to get the dice in the correct slot to price the prize correctly on the game board. For this task, the contestant has only 30 seconds. After selecting a configuration of the dice, the clock is stopped and the number of correct dice is shown. Then, using the knowledge of how many are correct, the contestant tries to fix the dice. The process is repeated until the clock runs out or all prizes have the correct price.
At the end of the game, the contestant wins all of the prizes that have the correct price.
Super Ball
Based on the Arcade game Skee-ball, in this game the contestant has the chance to win three prizes, increasing in value, usually to a car. However, to win each prize, the player must win the prize's associated ball by winning a small pricing game. For each ball that is won by the contestant, it is rolled up a skee-ball chute. If it lands in the bulls-eye, the contestant wins the prize. The rings outside earn the player money.
If the contestant does not earn the ball for one or more of the prizes, there is a second chance. A final super ball is shown as part of a fourth pricing game. If that ball is thrown and lands in the center, regardless of the other balls, the player wins all three prizes.
Super Ball has not been played since the late 90s; although well-loved by fans, it just took too much airtime to play.
Take Two
The contestant is shown four prizes and a target price. The contestant has two chances to pick two prizes whose prices add up to that target price; successfully doing so gives the contestant all four prizes.
Temptation
One of The Price is Right's classic games, and always played for a car, a contestant is given four prizes outright. The prices of each of the prizes contain within them a number in the price of the car. The contestant must use the prices of each of the four prices to build the price that he believes the car is. At the end of the four choices, the contestant must choose to either keep the four prizes given to him, or to 'go for the car' - but all numbers in the price of the car must be right. If they are, the contestant wins both the car and the four prizes; if not, everything is lost.
Ten Chances
The player is shown three prizes, one two-digit, one three-digit, and one five-digit (a car). He is given ten chances total to guess the prices of the prizes using the scrambled numbers given to him. (The two- and three-digit prizes each have a dummy number included in the jumble. The car's jumble has 5 digits, but it too contained a dummy number in the days of 4-digit car prices.)
There is an unwritten "zero rule" in this game, which says that if a zero is one of the digits (which almost always is the case nowadays), the zero is the last number. In the rare cases in which 0 is not one of the digits, the last number is always 5. Someone who watches the show regularly, and therefore knows the rule, obviously has a big advantage. Bob Barker tends to criticize contestants who don't know/forget this. This rule did not apply for all of this game's history, but it has been followed on all recent episodes.
Also, there is a time limit of 10"xx seconds per chance for a total of 1'40"xx or almost 2'00"xx minutes
That's Too Much!
This game is always played for a car, usually within $15,000 to $25,000. A line of increasing prices for the car is displayed, each one $1000–$2000 more than the previous one. An indicator surrounding each price lights up, one after another, in increasing order. Unlike the usual bidding strategy of the show, the object of this game is to come closest without going under; the contestant must scream out "THAT'S TOO MUCH!" once the current price exceeds the true price of the car, and no later.
3 Strikes
Discs containing the numbers in the price of a car, and one red disc with an X, are put into a bag. The player blindly draws a disc; if it is a number, he guesses what position in the price of the car it goes in. If correct, the number lights up; if not, the chip goes back in the bag. If the X is drawn, the player is penalized with a strike, and the X goes back into the bag. Game ends when the player correctly reveals all 5 numbers (a win), or when the player gains three strikes (a loss).
Originally, there were three separate strike discs placed into the bag that were removed as they were drawn; the current format was introduced in 1998 after a long string of losses.
3 Strikes is the one of the few games where the contestant can lose even if they know the price in advance.
Triple Play
This game is played for three cars. The contestant is given a choice of two prices for the first car, three prices for the second, and four prices for the third. None of them are the actual retail prices, though; the object of the game is to find the price that is closest to the real price without going over. Triple Play is an all-or-nothing game; the contestant loses everything if he makes one incorrect guess.
Other Games
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