The Price Is Right (1972)

The Price Is Right
Premiere	September 4, 1972
Airs	Weekdays at 11AM
Creator	Bob Stewart (original version) Jay Wolpert (revival)
Host	see below
Network/Provider	CBS (USA) Citytv (Canada)
Style	60-minute game show
Company	Goodson-Todman Productions (1972-1984), Mark Goodson Productions (1984-2007) All American Television (1996-1998), Pearson Television (1998-2002), Fremantle North America (2002- ) (Price Productions, The Price Is Right Company, The Price Is Right LLC, The Price Is Right Productions)
Seasons	53
Episodes	9,863 (through season 52)
Status	Currently airing season 53
Origin	USA
Official Site	The Price Is Right CBS

The Price Is Right is a game show on CBS hosted for 35 years by Bob Barker until he retired in 2007, when it was announced he was replaced by Drew Carey. The show revolves around contestants guessing the retail price of various products. Contestants are drawn from the studio audience, prompting the announcer to invite them to "come on down!" It is a revival of The Price Is Right which aired from 1956 to 1963 on NBC and 1963 to 1965 on ABC. It was first billed as The New Price Is Right to differentiate itself from the original show and dropped the "New" from the title in June of 1973. Bob Barker even explained on the debut show, "Let me assure you fans of the old Price Is Right this is your favorite game, still based on the pricing of merchandise with wonderful awards to smart shoppers."

In its history The Price Is Right has become a cultural phenomenon. Due to its daytime timeslot, its main viewers tend to be retirees, housewives, and college students. Many children too young for school (or who are on summer vacation from school) also watch it, leading to a nostalgic attachment for the show that may last into adulthood. Large groups may make trips to join the audience, and it is not uncommon to see entire rows dressed similiarly; matching college sweatshirts, specially-printed t-shirts, and even military uniforms. The program's popularity has sometimes been attributed to the fact that "everyone knows what stuff costs."

This edition of The Price Is Right was originally intended for just once-a-week telecast in syndication during the "Prime Time Access" period (7:30 p.m. Eastern/6:30 p.m. Central) back when it was pitched in 1972. Late that spring, CBS (which had just lifted its ban on giveaway shows) picked it up as a daytime offering for that fall with Bob Barker as host, while the planned weekly syndicated version was also green-lit and debuted that fall with Dennis James hosting.

In 1997, TV began issuing content ratings for its programs. Since then, The Price Is Right has been rated "TV-G," meaning suitable for all ages.

Rich Fields was dismissed as announcer at the end of season 38. J.D. Roberto, Brad Sherwood and Jeff Davis had been rotating duties until a permanent announcer was named. Fields is now the meteorologist for KCBS television in Los Angeles. On April 18, 2011, it was officially disclosed that George Gray (Extreme Gong, syndicated version of The Weakest Link) is now the new permanent announcer.

The Price Is Right kicked off its 50th season on CBS on September 13, 2021, giving a contestant on each show a chance of winning $1 million during the new season's Premiere Week. A two-hour primetime special aired on September 30 at 9 PM EDT. The official 50th anniversary show, also the final show of the season, aired September 5, 2022 (as the 4th was on a Sunday) and offered a $1 million cash prize in one of their games.

With the beginning of production of season 52 (which debuted on September 25, 2023), Price left its home since 1972--Studio 33 at Television City--and relocated to Haven Studios in Glendale. Fremantle, the show's production company, has a long term rent agreement at that facility.

Following the death of Bob Barker on August 26, 2023, a special primetime episode of The Price Is Right, aired on August 31, celebrated Barker's life and career, including his time hosting the show, and featured clips of many memorable moments on the show during the Barker era.

Gameplay

All contestants begin in Contestants Row, at the front of the audience (not on stage). Four contestants will be present there at a time. Six times during the show a product will be brought out on stage and the contestants will be asked to guess the retail price of it. The contestant who guesses the closest without going higher than the price will be called on stage to play a pricing game. Those who guess the exact number win $500 in addition to the prize. (At the beginning of the next round a new contestant will be called from the audience.)

The pricing games are gimmicky, carnival-like games that involve the contestant trying to guess the price of one or several items, from household products to expensive luxury items. Each game has its own rules that Drew Carey will explain to the contestant before play; the rules are never overly complicated. The luxury items in these games often double as the prizes; the low-cost items win tokens that give the contestant a better chance of winning a big prize. Six pricing games are played per episode. On occasion in the event of a mistake made by the show's staff (such as when the winning price of a prize is accidentally revealed) during a game, it is considered an automatic win and the contestant is awarded the prize by default.

Regardless of whether they win or lose the pricing game, each of these contestants is allowed to participate in the Showcase Showdown. Two sessions of three contestants each are held. Each contestant spins a giant wheel printed with cent values; the contestant gets up to two spins to try and get as close to $1 as possible. The winners of each round move on to the Showcase at the end of the episode. A contestant hitting $1 in one or a combination of two spins wins a $1000 bonus and gets a bonus spin. Up until 2007, a player hitting the two green spots (05 or 15) in the bonus spin won a $5000 while stopping on $1.00 won $10,000. Those cash prizes have since been raised to $10,000 and $25,000 respectively.

The Showcases are two huge assortments of prizes. After presentation of the first Showcase, the contestant who scored highest during the Showdown is given a choice: take the first one, or pass it on to the other contestant. Each contestant must try to guess the value of their assigned Showcase, guessing closest without going over. The winner wins their respective Showcase; a winner within $250 of the total value of their Showcase wins both Showcases.

Logo upon the first week on CBS as The New Price Is Right. It was billed as such until June 1973.

Back in its half-hour days (September 1972-October 1975), only three pricing games were employed with the day's top two winners progressing to the Showcase. Special hour-long shows aired the week of September 8, 1975; the show went an hour long permanently on November 3, 1975.

During the Bob Barker era of The Price Is Right, once an audience member was selected to be a contestant, that contestant was then prohibited from appearing as a contestant on the show again during the contestant's lifetime. On November 12, 2008 (during Drew Carey's second season as host), that eligibility rule was revised, now allowing a contestant who has not appeared on the show in the last ten years to reappear as a contestant after the ten-year period lapses; as a result, contestants who previously appeared on the show during the Barker era (and in a few rare cases, from the Bill Cullen era of the show) have returned to play again.

Crew

Member		Duration
Hosts
Bob Barker		1972-2007
Dennis James		1974 (sub host)
Drew Carey		2007-
Craig Ferguson		2014 (guest host)
Announcers
Johnny Olson		1972-1985
Rod Roddy		1986-2003
Rich Fields		2004-2010
George Gray		2011-
Models
Anitra Ford		1972-1976
Janice Pennington		1972-2000
Dian Parkinson		1975-1993
Holly Hallstrom		1977-1995
Kathleen Bradley		1990-2000
Gena Lee Nolin		1994-1996
Chantel Dubay		1996-1999
Nikki Ziering		1999-2002
Heather Kozar		2001-2002
Claudia Jordan		2001-2003
Shane Stirling		2002-2008
Brandi Sherwood		2002-2009
Teri Hairston		2003-2005
Gabrielle Tuite		2003-2008
Lanisha Cole		2003-2010
Rachel Reynolds		2003-present
Starr Campbell		2004-2005
Phire Dawson		2005-2008
Gwendolyn Osborne		2005-2017
Tamiko Nash		2007-2008
Manuela Arbeláez		2008-present
Amber Lancaster		2008-present
Rob Wilson		2012-2014
James O'Halloran		2014-present
Devin Goda		2018-present
Alexis Gaube		2021-present

In addition to the above-listed regular models, substitute models (such as Kyle Aletter, Cindy Margolis, Tiffany Coyne, The Young and the Restless stars Melissa Ordway and Hunter King and The Bold and the Beautiful star Courtney Hope) have periodically appeared on the show whenever one of the regular models was unavailable (such as when a model is off on maternity leave for a period of time). Guest models from the sports world and the entertainment industry have also appeared on occasion on the show, often to promote prizes related to their professions.

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale				#
CBS
Season One: The New Price Is Right	September 4, 1972	September 21, 1973				250
Season Two	September 24, 1973	August 29, 1974				233
Season Three	September 2, 1974	August 29, 1975				253
Season Four	September 1, 1975	July 2, 1976				213
Season Five	August 31, 1976	July 1, 1977				214
Season Six	August 29, 1977	August 25, 1978				227
Season Seven	August 28, 1978	June 29, 1979				209
Season Eight	August 27, 1979	June 27, 1980				191
Season Nine	August 25, 1980	June 12, 1981				205
Season Ten	September 7, 1981	June 11, 1982				196
Season Eleven	September 6, 1982	August 26, 1983				208
Season Twelve	September 12, 1983	June 22, 1984				197
Season Thirteen	September 10, 1984	July 5, 1985				195
Season Fourteen	September 9, 1985	June 13, 1986				186
Season Fifteen	September 8, 1986	June 26, 1987				191
Season Sixteen	September 14, 1987	July 1, 1988				186
Season Seventeen	September 12, 1988	June 16, 1989				184
Season Eighteen	September 11, 1989	June 1, 1990				177
Season Nineteen	September 10, 1990	June 14, 1991				186
Season Twenty	September 9, 1991	June 26, 1992				178
Season Twenty-One	September 14, 1992	June 18, 1993				177
Season Twenty-Two	September 13, 1993	June 17, 1994				184
Season Twenty-Three	September 12, 1994	June 16, 1995				184
Season Twenty-Four	September 11, 1995	June 14, 1996				183
Season Twenty-Five	September 9, 1996	June 13, 1997				185
Season Twenty-Six	September 8, 1997	June 12, 1998				184
Season Twenty-Seven	September 21, 1998	June 17, 1999				175
Season Twenty-Eight	September 20, 1999	September 29, 2000				165
Season Twenty-Nine	October 2, 2000	June 13, 2001				164
Season Thirty	September 17, 2001	June 27, 2002				175
Season Thirty-One	September 23, 2002	June 18, 2003				175
Season Thirty-Two	September 22, 2003	June 16, 2004				175
Season Thirty-Three	September 20, 2004	June 14, 2005				175
Season Thirty-Four	September 19, 2005	June 23, 2006				175
Season Thirty-Five	September 18, 2006	June 15, 2007				175
Season Thirty-Six	October 15, 2007	July 17, 2008				190
Season Thirty-Seven	September 22, 2008	June 29, 2009				191
Season Thirty-Eight	September 21, 2009	August 23, 2010				190
Season Thirty-Nine	September 20, 2010	August 17, 2011				190
Season Forty	September 19, 2011	September 6, 2012				191
Season Forty-One	September 17, 2012	August 15, 2013				189
Season Forty-Two	September 23, 2013	August 15, 2014				190
Season Forty-Three	September 22, 2014	September 9, 2015				190
Season Forty-Four	September 21, 2015	August 16, 2016				190
Season Forty-Five	September 19, 2016	August 21, 2017				190
Season Forty-Six	September 18, 2017	August 21, 2018				191
Season Forty-Seven	September 17, 2018	—				165
Season Forty-Eight	September 23, 2019	May 14, 2020				152
Season Forty-Nine	November 16, 2020	July 2, 2021				152
Season Fifty	September 13, 2021	September 5, 2022				190
Season Fifty-One	September 19, 2022	September 1, 2023				192
Season Fifty-Two	September 25, 2023	July 4, 2024				190
Season Fifty-Three	September 23, 2024	—				—

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series
• Pricing Games: A complete list of pricing games played on the show.

DVD Releases

Title			Release			Discs
'Best Of' Collections  (Region 1)
The Best of The Price Is Right			March 25, 2008	purchase		4

External Sites

• The Price Is Right on IMDb