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The Price Is Right (1972)

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The Price Is Right
PIR74.jpg
Premiere September 4, 1972
Airs Weekdays at 11AM
Creator Bob Stewart (original version)
Jay Wolpert (revival)
Host see below
Network/Provider CBS
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 51
Episodes 8,986 (through season 47)
Status Currently airing season 52
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.

Contents

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 190
Season Forty-Seven September 17, 2018
Season Forty-Eight September 23, 2019
Season Forty-Nine November 16, 2020
Season Fifty September 13, 2021 September 5, 2022 190
Season Fifty-One September 19, 2022
Season Fifty-Two September 25, 2023

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