98 Fun Facts About Price is Right

Mark Goodson planned the 1972 Price Is Right revival as a nighttime syndicated show; whom did he name to host that version?

The revival was meant for night, not day. Mark Goodson named Dennis James host of the syndicated nighttime Price Is Right in 1972, and James later filled in for Bob Barker on the daytime show in December 1974.

What was the name of the original announcer for 'The Price Is Right' (1972-1985)?

Johnny Olson was the first announcer for 'The Price Is Right' from its 1972 debut until his death in 1985.

On what date did the Bob Barker-hosted version of 'The Price Is Right' premiere on CBS?

September 4, 1972, a Labor Day Monday, was the CBS debut of the Bob Barker-hosted daytime 'The Price Is Right', which began as a half-hour show.

How many sections are on the Big Wheel used in the Showcase Showdown?

The Big Wheel in the Showcase Showdown contains 20 sections, with values ranging from 5¢ to $1.00 in increments of five cents.

Which pricing game was the first ever played on the 1972 CBS premiere?

Any Number was the first pricing game played on the 1972 CBS premiere episode, followed that day by Bonus Game and Double Prices.

What is the long-standing catchphrase used by the announcer to call contestants from the audience?

The iconic phrase 'Come on down!' is used to invite selected audience members to Contestants' Row to play the game.

What phrase did Bob Barker use to sign off each episode, advocating for animal welfare?

After becoming an animal rights advocate, Bob Barker famously ended each show with the message: 'Help control the pet population: have your pets spayed or neutered.' Drew Carey continued this tradition.

Which Los Angeles TV meteorologist became the show's announcer in April 2004?

The weatherman got the microphone. Rich Fields, a Los Angeles TV meteorologist, announced from April 2004 to the end of season 38 in August 2010, spanning the handover from Bob Barker to Drew Carey.

After the 2008 rules change, what did a $1.00 bonus spin on the Big Wheel pay?

$25,000 became the payout for hitting $1.00 on the bonus spin in 2008, up from $10,000; the two green spaces flanking $1.00 pay $10,000.

Who is credited with creating the original version of 'The Price Is Right' television franchise?

Bob Stewart is credited with creating the original version of 'The Price Is Right', which first aired in 1956.

What happens if a Showcase Showdown spin of the Big Wheel doesn't make one full revolution?

The wheel must make at least one complete revolution; spins that fail to do so are not counted, and the contestant must spin again.

In which pricing game does a mountain climber move up for every dollar a guess is off?

Cliff Hangers is a pricing game where a small mountain climber figure ascends a mountain, taking a step for every dollar a contestant's price guess is incorrect.

What single-episode daytime winnings record was set on 'The Price Is Right' in 2019?

Michael Stouber won a total of $262,743 on the October 14, 2019, episode, the show's daytime single-day record at the time.

In what Los Angeles studio was 'The Price Is Right' primarily taped for its first 51 seasons?

The one exception in those 51 seasons was the 2002 30th Anniversary Special, taped at Harrah's Rio in Las Vegas.

Who was the host of the original "The Price Is Right" series that aired from 1956 to 1965?

The original version of "The Price Is Right" premiered in 1956 and was hosted by Bill Cullen before the more widely known CBS daytime revival.

Which pricing game has a contestant place four price tags on four prizes in 45 seconds?

Race Game gives the contestant 45 seconds to place four price tags on four prizes, pulling a lever to learn how many are right before racing back to fix the rest.

In what year did the daytime 'The New Price Is Right' drop 'New' from its title?

1973 is when the daytime show shortened its title to 'The Price Is Right'; the 'New' had set the 1972 revival apart from the 1956-65 original.

In what year did Bob Barker retire from hosting "The Price Is Right"?

Bob Barker hosted "The Price Is Right" for 35 years, retiring in June 2007.

Who took over as the host of "The Price Is Right" following Bob Barker's retirement?

Drew Carey became the host of "The Price Is Right" in October 2007, succeeding Bob Barker.

Which announcer succeeded Johnny Olson on 'The Price Is Right' in 1986?

Roddy, in place by early 1986, stayed until shortly before his death in October 2003, his loud suits as much a signature as his voice.

Which company behind many classic game shows created the 1972 version of 'The Price Is Right'?

Mark Goodson and Bill Todman were the prolific producers behind many classic game shows, including the 1972 revival of "The Price Is Right."

Whose 1981 death led Bob Barker to become an animal rights advocate with his famous sign-off?

Dorothy Jo Barker, his wife of 36 years, died of lung cancer in October 1981; Barker credited her with inspiring the animal-rights advocacy behind his closing message.

How many pricing games fill an hour-long episode of "The Price Is Right"?

Each winner from Contestants' Row gets one, so six games means six trips up on stage per hour.

How many contestants from the studio audience play on a standard episode of 'The Price Is Right'?

They are chosen after brief pre-show interviews with producers rather than at random, drawn from an audience of about 165 people.

Which pricing game has contestants drop chips down a pegboard for cash?

Plinko gives one free chip plus up to four more earned by pricing small prizes under $100; each chip drops down the pegboard toward slots worth up to $10,000.

On its ceremonial 5,000th episode in March 1998, The Price Is Right's Studio 33 at Television City was renamed what?

The host got the building named after him while he was still in it. Studio 33 became the Bob Barker Studio on the ceremonial 5,000th episode in March 1998; the show moved to a new studio in 2023.

In which pricing game is every digit of a car price one higher or lower than the correct digit?

One Away shows a car price with every digit one off; after the first guess the contestant learns only how many digits are right and gets one chance to fix the rest.

After the show's 2023 studio move, its studio audience capacity was reduced to roughly how many people?

The previous studio held about 325, so the pool from which each episode's contestants are drawn roughly halved.

Who became the permanent announcer of 'The Price Is Right' in April 2011?

George Gray became the permanent announcer for 'The Price Is Right' in April 2011, after Rich Fields left in 2010.

In Season 52 (2023), "The Price Is Right" moved to Haven Studios, located in which California city?

Glendale, California is home to Haven Studios, where the show moved for Season 52 in 2023 after 51 seasons at its original Los Angeles studio.

With Season 54 in 2025, 'The Price Is Right' surpassed which Chilean program as the longest-running game show?

The Chilean show ran 53 seasons from 1962 to 2015.

How many pricing games were in the rotation when the 1972 revival of "The Price Is Right" premiered?

Five pricing games made up the 1972 launch rotation: Any Number, Bonus Game, Double Prices, Grocery Game and the original Bullseye, which was retired within months.

Bob Barker became executive producer of 'The Price Is Right' in what year, after Frank Wayne died?

Bob Barker assumed the role of executive producer in March 1988 after the death of Frank Wayne, gaining significant creative control over the series.

In which Price Is Right game does a contestant pick from nine two-digit numbers for the halves of a car's price?

Money Game shows nine two-digit numbers; the contestant picks ones for the front and back halves of a car's price, and every wrong pick is paid out as cash at face value.

What is the primary objective for contestants in Contestants' Row?

In Contestants' Row, four contestants bid on a prize, and the goal is to bid closest to the actual retail price without exceeding it.

Which Price Is Right pricing game hides the hundreds digit of three ever-pricier prizes and ends with a premium European car?

The road is golden because the last stop is the car. Golden Road hides the hundreds digit of each prize, the first two with three- and four-digit prices, and ends with one of the costliest prizes the show offers.

Who hosted the short-lived 1985-86 syndicated nighttime 'The Price Is Right'?

Tom Kennedy hosted the five-a-week syndicated nighttime 'The Price Is Right' of 1985-86, which lasted a single season; his brother Jack Narz was also a game-show host.

In The Price Is Right's Showcase Showdown, a contestant may spin the Big Wheel at most how many times to reach $1.00?

The second spin is optional and risky. A contestant may stop after one spin or take a second, in which case the amounts are added and must come closest to $1.00 without going over, so two spins is the maximum.

The 2017 documentary Perfect Bid tells the story of a contestant who did what?

Terry Kniess bid the exact price of his Showcase, $23,743, on an episode taped in September 2008, coached by superfan Ted Slauson, the documentary's main subject.

What happens when a Contestants' Row bid hits the actual retail price exactly?

Hitting the price to the dollar is called a 'perfect bid', and the $500 comes on top of the item itself.

What was Bob Barker's previous hosting role before taking over "The Price Is Right" in 1972?

Before hosting "The Price Is Right," Bob Barker was well-known as the host of the game show "Truth or Consequences" from 1956 to 1975.

In which pricing game does a contestant punch holes in a board for cash?

Punch-a-Bunch lets a contestant earn up to four punches by pricing small items higher or lower, then punch holes in a 50-hole board to pull out slips of cash.

Who was executive producer of 'The Price Is Right' from the 2019-20 through 2024-25 seasons?

Evelyn Warfel was executive producer from the 2019-20 season through 2024-25; she and Drew Carey accepted the NAB Show's Achievement in Broadcasting Award in April 2022.

What nickname did the prize models go by during the original CBS host's 35-year tenure?

Barker's Beauties was the nickname for the prize models of Bob Barker's era; Janice Pennington was one for 28 years, from the 1972 debut until 2000.

In The Price Is Right's Clock Game, how long does a contestant get to price two prizes with only higher-or-lower hints?

Two prizes, one ticking clock. In Clock Game the contestant has 30 seconds to price both, calling out bids while the host says only higher or lower.

Which pricing game has the contestant walk a five-by-five grid of digits to spell out a car's price?

Pathfinder has the contestant step across a five-by-five grid of digits to trace a car's price; a wrong step is survived by correctly pricing one of three small prizes.

Who became executive producer of 'The Price Is Right' for Season 54 in September 2025?

He succeeded Evelyn Warfel, whose run as executive producer ended with the 2024-25 season.

In which Price Is Right game does a contestant win all three prizes by picking the priciest one?

Most Expensive shows three prizes; pick the priciest one and all three are won, pick wrong and nothing is.

Bob Barker's on-screen brawl with Adam Sandler's character is in which 1996 film?

Happy Gilmore (1996) pairs Barker with Sandler's character in a celebrity pro-am and ends in a brawl; Barker took the role having trained in karate with Chuck Norris for years.

Except on family-themed episodes, how old must a 'Price Is Right' studio audience member be?

18 is the minimum age for the regular studio audience, with family-themed episodes the only exception; in earlier decades teenagers and children sat in the crowd.

Unlike which sister show, Price asks its audience to wear street clothes, not costumes?

Let's Make a Deal, its CBS daytime sibling, fills the audience with costumed 'traders'; 'The Price Is Right' fans wear street clothes and hand-decorated T-shirts instead.

Bob Barker died in August 2023 at what age?

99: Bob Barker was born December 12, 1923, and died at his Los Angeles home on August 26, 2023; CBS aired a tribute special on August 31.

A Showcase bid within what margin, without going over, wins both showcases?

$250 is the double-showcase margin: a bid within $250 of the contestant's own showcase price, without going over, wins both showcases; the margin was $100 before 1998.

In the Showcase Showdown, which contestant spins last?

Spinning last is an advantage: you know exactly what you need to beat, and economists have found first spinners tend to under-spin.

Drew Carey's signature crew cut dates from his years in which military branch?

Marine Corps: Carey served six years as a field radio operator in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in the 1980s and has credited that service for his trademark crew cut.

What word must the cards spell out to win the top prize in Spelling Bee?

The 30-card board holds eleven Cs, eleven As, six Rs and two CAR wild cards; the contestant can also take $1,000 per card to walk away.

Where did Drew Carey publicly announce in 2007 that he would succeed Bob Barker?

The July 2007 announcement came while Carey was hosting CBS's Power of 10; his first Price episode aired that October 15.

In Lucky Seven, what does the contestant hand over for each digit their guess is off?

Start with seven dollars, lose one per digit of error, and you still need a dollar left to 'buy' the car at the end.

In Any Number, the small cash amount under $10 is displayed inside what?

A piggy bank holds the cash prize under $10 in Any Number; the contestant calls digits 0-9 and wins whichever of the car, the smaller prize or the piggy bank is fully revealed first.

Which casino card game inspired the retired pricing game whose grocery multipliers doubled as card values?

Blackjack: in the retired game Hit Me the contestant built a hand against the house's, earning cards by spotting the secret multiplier (1 to 10) applied to each grocery item's price.

Which company produced 'The Price Is Right' throughout the 2010s?

Fremantle (FremantleMedia until 2018), the RTL Group company that inherited the Mark Goodson library via Pearson Television, produced the show for CBS throughout the 2010s.

What does Drew Carey most often call the little mountain climber in the yodeling game?

Yodely Guy is Drew Carey's usual name for the yodeling game's mountain climber, who has no official name; the game, with its Swiss yodeling music, debuted in 1976.

At Bob Barker's request, episodes offering which prize can never be rerun or released?

Fur coats: Barker, an animal-rights activist who had the show stop offering furs as prizes, asked that episodes that had given them away never be rerun or released.

According to contestant coordinator Stan Blits's book, what popular belief is a myth?

Producers interview the whole audience in groups of twelve before taping, and the nine players are selected from those chats.

Who traded jobs with Drew Carey to host the 2014 April Fools' Day episode?

Craig Ferguson hosted 'The Price Is Right' on April 1, 2014, while Carey took over The Late Late Show; Shadoe Stevens announced for Ferguson and George Gray went with Carey.

Which CBS game show was Drew Carey hosting when he was picked to replace Bob Barker?

Power of 10 lasted only from August 2007 to January 2008, by which time Carey had already begun his far longer run on Price.

Which car, priced at $285,716, was offered in 3 Strikes during 2013's Big Money Week?

A Ferrari 458 Italia Spider priced at $285,716 was offered in 3 Strikes during Big Money Week in 2013, the costliest single prize in the show's history to that point.

Appearing on a different game show within what period makes you ineligible to play?

One year: the contestant rules bar anyone who has appeared on another game show in the previous 12 months; prior 'Price Is Right' players face a much longer waiting period.

Which Price Is Right executive producer (2009–19) was named Jeopardy host in 2021, only to step down nine days later?

He nearly replaced Bob Barker first. Mike Richards, a candidate for the Price Is Right job in 2007 and its executive producer from 2009 to 2019, stepped down from Jeopardy nine days after being named host.

What top prize did the grocery game Pay the Rent offer?

$100,000 was the top prize in Pay the Rent: six grocery items stacked in a house from mailbox to attic, each level totaling more than the one below, with players free to stop and keep less.

The 2002 30th Anniversary Special was taped in which city, away from Los Angeles?

Las Vegas: the 2002 30th Anniversary Special was taped at the Rio casino resort, a rare departure from the show's Los Angeles studio.

On which network did the original 1956 'The Price Is Right' premiere?

NBC carried the original daytime version from its November 1956 premiere until 1963, when it moved to ABC for its final two seasons; a weekly primetime edition ran 1957-64.

Which streaming service launched a 24-hour 'The Barker Era' channel in December 2020?

Pluto TV, the free ad-supported streamer owned by CBS's parent company, launched the channel of Bob Barker-era episodes in December 2020, many unseen since their original broadcast.

From 1991 to 2008, nearly every car offered came from which group, at Barker's insistence?

Detroit's Big Three: as executive producer, Barker insisted on cars from GM, Ford and Chrysler from 1991, during the Gulf War, until after his 2007 retirement; imports returned under Carey.

Bob Barker spent most of his youth on which reservation, where his mother taught school?

Barker was an enrolled citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, which the tribe publicly confirmed after his death.

What was the title of Bob Barker's 2009 autobiography?

Priceless Memories, written with Digby Diehl, came out in 2009; Barker promoted it on his first post-retirement visit to the show that April.

In Card Game, how much does drawing a face card add to the contestant's bid?

$1,000 per face card: numbered cards add their face value times $100, and an ace is wild, letting the player set the bid to any amount they choose.

What is the top cash prize in Hot Seat, the game with the moving chair?

$20,000 is the top prize in Hot Seat: five higher-or-lower price guesses made in 35 seconds, revealed correct-first, with $10,000 banked before the final blind decision.

Which of these was renamed after Bob Barker left, because its old name honored him?

Bargain Game is the renamed Barker's Bargain Bar: two prizes are shown at marked-down prices and the player picks the bigger bargain; it returned with a new set and name in April 2012.

Which model, hired under Barker in 2003, was the show's second-longest-serving by 2025?

Rachel Reynolds, hired in 2003, had 22 years on the show by 2025, behind only Janice Pennington's 28 years from 1972 to 2000.

Which soap opera actor hosted the revamped 1994 syndicated 'The New Price Is Right'?

Doug Davidson, Paul Williams on The Young and the Restless, hosted the 1994 syndicated revival, which dropped Contestants' Row and lasted about four months; some of its music cues later reached the daytime show.

Superfan Ted Slauson, profiled in the documentary Perfect Bid, worked as what?

A math teacher, Slauson spent decades memorizing prize prices and, from the audience, shouted them to contestants, which the show's rules allow.

In what year did Plinko make its debut?

1983: Plinko debuted that January with a $5,000 center slot, doubled to $10,000 in 1998, which raised a perfect five-chip game from $25,000 to $50,000.

Which executive producer is credited with creating Plinko?

Frank Wayne, the show's executive producer from the 1972 premiere, is credited with devising Plinko, which became the show's most popular pricing game within a few years of its debut.

How many lines are painted across the putting green in Hole in One?

Each correctly ordered grocery item moves the player one line closer; the host usually takes an 'inspiration putt' from the back line first.

Holly Hallstrom joined the show in January 1977 to replace which departing original model?

Ford had been one of the 1972 originals alongside Janice Pennington; Hallstrom stayed until her contentious 1995 dismissal.

The show's second announcer flew where several times a year for his custom silk jackets?

Rod Roddy's first pastel jackets were made in Hong Kong; Barker encouraged the look, and Roddy became an official ambassador to Chiang Mai.

Which other game show premiered on CBS the very same morning as the 1972 Price revival?

The Joker's Wild debuted at 10 a.m. Eastern that 1972 morning, followed by Price at 10:30 and a third new CBS game, Gambit, at 11.

Who hosted the first British version of the show on ITV from 1984 to 1988?

Crowther beat Joe Brown to the job after both shot pilots; Forsyth's 'Bruce's Price Is Right' came later, in 1995.

UK regulators made the 1980s British version drop what, for lacking pricing skill?

The IBA objection led to a replacement round called Supermarket, loosely based on Grocery Game, before the wheel crept back in series two.

In Secret 'X', three X's in which direction do NOT count as a win?

The secret X is always hidden in the center column, and the player's own X's go only in the outer columns, so a vertical line is impossible to make legally.

The Lion's Share, played in a wind chamber of cash balls, is named for whose mascot?

Five of the 40 balls are worth $100,000 each, five say 'Lose It All,' and a perfect draw would pay $500,000.

Who won the 2012 online competition to become the show's first male model?

Rob Wilson, a Boston-area model, won the 2012 online Male Model Search; a second search in 2014 produced James O'Halloran, and Devin Goda joined in 2018.

Per economists, a rational bidder cuts off a rival's bid by how much in Contestants' Row?

$1: bidding one dollar above a rival's bid claims every price above it while leaving that rival only an exact-price win, a tactic that draws groans but is strategically sound.

Which retired game, built around an animatronic puppet, was played only twice?

Professor Price, an animatronic professor puppet, quizzed the contestant with general-knowledge questions whose one-digit answers formed a prize's price; it was played only twice before being dropped.

What is the yodeling tune that plays as the little climber inches up the slope?

The Jura Orchestra recording is why Drew Carey calls it 'the Yodely Guy game'; the climber himself has no official name.

Which model wept backstage after Dennis James quipped 'There goes Fritz!' in 1976?

James had no idea Pennington's husband, climber Fritz Stammberger, had recently vanished in what was reported as a mountaineering accident.

The 2006 web series Road to Price followed teens busing to the show from which state?

The nine boys from Merrimack appeared on the September 27, 2006 episode, the same day the six-part CBS Innertube series wrapped.