The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right is a television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia now Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed media and board games. The franchise began in 1956 as a television game show hosted by Bill Cullen and was revamped in 1972. This version was originally hosted by Bob Barker. Since 2007, Drew Carey has hosted the program.
In the show, contestants compete to win cash and prizes by guessing the pricing of merchandise. The program has been critically successful and remains a stalwart in the television ratings. It also managed to break away from the quiz show format that has been used in other game shows. Since the current version premiered, it has also been adapted in several international formats around the world, most notably in the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico & Vietnam.
In 2013, TV Guide ranked it No. 5 in its list of the 60 greatest game shows ever.
1956–1965
The original version of The Price Is Right was first broadcast on NBC, and later ABC, from 1956 to 1965. Hosted by Bill Cullen, it involved four contestants bidding on a wide array of merchandise prizes, whose values ranged anywhere from a few dollars, to thousands, doing so in the manner of auctions except that Cullen did not act out the role of auctioneer. Instead, contestants tried to bid closest to the product's actual retail price without going over that price. Depending on the prize, contestants were allowed, in proper turn, to make multiple bids; or only allowed one bid. In the case of the former, each contestant in-turn bid on the displayed item until a buzzer sounded. They could make a final bid, or "freeze." The contestant whose bid was closest to the correct value of the prizeand had not gone over that valuewon it. There was also a special game set aside for the home viewer, which offered several prizes in a package, which usually included a luxury vacation trip, and/or a new car as part of the package. Viewers submitted their bids via post cards; the winner was announced on the air. At the end of each episode, the contestant who had won the most was declared the winner and became the returning champion, entitled to play again in the next episode.This version began as part of NBC's daytime schedule. An alleged series of technical problems made the pilot episode look bad enough for NBC to decline buying the show, but after an appeal from the producers, citing the fact that at that time all TV shows were given up to an initial 13 weeks to succeed or fail, it aired anyway. It became successful enough to warrant a second version of the series, beginning on prime time in the fall of 1957. Shown weekly, that version had the distinction of being the first TV game show to be broadcast in color. After being a Top-10 prime time show for some time its ratings gradually but noticeably declined, and by 1963 NBC canceled it, and it was then picked up by ABC. ABC's prime time version ran for one full season, and the daytime version ended in 1965.
1972–present
Format
Since 1972, the current version of The Price Is Right uses the same structure:- One Bid, where four players attempt to bid on an initial prize, being as close as possible without going over; the player closest to the price gets the opportunity to play a pricing game. The first four players are called from the studio audience at the start of the show in Contestant's Row to play One Bid, and after each pricing game, a new player is called to fill the slot.
- Pricing games, where the contestant plays for a range of prizes, frequently money or automobiles, with most games based on the player's knowledge of the retail price of these items.
- The Showcase, where the two top players of the day are shown two showcases, collections of several prizes. The player with the highest winnings to that point gets the option of either bidding on the first showcase, or passing that to the other player who must bid on it; the second showcase is then bid on by the remaining player. The player who bids closer to the retail price of their own showcase without going over wins the showcase; it is possible to win both showcases by being very close to the actual price without going over, while if both players overbid, neither showcase is won.
The show was expanded into an hour-long format on November 3, 1975, allowing six pricing games to be played per episode. A new feature, the Showcase Showdown, was added to select which players would play in the Showcase. It is played after the first three players have completed their pricing games to select one player from this set, and again after the last three. In the Showdown, each player is given two chances to spin a wheel which displays every monetary amount from 5¢ to $1.00 in 5¢ increments. The player may either stop after the first spin or take the second one, with the values from both spins being added together in the latter case to determine their score. The player who comes the closest to $1.00 without going over, either on the first spin alone or the sum of both, advances to the Showcase. A score of exactly $1.00 awards a cash bonus and gives the player a chance to win larger amounts in a bonus spin.
History
The series debuted September 4, 1972, in two forms: a daily version on CBS with Bob Barker as host, and a weekly version, eventually dubbed "the nighttime Price Is Right," hosted by Dennis James and airing in first-run syndication. Barker took over the nighttime version in 1977 and hosted both until the nighttime version was discontinued in 1980. The syndicated nighttime version returned five years later, with Tom Kennedy as host and running five days a week. This version ran for one season.Barker hosted the program from its debut until June 15, 2007. During his 35 years as host, Barker won numerous awards and honors including Daytime Emmys and a Lifetime Achievement Award. Directors of the show included Marc Breslow, Paul Alter, and Bart Eskander, with Eskander receiving a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Direction of a Game Show. Producer Roger Dobkowitz won a Daytime Emmy for his work on the show, which included the development of many of the show's games that are still being played today.
After a search for a successor, Drew Carey took the helm of the show, with production resuming in August 2007, and his first episode airing on October 15. It is believed to be the longest-running game show on television. It is also the longest running game show airing episodes five days-per-week in the world. The Price Is Right is one of two game show franchises to be seen nationally in either first-run network or syndication airings in the U.S. in every decade from the 1950s onward. CBS has occasionally aired extra episodes of the show for short periods between the cancellation of one daytime program and the premiere of its successor. On occasion since 1986, special episodes have aired during prime time hours, most notably to fill in gaps between the Survivor series, and during the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike.
On September 22, 2008, Terry Kneiss made game show history by bidding the exact amount of his $23,743 showcase. Taping of the show immediately stopped, with Carey and show staffers concerned that cheating was taking place. It was later learned that—by constantly watching the show, noticing the frequency of certain products showing up on the show, and using statistical analysis—Ted Slauson, an audience member and long-time superfan of the show, had legitimately determined the exact prices of the items in the showcase. Slauson shared this knowledge with Terry's wife Linda, who was sitting beside him in the audience, and the information was signaled to Terry up on stage. Kneiss was awarded the prizes, and the show subsequently discontinued featuring certain products.
On April Fools' Day in 2014, Craig Ferguson and Carey switched hosting duties, with Carey hosting The Late Late Show and Ferguson taking over the hosting duties on The Price Is Right. The episode also featured Shadoe Stevens as announcer. Barker appeared on the April Fools' Day episode in 2015, hosting the first item up for bids and the first pricing game, with Carey hosting the remainder of the episode.
Broadcast history
Specials
Prime time episodes have been ordered by CBS on occasion since 1986. The first, The Price Is Right Special, was a six-week summer series which aired on CBS in 1986, hosted by Barker. In 2002, the show celebrated its 30th year with a Las Vegas special.Later in 2002, the show began its current line of primetime episodes. Six special episodes titled The Price Is Right Salutes aired in primetime, saluting the branches of the United States armed forces, and for the police and firefighters of America in the wake of the September 11 attacks became the first in the canon. The Price Is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular was a series of primetime specials airing from 2003 until 2008 featuring chances at winning $1,000,000, as well as more expensive prizes than on the daytime counterpart.
Two daytime episodes aired in primetime. Episode #4035K was rebroadcast in primetime after airing that morning, leading to the Daytime Emmy Awards. Episode #4512K, the show's military special, originally intended for November 11, 2008, became the first daytime episode scheduled to originally air in prime time when it was moved to November 14.
The Celebrity Week format in daytime where a celebrity plays along with contestants was adopted for the next series of prime time episodes, which are part of the same series as the 2002 Salutes and 2003–08 $1,000,000 Spectaculars. These shows used former participants on the network's three prime time reality game shows who joined contestants as teams. The three-night special aired May 23–25, 2016. Another series of specials, #037SP and #038SP, aired during the 2019–20 television season and three more episodes have been ordered by CBS to air during the season, #039SP-#041SP. Episodes starting with #037SP are designated as The Price Is Right at Night, with the background trapezoid logos carrying different colours to represent an evening motif instead of the bright colours for daytime.
The civilian-celebrity format beginning with 037SP offers a charitable donation the celebrity's charity equivalent to the total cash and prizes won, similar to the format used in daytime.
On January 12, 2020, CBS announced that three more specials will air in Spring 2020.
Licensed merchandise
Endless Games, which in the past has produced board games based on several other game shows, including The Newlywed Game and Million Dollar Password, distributes home versions of The Price Is Right, featuring the voice of Rich Fields, including a DVD edition and a Quick Picks travel-size edition. Ubisoft also released a video game version of the show for the PC, Nintendo DS, and Wii console on September 9, 2008. An updated version of the game was released on September 22, 2009. Both versions feature the voice of Rich Fields, who was the show's announcer at the time of the release of the video games in question.In September 2010, Ludia released the official Facebook version of The Price Is Right game. The game had two million monthly active users only two months after the launch.
In October 2011, Ludia released The Price Is Right Decades, a video game featuring production elements from various decades of the show, for the Wii, mobile devices, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 to celebrate their 40 years on the CBS network.
International versions
The 1972 revised format appeared on Australian television the following year and debuted in the U.K. in 1984. The format has also been adapted elsewhere around the world. Hosts and models from the versions in other countries have made appearances on the U.S. version, usually sitting in the audience and acknowledged by the host during the broadcast. Barker and then-music-director Stan Blits appeared on the Carlo Boszhard-hosted Cash en Carlo at the start of the 200th episode.Currently airing Ended Upcoming or returning version
| Country | Title | Network | Host | Duration dates | Notes |
 Argentina | :es: The Price is Right#Argentina|El Precio Justo | :es:Azul Televisión|Azul Televisión El Trece Telefe | :es:Fernando Bravo|Fernando Bravo Lizy Tagliani | 1999–2000 February 4, 2019 – June 26, 2020 | The original 1999-00 Used a similar set to U.S. version and a similar logo to French version. The 2019 version had Tagliani as the first transgender host of a classic game show. |
 Australia | The Price Is Right | ATN-7 GTV-9 Seven Network | Bruce Beeby Geoff Manion Keith Walshe Horrie Dargie | 1957–63 | Original series |
| Australia | The Price Is Right | Seven Network Network Ten Nine Network | Garry Meadows Ian Turpie Larry Emdur | February 5, 1973 – December 19, 2012 | Most versions feature similar elements to U.S. version: the "Double Bullseye" playoff and a pricing game similar to the current U.S.'s "Easy as 1 2 3" are used for the Showcase |
 Belgium | :nl:De Juiste Prijs|De Juiste Prijs Le Juste Prix | :nl:VTM|VTM RTL-TVI | :nl:Jan Theys|Jan Theys :nl:Koen Wauters|Koen Wauters Michaël Dufour | 1990–92 2010 | Both versions feature similar elements to French version |
 Brazil | :pt:O Preço Certo |O Preço Certo :pt:O Preço Certo |O Preço Certo | SBT Rede Record | :pt:Silvio Santos|Silvio Santos :pt:Juan Alba|Juan Alba | 1980s October 2009 – June 2010 | Juan Alba's version used a similar set to the UK Joe Pasquale's show and the same theme tune as the UK, while Silvio Santos' version used similar elements to U.S. show |
 Bulgaria | Това е цената Tova e Cenata This is the price | bTV | Veselin Kalanovski Niki Stanoev | October 20 – November 10, 2013 January 4, 2014–present | Aired every Sunday ; stopped after episode four and it was announced that it was its pilot season; restarted January 2014 and aired every Saturday form 18:00 to 19:00 EET |
 Canada | :fr:Misez juste|Misez Juste :fr:Price Is Right: À vous de jouer|Price Is Right: À vous de jouer | TQS V | Alain Léveillé :fr:Philippe Bond|Philippe Bond | 1994–95 September 2011–12 | The original French-Canadian version had a significantly cheaper budget and a set more akin to Let's Make a Deal; aired twice a week, unlike the two other versions airing at the time. |
 Chile | Diga lo que vale | Canal 13 | Don Francisco | 1981–87 | Aired as a segment inside Sábado Gigante. |
 China | 购物街 Gòu Wù Jiē | CCTV-2 | Gao Bo Chen Beibei | 2007–11 | Name translates to "Shopping Street"; borrows many elements from the U.S. version |
| China | 全是你的 Quan Shi Ni De | Beijing TV | Li Yong | 2015 | Used some similar formats to the U.S. version and previous one on CCTV-2 |
 Colombia | :es:El precio es correcto|El precio es correcto | RTI on Cadena Uno or Cadena Dos Caracol TV | Gloria Valencia de Castaño Iván Lalinde | 1981–89 2011–2014 | 1980s: The second game, Grand Game, was called El Mercadito ; the fourth game was a Colombian rendition of Race Game 2011: A new season, presented by Iván Lalinde, started April 11, 2011 on Caracol TV; this version borrowed many elements from the Mexican show |
 Egypt | The Price Is Right Bekam | Al Nahar | Edward | 2015 | |
 Estonia | Kuum Hind | Kanal 2 | Emil Rutiku | October 2007 | |
 Finland | :fi:Mitä maksaa?|Mitä maksaa? | MTV Nelonen | :fi:Mikko Yoderson|Mikko Yoderson :fi:Petri Liski|Petri Liski | 1983–88 1998–2000 | |
 France | Le Juste Prix | TF1 | Max Meynier Éric Galliano Patrick Roy Philippe Risoli Vincent Lagaf' | 1987–88 1988 1988–92 1992–2001 2009–15 | Aired at 12:05 on TF1 and became one of the most famous game shows of the 1990s. Currently, a version with Vincent Lagaf' is aired on TF1 at 19:00. |
| France | :fr:Le Juste Euro|Le Juste Euro | France 2 | Patrice Laffont | 2001–02 | The series originally wanted to be called Dites-le en Euro! in order to separate it from Le Juste Prix but it only lasted for three weeks and was aired in December 2001 until January 2002. The show was later replaced by Attention à la marche! hosted by Jean-Luc Reichmann. |
 Germany | :de:Der Preis ist heiß|Der Preis ist heiß | RTL RTLplus | :de:Harry Wijnvoord|Harry Winjnvoord :de:Wolfram Kons|Wolfram Kons | 1989–97 2017 | The first season used a set that had lots of pink and blue, while the later series had a set that somewhat resembled the American set; the theme music was also changed to the American theme; the intro later included a light box, like the U.S. version, both series used similar props to U.S. show. It was recently featured on Germany's Gameshow Marathon. |
 Greece | H τιμή τιμή δεν έχει H timí timí den échei | ANT1 | Elias Mpenetos | 1991 | |
 India | Yehi Hai Right Price | DD Metro 9 Gold/Zee TV | Rohit Roy | 2001 | |
 Indonesia | :id:Tebak Harga|Tebak Harga :id:The Price is Right Indonesia|The Price is Right | Trans TV Indosiar RCTI GTV | Muhammad Farhan Steny Agustaf & Surya Insomnia Ananda Omesh & Gracia Indri Andhika Pratama & Edric Tjandra | December 17, 2001 – August 16, 2002 May 2, 2003 – May 27, 2005 August 11, 2010 – 2011 December 10, 2016 – March 11, 2018 August 27, 2020 – present | Tebak Harga was one of the few Asian version to use "Bruce's Price is Right" elements, while the other version borrowed many elements from the French and USA version, such as: logo, bumpers, studios, and features a Single-player showcase similarly played as the UK version. |
 Israel | פחות או יותר Pachot o' Yoter | Channel 2 | Aki Avni | 1995–98 | |
 Italy | OK, il Prezzo è Giusto! | Italia 1 Canale 5 Rete 4 | Gigi Sabani Iva Zanicchi Emanuela Folliero Maria Teresa Ruta | 1983–86 1987–99 May–June 1999 September 1999 – June 2000 September 2000 – June 2001 | The second longest continually-running version of The Price Is Right, airing from 1983 to 2001; one of three versions later to be hosted by a woman although the first was hosted by a man in the early 80s; largely faithful to the U.S. version, but the last two seasons altered the format slightly to use the Showcase round seen on the U.K. version |
 Japan | The Chance ザ・チャンス！ Za cha-n-su | Tokyo Broadcasting System | Pink Lady Shirō Itō Masayuki Yuhara | 1979–1986 | |
 Latvia | Veiksmes cena | TV3 | Valters Krauze | January 7, 2007 | |
 Lebanon | The Price Is Right بلا TVA | LBC MBC 4 | Tony Baroud | May 25, 2010–present | Uses similar elements to French Version, like sound effects |
 Mexico | El Precio Es Blanco | Imevisión | Ángel Fernández | 1980s | Sponsored by the Departament store chain Blanco, later Gigante, and now Soriana. |
| Mexico | Atinale Al Precio | Televisa | Marco Antonio Regil | 1997–99 2010 | The 2010 version uses similar elements to the British version; in 2007, Regil auditioned to replace Barker for the United States version. |
 Moldova | Ghiceşte Pretul | Jurnal TV | Bogdan Dascál | 2016–present | |
 Morocco | السعر الصحيح Al seer al Saheeh | 2M | 2002 | ||
 Myanmar | The Price is Right | Phyo Zaw Linn | MRTV-4 | 2017 | - |
 Netherlands | :nl:Prijzenslag|Prijs je Rijk :nl:Prijzenslag|Prijzenslag :nl:Prijzenslag|Cash en Carlo :nl:Prijzenslag|The Price is Right | AVRO RTL 4 Yorin SBS 6 | :nl:Fred Oster|Fred Oster :nl:Hans Kazàn|Hans Kazàn :nl:Carlo Boszhard|Carlo Boszhard :nl:Eddy Zoëy|Eddy Zoëy | 1986–88 1989–95 2002–04 2012 | Prijs je Rijk used the U.S. theme and similar set; Prijzenslag was based on Germany's Der Preis ist Heiss and Bob Warman's in the UK; Cash En Carlo was a version of many European versions to borrow the format of Bruce's in the UK |
 New Zealand | The Price Is Right | TV3 | Dave Jamieson | 1992 | Filmed at TVNZ's Avalon Studios in Wellington, even though the show screened on the opposition network TV3; sponsored by the Farmers department store chain and Farmers actually changed their slogan around this time to Farmers, "Where The Price Is Right". In recent years, the Australian version had been screened on New Zealand's Prime Television. |
 Pakistan | The Price Is Right | Geo TV | Ali Salman | 2010 | Uses similar elements to Bruce's Price Is Right and current U.S. logo in tones of blue |
 Peru | Diga lo que Vale | Panamericana Televisión | Johnny López | 1982–84 1987 | Featured a similar set to American version and a remix of the U.S. Opening as main theme. |
 Philippines | The Price Is Right | ABC | Dawn Zulueta | 2001–03 | The only other version of the show known to have used the Australian version of the Showcase; the first version of show ran on ABC-5 as part of the network's response to the popularity of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? on IBC 13. The show borrowed many U.S. and Australian elements |
| Philippines | The Price Is Right | ABS-CBN | Kris Aquino | February 14, 2011 – August 13, 2011 | A second Philippine version of the show was produced by ABS-CBN and hosted by Kris Aquino, borrowed many U.S. elements. |
 Poland | :pl:Dobra cena|Dobra cena | TVN | :pl:Grzegorz Wons|Grzegorz Wons | 1997–98 | One of the many European versions that used Davidson's Price Is Right music |
 Portugal | :pt:O Preço Certo |O Preço Certo :pt:O Preço Certo |O Preço Certo em Euros | RTP1 | :pt:Carlos Cruz|Carlos Cruz :pt:Nicolau Breyner|Nicolau Breyner :pt:Jorge Gabriel|Jorge Gabriel :pt:Fernando Mendes |Fernando Mendes | 1990–1993 ; January 2002 – March 2006; September 2006–present | The title was changed to O Preco Certo em Euros when the escudo was dropped and the Euro was introduced, with Jorge Gabriel and then Fernando Mendes as host, and Miguel Vital as announcer; this version used Bruce's Price Is Right props and music ; when the show still used the escudo, it used a set similar to the U.S. show and the same music cues as the US; in Autumn 2006 the show re-launched once again and took its inspiration from the new UK version by using a similar set and music. The show also removed "em Euros" from the name making its new title O Preço Certo since the Euro has been in use for seven years |
 Romania | Preţul Correct | ProTV | Stelian Nistor Constantin Cotimanis | December 1997 – March 2000 | |
| Romania | Spune-mi Preţul | Kanal D | Cosmin Cernat | 2009 | |
 Russia | Цена удачи Tsena udachi | NTV | Boris Smolkin Anton Komolov | September 11, 2005 – June 25, 2006 | |
 Slovakia | :it:Cena je správna|Cena je správna | TV JOJ | Andrea Lehotská & Matej "Sajfa" Cifra Michal Hudák | 2013–14 | |
 Spain | :es:El precio justo |El Precio Justo | TVE1 Antena 3 | Joaquín Prat Carlos Lozano Guillermo Romero Juan y Medio | 1988–93 1999–2004 2006–07 | The 1988–93 used a similar set to UK Leslie Crowther's show and featured a Showcase played similarly to the U.S. version but featured only one Showcase on which both contestants bid; the 1999–2002 and 2006–07 formats were somewhat resembled to American version and used an hybrid of the UK and U.S. showcase. After the top winner selected a range at random, both contestants bid on the Showcase, hoping that their bid were the fell within the selected range and the closest without going over of the actual price. |
| Spain | :es:El precio justo |El Precio Justo | :es:Canal 7 Televisión |Canal 7 | :es:Agustín Bravo|Agustín Bravo | 1996–1997 | |
 Thailand | ทายได้ให้เลย Guess Right, Give Now | Channel 5 | Nattee Kosolpisit | 2003–2004 | The first version features similar elements to Australian version, minus the Showcase round which is similar to the UK version. |
| Thailand | :th:The Price Is Right Thailand ราคาพารวย|The Price Is Right Thailand ราคาพารวย The Price is Right Thailand's: Rich Price | True 4U | Ketsepsawat Palagawongse na Ayutthaya | 2015–2020 | Second version features similar elements to American show, again minus the Showcase round. |
 Turkey | Kaç Para? | aTV | Özkan Uğur Vatan Şaşmaz | September 8, 2003 – January 23, 2004 2011 | The 2011 version borrowed many elements from the French version, such as: logo, bumpers, studios, and features a Single-player showcase similarly played as the UK version., hoping that their bid is within the range, high or low |
 United Kingdom | The Price Is Right | ITV Sky One Channel 4 | Leslie Crowther Bob Warman Bruce Forsyth Joe Pasquale Alan Carr | March 24, 1984 – January 12, 2007 December 30, 2017 June 2020 | Crowther having beaten Joe Brown to the role as host after recording pilot episodes, the original version of the show ran from 1984 to 1988; the show was later revived in 1989, in 1995, and in 2006. The theme from the 1994–95 American syndicated version was used for the show's 1995 revival. The show came back as a one-off pilot in a Christmas special on December 30, 2017 hosted by Alan Carr. Carr has been given a great response by viewers for his hosting ability as they demand it becoming a full series with the use of Twitter. However, it was never fully commissioned. |
 Venezuela | El Precio Justo | RCTV | Winston Vallenilla | 2004 | |
 Vietnam | :vi:Hãy chọn giá đúng|Hãy Chọn Giá Đúng | VTV3 | Lại Văn Sâm Lưu Minh Vũ Trần Hỗng Ngọc Dương Hồng Phúc Phan Tuẫn Tú & Nguyễn Hoàng Linh | June 26, 2004 – June 25, 2016 December 3, 2016–present | The show featured many similar elements from the U.S. version but used both U.S. and Australia cues; originally hosted by Lại Văn Sâm—later hosted the Vietnamese version of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire called Ai Là Triệu Phú since January 4, 2005. After 620 shows, it was announced in its Facebook fanpage in June 28 that the show was put in hiatus for half of a year to wait for its new time slot. In the following week, it was replaced by Bàn Thắng Vàng. When Bàn Thắng Vàng was axed, the show returned on December 3, 2016. This is the only known version to still use the 1977 "Come on Down" theme and many of the 70s cues from the U.S. |