The Price Is Right
is a U.S. television game show that is currently owned by the FremantleMedia subsidiary of the RTL Group. It was created by Bob Stewart for Goodson-Todman Productions in the United States in 1956, and was significantly revamped by them in 1972. Goodson-Todman, which later became Mark Goodson Productions, sold the rights to the show to what is now FremantleMedia in 1996. The Price Is Right
tests contestants' knowledge of the prices of various products.
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THE PRICE IS RIGHT TICKETS
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Original version
The
original version, which first aired on
NBC and later
ABC television networks in the United States from 1956 until 1965, hosted by
Bill Cullen, involved four
contestants bidding on expensive products, trying to obtain a bid closest to the product's actual retail price without going over that price. After a set round of bids, the player whose bid was closest to the correct value of the prize (without going over) would win it. At the show's end, the player who had won the most (by dollar value) was declared the winner and returned to play again on the next episode. This version of The Price Is Right ended in 1965.
Revised version
The
revamped version returned to the air in 1972 as "The New Price Is Right" (the "new" addendum was later removed) and is still in production in the United States. From
September 4,
1972 to
June 15,
2007, the show was hosted by
Bob Barker. On
October 15 2007,
Drew Carey debuted as the new host.
In this new iteration, four contestants place one bid on an initial product; the player who bids closest to the product's actual retail price without going over then gets to play one of several mini-games (dubbed
Pricing Games in most countries) for an additional and more substantial prize or prizes. One contestant, through various elimination formats, could find themselves winning a large showcase of prizes at the show's conclusion by predicting the total price of a "
showcase". Originally thirty minutes long, the show was expanded to its current hour-long format on November 3, 1975. At this time, a new feature, the
Showcase Showdown, was introduced. The three pricing game contestants from each half of the show were asked to spin a large wheel displaying various amounts from five cents up to one dollar. The contestant in each of two Showdowns who came closest to one dollar in not more than two spins, without going over, was brought back to compete in the Showcase at the end of the show.
The 1972 American version was hosted by Bob Barker from September 1972 to June 2007; his last new episode aired on
June 15,
2007. After a season-long search for a new host,
Drew Carey took the helm of the show, with production resuming in August 2007 and Carey's first episode airing on
October 15. It is believed to be the second longest-running game show on television, trailing only the Spanish-language
variety show Sábado Gigante
[1]; it is also the longest running five-days-a-week game show in the world.
The Price Is Right
is one of only two game show franchises to be seen nationally in either first-run network or syndication airings in the US in every decade from the 1950s onward; the other is
To Tell the Truth
, another show created by Bob Stewart for Goodson-Todman Productions.
Versions
Versions and runs of the current version have included:
- *The Price Is Right
(1972-Present): The current daytime version; hosted by Bob Barker (1972-2007), and Drew Carey (2007-Present) along with Rich Fields (2004-Present) as the announcer.
- *The Nighttime Price Is Right
(1972-1980): A weekly syndicated series hosted by Dennis James; Bob Barker took over as host from 1977 until its end in 1980.
- *The Nighttime Price Is Right
(1985-1986): A daily syndicated version hosted by Tom Kennedy.
- *The Price Is Right Special
(1986): A primetime Summer series on CBS hosted by Bob Barker.
- *The New Price Is Right
(1994-1995): A short-lived daily syndicated nighttime version hosted by Doug Davidson.
- *Primetime specials
(2002-Present): Beginning in 2002, a series of specials began to be produced based on the current daytime version to be aired during CBS's primetime lineup. Starting off as episodes saluting branches of the United States armed forces in the wake of the September 11 attacks. These primetime specials later evolved into the Million Dollar Spectaculars
, special episodes featuring chances at winning $1,000,000; either as a Showcase Showdown bonus spin in place of its previous grand prize, or in the Drew Carey-hosted specials — meeting a specific goal in a pricing game or bidding within $1000 (or later $500) of the actual retail price of a Showcase (along with the traditional practice of winning both Showcases). More expensive prizes are also offered during these specials, including cash prizes - doubled from their daytime counterparts..
International versions
The 1972 revised format appeared on Australian TV the following year and debuted in the UK in 1984; and has also been adapted around the world. A few staff members from the international versions have made appearances on the U.S. version in the audience, namely hosts (so far, only Alain Leveille from the French-Canadian version, Larry Emdur from the Australian version, and Marco Antonio Regil from the Mexican version (along with other staff members) have appeared on the U.S. show; Regil was also a candidate in 2007 to take over the show and currently is an alternating host on the live casino show). One of the Italian version's models also appeared on the U.S. version as a model when two of the U.S. version's three models were absent.
Argentina
El Precio Justo
was hosted by Fernando Bravo and announced by Adrián Noriega. It aired on Azul TV (now Canal 9) during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Australia
Belgium
De Juiste Prijs
, hosted by Jan Theys.
Brazil
O Preço Certo
, hosted by Silvio Santos. Airing during the 1980s, it was broadcast on
SBT.
Canada
French-language
Misez Juste
, hosted by Alain Léveillé. The French-Canadian version had a significantly smaller budget (Car rentals in place of car give-aways, trips to Halifax and Cuba) and a set more akin to
Let's Make a Deal. The series lasted from 1994 to 1995. The host Alain (along with announcer Fabien Major) also appeared on an episode of the U.S. version of The Price is Right in 1994. This series aired twice a week, unlike the two other versions airing at the time. It aired on
TQS, and was produced by the Coscient Group (which also produced the French-Canadian version of
Family Feud
).
According to one web site, a man named Claude Mercier hosted a locally aired version of this show (it's presumed Fabien Major was also announcing this version).
English-language
The United States episodes were rebroadcast on a delay of approximately one month on
Prime in
Canada from
August 12 2002 to
May 31 2006. The rebroadcasts ended when Prime was rebranded as
TVtropolis, with a new schedule featuring mainly off-network repeats of sitcoms and dramas, plus some new original and imported programming.
Prime's episodes were recordings of the East Coast CBS feed with the
closed captioning plugs that precede the Showcase Showdowns removed. Episodes pre-empted on this feed were either not shown or substituted with tapes sent from the production company. In some cases the tapes they received were actually rough versions of the episodes that had not yet been edited into the final product. For instance, one episode seen on Prime had
Bob Barker say to a contestant, "This is your Showcase!" followed by a brief pause, a fade to black, and then Bob counting down and giving last minute instructions to the contestant before the Showcase proceeded. Also,
Christmas week episodes were never aired on Prime due to the delayed rotation. Some episodes that were briefly interrupted with a
CBS News Special Report had that interruption kept in in Prime's rebroadcasts.
CH and privately owned CBC stations such as
CKWS-TV also aired the series simultaneously with
CBS without any tape delays, often directly from CBS' network feeds. If an episode was interrupted with a Special Report from CBS News, CH would often carry it. If an episode was pre-empted by CBS, CH would show alternate programming instead.
Canadian cable TV includes many American networks, including CBS, so the majority of Canadians have access to U.S. broadcasts of
The Price Is Right
. However, in many areas (especially on systems with a CH channel in the line-up), the CH broadcast is generally "
simsubbed" over the CBS signal.
Local carriage of the
Million Dollar Spectaculars may vary by area, as these specials were not seen locally on most CH stations. In the
Toronto area, the specials were televised in the past by
CFMT-TV and, most recently,
CKXT-TV. These specials, seen simultaneously with the CBS broadcasts, were often broadcast from tape or a prior satellite feed from the producers, instead of directly off the CBS feed. In addition, the standard definition telecasts of the 2008
Million Dollar Spectaculars
on CKXT were shown in widescreen for analog viewers, unlike the CBS telecast, which were in cropped fullscreen analog.
With the rebranding of CH to E! in fall 2007, involving the entire schedule except for primetime and local news and focusing on entertainment and celebrity programs,
The Price Is Right
moved in the Toronto area from
CHCH-TV to
CKXT-TV and in the Vancouver area from
CHEK-TV to
CHNM-TV. In Manitoba,
CHMI-TV began airing
The Price Is Right
in fall 2008, the only
Citytv station that airs the show. In addition,
Omni Television stations in Toronto (
CJMT-TV), Calgary (
CJCO-TV) and Edmonton (
CJEO-TV) began carrying the show starting in Fall 2008.
Chile
Diga lo que vale
(
Say What It Is Worth
) hosted by
Don Francisco, aired from 1981 to 1987 on
Channel 13 and its affiliate Telenorte. It was aired after
Teletarde
.
China
Gòu Wù Jie
- little is known of this show other than that its name translates to "
Shopping Street" and that it is airing on
CCTV-2. It is not known if the format was actually licenced from
FremantleMedia. The host is Gao Bo. This show borrows many elements from the U.S. version. In addition, a version in
Taiwan (airing on
China Television) has similar elements to the Italian show, such as song-and-dance routines.
Colombia
El Precio es Correcto
("The Price Is Right"), hosted by
Gloria Valencia de Castaño and announced by Hernando
El Capi
Romero Barliza in the late 1980s, aired on
Inravisión's
Cadena Uno
(today
Canal Uno) every Tuesday from 1 to 1.30 pm, after midday newscast
Noticiero Nacional
. It featured four pricing games per episode and no Showcase round, and was produced by
RTI
As in the US version, Contestants' Row was composed of people selected from the audience by an invisible announcer, and the contestants were selected from Contestants' Row through a bidding game. After the first two games, Contestants' Row was fully renewed for the last two games of the show.
All games were inspired by the U.S. version. The first and third games used to change from one week to another, but the second and fourth ones were always the same.
The second game,
Grand Game, was called
El Mercadito
("The Little Market") and took its cues from
Let's Make a Deal, complete with a "zonk" prize. In it, the contestant had to choose from among six articles, four which were above or below a given price. The contestant began the game with 10 pesos and would multiply them by 10 for each correct article that he would choose, up to a highest earning of 100,000
Colombian pesos. If he failed before attaining this highest price, he would be proposed a
triqui-traque
(treat): either he kept his winnings, or he could switch it for a surprise prize hidden behind a curtain. This surprise prize could be much greater (e.g., a
VCR or an Oriental rug) or much smaller (e.g., a broom or a glass of orange juice) than the cash.
The fourth game was a Colombian rendition of
Race Game. The contestant had 60 seconds to run across the stage to place the correct price on five different articles, and when a price was indeed right, a light went on. Instead of running to and from the prizes, the contestant was required to dance across the stage. He was allowed to choose the background music; possible choices included
cumbia,
merengue,
paso doble, and
joropo.
Estonia
Kuum Hind
("Hot Price"), hosted by Emil Rutiku, began airing in October 2007 on
Kanal 2.
Finland
Mitä Maksaa
("What Does It Cost"), aired 1983-1988, and was hosted by Mikko Yoderson. It most likely aired on
MTV3. A second version, hosted by Petri Liski, aired on
Nelonen from 1998-2000.
France
Le Juste Prix
, hosted by Max Meynier (1987-1988), Eric Galliano (1988), Patrick Roy (1988-1992), Philippe Risoli (1992-2001) and Vincent Lagaf (2009)
It aired at 12:05 on
TF1 and became one of the most famous game shows of the 1990s.
Le Juste Euro
, hosted by Patrice Laffont, lasted only two weeks, and aired in January 2002 on France 2. It was replaced with
Attention à la marche
, hosted by Jean-Luc Reichmann.
A new version hosted by Vincent Lagaf is currently airing on
TF1.
Germany
Der Preis ist heiß
("The Price Is Hot"), hosted by
Harry Wijnvoord and announced by
Walter Freiwald, aired on
RTL (1989-1997). The first season of this show used a set that had lots of pink and blue; the later series had a set that somewhat resembled the U.S. set. The theme music was also changed to the U.S. theme as well. The intro later included a light box, like the U.S. version. It was recently featured on Germany's
Gameshow Marathon
.
India
Three versions --
Yehi Hai Right Price
,
Tol Mol Ke Bol
, &
The Price Is Right
-- have aired.
Indonesia
Tebak Harga
. It didn't last long, due to the instability of the
Rupiah, the currency of Indonesia. The show was on
TransTV and hosted by Muhammad Farhan (commonly known by his last name only).
Israel
Pachot o' Yoter
("More or Less") was hosted by actor
Aki Avni in 1994, and aired on Israel's
Channel 2.
Italy
OK, il prezzo è giusto!
, hosted by
Gigi Sabani (1983-1986),
Iva Zanicchi (1987 to early 1999, then again from fall 1999 to 2000), Emanuela Folliero (a few months in 1999), and Maria Teresa Ruta (2000-2001). During the 1980s and early 1990s, it aired on
Canale 5; by the mid-1990s, it had moved to
Rete 4.
This is the second longest continually-running version of
The Price Is Right
, airing from 1983 to 2001. To date, it is also only one of three versions to be hosted by a woman. It also has possibly the most set changes for any version of the show, topping off somewhere around 7. The show was largely faithful to the U.S. version, although the last two seasons altered the format slightly to use the one-player British version of the Showcase.
It was also the first and only country to have a kids' version of the show, entitled
OK Bimbi
. Enrica Bonaccorti hosted the show, and the clown Sbirulino (played by actress Sandra Mondaini) was the show's model. Bonaccorti's daughter Verdiana was the announcer. At 13 years old, Verdiana is believed to be the youngest
Price Is Right
announcer in the world and one of the few females to hold that role.
This version also has the distinction of having one of its models appear on the U.S. version. During a Season 16 taping in 1988, two of the U.S. show's three models --
Dian Parkinson and
Holly Hallstrom -- were absent. In order to fill the temporary vacancy, lead model
Janice Pennington and substitute model
Kyle Aletter-Oldham were joined by Annamaria Frosio (who was one of the Italian show's models at the time) for a taping week.
[2]
Japan
Japan had a program whose title translated as "The Chance"; it was hosted by
Shiro Ito and broadcast by
Tokyo Broadcasting System.
Latvia
Veiksmes cena
("The Price of Luck") was hosted by Valters Krauze, with Edgars Loks as the announcer. The show first aired on January 7, 2007. The program ran for only one season.
Mexico
Atínale al Precio
, hosted by
Marco Antonio Regil (1997-1999) and
Héctor Sandarti (1999-2001), with Jaime Kurt (and later Julio Cesar Palomera) as the show's announcer. This version borrowed many elements from the U.S. version (from set, game styles, and music that sounds like a Latin version of the TPIR theme). Regil was pointed out by Bob Barker as a VIP in the audience during taping of a U.S. episode in 1997, a candidate to host the U.S. version during the 2007 tryouts, and a current host of the live Harrah's casino show in their U.S. casinos. This show also included a light border in its introduction, similar to the U.S. version from 1975 to the present. It aired on
Televisa. Regil also hosted a special version during the annual Mexican
Teleton in 2007, with celebrties playing for the Teleton charity, which benefits disabled people in Mexico.
Morocco
Morocco became the first country in Africa to get its own version of the show, airing in 2002 on
RTM.
Netherlands
Prijzenslag
, hosted by Hans Kazan 1989-1995 (based on Germany's "Der Preis ist Heiss" and Bob Warman's in the UK), which aired on
RTL 4, and current version
Cash en Carlo
(on
Yorin [now
RTL 7), hosted by
Carlo Boszhard, with Eddy Keur as the announcer. This version is one of many European versions to borrow the format of Bruce's Price Is Right in the UK (although it doesn't borrow the UK version's props and music cues, but uses another remix of the U.S. TPIR theme as "Come on down" music). One familiar sound effect is in the pricing game
"Hurry Up!", the Dutch version of Bonkers. If the player gets the price wrong, they hear a downward foghorn which was originally used as the Whammy sound effect on
Press Your Luck
.
For Cash en Carlo's 200th episode, U.S. host Bob Barker and music director Stan Blits (now co-producer) taped a special greeting at the
Bob Barker Studio in front of Door #2. The greeting was read in Dutch by Blits to celebrate the 200th episode of the Dutch version of the RTL-owned franchise.
An earlier version,
Prijs je Rijk
, aired in 1987. It was hosted by Fred Oster and announced by Pierre van Ostade.
New Zealand
The Price Is Right
, hosted by Dave Jamieson, lasted only one season in New Zealand, in 1992. The show was filmed at
TVNZ's Avalon Studios in Wellington, even though the show aired on rival network
TV3. The show was 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 aired on New Zealand's
Prime Television.
Currently, the U.S. version airs on Prime Television, weekends at 6 p.m.
Peru
Diga lo que Vale
(Say What It's Worth)
was hosted by Johnny Lopez and aired on the Pan-Tel Network from 1982 to 1984, and again in 1987.
Philippines
A version ran from 2001-2003 hosted by
Dawn Zulueta. It is the only other version of the show known to have used the Australian version of the Showcase.
The 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.
Poland
Dobra cena
(The Right Price)
aired from 1997 to 1998 on
TVN and was hosted by Grzegorz Wons.
Portugal
O Preço Certo
was first hosted by Carlos Cruz and Nicolau Breyner. It was then changed to "O Preço 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 uses Bruce's Price Is Right props and music (but used a synthesized version of the U.S. TPIR theme for its closing music). When the show still used the escudo, it used a set similar to the U.S. and German shows, and the same theme music as the U.S.
In Autumn 2006 the show relaunched 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 had been in use for seven years. Sound effects from Joe's show don't appear to have been used much (the generic bell was borrowed from
Cash en Carlo
, for example). All versions have aired on
RTP1.
Romania
Called
Pretul Corect
, the show was aired by
Pro TV starting November 1997, hosted by Stelian Nistor.
Spain
El Precio Justo
, hosted by Joaquin Prat, later by Carlos Lozano, and then Guillermo Romero, always on
TVE1. In September 2006, a new format started on
Antena 3, hosted by Juan y Medio. In this version (and Portugal's), announcer Luis Hernan sits in a DJ booth to call contestants down (as seen in pictures at Golden-Road.net). Before the Portuguese version began airing, Spain used Bruce's Price Is Right's props and music.
While the Lozano/Romero era used the same props and music as the UK's
Bruce's Price Is Right
, the current version with Juan does appear to use a similar set to the current UK show with Joe Pasquale, but does not use the same theme as Joe's show, while Portugal's version does use both. Likewise, while the Bob Warman-era UK TPIR and Carlos Cruz-era Portuguese TPIR used the U.S. version's music, the Joaquin Prat-era Spanish TPIR used a completely different theme song.
Thailand
Thailand Copyright by JSL Company Limited
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Ceremonies by Bundit Kosolpisit
Turkey
Kaç Para?
(How Much (Money)?) has been hosted by Özkan Ugur and Vatan Sasmaz. The show first aired on
aTV around the same time the U.S. version began.
United Kingdom
Venezuela
Using the same title as the Argentine and Spanish versions, the show has aired since 2002 on
RCTV (now international), with Winston Vallenilla as emcee.
Vietnam
A Vietnamese version called
Hãy ch?n giá dúng
began airing on
VTV3 in 2004. It was originally hosted by one of that network's most popular celebrities, L?i Van Sâm (also emcee of the Vietnamese version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," called
Ai là tri?u phú
); but later he withdrew and Luu Minh Vu has taken this role up to now.
Nations not listed
According to Fremantle's website, versions of the show have also aired in
Greece,
Lithuania, and
Pakistan.