Golden Road

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This article is about one of The Price Is Right's pricing games. For the album set, see The Golden Road (1965-1973). For the Keith Urban album, see Golden Road (album).

The second incarnation of the original "Golden Road" sign

Golden Road is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. Debuting on August 19, 1975, it is played for three prizes – a three-digit prize (worth between $400 and $1,000); a four-digit prize (worth between $1,000 and $10,000) and a five-digit prize (usually worth more than $50,000 nowadays).

That five-digit prize represents some of the most expensive prizes offered on the show. Possibilities included a motorhome, a cabin cruiser or an expensive luxury or sports car (such as a Cadillac XLR, Chevrolet Corvette or Dodge Viper).

[edit] Gameplay

It all begins with a grocery item priced under $1. The two digits in that price are used as choices for the concealed first digit of a three-digit prize. If the contestant guesses correctly, he moves on to the four-digit prize, played in the same manner using the numbers in the prices of the three-digit prize; the odds are now 1:3, and the second number is the one covered.

If the contestant is correct about the four-digit prize, the excitement level rises as the contestant moves on to the grand prize "at the end of the Golden Road" (described above). The four digits in the four-digit prize are used as choices for the concealed third digit in the grand prize; the odds are 1:4. A correct guess wins the grand prize.

An incorrect guess at any point ended the game; however, the contestant keeps any prizes he/she won up to that time.

On Million Dollar Spectaculars, Golden Road has been known to use a 6-digit prize instead of a 5-digit prize; when this happens, the contestant still must identify the hundreds digit to win.

[edit] Trivia

Golden Road's original claim to fame back in 1975 was that it always offered a prize worth more than $10,000 (when cars on TPIR were typically in the $4000 range). These days, the prize at the end of the road is always worth at least $60,000. In primetime, the game has been known to offer prizes worth over $100,000 (one of which was won). Bob always tells the contestant roughly how much the grand prize is shortly before revealing it.

On the 1994 syndicated version, Golden Road began with a two-digit prize or a fishbowl of cash.

Except for its first appearance on a half-hour show, when it was played third, Golden Road is always played as the first game of the day. Since the late 1980s, host Bob Barker has always entered the stage through the back of the audience when it is played. The game takes up the entire stage, so coming through Door 2 would give away the surprise.

When Golden Road is won, only the normal win sequence (bells and standard fanfare) are played. For obvious reasons, most fans believe the clangs and whoops generally associated with huge wins should be played instead (although this used to be used).

On an early Golden Road playing on November 3, 1975, the price of the first item was accidentally exposed; this eventually led to the contestant winning a $12,034 Lincoln Continental, making her the game's first winner.

Golden Road is the only car game that occasionally offers boats; this had been a fairly common practice since the show's earliest days, but most games had ceased doing it by the early 1990s.

The largest prize ever won on this game on the daytime show was an $86,743 Dodge Viper on September 28, 2006.

The first prize played for in Golden Road is usually fairly easy to price. The gap between the 2 choices for the first digit is usually 6 or 7 (such as 8 and 1).