Walk of Fame (pricing game)

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The "Walk of Fame" setup

Walk of Fame was a pricing game on the American television game show, The Price Is Right. Lasting from November 4, 1983 to November 27, 1985, it was played for four prizes - one worth between $10 and $100; one worth between $100 and $1,000; and two worth more than $1,000.

[edit] Gameplay

The contestant is asked to bid on four items, one at a time and within a specific range, either above or below the actual retail price. He/she started with the two-digit price, and successive correct answers allowed the player to move onto the more expensive prizes; the range was larger for the more expensive prizes.

If the player's bid on any item fell outside the permitted range at any point, that prize was lost. However, the contestant could earn a "second chance" (i.e., continue the game) by choosing one of two autograph books. Each book was autographed by the show's cast, but one of them had the words "Second Chance" stamped on it. Selecting that book allowed the player to play for the next prize in line.

The game ended in the following ways:

Pricing all four items within their specified ranges, resulting in everything being won (the most desired outcome).

Upon making a mistake and failing to find the book that had "Second Chance" imprinted inside.

Making two mistakes.

Giving a bad bid on the final prize (since the price was revealed and there was no provision to recover that final prize).

If the game ended without everything being won, the contestant kept everything he/she had priced within their specified ranges and - as a souvenir - the autograph book that was selected.

[edit] Trivia

The first playing of Walk of Fame did not go well, to say the least. The range for the first prize was $10, and the contestant's bid was outside that range. The game used three autograph books, only one of which had "Second Chance" written inside, and the contestant didn't choose the book that was needed to continue the game. The pricing ranges were revised by the game's second playing.

Each member of "The Price is Right's" cast - Bob Barker, Johnny Olson, Janice Pennington, Dian Parkinson and Holly Hallstrom - signed the autograph books.

After Johnny Olson's death in October 1985, the final playings of Walk of Fame made no mention of signatures (either on-camera or by Barker) in either of the books; he simply revealed whether the words "second chance" were found inside.

This game is only considered won when all four prizes are won. Theoretically, the player can miss the first item, find the second chance, win the three larger items and still technically lose, even if the last prize happens to be a car.