On the Spot (pricing game)
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On the Spot was a pricing game on the American television game show, The Price Is Right. Lasting from January 27, 2003 to November 5, 2004, it was played for a car, and used small prizes.
[edit] Gameplay
The contestant was asked to stand in the center of a large circle (the "spot") on stage. The circle had three paths leading out of it – blue, yellow, and pink – and each path had three prices on it. These prices corresponded with six small prizes that were displayed onstage.
The contestant selected a path and stepped to the first price. He/she then had to match that price with the correct prize. If the contestant was correct, he/she stepped to the second price, and the process repeated.
If the contestant was incorrect at any point, he/she was directed to step back to the center of the large circle and had to choose one of the remaining two paths. However, if the new path had a price they had already revealed, they were allowed to skip it.
The game ended in one of two ways:
- Stepping off the "spot" using any path – either by answering three pricing questions in a row correctly, or a combination of correct answers and passing over previously answered prices – to win the car.
- After three incorrect answers, which would exhaust all three paths and result in a loss.
[edit] Trivia
- Except for its last two playings, On the Spot used the following patterns:
- |A|B|C|
- |B|C|A|
- |D|E|F|
- The patterns were changed in an attempt to make the game easier; while successful, the effort still wasn't enough to save the game. Moreover, the revised patterns made some prizes impossible to win.
- Starting with On The Spot's third playing, the circles on the paths that contained the prices were changed. Originally, they had shown the prices twice, once facing the audience and once facing the contestant. After the second playing, on which Bob mistook an upside-down "89" for a "68", the circles displayed the price only once, facing the audience, while much smaller stickers behind them displayed the prices to the contestant.
[edit] Retirement
- After several months of being "on hiatus" (ostensibly for re-tooling), On the Spot was officially retired in the spring of 2005. Its confusing rules and low win percentage resulted in its termination.
