Give or Keep

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The "Give or Keep" board, with its final color scheme
The "Give or Keep" board, with its final color scheme

Give or Keep was a pricing game on the American television game show, The Price Is Right. Played from December 27, 1972 to October 22, 1990,[1] it was played for a large prize worth more than $1,000, and used small prizes.

[edit] Gameplay

The contestant was shown three pairs of small prizes, one at a time. They had to choose the prize to keep which was the more expensive of the pair; the prize not selected was given back.

As the contestant selected the prizes to keep, the prices of the prizes which were given back were revealed, and a running total was displayed. After the three pairs were played, the total value of the prizes given back was displayed, and the prices of the kept prizes were revealed one at a time, while a running total was tallied.

If the prices of the kept prizes totalled equal to or more than the prices of the given back prizes, the contestant won the large prize. A contestant could win even if they had mistakenly chosen the lower-priced prize of a pair, if the difference in price given away on that selection was less than the difference in price kept with the other two selections. Regardless of the outcome, the contestant won the three prizes they had "kept" during the game.

The gameplay of Give or Keep was identical to that of Finish Line — a pricing game which replaced Give or Keep in the game rotation for much of 1978. Instead of simply tallying the totals of the chosen prizes, Finish Line presented the scenario in the form of a horse race. The goal of Give or Keep was also very similar to that of Trader Bob, and opposite to that of Hurdles; however, the contestant's choices were not totalled in those games, and the contestant had to make all three selections correctly.

Give or Keep is unique as it is the only pricing game to be played to the left of the turntable, which was used for the small prize reveals. As a result, the game could sometimes be seen during the preceding "One Bid" game, thus, ruining the mystery of which game would be played next.

On September 19, 1973, this game was played for a car. It is believed to be the first time a car has been offered on a pricing game not normally played for a car.

[edit] Retirement

Despite Give or Keep's longevity, the game was retired because many of the show's staff did not really like it.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sly, John, The Best of The Price Is Right – Liner Notes, BCI