The Price Is Right

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The Price Is Right's US 36th season logo.

The Price Is Right is an American television game show that is currently owned by the FremantleMedia subsidiary of the RTL Group. It was originally created by Bob Stewart for Goodson-Todman Productions in the United States in 1956, and was significantly revamped by them in 1972. Goodson-Todman, later Mark Goodson Productions sold the rights to the show to what is now FremantleMedia in 1996.

[edit] Original version

Main article: The Price Is Right (1956 game show)

The original version, which first aired on the 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.

[edit] Revised version

Main article: The Price Is Right (U.S. game show)

The revamped version returned to the air in 1972, and is currently still airing in the United States. From September 4, 1972 to June 15, 2007, the show was hosted by Bob Barker. On October 15, 2007, following Barker's retirement at age 83, 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. One contestant, through various elimination formats, could find themselves winning a large showcase of prizes at the show's conclusion. 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 Showdown 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 over the helm of the show, with production resuming in August 2007, with 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. (Wheel of Fortune began its syndicated run in 1983^[2], and Jeopardy! followed in 1984.^[3]) 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.

[edit] International versions

The 1972 revised format appeared on Australian TV the following year, and debuted in the UK in 1984. The format has since been seen in dozens of countries.

In the United States and Canada:
- The Price Is Right (1956-1965), the original version hosted by Bill Cullen.
- The Price Is Right (1972-Present), the current version hosted by Drew Carey and formerly hosted by Bob Barker (1972-2007). In the beginning, the show was called "The New Price Is Right" in order not to confuse the current incarnation from the Cullen-hosted version.
- The Price Is Right (1972-1980), Dennis James hosted a weekly syndicated nighttime version from 1972 to 1977; it was taken over by Bob Barker for the remainder of its run.
- The Price Is Right (1985-1986), a nightly syndicated version hosted by Tom Kennedy.
- The Price Is Right Special (1986), a summer weekly series in primetime on CBS hosted by Bob Barker.
- The New Price Is Right (1994-1995), the short lived nighttime version hosted by Doug Davidson.
- The Price Is Right Primetime (2002-present), a series of primetime specials spun off from the current daytime show. The title of this version of the show has changed over the years, and all primetime specials since 2002 are technically one series:
  - The Price Is Right Salutes (2002), The branches of the military are saluted in each episode (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard) with contestants coming from the assigned branch. A sixth episode, saluting the Police Officers and Firefighters, finished this first series.
  - The Price Is Right Million Dollar Spectacular (2003-present). At various points a contestant will be given the opportunity to win $1,000,000.

[edit] Argentina

El Precio Justo was hosted by Fernando Bravo and announced by Adrián Noriega (referred to as "Señor Noriega" by the host). It aired on Azul TV (now Canal 9) during the late '90s and early 2000s.

[edit] Australia

Main article: The Price Is Right (Australian game show)

[edit] Belgium

De Juiste Prijs, hosted by Jan Theys. Like the Chinese and Peruvian versions, little is known about this version.

[edit] Brazil

O Preço Certo, hosted by Silvio Santos. Airing during the 1980s, it was broadcast on SBT.

[edit] Canada

[edit] French-Canadian

Misez Juste, hosted by Alain Léveillé. The French-Canadian version had a significantly cheaper budget (Car rentals in place of cars, 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 US version The Price is Right in 1994. This series aired twice a week, unlike the 2 other versions airing at the time. It aired on TQS, and was produced by the Coscient Group (which also handled the French-Canadian version of Family Feud).

According to one website, a man named Claude Mercier hosted a locally aired version of this show (it's presumed Fabien Major was also announcing this version). The running dates are unknown.

[edit] 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 sitcom 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 at the same time as CBS without any tape delays, often directly off CBS's network feeds. If an episode was interrupted with a Special Report from CBS, 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 channels, including CBS, so the majority of Canadians have access to the American 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 broadcasted from tapes 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 in 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 will move in the Toronto area from CHCH-TV to CKXT-TV and in the Vancouver area from CHEK-TV to CHNM-TV.

[edit] China

Gòu Wù Jiē Dào - 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 Zhen Cheng. This show borrows many elements from the US version. In addition, a version in Taiwan (airing on China Television) has similar elements to the Italian show, such as song-and-dance routines.

[edit] Colombia

El Precio es Correcto (The Price is Right), hosted by Gloria Valencia de Castaño and announced by El Capi in the late '80s, aired on Cadena 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.

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 the Contestants' Row through a bidding game. After the two first games, Contestants' Row was fully renewed for the two last games of the show.

All games were inspired by the US version. The first and the third ones used to change from one week to another but the second and the fourth ones were always the same.

The second game, Grand Game, was called El Mercadito (The Little Supermarket). In it, the contestant had to choose from among six articles the four which were above or below a given price. The constestant started the game with 10 pesos and would multiply them by 10 for each rigfht article that he would choose, up to a highest earning of COL$100,000 ($50 US). 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 price could be much better (e.g., a VCR or an oriental rug) or much worse (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 put the right price to five different articles, and when a price was indeed right, a light went on. Instead of running to and from the prizes, the contestant had to dance across the stage. He was allowed to choose the background music; possible choices included Cumbia, Merengue, Paso Doble, and Joropo.

[edit] Estonia

Kuum Hind ("Hot Price"), hosted by Emil Rutiku, started airing in October 2007 on Kanal 2.

[edit] Finland

Mitä Maksaa ("What does it cost"), hosted by Petri Liski, 1998-2000, aired on Nelonen.

1983-1988 Hosted by Mikko Yoderson, most likely on MTV3.

[edit] France

Le Juste Prix, hosted by Max Meynier (1987-1988), Eric Galliano (1988), Patrick Roy (1988 - 1992) and Philippe Risoli (1992 - 2001) It was aired at 12h05 on TF1 and became one of the most famous game shows of the '90s. Le Juste Euro, hosted by Patrice Laffont, only lasted two weeks and was aired in January 2002 on France 2. The game show was replaced with Attention à la marche hosted by Jean-Luc Reichmann.

[edit] Germany

Der Preis ist heiß ("The Price Is Hot", hot as in temperature, not spice), 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 American set. The theme music was also changed to the American theme as well. The intro later included a light box, like the U.S. version. It was recently featured on Germany's Gameshow Marathon.

[edit] India

"the price is right ","yehi hai right price" "Tol Mol Ke Bol" were aired.

[edit] 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).

[edit] Israel

Pachot o' Yoter ("More or Less") was hosted by actor Aki Avni in 1994, aired on Israel's Channel 2.

[edit] Italy

OK, il Prezzo è Giusto!, hosted by Gigi Sabani (1983- 1986), Iva Zanicchi (1987-2000) (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, then, by the mid-1990s, it 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 American version, although the last two seasons altered the format slightly to use the one-player British version of the Showcase.

[edit] Latvia

Veiksmes cena ("The Price of Luck") was hosted by Valters Krauze with Edgars Loks as the announcer. The show first aired in January 7, 2007 but ran for only one season.

[edit] 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 American version (from set, game styles and music that sounds like a salsa version of the TPIR theme). Regil was pointed out by Bob Barker in the VIP of the audience of a US TPIR episode in 1997 and was a candidate to host the US version during the 2007 tryouts. This show also included a light border in its intro, a la the US show. It aired on Televisa. Regil also hosted a special version during the annual Mexican Teleton in 2007, with celebrties playing for the Teleton charity, namely disabled people in Mexico.

One notable difference from the U.S. version is that there is no double showcase rule if the player is within a certain amount. Also, Plinko is only played for cash, and thus uses grocery items to win the chips.

[edit] Morocco

Morocco became the first country in Africa to get its own version of the show, airing in 2002 on RTM. Fremantle's website says that this version has had over 20 people taking out the showcases, six of which had cars.

[edit] The 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 US TPIR theme as "Come on down" music). During one episode, US contestant coordinator (and current co-producer) Stan Blits along with Bob Barker recorded a special greeting, with it read in Dutch by Blits.

An earlier version, Prijs je Rijk, was aired in 1987. It was hosted by Fred Oster and announced by Pierre van Ostade.

[edit] New Zealand

The Price Is Right, hosted by Dave Jamieson, only lasted for one season in New Zealand, in 1992. The show was filmed at TVNZ's Avalon Studios in Wellington, even though the show screened on the opposition 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 been screened on New Zealand's Prime Television.

[edit] Peru

Diga lo que Vale (Say What It's Worth)': hosted by Johnny Lopez and was aired on the Pan-Tel Network.

[edit] The 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.

[edit] Poland

Dobra cena (The Right Price) ran approximately during 1997-1998 on tvn and was hosted by Grzegorz Wons.

[edit] Portugal

O Preço Certo was first hosted by Carlos Cruz and Nicolau Brayner. It was then changed to "O Preco 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 US TPIR theme for its closing music). Interestingly, when the show still used the escudo, it used a set similar to the US show (and the German show) and the same theme tune as the US.

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 has 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.

[edit] Romania

Called Preţul Corect, the show was aired by Pro TV starting November 1997, being hosted by Stelian Nistor.

[edit] 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 came along, 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 American version's music, the Joaquin Prat-era Spanish TPiR used a completely different theme song.

[edit] Turkey

Kaç Para? (How Many Money?) has been hosted by Özkan Uğur and Vatan Şaşmaz. The show first aired on aTV around the same time the US version began.

[edit] United Kingdom

Main article: The Price Is Right (UK game show)

[edit] 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.

[edit] Vietnam

Only since 2004 has VTV3 started up a Vietnamese version called Hãy chọn giá đúng. It was hosted by one of the channel's most popular personalities, Lại Văn Sâm (also emcee of the Vietnamese version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, called Ai là triệu phú), and now is hosted by Lưu Minh Vũ