The Price Is Right (1957 Australian game show)
| The Price Is Right (1957-1974) | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Bob Stewart |
| Presented by |
Bruce Beeby (1957) Geoff Manion (1958) Keith Walshe (1959) Horrie Dargie (1963) Garry Meadows (1973–1974) |
| Narrated by | Keith Livingston (1973–1974) |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) |
ATN-7 Sydney, New South Wales (1957–1959) GTV-9 Melbourne, Victoria (1958) |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Grundy Productions (1963/1973-1974) |
| Release | |
| Original network |
ATN-7 (1957–1959) GTV-9 (1958) Seven Network (1963) The 0-10 Network (1973–1974) |
| Picture format |
Black and White 4:3 |
| Audio format | Mono |
| Original release | 1957 – 1974 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | The Price Is Right (1981-2012) |
| Related shows | The Price Is Right |
The Price is Right is an Australian television game show that has been produced in several different formats.
Original format
Two regional versions based on the original 1950s US format aired nearly concurrently – one aired on ATN-7 in Sydney, hosted by Bruce Beeby and Keith Walshe from 1957–1959; the other was on GTV-9 in Melbourne and hosted by Geoff Manion in 1958. The latter version debuted 10 August 1958,[1] airing for 16 episodes on Sundays at 5:30PM. After it ended, the timeslot was taken up by panel discussion series Face the Nation (based on the US series of the same name), which had previously aired at 5:00PM.
In 1963, Seven Network aired a nationwide version hosted by Horrie Dargie.[2]
Modern format
The Price Is Right then aired in Australia on what is now The 0-10 Network from 1973–1974; this version was hosted by Garry Meadows and announcer Keith Livingston. At this time, Reg Grundy Organisation was licensing many shows from Goodson-Todman Productions in the U.S.; they had a flair for making detailed copies of sets, and The Price Is Right was no exception. Grundy staffer Bill Mason went to the United States to research the show in detail.[3]
The show started in a daytime slot on 5 February 1973 (a mere five months after the original first aired in the States), and was later given a prime time slot on the network. This version established a completely different Showcase round. In it, the day's two top winners first bid on the price of one showcase in the "Showcase Playoff", played in the style of the short-lived U.S. pricing game Double Bullseye. Both players would be given a $50 range to bid within. After one player bid, the other player would be told whether to bid higher or lower than the other player's bid. The first contestant to bid the correct price then attempted to place the prizes in order from least to most expensive on a pricing board in the Showcase itself, similar to the later U.S. pricing game Eazy az 1 2 3.
Notes and references
- ↑ Page 8 - Radio/TV Supplement, The Age - Aug 8, 1958
- ↑ Warneke, Ross (7 July 2005). "House call aids cut Price blues". The Age. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
- ↑ "Quizzes swamp local content", "TV-Radio Guide", The Age (Melbourne, Australia), 1 February 1973.