The Price Is Right (franchise)

This article is about The Price Is Right franchise. For the American version airing since 1972, see The Price Is Right (U.S. game show). For other uses, see The Price Is Right (disambiguation).

File:TheNighttimePriceisRight.jpg

The 1975 U.S. version logo

The Price Is Right is a television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed media and board games. The franchise began in 1956 as a television game show hosted by Bill Cullen and was revamped in 1972. This version was originally hosted by Bob Barker. Since 2007, Drew Carey has hosted the program.

In the show, contestants compete to win cash and prizes by guessing the pricing of merchandise. The program has been critically successful and remains a stalwart in the television ratings. It also managed to break away from the quiz show format that has been used in other game shows. Since the current version premiered, it has also been adapted in several international formats around the world, most notably in the United Kingdom, Australia and Mexico.

In 2013, TV Guide ranked it #5 in its list of the 60 greatest game shows ever.

1956–65

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

The original version of The Price Is Right was first broadcast on NBC, and later ABC, from 1956 to 1965. Hosted by Bill Cullen, it involved four contestants bidding on a wide array of merchandise prizes, whose values ranged anywhere from a few dollars, (in many cases, "bonus" prizes were attached after the fact, to the winner) to thousands, doing so in the manner of auctions except that Cullen did not act out the role of auctioneer (contestants tried to bid closest to the product's actual retail price without going over that price). Depending on the prize, contestants were allowed, in proper turn, to make multiple bids; or only allowed one bid. In the case of the former, each contestant would bid on the displayed item, until a buzzer sounded. They could make a final bid, or "freeze." The contestant whose bid was closest to the correct value of the prize – and had not gone over that value – won it. There was also a special game set aside for the home viewer, which offered several prizes in a package, which usually included a luxury vacation trip, and/or a new car as part of the package. Viewers would submit their bids via post cards; the winner being announced on the air. At the end of each episode, the contestant who had won the most (by dollar value) was declared the winner and became the returning champion, entitled to play again in the next episode. This version began humbly enough, as part of NBC's daytime schedule. An alleged series of technical problems made the pilot episode look bad enough for NBC to decline buying the show, but after an appeal from the producers, citing the fact that at that time all TV shows were given up to an initial 13 weeks to succeed or fail, it aired anyway. NBC were still all but convinced it would bomb. It would become successful enough, however, to warrant a second version of the series to begin on prime time in the fall of 1957. Shown weekly, that version also had the distinction of being the first TV game show to be broadcast in color. After being a Top-10 prime time show for some time its ratings would gradually but noticeably decline, and by 1963, NBC would cancel it, only to have it picked up by ABC. ABC's primetime version ran for one full season (1963–64), and the daytime version ended in 1965.

1972–present

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

The updated version returned to the air in 1972 as The New Price Is Right; the "new" addendum was later removed. It is still in production in the United States.

Format

In this "New" version, four contestants place a single bid on an initial product, in dollars only, as the production company will round off all retail prices to the nearest dollar; the contestant who bids closest to the product's actual retail price without going over wins the item and then gets to play one of several mini-games, which are called Pricing Games in most countries, including the United States, for an additional and more substantial prize or group of prizes. One contestant, through various elimination formats, could later win a large showcase of prizes at the show's conclusion by predicting the total price of a "showcase."

Originally thirty minutes in length, 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 and remains in use. The three contestants who make their way on stage in each half of the show are asked to spin a large wheel, which is labeled from five cents to one dollar in five cent increments. The contestants spin the wheel once and then optionally a second time, and contestant with the total score closest to $1.00 without going over is brought back to compete for the Showcases at the end of the show. If one of the contestants gets exactly $1.00, either on the first spin or by the total of both spins, that contestant wins an extra $1,000 and gets a bonus spin. On the bonus spin, if the wheel lands on 5 or 15 cents, then the contestant wins an extra $10,000. If the wheel lands on $1.00, then the contestant wins an extra $25,000. The wheel must complete at least one full revolution on each spin.

History

Bob Barker hosted from September 4, 1972 to June 15, 2007. During his 35-year reign of TPIR, Barker won numerous awards and honors including Daytime Emmys and a Lifetime Achievement Award. Directors of the show included Mark Breslow, Paul Alter, and Bart Eskander, with Eskander receiving a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Direction of a Game Show. Producer Roger Dobkowitz won a Daytime Emmy for his work on the show, which included the development of many of the show's games that are still being played today.

After a season-long search for a successor, Drew Carey took the helm of the show, with production resuming in August 2007, and his 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; it is also the longest running five-days-a-week game show in the world. The Price Is Right is the only game show franchise to be seen nationally in either first-run network or syndication airings in the U.S. in every decade from the 1950s onward. CBS has occasionally aired extra episodes of the show for short periods between the cancellation of one daytime program and the premiere of its successor. On occasion since 1986, special episodes have occasionally aired during prime time hours, most notably to fill in gaps between the Survivor series, and the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike.

On September 22, 2008, Terry Kneiss made game show history by bidding the exact amount of his $23,743 showcase. Taping of the show immediately stopped, with Drew Carey and show staffers concerned that cheating was taking place. It was later learned that Kneiss and his wife Linda, who was in the studio audience, had, by constantly watching the show, noticing the frequency of certain products showing up on the show, and using statistical analysis, legitimately determined the exact prices of the items in the showcase. The Kneisses were awarded the prizes, and the show subsequently discontinued featuring certain products.

On April Fools' Day, 2014, Craig Ferguson and Drew Carey switched hosting duties, with Carey hosting the The Late Late Show and Ferguson taking over the hosting duties on TPIR. The episode also featured Shadoe Stevens as announcer, and sidekicks Geoff Peterson (a robot skeleton), and "Secretariat" (a pantomime horse).

Broadcast history

Duration	Host	Notes
CBS
1972–2007	Bob Barker
2007–present	Drew Carey
Syndication
1972–77	Dennis James	Weekly series
1977–80	Bob Barker	Weekly series
1985–86	Tom Kennedy	Daily series. Referred to on-air as "the nighttime Price Is Right"
1994–95	Doug Davidson	Daily series. Referred to on-air as The New Price Is Right

Specials

A number of special series have aired, beginning with The Price Is Right Special, a primetime summer series which aired on CBS in 1986, hosted by Barker. In 2002, a number of special episodes titled The Price Is Right Salutes (2002) aired in primetime, saluting the branches of the United States armed forces, and the police and firefighters of America in the wake of the September 11 attacks. The Price Is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular was a series of primetime specials airing from (2003 until 2008 featuring chances at winning $1,000,000, as well as more expensive prizes than on the daytime counterpart.

Licensed Merchandise

Endless Games, which in the past has produced board games based on several other game shows, including The Newlywed Game and Million Dollar Password, distributes home versions of The Price Is Right, featuring the voice of Rich Fields, including a DVD edition and a Quick Picks travel-size edition. Ubisoft also released a video game version of the show for the PC, Nintendo DS, and Wii console on September 9, 2008. An updated version of the game (The Price Is Right: 2010 Edition) was released on September 22, 2009. Both versions feature the voice of Rich Fields, who was the show's announcer at the time of the release of the video games in question.

In September 2010, Ludia released the official Facebook version of The Price Is Right game. The game had two million monthly active users only two months after the launch.

In October 2011, Ludia (now owned by RTL Group) released The Price Is Right Decades, a video game featuring production elements from various decades of the show, for the Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 to celebrate their 40 years on the CBS network.

Foreign versions

The 1972 revised format appeared on Australian television the following year and debuted in the U.K. in 1984. The format has also been adapted elsewhere around the world. Hosts and models from the versions in other countries have made appearances on the U.S. version, usually sitting in the audience and acknowledged by the host during the broadcast. Barker and then-music-director Stan Blits appeared on the Carlo Boszhard-hosted Cash en Carlo at the start of the 200th episode.

  Currently airing     Ended  

Country	Title	Network	Host	Duration dates	Notes
Argentina	El Precio Justo	Canal 9	Fernando Bravo	1990s	Used a similar set to U.S. version and a similar logo to French version
Australia	The Price Is Right	ATN-7 (1957–59) GTV-9 (1958) Seven Network (1963) Network Ten (1973–74)	Bruce Beeby (1957) Geoff Manion (1958) Keith Walshe (1959) Horrie Dargie (1963) Garry Meadows (1973–74)	1957–74	Original series
	The Price Is Right	Seven Network (1981–86, 2012) Network Ten (1989) Nine Network (1993–98, 2003–05)	Ian Turpie (1981–86, 1989) Larry Emdur (1993–98, 2003–05, 2012)	September 7, 1981 – November 24, 2005; May 7, 2012 – 19 December 2012	Both versions feature similar elements to U.S. version: the "Double Bullseye" playoff and a pricing game similar to the current U.S.'s "Easy as 1 2 3" are used for the Showcase
Belgium	De Juiste Prijs Le Juste Prix	VTM RTL TVI	Jan Theys Koen Wauters Michaël Dufour Sacha Cortez	2010	Both versions feature similar elements to French version
Brazil	O Preço Certo	SBT Rede Record	Silvio Santos Juan Alba	1980s; October 2009 – June 2010	Juan Alba's version used a similar set to the UK Joe Pasquale's show (and the French show) and the same theme tune as the UK, while Silvio Santos' version used similar elements to U.S. show
Bulgaria	Това е цената Tova e Cenata This is the price	bTV (Bulgaria)	Veselin Kalanovski Niki Stanoev(co-host)	October 20 – November 10, 2013 January 4, 2014–	Aired every Sunday (21:00-22:00 EET); stopped after episode 4 and it was announced that it was its pilot season; restarted January 2014 and aired every Saturday form 18:00 to 19:00 EET
Canada	Misez Juste (1994–95) Price Is Right: À vous de jouer (2011–12)	TQS(1994–95) V(2011–12)	Alain Léveillé (1994–95) Philippe Bond (2011–12)	1994–95; September 2011 – 2012	The original 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; aired twice a week, unlike the 2 other versions airing at the time (The U.S. version airs on English-language Canadian stations)
Chile	Diga lo que vale	Canal 13	Don Francisco	1981–87
China	购物街 Gòu Wù Jiē	CCTV-2	Gao Bo Chen Beibei	2007-2011	Name translates to "Shopping Street"; borrows many elements from the U.S. version
Colombia	El precio es correcto	RTI on Cadena Uno or Cadena Dos (1981–8?) Caracol TV (2011)	Gloria Valencia de Castaño (1981–8?) Iván Lalinde (2011)	1981–8? 2011	1980s: The second game, Grand Game, was called El Mercadito (The Little Supermarket); the fourth game was a Colombian rendition of Race Game 2011: A new season, presented by Iván Lalinde, started April 11, 2011 on Caracol TV; this version borrowed many elements from the Mexican show
Estonia	Kuum Hind	Kanal 2	Emil Rutiku	October 2007
Finland	Mitä maksaa?	Nelonen	Petri Liski	1998–2000
France	Le Juste Prix	TF1	Max Meynier Eric Galliano Patrick Roy Philippe Risoli Vincent Lagaf'	1987–88 1988 1988–92 1992–2001 2009–13	Aired at 12h05 on TF1 and became one of the most famous game shows of the 1990s; 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, actually a version with Vincent Lagaf is aired.
Germany	Der Preis ist heiß	RTL	Harry Wijnvoord	May 2, 1989 – 1997	The first season 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; the intro later included a light box, like the U.S. version, both series used similar props to U.S. show. It was recently featured on Germany's Gameshow Marathon.
India	Yehi Hai Right Price	Zee	Rohit Roy
Indonesia	Tebak Harga (2001–02) The Price is Right (2003–05, 2010)	Trans TV(2001-02; 2003-05) Indosiar(2010)	Farhan (2001–02; 2003-2005) Stenny Agustaf & VJ Surya (2010)	17 – December 2001- 16 - August 2002; 2 May 2003 - 27 May 2005; 11 August – 10 November 2010	The show was on TransTV and hosted by Muhammad Farhan (commonly known by his last name only)
Israel	פחות או יותר Pachot o' Yoter	Channel 2	Aki Avni	1995–98
Italy	OK, il Prezzo è Giusto!	Italia 1 (1983–87) Canale 5 (1988–96) Rete 4 (1987–88; 1996-2001)	Gigi Sabani (1983–86) Iva Zanicchi (1987-2000) Emanuela Folliero (1999) Maria Teresa Ruta (2000-2001)	1983–86; 1987–99; May–June 1999; September 1999 – June 2000; September 2000 – June 2001	The second longest continually-running version of The Price Is Right, airing from 1983 to 2001; one of three versions to be hosted by a woman; largely faithful to the U.S. version, but the last two seasons altered the format slightly to use the Showcase round seen on the U.K. version
Japan	The Chance ザ・チャンス！ Za cha-n-su	Tokyo Broadcasting System	Shiro Ito (1979–86)	1979–86	JNN affiliates did not yet exist in Yamagata, Toyama, and Ehime prefectures when the program was broadcast. The program began broadcasting in Fukushima Prefecture in late 1983, when JNN affiliate TUF started operations.
Latvia	Veiksmes cena	TV3	Valters Krauze	January 7, 2007
Lebanon	The Price Is Right بلا TVA	LBC (2010–11) MBC 4 (2011–Present)	Tony Baroud	May 25, 2010–present	Uses similar elements to French Version, like sound effects
Mexico	Atinale Al Precio	Televisa	Marco Antonio Regil (1997–99, 2010)	1997–99 2010	The 2010 version uses similar elements to the British version; in 2007, Regil auditioned to replace Barker for the United States version.
Morocco	السعر الصحيح Al seer al Saheeh	2M		2002
Netherlands	Prijs je Rijk Prijzenslag Cash en Carlo The Price is Right	AVRO RTL 4 RTL 7 SBS 6	Fred Oster Hans Kazan Carlo Boszhard Eddy Zoëy	1987 1989–95 2002–04 2012	Prijs je Rijk used the U.S. theme and similar set; Prijzenslag was based on Germany's Der Preis ist Heiss and Bob Warman's in the UK; Cash En Carlo was a version of many European versions to borrow the format of Bruce's in the UK (although it doesn't borrow the UK version's props and music cues, but uses another remix of the U.S. Price is Right theme as "Come on down" music)
New Zealand	The Price Is Right	TV3	Dave Jamieson	1992	Filmed at TVNZ's Avalon Studios in Wellington, even though the show screened on the opposition network TV3; 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.
Pakistan	The Price Is Right	Geo TV	Ali Salman	2010	Uses similar elements to Bruce's Price Is Right and current U.S. logo in tones of blue
Peru	Diga lo que Vale	Panamericana Televisión	Johnny López	1982–84; 1987
Philippines	The Price Is Right	ABC	Dawn Zulueta	2001–03	The only other version of the show known to have used the Australian version of the Showcase; the first version of 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
	The Price Is Right	ABS-CBN	Kris Aquino	February 2011 – August 13, 2011	A second Philippine version of the show was produced by ABS-CBN and hosted by Kris Aquino
Poland	Dobra cena	TVN	Grzegorz Wons	1997–98	One of the many European versions that used Bruce's Price Is Right music
Portugal	O Preço Certo O Preço Certo em Euros (January 2002 – March 2006)	RTP1	Carlos Cruz and Nicolau Breyner Jorge Gabriel and then Fernando Mendes	Late 1980s – early 1990s (first edition); January 2002 – March 2006; September 2006–present	The title was 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 used Bruce's Price Is Right props and music (but used a synthesized version of the U.S. theme for its closing music); when the show still used the escudo, it used a set similar to the U.S. show (and the Italian show) and the same music cues as the US; in Autumn 2006 the show re-launched 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
Romania	Preţul Correct	ProTV	Stelian Nistor / Constantin Cotimanis	December 1997–March 2000
	Spune-mi Preţul	Kanal D	Cosmin Cernat	2009
Russia	Цена удачи Tsena udachi	NTV	Boris Smolkin, replaced by Anton Komolov	September 11, 2005 – June 25, 2006
Singapore	The Price is Right	Mediacorp Channel 5
Slovakia	Cena je správna	TV JOJ	Matej Sajfa Michal Hudák	2013–present
Spain	El Precio Justo	TVE1 (1988-93,1999-2002) Antena 3 (2006-07)	Joaquín Prat (1988-93) Carlos Lozano (1999-2001) Guillermo Romero (2001-02) Juan y Medio (2006-07)	1988–93 1999–2002 2006–07	The 1988–93 used a similar set to UK Leslie Crowther's show and featured a Showcase played similarly to the U.S. version but featured only one Showcase on which both contestants bid; the 1999–2002 (Based in Bruce's Price Is Right) and 2006–07 (Based in UK Joe Pasquale's show) formats were somewhat resembled to American version and used an hybrid of the UK and U.S. showcase. After the top winner selected a range at random, both contestants bid on the Showcase, hoping that their bid were the fell within the selected range and the closest without going over of the actual price.
Thailand	ทายได้ให้เลย	JSL	Bundit Kosolpisit		This version features similar elements to Mexican show
Turkey	Kaç Para?	aTV	Özkan Uğur Vatan Şaşmaz	September 8, 2003 – January 23, 2004; 2011–present	The 2011 version borrowed many elements from the French version like logo and intro and game styles and features a Single-player showcase similarly played as the UK version, hoping that their bid is within the range, high or low
United Kingdom	The Price Is Right	ITV Sky One	Leslie Crowther (ITV primetime) Bob Warman (Sky One daytime) Bruce Forsyth (ITV primetime) Joe Pasquale (ITV daytime)	March 24, 1984 – January 12, 2007
Venezuela	El Precio Justo	RCTV Televen	Winston Vallenilla	2002 2011–present
Vietnam	Hãy chọn giá đúng	VTV3	Lại Văn Sâm (2004) Lưu Minh Vũ (2004–12) Trần Ngọc (2012–present)	2004–Present	Uses a similar set to U.S. version; 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 later was hosted by Lưu Minh Vũ from then till May 2012; Trần Ngọc took over as host in June 2012

See also

List of television show franchises

External links

• Official Fremantle website and video social network community for The Price Is Right
• Official CBS website for The Price Is Right
• The Price Is Right at the National Film and Sound Archive
• The Price is Right at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
• description of "Der Pries Ist Heiss" from 1989–97 from Grundy Light Entertainment (New Website) (Germany)
• description of "DPIH" from its (old website) (Germany)