The Price is Right is the longest continuously running game show in American history. The Price is Right’s current run began on September 4, 1972 and has continued to the present day. From that date in September 1972 until June 15, 2007 Bob Barker was the wildly popular host of The Price is Right until he eventually retired and turned the reins of the show over to Drew Carey, a comedian. Due to its longevity and continuing popularity; The Price is Right is regarded, in a lot of circles, as the greatest game show of all time. An episode of The Price is Right begins when four contestants are drawn from the live studio audience to play the game. Their names are read and The Price is Right’s catchphrase “Come on Down” brings them to”contestants row” where they have the opportunity to win their way on stage and potentially win over $100,000 in prizes. The contest begins when a prize is brought out and each of the four contestants has an opportunity to bid (or guess) at what they think the retail price of the item is without going over. The person who is closest wins the prize and has the opportunity to go on stage. Once on The Price is Right stage the contestant has the opportunity to play a “pricing game” which could result in a myriad of prizes, various amounts of cash, or even a car. There are more than 70 pricing games that vary from being incredibly simple to extremely difficult. Some games require that the person merely guess at which of two prize sets are more expensive with a correct guess netting both groups of prizes. Other games are very intricate and can see the contestant win a small amount of cash to many thousands of dollars. After the pricing game, a new contestant is called down from the audience and the first part of the game is repeated followed by another pricing game. There are six pricing games total and after each three, The Price is Right contestants have the opportunity to play in the “Showcase Showdown.” Each contestant, beginning with the one who one the lowest amount of cash and prizes during their pricing game, spins a big wheel that is marked with dollar amounts under $1 (plus some bonus prizes). Each contestant, with one or two spins, is attempting to come as close to $1 without going over. The winner of each Showcase Showdown has the chance to advance to the final round of The Price is Right which is the Showcase round. Here, two showcases filled with prizes, furniture, trips, cars, and other desirable merchandise are presented. The “Showcase Showdown” winner with the highest amount of cash and prizes has the opportunity to guess as to the value of the showcase or pass to their opponent. Once both parties have bid on their Showcases, the prices are revealed and the person who came closest without going over wins their Showcase. If they happen to bid within $250 of the retail price of their Showcase, they win both. Vickyann Chrobak-Sadowski holds the all-time highest one day total for The Price is Right (as well as the all-time highest one day game show prize winnings) with $147, 517 in cash and prizes. Contestants can only appear on one show and don’t have the opportunity to amass the huge fortunes that repeat winners of shows like Jeopardy do. Because of its familiar style, simple game play, and having Bob Barker as host for 35 years The Price is Right has been and will continue to be one of the most popular game shows on television.
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