The Price is Right - 4/6/12 Episode

Today's episode of The Price is Right had a lot going for it: obnoxious contestants, great pricing game play, poor pricing game play and a $1 spin on the wheel, to name a few.

To start, Drew Carey just could not keep a straight face when introducing the Dutch oven during "1/2 Off":

Pricing game strategy fail
With alarming consistency, contestants take the already fairly difficult game of "Cover Up" and make it a lot harder for themselves. For those not familiar with the game, you're playing for a car, and the board starts off looking liking this:

The car - in today's case, a Ford Fiesta SE - is not $29,619. But you have to cover up those incorrect digits with one of the digits right above it. So, today, that 6 in the middle is in fact a 0, 3, 1 or 7. You get as many turns as you need, as long as you got at least one number right in your previous turn.

Here's the thing: you KNOW that Ford Fiesta is a $17,000 car based on those numbers. The obvious strategy is to get just one of those right on the first turn and purposely botch the other one, buying yourself an extra round of guesses on the more difficult numbers at the end.

The first two numbers are always that simple, and yet no one ever, EVER plays it correctly.



Above, Joele went right for the 1 and 7 as the first two numbers. Lo and behold, he got the first three digits right, meaning he had to get one of the last two correct on his next turn to keep playing. His odds were 4-to-1 and 5-to-1, respectively.

I don't need to tell you how this turned out, do I?

Epic douchebaggery
Where to begin with Jeffrey, one of today's Showcase finalists.

Let's take a look at his win on bidders' row. Note the scream from Heather as this creep picks her up for no apparent reason:

Jeffrey may be from Lakewood, California, but he obviously has ties to Denver somehow. How do we know this? During his shoutout at the wheel, he mentioned his two sons - one of them named "Elway." And then what does he do when his spin lands on $1 to win $1,000?

He Tebowed.

For his final flourish on the Showcase, Jeffrey very clearly said "Twenty-eight ninety-nine" for his bid, forcing Drew to ask if he meant $28,999. Jeffrey didn't seem to know the difference, so he went along with it.

He lost, thankfully.

Other thoughts from today's episode:
* Seemingly every time there's a musically themed prize on bidders' row - the karaoke machine, a guitar, etc. - Amber is the presenting model. George Gray even introduces her as "Rockin' Amber" every time.

Is this in her contract?

Nobody rocks like Rockin' Amber, apparently.

* Props to contestant Chelsie, who said she loved the game "Bullseye" and then promptly walked the walk with a direct hit, guessing that two boxes of Gorton's frozen shrimp would land between $10 and $12:

* The last contestant to join bidders' row was Zachary, who had just returned home from a tour of duty with the Marines the day before taping, and was accompanied to the studio by his (very) pregnant wife. Immediately I thought to myself, 'Somehow, some way, Zachary is getting up on stage and to the wheel.'

He did. Military personnel always get to the wheel once they've made it to bidders' row. Not that I'm suggesting it's fixed or anything.

* Spare a thought for Christina, another "first four" contestant to not get off bidders' row:

* Lastly, most The Price is Right traditionalists were likely aghast as The Dynamos from the musical Mamma Mia! were brought on to introduce the second Showcase prize, which conveniently featured VIP passes to a Hollywood performance of... Mamma Mia! This introduction included - naturally - a snipet of ABBA's "Dancing Queen."

This tweet sums up the feelings of the Twitter-verse:

@TheEricLittle The cast of Mamma Mia just presented a showcase on The Price Is Right. I may have to rethink my love of that iconic game show.

Not that The Dynamos would be too bothered by it:

Check back this evening for today's The Price is Right "Tweets of the Day," and don't forget to follow us on Twitter: @TPiR_Files.