Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The Price is Right Files Sets a Record

I recorded yesterday's rerun of The Price is Right, with every intention of blogging about it in the afternoon. Right before I was about to turn it on, I checked my site's metrics for the day.

The numbers were, by my site's standards, through the roof.

The reason? It was a rerun of the famous Mothers' Day episode, starring Florence Henderson and Johannes the personal trainer. (You can read my two-part review of this truly momentous episode here and here.)

I can't remember exactly what this site's previous record was for hits in a day, but yesterday's total beat it by at least 40 percent. A lot of the Google searches were centered around Johannes. One of the best was "florence henderson and son on price is right."

And then there was my personal favorite: "was the rock on the price is right?"

I mentioned the likeness when I originally blogged about this episode. Judge for yourself:




Tuesday, July 3, 2012

The Price is Right - 7/3/12 Episode

If memory serves me correctly - and I can't be bothered to look it up - today's episode of The Price is Right was a rerun of the May 14, 2012 show.

This was also known as the "Craig Ferguson Episode."

I missed it on the original air date while on vacation, so I'm glad I got to see it today. Here's Craig's wonderful modeling of a Ford Focus SE:


Craig, who is pals with Drew Carey, made his first appearance of the day on "Pocket Change." With Rachel subbed out as the usual "Pocket Change" model, Erica was playing to buy the car from Crazy Craig's Car Lot.


Erica won with a nearly flawless performance, getting the second, third and fourth digits correct on the first try. After earning the 50 cents necessary to buy the car from Crazy Craig, Erica got to claim her prize from the guest star himself.


Craig popped up again during the Showcase round, presenting an impressive prize that included a trip to his native Scotland, VIP tickets to his show (not included as part of the Showcase price) and an Audi.

Bidders' row FAIL
Some of today's contestants didn't get the memo about the $500 minimum on items up for bids.



In the second photo, Rodney's wise $410 bid got him up on stage. What followed was perhaps the most anti-climactic "Rat Race" in history. After earning one rat, he picked the orange one...


...and the little fucker doesn't even finish the race.

Redemption
Rodney got the last laugh, however, winning a diamond ring, trip to St. Thomas and South American cruise after outmaneuvering Aundrea in the Showcase. Both were well under, but the $54K price tag really cursed Aundrea.

And, finally...
There really can be only one model for the karaoke prize: Rockin' Amber!


Follow The Price is Right Files on Twitter (@TPiR_Files) or email thepriceisrightfiles@gmail.com.

Friday, June 22, 2012

The Price is Right - 6/21/12 Episode

With the 40th season of The Price is Right recently concluded, they've gone to showing reruns for a good part of the summer. We knew this today because a) Drew Carey was wearing a tie, which he didn't do the last half of the season or so, and b) Gwendolyn wasn't pregnant yet.

Don't worry, everyone, she still is. (The blog actually got a few hits inquiring about this yesterday)

I hadn't watched the show in a week, and was fairly excited to jump back into it with a playing of "Plinko" as the first pricing game. And then this happened:


If you believe in karma, you will surely have to feel DeJoie did something to really, really piss somebody off previously. Particularly after she got a 90 on the wheel, only to be trumped by a 95 from Cynthia.

It just wasn't DeJoie's day.

It wasn't really shaping up to be Lori's day, either, after a couple questionable bids in the first two rounds. Here she is (second from left), bidding second on six pairs of shoes...


...and going just $22 under the previous bid, leaving an impossibly small window for victory (which didn't happen). Then, bidding third on a gas range, with bids of $950 and $1,050 right before her...


...almost the same thing. She didn't win.

Lori figured it out eventually...


...thus catapulting her on a terrific run, winning "Pick a Pair" for a trip to China, getting to the Showcase and then winning it with an excellent bid on cowboy/cowgirl boots, a trip to Calgary and a Toyota Tacoma.


While we're here, spare a thought for Jeremy (the guy who bid $1,200 in the photo above), a "first four" contestant who never made on stage. A military man being allowed to languish on bidders' row? I didn't think it possible.

Pricing game WIN
This hardly ever happens: a win on "Line 'em Up" on the first try.

Patrick did it today, though...


...with Manuela more than happy to deliver the good news.


An enjoyable part of this was Drew casually tossing it over to Manuela, expecting Patrick to be wrong and have to use his second guess. At 18-to-1 odds, it's easy to assume the contestant is going to be wrong on the first go. But Patrick made a believer out of all of us.

Commercials
Regular readers of The Price is Right Files know I enjoy my commercials, with a few in particular being my favorites.

Well, today, I'd like to induct a new entry into The Price is Right Commercials Hall of Fame.

Blythe Danner, congratulations. Your outstanding - and incredibly repetitive, seeing as your commercial is on just about everyday - work in promoting post-menopausal osteoporosis awareness deserves this extra bit of recognition.

"Thaaanks, Ed."

Previous entries into The Price is Right Commercials Hall of Fame are, of course, Wilford Brimley, Henry Winkler and the Hoveround Singing Guy.

And, finally...
Our old friend was back today.

Daniel Goddard!


Follow The Price is Right Files on Twitter (@TPiR_Files) or email thepriceisrightfiles@gmail.com.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

The Price is Right - 6/13/12 Episode

The Price is Right will often set up games to be won or lost, sometimes more obviously than others.

In yesterday's episode, it was pretty clear where all six games stood.

Karla got a pretty brutal setup in "Lucky Seven":


As so often happens in this game, Karla got off to a reasonable enough start, only for a guess of '5' as the fourth digit to destroy her chances of winning. She needed to get the last digit right on the nose, and went with '3'. As we've seen before, random digits pop up in that spot on occasion. I had a hunch it was a '9', but then again, I've seen this game played a lot lately.

In "The Bargain Game," Matthew did what nearly everyone would've done (myself included) and guessed the motor scooter...


...only for that to be the cheapest motor scooter ever ($1,586, just a $500 bargain), compared to the apparently bionic washer/dryer ($3,198, a $1,500 bargain).

"It's in the Bag" was a typical setup for Aynne, with these groceries...


...and prices of $0.99, $29.99 and $9.99 to start things off. Bizarrely, Aynne originally tried putting the pain reliever in the $29.99 slot, with the audience immediately yelling at her that it was the wrong move. She changed her mind quickly enough to the krill oil supplement, put the pain reliever in at $9.99, and bailed with $4,000 during the reveal.

Then came the second half of the show, which producers decided would be the winnable half. In "Shopping Spree," Brooke needed to pick the three prizes that combined to cost more than $8,500.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

The Price is Right - 6/12/11 Episode

I apologize I haven't blogged the last two episodes of The Price is Right - a few things have come up recently. Going forward, I'll still be doing my best to blog about every episode, but in occasional cases that may not be possible.

Alright, on to today's show. It was a day for both the young and the old. Let's start with the introduction of Drew Carey, which included Connor, the son of the host's ex-fiancee:

 

(According to those who report on such matters, Carey's motivation for his recent weight loss was to keep up with Connor as he got older, and that he was planning to remain a part of Connor's life after the couple split in January.)

And then we had Margaret playing "Clock Game" for a trip to St. Thomas:


Ohhhh booooy

To recap, after being told the price of the first item is lower than $900, Margaret proceeds to spend 15 seconds - that's half the time allotted for the game - and 17 (I think) guesses that are higher than $900. I half expected Drew to throw in a "lower than $900" reminder somewhere in there, as Margaret was clearly lost, but I guess that's against the rules of hosting.

Then, she guesses $850, goes back to $800 again, then goes back to $850 again. Concentrate!

Pricing game struggles
Margaret was the last contestant in an 0-for-6 clanger of a day in pricing games.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

The Price is Right - 6/7/12 Episode

Today's going to be more of a "quick hit" post, but here's a few things that jumped out at me from today's episode:

I thought the first Showcase that David bid on was sneakily expensive. For trips to Palm Springs and Ireland, and a Volkswagen Beetle, David bid $27,000. Playing along at home, I went $27,100.

The actual price? $38,297. Drew Carey gave it the "What?" as he read it out, meaning even he thought it was incredibly expensive. Admittedly, I undervalued the Beetle (I based my guess on $17K for the car, $6K for Ireland and $4K for Palm Springs, which doesn't require airfare from L.A.). But, even high-balling the price of the Beetle at $25K, that leaves over $13,000 for the two trips. Apparently, I missed something in the details.

So did David, but it didn't matter after Selena went over on her sneakers/home gym/trip to Dominica package (a $22,300 bid on a $20,344 prize, pretty low by The Price is Right standards).


Don't be that guy...
Who rubs it in after he bids $1 over somebody...


...and then put on a sour face when someone else wins.


Scott's bid was a good one, but enough of America already thinks you're a big enough douche as it is when you bid $1 over somebody. Don't give them more ammo.

A rare opportunity
Today's playing of "Now or Then" was for a car, something I hadn't seen since I started re-watching the show.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The Price is Right - 6/6/12 Episode

Well, this happened on The Price is Right today:


Henry may be a world-class prankster; or maybe he just needs a new dentist. Regardless, this was an epic performance on so many levels. Bravo.

Henry couldn't add to his haul of a fireplace and $500, however, as he misfired on "Squeeze Play" for two motor scooters. At the wheel, Henry lost his tooth again, and then couldn't match a $1 spin that came before him.

Regardless, add Henry to the list of legendary The Price is Right contestants.

The odyssey of Daisy
Today was quite a day for old people on The Price is Right. Let's take a look at Daisy's day on the show.

One of the "first four" contestants to come down, she was stuck on bidders' row through the first half of the show. Here's one reason why: for this set of luggage...


...Daisy bid...


In the next round, though, Daisy got it together with a $1,500 bid on a set of jewelry that was worth $1,505. When she got up on stage, Drew Carey commented, "You went from a disaster bid of $8,000 to being off by $5."

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

The Price is Right - 6/5/12 Episode

Having done this blog for two months now, I know there are two things more than any others that are guaranteed to drive traffic to the site: pregnant models and Daniel Goddard.

Today, we had both. Gwendolyn was on the show today, and people seem quite fascinated with whether she is pregnant (yes, she is).

As for Daniel, well...

Oh, right, Manuela is in the picture, too.

Over the course of today's episode, my blog's hit total for the day went up fivefold - mostly due to search queries along the lines of "male model price is right" or "who is the male model on the price is right." There was also a "why is daniel goddard on the price is right so often" mixed in. So, thank you for the traffic, Daniel.

Moving on to the games, we had a really nice win on "Lucky Seven" today. After a strong start, Shannon went with the dreaded '5' twice. Here's how it turned out:


Considering she had $5 left for the last two digits, going with a '5' on the fourth one was a logical play. I thought the '9' screwed her over; the '5' as the last digit is as good a guess as any, but a lot of times The Price is Right sneaks a random '2' or '8' or some such number in that spot.

Overall, contestants went 3-for-6 on pricing games today.

Bidders' row FAIL
There was a lot of terrible bidding today. In the first round, Tacara bid $500 for two pairs of Christian Louboutin women's shoes. Even I know you're looking at about $2,000 there.

It got worse in the second round. Bidding last for a trip to Disneyland, Tacara (far left) went with...

The Price is Right - 6/4/12 Episode

I'd read about this before, but I forgot today was the day until the show started: it's the "Wedding Shower" episode of The Price is Right!

More duos - in this case, engaged couples - bidding and playing pricing games! Because the Mothers' Day and "New Drivers" specials that we've had in the last month weren't enough!

And - here's a shock - it was such a happy occasion, all six pricing games were won! I'm sure that was not fixed or arranged in any way.

For today's blog, I'm going to go in chronological order of the show - a running diary of sorts. Here's how it played out, from beginning to end:

After the first four eight contestants came on down, the first item up for bids was a wedding gown and tuxedo. Rachel drew the gown modeling assignment, and since Manuela and Amber would probably look weird in a tux...


Daniel Goddard is BACK.

James and Cheryl won the prize, at which point we found out that all couples who made it on stage win a trip to Miami. George Gray delivered the good news.



After James and Cheryl won the prize, they got up on stage to play Plinko. They did well to earn all four chips, giving them five total. While watching, I wondered to myself who would get to drop the chips. Surely, they would split it up somehow.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

The Price is Right - 5/31/12 Episode

I'm calling today a 6-for-6 day on The Price is Right.

Technically, it wasn't, as neither contestant who played for a car actually won a car. But they showed some common sense (a rare concept on this show) and took home pretty good prizes, so I'm giving them the 'W.'

In today's second pricing game, we had Morningstar (yes, really) playing for a truck in "Temptation." One by one, the models trot out four prizes (usually, one of them is cash)...


...and you have to guess which of those numbers is the next digit in the car. You're given the first digit in the car price (in today's case, a '2'), so here, Morningstar has to guess whether the next digit is a '3' or a '4.' And so on and so forth. In addition to the $3,434 in cash, today's other prizes were a portable satellite receiver for $776, a 32-inch HD television for $499, and a trio of watches for $595. So, each digit is a toss-up.

The game is called "Temptation" because you can just keep the prizes without doing a thing, or risk it all on the premise that you guess all right digits in the car. If you are right, you get the car and the prizes. If you go for it and lose, you lose everything.

To me, it's an easy decision: take the prizes. Today, they were worth over $5,000 total. Why risk that on the 16-to-1 odds that you have the right price of the car? And yet, most contestants go for it. They almost always lose.

Morningstar, however, took the prizes. And it's a good thing she did.


In today's fifth game, Dennis was playing "Gas Money" for a shot at a Chrysler 200 LX. In this game, you're given five possible prices for the car. One is correct, and the other four have money values of $1,000, $2,000, $3,000 and $4,000. To win the car, you have to pick the car price last, accumulating your "gas money" along the way. You can stop and just pocket the cash at any time, but if you keep going and pick the car price before you're supposed to, you lose everything. The game is difficult because the five prices are all within about $1,000 of the one above and/or below it.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

The Price is Right - 5/30/12 Episode

Today's episode of The Price is Right witnessed what has been a rarity this season: two car games, two wins.

I'll start with the more impressive of the two, which came in the sixth and final pricing game: Jason's victory in "One Away." According to Price is Right Recaps, this is only the second win in 15 tries on this game this season.

This game was my favorite as a kid, and I still enjoy it now. The premise is simple enough: you're given a wrong price of a car, and you have to guess whether each digit in the real price is one higher or one lower. So, a car that really costs $17,493, for example, could be presented as $26,582. You have two rounds to do it. At the end of the first round, you're told (by begging the "Mighty Sound Effects Lady") how many numbers you have right, but not which ones.

Playing for a Ford Fiesta today, Jason was presented with $27,532 and went "lower" with the first four digits, and higher with the fifth.


The Mighty Sound Effects Lady told Jason he had four numbers right. And then...

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The Price is Right - 5/29/12 Episode

Well, this happened today on The Price is Right:


She bid on the fucking tugboat prop!!!

Novel's $800 bid didn't win the surfboards, either. And she didn't cover herself in much glory in the next round. As the last bidder on a portable DVD player, Novel went with $900...


...when a bid of $651 would have done the trick. Particularly since the actual retail price was $780 - oops.

Novel finally figured it out in the last round, going $1,501 after bids of $1,200, $1,499 and $1,500. But Orchid (above, far right) won the pool table with her $1,200 bid, avoiding becoming a "first four" flame-out in the process.

Orchid didn't have much luck in "The Race Game," though (click here to see how the game is played). Here were her prices:


And the prizes were: desktop computer, women's accessories, treadmill, kitchen range. "The Race Game," like other timed games, requires poise and at least some retail knowledge. It also helps if, as I've mentioned before, you pay attention to George Gray as he's describing the prizes. The women's accessories - a pair of platform sandals, leather tote and sunglasses - were from Prada.

Prada.

The shades alone are probably $880 for all we know, so hearing "Prada" should ring alarm bells that the accessories might be one of the more expensive items here. As it turned out, it was the most expensive at $3,590, but Orchid went with $880 - and then never changed it. In the end, she got only the treadmill for $2,499.

Considering the presence of Prada, and the $880 just screaming out "desktop computer," this was a really winnable setup.

Pricing game WIN
Contestants went just 1-for-6 on pricing games today. The '1' was a hell of a win, though.

After getting a $500 and a $0 with his first two "Plinko" chips, here's Ryan's last two:


"Cover Up" FAIL
I'm going to throw a party when someone finally plays "Cover Up" correctly. You're all invited.

I know I bang on about this every time (here's my original banging on, complete with how the game is played), but here's the thing: this game is played a lot. Perhaps some contestants show up to The Price is Right on a whim without watching it beforehand, but not all of them. Surely, at this point, a lot of these people have seen this game played already.

If I can figure out the strategy, so can they.

Monday, May 28, 2012

The Price is Right Files is Taking a Holiday

While I'll be watching today's episode of The Price is Right, unless something bananas happens, I won't be blogging today in lieu of Memorial Day festivities. I'll be back with a full blog post tomorrow.

In the meantime, don't forget to thank a veteran, policeman, fireman, or anyone else who has risked their lives for us.

And that means if you happen to run into Drew Carey, you can thank him, too.

Drew Carey, Marine

Friday, May 25, 2012

The Price is Right - 5/25/12 Episode

Today was a fairly average episode of The Price is Right - until Alexandra's performance in "Lucky Seven."

Going for a Honda Civic LX, Alexandra took it right down to the wire. Playing along at home, I actually guessed the exact same numbers for the second, third and fourth digits. I "played it safe" with a 5 as the last digit. Alexandra did not...


...and was rewarded with a new car (I would've lost). Nicely done.

It would have been hard to top yesterday's 5-for-6 showing, but this was a solid highlight of a 3-for-6 (which seems better than average the last few months) episode.

Margarita also had a nice win in "The Bargain Game" (nee "Barker's Bargain Bar"). Here's the setup:


Both of those prices are "bargain" prices, and you have to pick which is the bigger bargain. I thought this was a trap game: $786 sure seems really low for a motor scooter. I've seen them sneak in $3K grills, though. I'd have gone with the grill, which at $2,049 was a $500 bargain.

Margarita went for the scooter...

Thursday, May 24, 2012

The Price is Right - 5/24/12 Episode

What a day it was for The Price is Right contestants today: 5-for-6 in pricing games, and even the loss wasn't a total wipeout. On top of that, we had two exact bids on bidders' row and a $1 on the wheel.

Mary started us off with a "One Right Price" setup that was clearly meant to be won. Having to choose between a trip to San Francisco and Cancun, with $5,780 as the price, Mary went with Cancun. It seemed like a perfectly logical choice - no one would think a trip within the state of California would be over $5K.

Mary was right, but here's the thing: the price of the San Francisco trip was revealed to be over $6,300. Drew Carey did a double-take...


...and who could blame him? Had Mary been given the $6,300 price, she (and anyone else) surely would've gone with Cancun there, too. Given some of the evil setups there have been this season, I'm surprised they didn't go that route.

Matthew won a Hyundai Elantra in "Switcheroo" (here's a recap of how the game is played). After going 0-for-5 in the first round, he got three right numbers on his second try. Accidentally, he left one of the numbers the same (the '3' in the blender), so when it was revealed he had those three numbers right, it was almost automatic he had the car.


Matthew also wisely went with the '1' for the car. Most contestants eliminate the possibility of repeating a number in the price in these kinds of games, and the show likes to trick contestants accordingly. Matthew wasn't buying it, and was paid off.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The Price is Right - 5/23/12 Episode

After a nice vacation, The Price is Right Files is back! And to commemorate the blog's return, here's our first ever Caption Contest!

What's going on in this picture?


I'll tell you what's really happening at the end of this post, but if you have a funny alternative, email thepriceisrightfiles@gmail.com. Funny contributions, if there are any, will run in a blog in the near future.

Taking the piss on bidders' row
Stephanie joined the infamous list of "first four" contestants to not make it on stage. She had a unique approach.

Here's the very first bid of the show:


Haha. Very original. Very funny. Haha.

In the second round, here's Stephanie's offer on a desktop computer:


You bid $10,000. Yes, very good.

And then in round three, with bids of $599, $650 and $499 already logged to set up an easy win for a beverage center, Stephanie says...


So, having wasted space for a contestant who may have actually given a shit, Stephanie can now tell her friends she had bids of $420, $10,000 and $1 on The Price is Right. Awesome.

Stephanie did actually put her game face on for the second half of the show, but karma was not kind. Good.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The Price is Right - YouTube Classics

In lieu of not being around to do episode recaps, here are just a few of my favorite The Price is Right YouTube highlights that I've discovered in recent weeks:

A dramatic playing of "3 Strikes" for an awesome car:

 

Going back to the Bob Barker era, here's a perfect playing of "The Dice Game":



A "Cliffhangers" malfunction just adds to this epic win, which also featured an appearance from a young Roger Dobkowitz (a couple years before he became producer of The Price is Right):



"You won a million bucks! You won a million bucks! You won a million bucks!" - Drew Carey, here:

 


Sunday, May 13, 2012

The Price is Right Files - An Important Message

A note to my readers: I'm going to be on vacation, starting today through Tuesday, May 22. So, no The Price is Right episode recaps during that time.

I know what you're all thinking...

                                        

I will still be setting up a few posts to pop up throughout the week to keep the blog relatively fresh.

For daily recaps, I recommend my two favorite TPIR-related sites: Golden-Road.net and The Price is Right Recaps. Both have been wonderful, entertaining resources for me as I've gotten my blog off the ground.

I'll be back to the daily recaps starting Wednesday, May 23. Until then, thank you to everyone who's read this blog so far. I look forward to returning.

Friday, May 11, 2012

The Price is Right - 5/11/12 Episode (Part 2)

For the first part of today's The Price is Right episode review, click here.

As part of today's Mothers' Day special episode of The Price is Right, Florence Henderson (of "The Brady Bunch" fame) was part of the show as a guest host/model/etc. Drew Carey introduced her prior to the first pricing game.

During Flo's opening comments about Mothers' Day, she says, "I know what mothers really want for Mothers' Day, and it isn't candy. It's eye candy."

At which point we're introduced to Johannes.


The thing is, he was introduced simply as "Johannes." No last name, no clue as to who he is - nothing. So, who is he? Flo's adopted son? Her lover? A model? The Rock's stunt double?

(According to Price is Right Recaps, he's personal trainer Johannes Brugger. So, there you have it - a little info during the actual show would've been nice.)

And here's my other thought: For the Fathers' Day episode - if they even do one - are we going to have an old man introducing some female "eye candy"? No, because that would be sexist and creepy, of course. I don't begrudge women's right to check out hot, muscular dudes, and the full-time The Price is Right models more than fill the "eye candy" quota for men. Just pointing out a little double standard there.

Oops
During the playing of Lucky Seven (covered in the first half of this review), Drew made it a point to say how "rugged" the SUV was. Here's Johannes and Flo bringing the car out on stage:



And here's why Drew went out of his way to mention the ruggedness (note: this didn't make the cut for television. This clip is courtesy of CBS' YouTube channel): 

                   

I'm glad I didn't make the "Good thing the man was driving" joke for the photo above.

Pricing game FAIL
In honor of the happy-go-lucky spirit of today's episode, I won't go on a diatribe of dumb bids on bidders' row (even though there were a few). There were some pricing game gaffes, however, that just can't be ignored.

Nikki and Lora were first on stage, playing "It's in the Bag" for the chance to win $16,000. Here's the setup: you get six groceries...


...with five prices that you have to match to the groceries. If you get the first one right, it's $1,000, and then the money doubles from there on out, up to $16,000 if you get all five. You can stop and pocket the cash at any time, but if you keep going and are wrong, you lose everything.

Usually, the first two are really easy. Today was no different: the prices were $1.19 and $16.07, by far the least and most expensive prices shown. Looking at the items above, it's obviously the tissues and Allegra, right?

Nikki/Lora went with the tissues and... the coffee pods! Game over. What did those coffee pods actually cost?


Just missed!

Our other loss today came from Sharice and Ryan playing "Secret X." This is the tic-tac-toe game where an 'X' is hidden in the middle column, and you can get up to three X's to complete the tic-tac-toe to win the prize. You get one free 'X' and earn the other two by guessing the price of two items.

The first item seemed to be a slam dunk: $15 or $48 for what was basically a little towel rack with suction cups. For some reason, Sharice/Ryan thought this product to be $48. Rachel had to deliver the bad news...


...which Sharice did not take well.


They actually got the second, more difficult prize ($40 instead of $65 for a food processor) correct, giving them a shot at winning. I had a hunch the 'X' would be on top; Sharice/Ryan guessed the middle.

I was right.


LOLZ
This mother/daughter combo obviously has a sense of humor:


Yup, it's Donna and Dona! I assume Dona is short for Donatella or something, but still... very interesting.

Follow The Price is Right Files on Twitter (@TPiR_Files) or email thepriceisrightfiles@gmail.com

The Price is Right - 5/11/12 Episode (Part 1)

Today was the Mothers' Day special episode of The Price is Right. I have mixed feelings about these gimmicky type shows, but after a skeptical start, I came around on this one.

Prior to the third round of bidders' row, Gwendolyn brought along her husband and 4-year old son Molloy for a big announcement:

  

Hoop heads will, of course, recognize Mr. Osborne as Kenny Smith, current NBA on TNT pundit and starting point guard on the back-to-back NBA champion Houston Rockets teams of 1994 and 1995.

As if that wasn't awww-dorable enough, Molloy then shows his mom she may have some competition for "best model in the family."


I've watched this several times already and still laugh at the 1:05 mark every time.

(Yes, that was Florence Henderson modeling the jewelry. More on her, and the guy showing off the computer/television in Part 2 tonight.)

Pricing game WIN
After winning the flowers following Gwendolyn's announcement, Patricia and Emilee played for a Ford Escape XLT in "Lucky Seven." After an inauspicious start left them with just $2 for the last two digits, here's how it played out:


That's a hell of a win. The '5' is as good a guess as any on the last digit, but getting close to the '9' on the fourth digit required a good amount of logic (and a little bit of luck). That fourth number dooms most contestants that play this game.

To close out the pricing games, Patricia and Abby played for a Mini-Cooper in "The Money Game" (Here's a reminder on how it's played). Today's setup looked like any other for this game:


We can say with just about 100 percent certainty that the first two digits are 22, 23 or 24. As I mention in the link above, I think the strategy here is to get the last two digits first. Nobody plays it that way, and neither did Patricia/Abby, who went with 24 first. They missed.

Then it got interesting - they picked 30. Whether they changed strategy on the fly or thought this was a $30K car, I can't be sure (my guess is the latter, but you never know). Regardless, the 30 was correct - as the last two digits.

From there, it was a piece of cake, as they had three tries left but only the 22 and 23 as logical guesses for the first two digits. After missing on 23, they hit on 22 and won the car.

And good times were had by all.

In what I'm sure wasn't fixed in the least to make the Mothers' Day episode a happy occasion, contestants went 4-2 in pricing games (including 2-0 in car games), two $1 spins on the wheel, and a Lexus convertible win in the Showcase round.

Part 2 of this episode review can be read here.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

The Price is Right - 5/10/12 Episode

Today was a pretty boring episode of The Price is Right, so this is going to be relatively short.

Let's take a look at the highlight of the day: David winning a new truck in "Grocery Game." This is my favorite grocery-related game.


It requires strategy, retail know-how and has a cool setup, including Rachel operating an old-school cash register with the spinny numbers. The purpose of the game is to "buy" groceries until you get to a price between $20 and $21.

And David nailed it.

 

Here he is with his truck:

"It's got wheels!"

David was the star of the day, as he also won an epic Showcase duel with Felipe (who wiped out on "Gas Money" earlier in the show).


To get two bids that close is rare. Felipe looked like he had his iPhone/iMac computer/Prius in the bag, but David topped him with a $28,300 bid on his snorkeling gear/Belize/ski boat package. Well done.

Pricing game FAIL
There were a few of these today. In addition to Felipe, we had Francina asking for the first digit and then getting the next two wrong in "2 for the Price of 1" (a double fail), and Jason blowing "Swap Meet" (by guessing that two pairs of Gucci heels and two pairs of Gucci sunglasses were only $1,650).