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!

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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...

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.

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.

The Price is Right - 5/8/12 Episode

Regular readers of The Price is Right Files may not believe this, but I have a heart.

Yes, I criticize contestants on a fairly regular basis. But those are the stupid ones. If a smart contestant makes a good effort, I can appreciate them.

Zachary was one of those contestants today, and I genuinely felt sorry for him watching the show. He was a "first four" contestant that never got on stage today. While most people have this happen to them because they're clueless, Zachary was anything but.

Here he (second from right) is bidding last on some gardening equipment, playing it perfectly, only to have Diana get it exactly right...

Now, here's Zachary bidding third on a dishwasher, again making a terrific bid...

...only to have the actual retail price be $799.

Bidding third in the final round, Zachary knew he was screwed as soon as Wesam bid just over him. And he was right...

Zachary clearly knew the machinations of The Price is Right. On his $901 bid above, as soon as the bell went off signifying that someone was exactly right, you could see Zachary shake his head and say, "Dammit." He knew what was up.

Players like this deserve better.

Stage tomfoolery
A couple people who did win on bidders' row, however, had some interesting entrances. Here's Octavia unexpectedly jumping into Drew Carey's arms, then doing a dance:

The Price is Right - 5/4/12 Episode

I'm not quite as obsessed with Plinko as many other The Price is Right fans are, but it can sometimes make for riveting television. The exultation of a $10,000 chip, matched by the utter despair of the $0 chip. Fortunes hang in the balance and can change in a second.

Today, Kyong's playing of Plinko gave me goosebumps.

That's pretty damn good.

Kyong earned her three extra Plinko chips with some sound pricing strategy (including the generally accurate principle that if they give you a '0' for the second number as an option, take it. She did twice, and won a chip both times).

Kyong's highlight reel wasn't over. At the wheel, Mary has just gotten a dollar. Here's Kyong trying to match it:

Mary got an 85 in the spin-off, and Kyong was one peg away from matching it and creating the most epic spin-off in recent times. It didn't happen, but $22,000 in cash isn't a bad day on The Price is Right.

The Plinko and wheel moments saved an otherwise fairly mundane show. There were a few highlights and lowlights, though.

Bidders' row FAIL
Ladies and gentlemen, let's say you're convinced the item up for bid is $900. The three bids before you were $775, $800 and $1,200. What do you bid?

The Price is Right - 5/3/12 Episode

Maurice had a fascinating day on bidders' row today. He joined the circus for the second round, and never got on stage.

Let's examine why. We'll start with his first bid on men's and women's watches:

What's the deal with these types of bids lately?

They were pretty nice watches, but...

Maurice appeared to have it figured out in the next round, bidding $1 over Vincenza as the last bidder. He didn't hesitate to rub it in, either.

Too bad for Maurice it didn't pay off.

Instead of sticking with the process, though, Maurice grew increasingly erratic. He soon went back to the $1-over strategy, except this time, he was the second bidder. This opened the door for James (who didn't win, either) to one-up him...

...which is why you don't do that as the second bidder.

It was then all set up for Maurice in the sixth and final round, as he was the fourth bidder. So what does he go and do?

Say it ain't so, Mo. Say it ain't so.

James, by the way, was another "first four" contestant to never get off bidders' row. Oh well.

My weekly "Cover Up" whinge
Someday, somebody will play this correctly. Someday...

The Price is Right - 5/2/12 Episode (Part 1)

I'll let George Gray sum up my thoughts on today's episode of The Price is Right:

The first round on bidders' row pretty much set the tone for the day. Note the antics of both Joshuas (not that you would miss them, anyway):

We have Joshua #1 wearing a "Big Poppa" hat and a Dolly Parton t-shirt, bidding $1 right out of the chute. We have Joshua #2... well, I don't even know what to say there.

As you can probably imagine, both played a starring role throughout the show. Joshua #1's opening bid "strategy" didn't work out, but he went back to the $1 well in round two. As the last bidder, it worked.

And then this happened:

So, up to now we had a pretty entertaining show. Unlike most of the "characters" that appear on The Price is Right, Joshua #1 was actually humorous.

Sadly, he blew a really easy set-up of "Flip Flop." With a trip to Atlanta on the line, he flipped when he clearly should've flopped.

The Price is Right just doesn't do $3,500 trips when airfare is involved. Oh well.

The Price is Right - 4/26/12 Episode

Sometimes, it's better to be lucky than good.

And since nobody is good at "Cover Up," somebody needs to get lucky to win it. No one had coming into today's show: according to The Price is Right Recaps, contestants were 0-21 in "Cover Up" this season.

Today was Naomi's lucky day.

Playing for a Hyundai Sonata, here was the setup:

Like everyone before her, Naomi tried to get every number right on the first go, which is not the right way to play (the "Cover Up" link above explains why). Like everyone before her, Naomi got the very easy first two numbers right...

...leaving her in a position where, as Drew Carey said, "All you have to do is get the hardest three numbers now."

Naomi's first bit of luck here is that she didn't get any of those last three right on the first try, giving her an extra shot (compared to most other contestants) at guessing another number on her second turn. Which she did:

The second bit of luck here is that she got the fourth number right (at 4-to-1 odds), and now that third number is a 50-50 toss-up. Get that one and, assuming you're wrong on the last digit, at least then you have a 3-to-1 shot at the car with your final turn.

Naomi did not get that third digit and, as it turned out, there was her third and best bit of luck:

And there you have it - the "Cover Up" hex is broken!

Drew and I share the same sense of humor
One last note on Michael Jackson from his "Thriller" video Naomi. The show was taped on her 30th birthday, apparently, prompting Drew to make one of my go-to quips:

Cliffhangers FAIL
As I noted on this blog sometime last week, I really, really wanted to see "Cliffhangers." It had been a while. It was the first pricing game out of the chute today, and I was pumped.

The Price is Right - 4/19/12 Episode

There is a famous YouTube clip from a The Price is Right episode, toward the end of the Bob Barker era, of a contestant with absolutely no idea what she's doing on "Ten Chances."

Even people who work for a living and don't watch the show know of this clip, one of the very few moments where Bob became noticeably upset with a contestant.

I bring this to your attention because of Kendra's performance today on "Bonkers." She did everything wrong - including constantly looking back to the crowd during a TIMED game - and yet...

My favorite part of this is Drew Carey, normally pretty affable with contestants, having to yell in desperation, "Put the paddle up there!" Even as I was watching this, I was writing my scathing critique of Kendra in my head.

And then she won despite, as Drew said, doing everything you're not supposed to do.

Drew didn't get pissy like Bob did, but he reminded Kendra of her luck every chance he got. And there were many chances, as Kendra got all the way to the Showcase (with a 30-60-90 on the wheel).

She won that, too, with an impressive $18,000 bid on a trip to Aspen, home gym and jetski.

What a start
Kendra's "Bonkers" performance - the first pricing game of the day - was part of a tremendous start to the show. In the next round, the item up for bid was a limited edition Star Wars-themed XBox 360...

(Model-bots not included)

...which Robert won with an exact bid of $650, allowing him to pocket $500 in cash straight out of Drew's pocket. Robert was pumped...

...and so was I when the next pricing game came out: Any Number. My favorite game! (I didn't make it the background to my blog for nothing.)

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.