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 - 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.

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 - 5/3/12 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 - 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 - 4/24/12 Episode (Part 1)

My afternoon is a little busy, so I'm going to have to split my entry on today's episode of The Price is Right into two parts, with the second one coming sometime tonight. But here's a few quick thoughts on what I've just seen:

Pricing game strategies
We started off today with "Punch a Bunch." Andre earned three punches to win some cash.

There are 50 holes to punch, with the following prize breakdown: 1 - $25,000; 2 - $10,000; 4 - $5,000; 8 - $2,500; 10 - $1,000; 10 - $500; 10 - $250; 5 - $100.

Andre's first punch got him $1,000, with the option to keep it or throw it away for the other two punches. As we can deduce from the breakdown above, that's 3-to-1 odds (16 out of 49 possibilities) to win more, 2-to-1 (25 out of 49) to win less, and about 5.5-to-1 (9 out of 49) to stay at $1,000.

Is it worth the risk?

Andre decided it was, and his second punch was one of the $100 holes. It's an obvious decision to throw that away and take your chances with the third punch, which saw Andre pocket $2,500.

Going by the numbers, it may not have been the sound play, but it paid off.

In the very next game, Neil got a chance to win a car in "The Money Game." Here's the setup:

You get three incorrect guesses to fill in the first two and last numbers in the car. Neil, like just about everyone before him, tried to fill in the first two numbers first. Obviously, it's the 15, 16 or 17. Unfortunately for Neil, he wasted two of his incorrect guess, going with 15 (which anyone who watches The Price is Right regularly knows is wrong) and 17 before hitting with 16. That left him with just one guess to waste on the last two digits, and it really could be any one of those other options. It turned out to be the 24, which he didn't get.

So, here's the question: Knowing that you can set aside three options for the first two digits (which is pretty much always the case in this game), do you make a run at the last two digits first? You get four guesses on six options, and even if it takes you all four, you have decent 3-to-1 odds on your final guess for the first two numbers. And, really, if that setup is like today's, it's 50-50 because you can eliminate the 15.

You obviously run the risk of going 0-for-4 and getting shut out. On the other hand, if you ever get it before your fourth guess, you've pretty much won the car.

It's not as clear-cut as other pricing game strategy foul-ups (like Cover Up, for example), but I'm starting to think this may be the way to go.

Click here for Part 2 of the April 24, 2012 review of The Price is Right, and don't forget to follow us on Twitter (@TPiR_Files).

The Price is Right - 4/18/12 Episode

There are few things in life that piss me off more than people woefully under-dressing for an occasion.

I went to a wedding last summer where two men (and I use that term loosely) wore shorts. Shorts... to a wedding. For a couple minutes, I was legitimately angry. I don't care that the wedding was outside and it was 85 degrees out. That is never ever, ever ever ever, acceptable.

I realize The Price is Right is not a wedding, but there still should be at least a minimal sartorial decorum. You're out of the house, in the presence of hundreds of other people, and on national television.

National. Television.

Really, Carol? Really? Did you think The Price is Right was played at the beach? Put some fucking pants on.

Showcase FAIL
Out of principle, if both showcase contestants are more than $10,000 off, they should both lose. For the second time in a week, we had that happen today.

I'll admit, Autumn's (right) showcase had me fooled, too: she bid $24,000 on a trip (for four) to DisneyWorld and a Ford Focus Titanium. I drive a regular Ford Focus; that Titanium must be one hell of an upgrade.

Lisa (left) bid $18,550 on beach accessories, a trip to Corfu, Greece and a sailboat. Under $20K for that package? Fascinating. And she walks away with it.

Contestant shenanigans
Then again, we knew something was off about Autumn right for the start.

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.