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.

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 - 5/8/12 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 - 4/30/12 Episode

Ugh.

That pretty much sums today's episode of The Price is Right, and that even takes into account a $1 spin on the wheel and an exact bid on bidders' row.

That was more than offset, however, by contestants' 0-for-6 performance in the pricing games. The first was the toughest one to take, as Kevin very nearly became the first to ever win $100,000 on "Pay the Rent."

Unfortunately, he took home $0.

Here's the set-up:

You get six grocery items, and each item or combination of items has to cost more than what you put on the "floor" below it. So, the items you put on the first floor (that blue "couch" and green "stove" you see in the photo above) have to cost more than what you put in the red mailbox there at the bottom. And so on and so forth, with the most expensive item up top.

What made today's defeat so heartbreaking was that Kevin played it correctly, and I genuinely thought he had it. What most contestants do is place the obvious least expensive item in the mailbox at the bottom, placing more expensive items above and leaving no chance of the top item being more than the floor below it. Most of these contestants take home the $5,000 or $10,000 - you can stop at any time, or risk what you've won already to move on to the next level - so that's not exactly a bad haul.

Kevin put the Twinkies (or "snack cakes" as Drew Carey and George Gray were contractually obligated to call them) on the second level, which was the right move.

Unfortunately, it didn't pay off.

I really enjoyed Drew's buildup, and Rachel looked legitimately excited about the prospect of a $100K winner. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Nor was Erin's trip to Rome on this brutal "Range Game" loss:

Would Bob Barker have asked how to say "That sucks" in Italian?

The Price is Right - 4/27/12 Episode

OK, first thing's first.

If this isn't the best picture on the Internet right now, I don't know what is...

Why is Manuela holding a puppy? We'll get to that later (nice tease, eh?).

For now, let's chronicle a couple terrific pricing game wins. We had Rodney playing "That's Too Much" for a Jeep Wrangler. This is one of The Price is Right's toughest games - according to The Price is Right Recaps, contestants were 3-23 coming into today's show.

Make it 4-23.

Take a bow, Rodney.

As impressive as that was, Kelly Anne's performance on "Hole-in-One" was better. A quick explanation of the game: you have to sink a putt to win a car. How long that putt is depends on your ability to price grocery items. You're given six items, and you have to guess them in order from least to most expensive. The more you get right, the closer you get to the hole. If you blow it on the first one, you're looking at about a 14-foot putt. If you get all six, you have a tap-in for the car.

Kelly Anne got a pretty brutal set of groceries:

Lighter fluid? A five-gallon keg of root beer? If I had played this, I might have been looking at that 14-foot putt. Kelly Anne, however, went blackberries ($1.49), lighter fluid ($3.99), canola oil ($5.29), walnuts ($9.99), root beer keg ($18), pain reliever ($6.79)... All things considered, that's really damn good. I mean, I know that's a big-ass bag of walnuts, but really? $9.99?

So, Kelly Anne had to hit a three-footer...

...and completed her audition for a job in television, which she had been doing pretty much throughout the show.

Bidders' row FAIL
I admit I didn't have much faith in Kelly Anne after one of her first bids: $580, right after someone else bid $599. But she certainly righted the ship.

Poor Adam, on the other hand...

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 - Tweets of the Day (4/17/12)

The following are real tweets from real people during Tuesday's episode of The Price is Right, starting with our No. 1 Tweet of the Day. Enjoy.

 @creamzodes Trying to figure out which little tune is more upsetting, the sound when u die in super mario.. Or when someone loses on the price is right

@u_me_and_dupree never schedualing a class from 11-12 so i can watch the price is right #ilovecollege  (When you do SCHEDULE a class, though, make sure it teaches spelling - Ed.)

@tsnyder03 You might be a #bum when you skip class to cook a big breakfast and watch the price is right. #priorities #greatmorning

@Zeipen This dude on the price is right is #blazed

@hartley14 I love The Price Is Right but if i had it my way id never be awake before the show goes off

@TyreeHoffman The only reason I watch The Price Is Right everyday is to see that Hoveround commercial. "Hoveround takes me where I wanna go..."

@i_BOINK_barbies i take that last tweet about manuela on the price is right. . its Gwendolyn Osborne that i love. . think she married to kenny smith to (Nothing says "love" like getting one woman confused for another - Ed.)

@AdamTouchet Sitting in the waiting room. I think when they call my name I'm gonna go all "Getting called on The Price is Right"

The Price is Right - 4/17/12 Episode

Today's episode was shaping up to be the most boring since I first started this blog two weeks ago. No big wins, the game selection was dull, and not even a zany contestant to make fun of.

And then Lesure came in to save the day.

Lesure (pronounced like "leisure," which Drew Carey really seemed to enjoy) was the sixth and final contestant to make it on bidders' row. He seemed to hardly believe his luck...

...which only got better after his victory on bidders' row:

Not that it would have mattered, but note the fourth and final bid from Richard on the far left. $500 over the next highest bid? Sure, why not.

Lesure then got a chance to win a trip to Vegas - and some luggage to help him out - on "2 for the Price of 1." He was given two options for each of the three digits in the price of the luggage, and was given one digit of his choice for free. He went with the second, which proved to be a shrewd move, given that the first digit was an easy choice (the 6 instead of the 2), and a 5 is generally a decent bet for the last number.

The day soon got even better for Lesure, who endeared himself to the working man everywhere by informing everyone during his pre-pricing game interview that he is a dishwasher. Here he goes on the wheel:

Lesure then appealed (unsuccessfully) to a higher power on his bonus spin:

Unfortunately, the run ended in the Showcase, as he was over by $1,647 on his very pricey prizes: a trip to Monaco and a VW Jetta.

Lesure, to his credit, accepted his loss with dignity:

The Price is Right Files salutes you, Lesure.

The Price is Right - 4/16/12 Episode

Today was a rough day on stage for The Price is Right contestants, who went 0-for-6 in the pricing games.

There were some tough games today: 1/2 Off, Let 'Em Roll and The Race Game among them.

Contestants didn't exactly cover themselves in glory, though. We'll start in Lucky Seven, where Jennifer, after being given the '1' to start, went with '6' as the second number. Almost as a rule, if the first number is a '1' you have to go with '8' next. The Price is Right just doesn't do $16K cars. Go with the '8' and, at worst, you're giving Drew just $1, giving you $6 for the next three digits.

Losing those $2 right off the bat is a killer. Jennifer needed to get the last number right as a result. She didn't.

Then we have McKell on The Race Game. Admittedly, this is a tough game, given that you have to get the right price for four items, and you're racing against the clock to do it.

With the clock running against you, why on Earth are you looking back to the crowd?

Pointless celebrity appearances
Celebrity appearances on The Price is Right generally bring nothing to the show as is, but if you're going to do it, at least bring on somebody with stage presence. JR Martinez dancing with Gwendolyn two weeks ago was kinda cool. Curtis Stone last week at least had some enthusiasm.

Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin brought nothing to the table today. Visibly nervous on stage, she was brought out three separate times, including the Showcase (during which you could very clearly see her eyes moving across the teleprompter).

Heck, I'd rather have seen Daniel Goddard.

The Price is Right - Tweets of the Day (4/13/12)

The following are real tweets from real people during Friday's episode of The Price is Right, starting with our No. 1 Tweet of the Day. Enjoy.

 @ANDERSONshaun I wish I could have the audience from The Price Is Right follow me around and help me with life decisions.

@SuntanSnowman *Wins a trip to Hawaii on The Price Is Right* "Can I take Manuella with me? No? I don't wanna play."

@AshMas_86 This girls eyebrows on Price Is Right.....#woof

@JoeyCash570 I think this girl on the price is right is definitely a crackhead

@porkherchop you know you are unemployed when you know all the names of the showcase girls on the price is right

@lfry21 this girl on the price is right, just did a shout out to her "kitty" lmao

@drives_boats Watching the price is right....is it wrong to want to see someones hand get stuck in the wheel and pull them down ?

@MattFlanagann So many idiots on the price is right

@adler_dynasty some guy is wearing a cleveland browns shirt on the Price is Right.. what are the chances he wins?

@Spaeth_ I bet the models on The Price Is Right are always excited to hug the ugly contestants when they win something

@thebryangibson If i could have the voice of the announcer from the price is right i think id just cry...

@Jordz999 I swear the people on the price is right have never been in a social setting before - okay you've won a stereo, simmer

The Price is Right - 4/10/12 Episode

In an almost unprecedented show of common sense, the fourth contestant on bidders' row went either $1 higher than someone else or for just $1 ALL SIX ROUNDS.

It didn't always work out, but it was refreshing to see. I expect a return to bidding stupidity in the near future.

Not that all was well on bidders' row today. Question: What would you bid for a five-night stay in an ocean-view balcony room at an upscale boutique hotel on Catalina Island, with continental breakfast included, and access to a private beach cabana? Oh, and they take you there on a HELICOPTER.

Probably a little more than this, right?

The actual price was $3,172. Whoops.

Abbey (far right) gets a pass for her wise bid, of course, and her antics made for an interesting beginning to the show. Here she is giving Drew Carey the "We are not worthy" treatment:

And here's Abbey starring in today's episode of "White Girls Breakdancing on National Television":

Pricing game WIN
We were 0-for-4 on pricing games today (I'm counting $1,500 on Plinko as a loss) and it looked like we were heading for five straight defeats when Robert had to get the last digit in the price of the Toyota Yaris LE exactly right in Lucky Seven.