The Price is Right - 5/7/12 Episode (Part 1)

Robert won The Price is Right today.

And thanks to him, we now know the combined value of a set of Oakley his/her sunglasses and watches, Hyundai Sonata, $26,000 cash, six pairs of Asics running shoes and a BMW 128i Coupe.

That is an astronomical figure.

And as if that wasn't enough, he even got to wear a legit Olympic gold medal, courtesy of U.S. decathlete Bryan Clay.

He was way more pumped about the possibility of winning the Hyundai Sonata, though:

And he won it, playing the (formerly?) difficult "That's Too Much." I say formerly in parentheses because that's three winners in the last month on a game that had barely been won at all this season. He even rode it almost to the end before saying, "That's Too Much," which almost never works. But it did today.

I'm not even going to bother with a video of it (click here if you need a reminder on how it's played) because it wasn't his biggest highlight. After spinning 40-60 for a dollar (and $1,000 cash) on the wheel, here's his bonus spin:

Any time you hear this sound, you know something big has just happened.

To cap it off, Robert won the sneakers/BMW Showcase with a bid of $31,229 (actual price: $37,125). Given that his opponent, Megan, vastly underbid the first Showcase ($22,253 for a hot tub, trip to Hawaii and an African safari), I wouldn't put it past Robert to have purposely bid well under, but close enough that he knew he'd have it won. There's a certain advantage to bidding on the second Showcase, depending on what the first bidder has done. Whether he did it on purpose or not, Robert took full advantage.

And as if all of that wasn't enough, he got in a super-long hug with Rachel after his pricing game victory.

Click here for Part 2 of my recap of the May 7, 2012 episode of The Price is Right.

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 - 4/11/12 Episode

Few things on The Price is Right get the studio crowd and viewers at home going more than a really old contestant.

Today's instant fan favorite was Leela, who won on her first go on bidders' row.

The crowd went bananas, chanting Leela's name and everything:

And what does every old person who can't walk up a flight of stairs without assistance need?

A new pickup truck! Of course!

Leela could hardly believe it...

In a cruel twist of fate, however, poor Leela got one of The Price is Right's most difficult games:

She did not win. Nor did she win on the wheel, despite a helping hand from Drew Carey:

In the Twitter-verse, most fans simply adored Leela in her quest for glory. Not everyone, though:

 @MissAudreySue There is no way this million year old lady can drive this ford f150 on the price is right

@IceburrgSlim Why do they put old people on The Price Is Right? What they gonna do with a brand new car, go to the grocery store?

Cruel bounce of the day
With help from Publishers' Clearing House, Andrea had a chance to win $40,000 with her final Plinko chip ($20,000 today plus the $20,000 rolled over from yesterday). It was looking good, but...

So, tomorrow the big prize is $60,000. This is lining up for someone to win $80,000 on Friday, isn't it? Not that I'm suggesting it's fixed.

The Price is Right - 4/4/12 Episode

We'll start off with our highlight of the day.

There's a lot going on here: The crowd's reaction during the game, Alyssa's understated response upon victory, and... somebody actually won That's Too Much! (which almost never happens)

Who's booing now?!

Contrast that with poor Veronica, who suffered the ignominious fate of being one of the first four contestants on bidders' row and then never making it on stage. Of course, when you do stuff like bid a dollar higher than someone when you're only the second bidder...