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 - 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:

 

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.