In Times of Trouble, Go to The Price is Right
For nearly 50 years, through good times and bad, there have been very few constants in life. One is The Price is Right, the stalwart CBS game show that had a reboot in 1972 starring Bob Barker (it was originally a show in 1956 hosted by Bill Cullen), and has been going strong ever since. Since 2007, the show has been hosted by Drew Carey.
The theme music remains the same, the “Come on down!” still brings excitement, and “It’s a brand new car!” never loses its thrill. Many of the games have been around for decades, with the same hokey special effects and garish props.
When I was a child, if I was home sick — either truly sick or faking it — it was my favorite show on daytime TV. And today, I can confidently say that it still makes me giddy.
During hard times, The Price is Right is my go-to panacea for all things wrong in the world. Look, I’m an educator, but we all need an hour away from the news channels and the textbooks and literature. I bet Barack and Michelle are closet TPIR watchers too.
I got into a brouhaha last spring, early in the pandemic, when I posted something critical on my Facebook page about NY Governor Andrew Cuomo’s daily briefings. We were living it daily and hearing the constant wail of sirens. I didn’t need another briefing. But, truth be told, he was always cutting off TPIR, usually right around the big wheel spin. Unforgivable.
In 1975, the big wheel was added (and the show expanded to an hour), and it was a brilliant move. One never tires of seeing the spinning wheel and screaming with joy when it lands on $1.00 for big money and a chance at the showcase.
When Bob Barker left after 35 years in 2007, there was concern that Drew Carey would not be able to fill Barker’s shoes. However, after a short adjustment period, I’ve come to love Drew even more, with his gentle snark and friendly rapport with the audience.
The show has featured some sixty or so pricing games; a few have been added since its inception, and many favorites are still around. I love “Pay the Rent,” a difficult game where you must pick items in order from least to most expensive items upwards through four floors of a house. I’m not sure I’ve seen anybody win that — the combination of items has to be just right.
Another relatively new game is “Rat Race,” where you win chances to pick a favorite colored rat, and then watch it race to the finish line for prizes from first, second, and third place.
Old standbys include “Cliff Hangers,” where the yodeling mountaineer climbs a slope and if you’ve missed the price by too much, it falls over the edge. “Time is Money” is another challenging game, where you must run back and forth and put items in their correct price category as a clock quickly counts down dollars lost. “Let Em Roll,” where cars and money are on five dice is also fun, but you have to get all five over three rolls to win the car.
The all-time favorite, though, is Plinko, where you win chances to drop what looks like a hockey puck into a giant grid and watch it slowly fall to the bottom where you hope it lands on $10,000. The game is so popular, there was once an episode where all the contestants played Plinko.
But the real star of the show is the audience. This fall, during the pandemic, they began a new season without a live audience (but sound effects of cheering). It absolutely does not work. You need to see them jump up from the audience and you need to see the interactions between the contestants and audience during the pricing games. Especially now, we are so tired of Zoom and connections that aren’t real connections.
And the audience (from which the contestants are chosen) is as diverse as can be.
I remember only recently seeing a 74-year-old man who thanked his husband Ray while spinning the wheel. He later won the showcase, and old Ray came up to join him as the audience cheered their big win.
Another time, there was a Muslim woman in a hijab, right up there winning and screaming like everybody else.
It is a place more democratic than any other — young and old, fit and not-so-fit, black and white and all other colors of the rainbow, and different religions. There are surely right-wingers and left-wingers sitting and standing elbow to elbow, but politics never enters the picture.
Some may say it glorifies materialism. It sure does, and I sometimes wonder why someone who lives in downtown Chicago is in a paroxysm of ecstasy over winning a hot tub or a sailboat.
Nevertheless, it’s really about the games, and the joy of the human mosaic uniting under the banner of winning big. In our heart of hearts, we all want to!
Luckily, many episodes (even going back to the Barker days) are available on YouTube, so you can watch them any time. It represents the best of the American spirit, and it’s that joyous spirit that gives me a lift. Every time.
