Series cast summary: | |||
Bob Barker | ... | Self - Host / ... 6,725 episodes, 1972-2019 | |
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Janice Pennington | ... | Self - Model / ... 5,511 episodes, 1972-2000 |
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Dian Parkinson | ... | Self - Model / ... 3,481 episodes, 1975-1993 |
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Holly Hallstrom | ... | Self - Model 3,480 episodes, 1977-1995 |
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Rod Roddy | ... | Self - Announcer / ... 3,090 episodes, 1985-2012 |
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Johnny Olson | ... | Self - Announcer / ... 2,841 episodes, 1972-2012 |
"Come on down!" "The Price Is Right" -- hosted by Bob Barker until 2007 and Drew Carey thereafter -- features a wide variety of games and contests with the same basic challenge: Guess the prices of everyday (or not-quite-everyday) retail items. Four contestants, all of whom are seated in one of the wildest audiences in daytime game-show history, are called to the stage to play a preliminary pricing round. That winner joins the host on stage for one of more than 70 different pricing games. After three such games, the contestants spin a big wheel -- hoping to get as close to $1 as possible -- in the "Showcase Showdown." The two highest winners of that round advance to the final, where prizes could be cars or roomsful of furniture. A trio of models presents the prizes. Written by Jwelch5742
If Bob Barker didn't exist, television would've had to invent him. His folksy and highly-controlled approach is slick, witty, charming, disarming and utterly appropriate for the populist realm of game shows.
Until "Who Wants To Be Millionaire?," you could safely assert that there was no more populist a game show than "The Price Is Right." The cross-section of people who "come on down" to play the game is as culturally diverse a melting pot as you'll find on television. And because of this, it is easy for the viewer to relate to the contestants, and to feel for their ups and downs.
Skillfully facilitating all of this is Barker, who is refreshingly old-school in his across-the-board respect for the contestants. And he doesn't have to strain to "sell" the pricing games to the viewers -- most are clever, challenging and enduring.
One of the interesting elements about "Price" is that a contestant can be inept as a pricer, but if they're lucky enough, they could still advance to win the "showcase" at the end of the show. The "anything can happen" element this creates helps make the show even more interesting, if occasionally frustrating. (It seems unfair to disqualify an excellent showcase guest that is over by a few hundred, while the "winning" guest is under by several thousand. But those are the rules.)
Cheers to Mr. Barker, and to Rod and "the beauties."