...but since I don't maintain a general write-anything-I-want blog anymore, I'll just put it here, because I think it's kind of cool. Elissa won her middle school spelling bee this morning. She beat out 11 other contestants in front of an audience that included essentially the entire school plus parents/relatives of the spellers. Those who read the old "They Call Me Daddy" blog might remember that she finished third last year as a 6th-grader, which I thought was pretty good considering that half of the other contestants were older than she was (7th- and 8th-graders).
Anyway, this year the final two spellers were Elissa and this 5th-grade girl who was really good. I mean, she was scary good, to the point that it was almost shocking that she missed a word. The bookies in Vegas have already made her the favorite to unseat Elissa in next year's spelling bee...
The victory qualifies Elissa to compete in the tri-county spelling bee on Feb. 22. I have no idea where it's being held, but I do know that the winner of that competition will go on to the granddaddy of spelling bees -- the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C., which I think is held in March. Quite honestly, Elissa probably isn't of the caliber that you need to be to get past the tri-county level, but I told her that a good goal might be to survive two rounds there.
OK, that's enough parental bragging. Regarding the Price Is Right, the only thing left to note that might be of any interest is the fact that I'll be writing an article about my experience for The News-Herald. I imagine it will run in the paper the same day the episode airs (Friday, Feb. 16). They'll probably run a little brief the day before just letting people know that I'll be on.
As always, thanks for reading. And thanks especially for putting up with me trumpeting my daughter's achievement to the world...
Friday, January 26, 2007
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Imagine if I had done something actually noteworthy
My good buddy Sarah Crump at the Cleveland Plain Dealer was nice enough to lead off her column this morning with a little item about my "Price Is Right" adventure. She even gave the address of this blog. Had I known she was going to do that, I would have tidied the place up a little bit. Oh well.
Anyway, you can click here if you're interested in reading what Sarah wrote.
Anyway, you can click here if you're interested in reading what Sarah wrote.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
The rundown - Part II - Come on down? Me?
So the show starts, everyone's screaming, we have great seats, and life couldn't get much better at this point, ya know? The noise is pretty overwhelming, which is why they actually hold up cue cards with the names of the first four contestants on them (because you probably won't be able to hear the announcer call your name over all the din).
The first contestant called up was sitting right in front of me. I had talked to her earlier. She was from Hawaii and her name, I believe, was something like Georgialyn. She and her husband went nuts, and she got up to take her place on Contestants Row. Then I believe a woman was called down, but I can't remember who it was (Brenda? I'm drawing a blank.) The third person called was John, a kid from New Orleans who will play a more significant role in this tale later on.
And then it happened. After John made his way to the front, the stage manager dropped the cue card with John's name to reveal...one with my name on it. There it was in big block letters: "Scott Tennant." Hey, come to think of it, they let me keep the cue card and take it home. Here's a picture of me holding it the night I got home:
Notice I also have my handy dandy "Price Is Right" name tag in that photo, too. That's a great souvenir if I've ever seen one.
Anyway, I remember faintly hearing Rich Fields yell out, "Scott Tennant, come on down!" But it would be a few seconds before I would actually "come on down." First I jumped up out of my seat and yelled something I can't even recall. Then I turned around and started screaming toward the people behind me. I have no idea why, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Somewhere in there I also jumped up and down and yelled a few more things. It's pretty much a blur, but I know there was a shot of adrenaline and some extreme happiness thrown in there.
Then it occurred to me that I probably should take my place with the other contestants, so I tripped and stumbled my way down the row to get to the aisle. When I got there I made the short sprint to Contestants Row and immediately got one or two of my competitors into a big hug. We were all just so happy to be there, I think we were delirious.
Of course, if you've ever watched "The Price Is Right," you know that Bob gets introduced immediately after the fourth contestant (me) is called down. But I didn't see or hear any of it. I was too busy celebrating to notice that Mr. B was suddenly on the stage right in front of me, holding that famous long microphone. I remember thinking, "Where the @*$%?! did he come from?" And just as quickly, there was Bob saying something about "the first item up for bids."
Bids? Bids?!? Yeah, that's right, we had to bid on something. You're so pumped about being called down that you forget there's a game to be played. One of the Barker Beauties brought out a display of four electric guitars, the description of which I didn't even catch (it was still hard to hear Rich Fields talking). And since I was the last contestant called down, I had to make the first bid on them. I assume Bob said something like, "Scott, you're our first bidder," but I never heard it...he was just looking at me all of the sudden.
Now this is where my extensive "Price Is Right" research paid off a little. As you'll recall, I had made pages and pages of notes in the previous weeks, jotting down various prizes, their prices, game strategies, showcase totals, etc. And I distinctly remembered a set of four electric guitars being offered for $1,999 (it stood out in my mind because I had thought they were a little overpriced). So I was going to bid something like $1,900.
But just before I was about to make my bid, I heard a woman behind me say, in a very authoratative tone, "That is $2,100." She sounded so sure of herself that I just blurted out that exact amount as my bid, not really even thinking as I did it. Bob then went down the row and got the others' bids. I didn't catch them all, but I think someone bid $2,000 and someone else went with $1,800 or something. Then Bob pulled out his little card and announced the actual retail price as $2,147 (or maybe it was $2,164...again, can't recall), and pointed at me as the winner.
By this time, I was past the "you've got to be kidding me" stage. Everything was so strange that actually winning the first item up for bids barely phased me. I'm pretty sure I walked up the correct set of stairs to the stage (you're supposed to take the stairs on the left, because that's where the cameras are trained...there's even a little notice on the console in front of you telling you which way to go), and lo and behold, I was suddenly shaking hands with one Bob Barker - King of Game Show Hosts and Master of All Things Priced.
I had thought ahead about the exact words I would use if I got to meet Bob, and so I said to him, "Mr. Barker, sir, it's an honor." He replied that it was very nice of me to say that, then indicated I should stand on his right side, rather than his left. They brought out the pricing game I would play, which turned out to be Flip-Flop.
Flip-Flop isn't a classic or even especially well-liked TPIR game. I would classify it among the space fillers that take up time until they bring out the cool games like Plinko or Cliffhangers (i.e., The Little Yodeling Guy Game). But hey, what did I care? I was standing on the "Price Is Right" stage with a chance to win another decent prize. If I had to play Flip-Flop, then so be it.
Flip-Flop is pretty simple. You're shown a prize, and then you're shown two rotating squares with numbers on them. You have to flip the squares to show what you believe to be the correct price of the prize. In my case, the prize was a nice sauna, which I immediately tabbed as a $5,000 or so item (an assessment that would turn out to be correct).
Here's the only photo of Flip-Flop I could find on Google Images. It's not a huge image, but it gives you an idea of what the game looks like:
When they brought the Flip-Flop board out, the first square had "25" on it, while the second read "45." So that would be a price of $2,545, if I were to just leave the two squares as they were. I would have to decide whether to flip the first square (thus changing it from "25" to "52"), the second square (changing it from "45" to "54"), both squares, or neither square.
Right away I knew it was probably wise to flip the first square, since a price of $5,200 made a lot more sense for a sauna than a price of $2,500. So I flipped it, turned to the audience and immediately saw they approved. Then came the hard decision. Was the price $5,245 or $5,254? It was really a toss-up, and you can argue that it's almost unfair to make someone take a 50-50 guess in order to win a game (I mean, the difference in the two prices is only nine dollars...how should I or anyone else know for sure how much a sauna is down to the last dollar?)
Anyway, the majority of the audience seemed to be saying that I should leave the second two numbers as they were, thus making my official guess $5,245. (I do remember seeing one lady in the back of the studio frantically waving that I should flop the second square, but I decided to go with the consensus and leave it alone).
So at that point, Bob leaned over and acted like he was going to hit the red button to reveal the correct price of the sauna, but then he stood up, looked at me, and said, "Do you know, I hit this button last week and cut myself right here on my hand?" He showed me his hand, which wasn't really cut but it made for good schtick. I said something like, "That's terrible, Bob," and he agreed. He then asked if I wanted to hit the button myself, which is pretty funny in that he's essentially saying, "It's better for you, the lowly contestant, to get injured doing this instead of me, the royal host."
Anyway, I said that sure, I would love to do it. So I hit the button, the correct price came up, and....I was wrong. The actual retail price of the sauna was $5,254. Who knew? I made the wrong guess, but I wasn't really all that disappointed. I knew I would be coming back later to spin the big wheel, which is every "Price Is Right" fan's dream.
During the ensuing commercial break they sat me down in the front row chairs on the left side of the studio. They keep that row open for contestants who are waiting to go back on stage. While the second contestant (Georgialyn) played her pricing game, I was asked to fill out a contestant release form. I didn't feel all that nervous, but my hand was shaking hard enough that it was difficult to write.
As it turned out, all three of us who were contestants on the first half of the show lost our pricing games. So when we took the stage to spin the wheel, we were placed in descending order of the value of the prizes we had won on Contestants Row. Georgialyn was first because she had won a motorcycle. I was second, and one other person (who I just can't seem to remember, though it might have been the mysterious "Brenda" I mentioned earlier) was third. I can't wait to watch the actual show on Feb. 16 to fill in the blanks in my memory.
I also can't remember if it took her one or two spins to do it, but Georgialyn ended up with a score of 70 cents. Not bad, but not unbeatable, either. Bob then asked me to step forward and try my hand at it. I grabbed one of the metal handles on the side of the wheel and gave it a whirl. And let me say, that thing is pretty big and bulky. It takes a good effort to get it to go around two or three times, and I can understand why some older folks have trouble getting it to make even one complete revolution.
I think I got it to go around almost three times, and it finally stopped on 60 cents. "Drat," I thought, "odds are I'm going to go over now." Just before my second spin, as I turned my back to him, Bob noticed the writing on the back of my shirt, and he said something like, "Look at his shirt. It says, 'Mommy needs a hot tub.'" And I thought, "Yeah, Bob, but did you notice the front? The back doesn't mean much without the front (the picture of my kids holding the sign reading, 'Daddy needs a new car.)'"
Anyway, as my second spin was slowing down, it looked as if the wheel was going to stop on 90 cents, which would have put me way, way over the $1 target. But amazingly, it had enough momentum to go one click beyond the 90-cent space and land on...25 cents. Sixty and twenty-five make 85 cents, which put me into the lead. Yikes! Now this was getting serious. I was just one more contestant away from a spot in the Showcase Showdown!
So the last contestant spun the wheel, and I think she went over, but had a shot at beating me on her second spin. Something like that. The point was, I had won the first half and was going to play for the big prizes at the end of the show. Again, the realization of that fact barely moved me. I remember a similar feeling when I was on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." You're suddenly in "Game Show Mode," and the scope of what you're doing utterly escapes you. You could have told me I had just won a million dollars and I would have said, "Really? Cool."
First, though, I had to sit through the second half of the show, in which all three contestants did very well. All three won their pricing games, including John, the kid who had been called down in the initial group with me. He won the very last item up for bids, then proceded to win his pricing game (earning trips to Montreal and Matzalan) and to spin $1 on the wheel (earning a $1,000 bonus).
Another contestant during that second half was Michael, the crazy guy from Rochester with whom Dave and I had made fast friends. He played the Checkout Game and, despite being utterly ignorant when it comes to grocery prices, managed to win a sofa, love seat and jade globe.
At this point, I should mention that the taping of the show is almost done in real time. The commercial breaks are only a little longer than they will be when the show actually airs. During those breaks, Bob takes questions from the audience, and he always has some witty response ready. It's obvious he gets essentially the same questions almost every day. My two favorites:
AUDIENCE MEMBER: What will happen to the show after you retire?
BOB: The show and all television will cease to exist when I retire.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: What will you do after you retire?
BOB: I have a rocking chair, so I'll sit in that and wear a shawl that a former lady friend gave to me. On one side of me will be my dog, and on the other side I'll have a bottle of tequila.
He also mentioned that they wanted to make a sequel to the movie "Happy Gilmore," but Adam Sandler's doctors wouldn't allow him to take another beating (which only makes sense if you've actually seen "Happy Gilmore," in which Bob makes a cameo appearance.)
During the course of the show, two different games malfunctioned (1/2 Off and Michael's Checkout Game). When that happens, they stop tape and try to fix whatever is wrong. In both instances, Bob spotted the errors right away and helped set things straight. The guy might be 83 years old, but when it comes to the show itself, he's sharp as a tack.
Anyway, because John won his half of the show by spinning a dollar on the wheel, he would take on me in the Showcase Showdown. He was a far bigger winner than I was, so he had the option of bidding or passing on the first showcase. Before it started, though, they brought both of us up on stage and stood us behind our respective podiums (me behind red, John behind blue). Roger Dobkowitz, the long-time producer of the show, came over to talk to us a little about what was going to happen. He told John that while he had the option of passing the first showcase to me, that move is always a gamble. Sometimes, the second showcase is actually worth less than the first.
I should mention here that John's head was spinning throughout all of this. You could tell he just couldn't comprehend what was happening. He was a nice kid, though, so I leaned over and told him to take a deep breath and enjoy what was going on. In retrospect, I should have found a way to turn up the pressure on him even more...
John's showcase consisted of a trip to New England, a camper, and a Dodge Ram truck. He bid $37,000, causing the audience to release a collective groan. Most people in that studio figured he had bid too much, including me. As far as I was concerned, all I had to do was put in a really low bid for my showcase and I would end up winning the whole thing. Admittedly, that thought made me pretty excited.
My showcase featured a nice dinette set, Noritake dinnerware service for 12 (I think), and a Dodge Magnum car. I figured the actual retail price was in the range of $25,000, but as I said, I didn't want to come anywhere near overbidding. So I gave my bid as $20,100...don't ask me where I pulled that particular number from.
When we returned from the commercial break, Bob revealed the actual retail price of my showcase first. It was $29,995, leaving my bid $9,895 under. That's pretty bad, but I really wasn't that worried. I was convinced that John had gone over. But when Bob read the price of John's showcase, it was a little over $38,000, a difference of only a little more than a thousand bucks. John had won. I congratulated him and was led off the stage while John celebrated with his friends and the Barker Beauties. The one thing that makes me feel OK about it is that, even if I had known how close John's bid was, I never would have come that close to the price of my own showcase. Even my best bid would have been $4,000 or so short, so I wasn't going to win anyway.
After the show ended, all of us who had won anything were led to a room behind the studio to fill out paperwork concerning our prizes. One sheet was an "Acknowledgement of Prizes," while another was our contestant release form, another was in case we wanted to forfeit any prizes, and the last was a postcard we need to send in if our prizes don't arrive by May 16 (three months after the air date of the show).
Many people have asked me about the tax implications of winning on "The Price Is Right." Simply put, I'll receive a 1099-MISC form from CBS this time next year, indicating that I won $2,164 in prizes on the show. I'll have to pay taxes on that amount.
After I signed my forms, I found myself in the flow of people walking down the stairs and out of the studio. Many congratulated me and told they thought I had won the Showcase Showdown. Like me, they were surprised that John's showcase was as expensive as it was. I then met up with Dave and we went to the hotel to make phone calls back home to spread the news (and speaking of the hotel, they have a wall of fame of "Price Is Right" winners in their lobby...they took a Polaroid picture of me and enshrined me in that special group of people). Later we went to Johnny Rockets restaurant for a celebratory dinner.
I've told this story -- in mercifully condensed form -- several times in the past week, and no matter the person to whom I was speaking, I've been saying the same thing: This whole adventure was never about the money or the prizes. It was about seeing a taping of a show I had been watching since the mid-70's, and maybe even becoming a contestant. I got to do both, which is far more than I could have asked for.
As for the guitars, many people have been asking what we're going to do with them. They're Daisy guitars, which as it turns out are guitars made with little girls in mind. The size of the guitars is geared to that demographic, as are the color and shapes of the instruments. Terry and I haven't talked about it much in depth, but I suspect that most (if not all) of the guitars will end up on eBay. The problem is, there are lots of Daisy guitars for sale there, and most don't sell at all because people are asking too much. From what I can see, you've got to be willing to accept a price of $150 to $200 for each guitar if you want them to move.
Anyway, that's pretty much it. The show is scheduled to air on Friday, Feb. 16. We'll probably have a little get-together at the house that day, though I'm not sure whether it will be during the day as we watch the show live, or at night as we watch a taped version. Either way, I'm looking fowward to it.
Finally, this last picture has nothing to do with anything discussed above, but I wanted to find a way to post it because I just love it so much. I'm sure Jack will love it, too, when he's older...
Thanks for reading! (NOTE: I'll leave the blog up until after the show airs, adding a post or two here or there as events warrant.)
The first contestant called up was sitting right in front of me. I had talked to her earlier. She was from Hawaii and her name, I believe, was something like Georgialyn. She and her husband went nuts, and she got up to take her place on Contestants Row. Then I believe a woman was called down, but I can't remember who it was (Brenda? I'm drawing a blank.) The third person called was John, a kid from New Orleans who will play a more significant role in this tale later on.
And then it happened. After John made his way to the front, the stage manager dropped the cue card with John's name to reveal...one with my name on it. There it was in big block letters: "Scott Tennant." Hey, come to think of it, they let me keep the cue card and take it home. Here's a picture of me holding it the night I got home:
Notice I also have my handy dandy "Price Is Right" name tag in that photo, too. That's a great souvenir if I've ever seen one.
Anyway, I remember faintly hearing Rich Fields yell out, "Scott Tennant, come on down!" But it would be a few seconds before I would actually "come on down." First I jumped up out of my seat and yelled something I can't even recall. Then I turned around and started screaming toward the people behind me. I have no idea why, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Somewhere in there I also jumped up and down and yelled a few more things. It's pretty much a blur, but I know there was a shot of adrenaline and some extreme happiness thrown in there.
Then it occurred to me that I probably should take my place with the other contestants, so I tripped and stumbled my way down the row to get to the aisle. When I got there I made the short sprint to Contestants Row and immediately got one or two of my competitors into a big hug. We were all just so happy to be there, I think we were delirious.
Of course, if you've ever watched "The Price Is Right," you know that Bob gets introduced immediately after the fourth contestant (me) is called down. But I didn't see or hear any of it. I was too busy celebrating to notice that Mr. B was suddenly on the stage right in front of me, holding that famous long microphone. I remember thinking, "Where the @*$%?! did he come from?" And just as quickly, there was Bob saying something about "the first item up for bids."
Bids? Bids?!? Yeah, that's right, we had to bid on something. You're so pumped about being called down that you forget there's a game to be played. One of the Barker Beauties brought out a display of four electric guitars, the description of which I didn't even catch (it was still hard to hear Rich Fields talking). And since I was the last contestant called down, I had to make the first bid on them. I assume Bob said something like, "Scott, you're our first bidder," but I never heard it...he was just looking at me all of the sudden.
Now this is where my extensive "Price Is Right" research paid off a little. As you'll recall, I had made pages and pages of notes in the previous weeks, jotting down various prizes, their prices, game strategies, showcase totals, etc. And I distinctly remembered a set of four electric guitars being offered for $1,999 (it stood out in my mind because I had thought they were a little overpriced). So I was going to bid something like $1,900.
But just before I was about to make my bid, I heard a woman behind me say, in a very authoratative tone, "That is $2,100." She sounded so sure of herself that I just blurted out that exact amount as my bid, not really even thinking as I did it. Bob then went down the row and got the others' bids. I didn't catch them all, but I think someone bid $2,000 and someone else went with $1,800 or something. Then Bob pulled out his little card and announced the actual retail price as $2,147 (or maybe it was $2,164...again, can't recall), and pointed at me as the winner.
By this time, I was past the "you've got to be kidding me" stage. Everything was so strange that actually winning the first item up for bids barely phased me. I'm pretty sure I walked up the correct set of stairs to the stage (you're supposed to take the stairs on the left, because that's where the cameras are trained...there's even a little notice on the console in front of you telling you which way to go), and lo and behold, I was suddenly shaking hands with one Bob Barker - King of Game Show Hosts and Master of All Things Priced.
I had thought ahead about the exact words I would use if I got to meet Bob, and so I said to him, "Mr. Barker, sir, it's an honor." He replied that it was very nice of me to say that, then indicated I should stand on his right side, rather than his left. They brought out the pricing game I would play, which turned out to be Flip-Flop.
Flip-Flop isn't a classic or even especially well-liked TPIR game. I would classify it among the space fillers that take up time until they bring out the cool games like Plinko or Cliffhangers (i.e., The Little Yodeling Guy Game). But hey, what did I care? I was standing on the "Price Is Right" stage with a chance to win another decent prize. If I had to play Flip-Flop, then so be it.
Flip-Flop is pretty simple. You're shown a prize, and then you're shown two rotating squares with numbers on them. You have to flip the squares to show what you believe to be the correct price of the prize. In my case, the prize was a nice sauna, which I immediately tabbed as a $5,000 or so item (an assessment that would turn out to be correct).
Here's the only photo of Flip-Flop I could find on Google Images. It's not a huge image, but it gives you an idea of what the game looks like:
When they brought the Flip-Flop board out, the first square had "25" on it, while the second read "45." So that would be a price of $2,545, if I were to just leave the two squares as they were. I would have to decide whether to flip the first square (thus changing it from "25" to "52"), the second square (changing it from "45" to "54"), both squares, or neither square.
Right away I knew it was probably wise to flip the first square, since a price of $5,200 made a lot more sense for a sauna than a price of $2,500. So I flipped it, turned to the audience and immediately saw they approved. Then came the hard decision. Was the price $5,245 or $5,254? It was really a toss-up, and you can argue that it's almost unfair to make someone take a 50-50 guess in order to win a game (I mean, the difference in the two prices is only nine dollars...how should I or anyone else know for sure how much a sauna is down to the last dollar?)
Anyway, the majority of the audience seemed to be saying that I should leave the second two numbers as they were, thus making my official guess $5,245. (I do remember seeing one lady in the back of the studio frantically waving that I should flop the second square, but I decided to go with the consensus and leave it alone).
So at that point, Bob leaned over and acted like he was going to hit the red button to reveal the correct price of the sauna, but then he stood up, looked at me, and said, "Do you know, I hit this button last week and cut myself right here on my hand?" He showed me his hand, which wasn't really cut but it made for good schtick. I said something like, "That's terrible, Bob," and he agreed. He then asked if I wanted to hit the button myself, which is pretty funny in that he's essentially saying, "It's better for you, the lowly contestant, to get injured doing this instead of me, the royal host."
Anyway, I said that sure, I would love to do it. So I hit the button, the correct price came up, and....I was wrong. The actual retail price of the sauna was $5,254. Who knew? I made the wrong guess, but I wasn't really all that disappointed. I knew I would be coming back later to spin the big wheel, which is every "Price Is Right" fan's dream.
During the ensuing commercial break they sat me down in the front row chairs on the left side of the studio. They keep that row open for contestants who are waiting to go back on stage. While the second contestant (Georgialyn) played her pricing game, I was asked to fill out a contestant release form. I didn't feel all that nervous, but my hand was shaking hard enough that it was difficult to write.
As it turned out, all three of us who were contestants on the first half of the show lost our pricing games. So when we took the stage to spin the wheel, we were placed in descending order of the value of the prizes we had won on Contestants Row. Georgialyn was first because she had won a motorcycle. I was second, and one other person (who I just can't seem to remember, though it might have been the mysterious "Brenda" I mentioned earlier) was third. I can't wait to watch the actual show on Feb. 16 to fill in the blanks in my memory.
I also can't remember if it took her one or two spins to do it, but Georgialyn ended up with a score of 70 cents. Not bad, but not unbeatable, either. Bob then asked me to step forward and try my hand at it. I grabbed one of the metal handles on the side of the wheel and gave it a whirl. And let me say, that thing is pretty big and bulky. It takes a good effort to get it to go around two or three times, and I can understand why some older folks have trouble getting it to make even one complete revolution.
I think I got it to go around almost three times, and it finally stopped on 60 cents. "Drat," I thought, "odds are I'm going to go over now." Just before my second spin, as I turned my back to him, Bob noticed the writing on the back of my shirt, and he said something like, "Look at his shirt. It says, 'Mommy needs a hot tub.'" And I thought, "Yeah, Bob, but did you notice the front? The back doesn't mean much without the front (the picture of my kids holding the sign reading, 'Daddy needs a new car.)'"
Anyway, as my second spin was slowing down, it looked as if the wheel was going to stop on 90 cents, which would have put me way, way over the $1 target. But amazingly, it had enough momentum to go one click beyond the 90-cent space and land on...25 cents. Sixty and twenty-five make 85 cents, which put me into the lead. Yikes! Now this was getting serious. I was just one more contestant away from a spot in the Showcase Showdown!
So the last contestant spun the wheel, and I think she went over, but had a shot at beating me on her second spin. Something like that. The point was, I had won the first half and was going to play for the big prizes at the end of the show. Again, the realization of that fact barely moved me. I remember a similar feeling when I was on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." You're suddenly in "Game Show Mode," and the scope of what you're doing utterly escapes you. You could have told me I had just won a million dollars and I would have said, "Really? Cool."
First, though, I had to sit through the second half of the show, in which all three contestants did very well. All three won their pricing games, including John, the kid who had been called down in the initial group with me. He won the very last item up for bids, then proceded to win his pricing game (earning trips to Montreal and Matzalan) and to spin $1 on the wheel (earning a $1,000 bonus).
Another contestant during that second half was Michael, the crazy guy from Rochester with whom Dave and I had made fast friends. He played the Checkout Game and, despite being utterly ignorant when it comes to grocery prices, managed to win a sofa, love seat and jade globe.
At this point, I should mention that the taping of the show is almost done in real time. The commercial breaks are only a little longer than they will be when the show actually airs. During those breaks, Bob takes questions from the audience, and he always has some witty response ready. It's obvious he gets essentially the same questions almost every day. My two favorites:
AUDIENCE MEMBER: What will happen to the show after you retire?
BOB: The show and all television will cease to exist when I retire.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: What will you do after you retire?
BOB: I have a rocking chair, so I'll sit in that and wear a shawl that a former lady friend gave to me. On one side of me will be my dog, and on the other side I'll have a bottle of tequila.
He also mentioned that they wanted to make a sequel to the movie "Happy Gilmore," but Adam Sandler's doctors wouldn't allow him to take another beating (which only makes sense if you've actually seen "Happy Gilmore," in which Bob makes a cameo appearance.)
During the course of the show, two different games malfunctioned (1/2 Off and Michael's Checkout Game). When that happens, they stop tape and try to fix whatever is wrong. In both instances, Bob spotted the errors right away and helped set things straight. The guy might be 83 years old, but when it comes to the show itself, he's sharp as a tack.
Anyway, because John won his half of the show by spinning a dollar on the wheel, he would take on me in the Showcase Showdown. He was a far bigger winner than I was, so he had the option of bidding or passing on the first showcase. Before it started, though, they brought both of us up on stage and stood us behind our respective podiums (me behind red, John behind blue). Roger Dobkowitz, the long-time producer of the show, came over to talk to us a little about what was going to happen. He told John that while he had the option of passing the first showcase to me, that move is always a gamble. Sometimes, the second showcase is actually worth less than the first.
I should mention here that John's head was spinning throughout all of this. You could tell he just couldn't comprehend what was happening. He was a nice kid, though, so I leaned over and told him to take a deep breath and enjoy what was going on. In retrospect, I should have found a way to turn up the pressure on him even more...
John's showcase consisted of a trip to New England, a camper, and a Dodge Ram truck. He bid $37,000, causing the audience to release a collective groan. Most people in that studio figured he had bid too much, including me. As far as I was concerned, all I had to do was put in a really low bid for my showcase and I would end up winning the whole thing. Admittedly, that thought made me pretty excited.
My showcase featured a nice dinette set, Noritake dinnerware service for 12 (I think), and a Dodge Magnum car. I figured the actual retail price was in the range of $25,000, but as I said, I didn't want to come anywhere near overbidding. So I gave my bid as $20,100...don't ask me where I pulled that particular number from.
When we returned from the commercial break, Bob revealed the actual retail price of my showcase first. It was $29,995, leaving my bid $9,895 under. That's pretty bad, but I really wasn't that worried. I was convinced that John had gone over. But when Bob read the price of John's showcase, it was a little over $38,000, a difference of only a little more than a thousand bucks. John had won. I congratulated him and was led off the stage while John celebrated with his friends and the Barker Beauties. The one thing that makes me feel OK about it is that, even if I had known how close John's bid was, I never would have come that close to the price of my own showcase. Even my best bid would have been $4,000 or so short, so I wasn't going to win anyway.
After the show ended, all of us who had won anything were led to a room behind the studio to fill out paperwork concerning our prizes. One sheet was an "Acknowledgement of Prizes," while another was our contestant release form, another was in case we wanted to forfeit any prizes, and the last was a postcard we need to send in if our prizes don't arrive by May 16 (three months after the air date of the show).
Many people have asked me about the tax implications of winning on "The Price Is Right." Simply put, I'll receive a 1099-MISC form from CBS this time next year, indicating that I won $2,164 in prizes on the show. I'll have to pay taxes on that amount.
After I signed my forms, I found myself in the flow of people walking down the stairs and out of the studio. Many congratulated me and told they thought I had won the Showcase Showdown. Like me, they were surprised that John's showcase was as expensive as it was. I then met up with Dave and we went to the hotel to make phone calls back home to spread the news (and speaking of the hotel, they have a wall of fame of "Price Is Right" winners in their lobby...they took a Polaroid picture of me and enshrined me in that special group of people). Later we went to Johnny Rockets restaurant for a celebratory dinner.
I've told this story -- in mercifully condensed form -- several times in the past week, and no matter the person to whom I was speaking, I've been saying the same thing: This whole adventure was never about the money or the prizes. It was about seeing a taping of a show I had been watching since the mid-70's, and maybe even becoming a contestant. I got to do both, which is far more than I could have asked for.
As for the guitars, many people have been asking what we're going to do with them. They're Daisy guitars, which as it turns out are guitars made with little girls in mind. The size of the guitars is geared to that demographic, as are the color and shapes of the instruments. Terry and I haven't talked about it much in depth, but I suspect that most (if not all) of the guitars will end up on eBay. The problem is, there are lots of Daisy guitars for sale there, and most don't sell at all because people are asking too much. From what I can see, you've got to be willing to accept a price of $150 to $200 for each guitar if you want them to move.
Anyway, that's pretty much it. The show is scheduled to air on Friday, Feb. 16. We'll probably have a little get-together at the house that day, though I'm not sure whether it will be during the day as we watch the show live, or at night as we watch a taped version. Either way, I'm looking fowward to it.
Finally, this last picture has nothing to do with anything discussed above, but I wanted to find a way to post it because I just love it so much. I'm sure Jack will love it, too, when he's older...
Thanks for reading! (NOTE: I'll leave the blog up until after the show airs, adding a post or two here or there as events warrant.)
Friday, January 12, 2007
The rundown - Part I - Waiting, waiting and more waiting
I really owe you people a post. Things have been a little hectic since we got back, so I apologize for the delay (assuming that any of you really care...it's entirely possible that I'm the only one who will ever read these words).
Anyway, why don't we pick things up from about 6:30 Tuesday morning, which was the last time you heard from us until after the taping had actually ended. As you might recall, we received our order-of-arrival slips at 6 a.m., having just completed an almost-five-hour wait on the sidewalk in front of CBS Television City.
Here by the way, is a photo of the sidewalk on which we waited, taken from across the street:
That whole sidewalk (and beyond) was packed with people when the CBS gates opened at 6. Here's a closer shot of the area in which we actually stood/sat/waited:
Looks comfy, doesn't it? And here's the bagel shop from which we rented our chairs (and which I'm sure makes a killing on "Price Is Right" audience members doing the overnight wait):
So we came back at 7:30 a.m. as instructed and sat on long metal benches in numerical order of arrival. These benches constitute the audience holding area, where we spent quite a bit of time over the next several hours. Unfortunately, though, I don't have any photos of them because I left my cell phone back in the hotel room, since you can't take any electronic devices into the studio.
Once we were all seated, we received a nice pep talk from Chuck, the contestant coordinator who would shepherd us through the whole process. Chuck was a contestant himself back in March of '05 and loved it so much that he applied for a job on the show. Now he apparently heads up the contestant babysitting process. A great American success story, really.
Chuck went around and talked to each and every person there to find out where we were all from. Later he asked if anyone was celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, divorces (really), etc. Then he gave us some further instructions and we were issued our official priority numbers. Dave was #68 and I was #69 (very similar to our order-of-arrival slips), and we were given our last bit of freedom for the day, being told to come back at 9:30 a.m.
Dave and I went and had breakfast at this nice little deli in an outdoor market -- yes, Ohioans, how often do you get to eat breakfast outside in January??. Dave felt a little sick after breakfast, like he was going to throw up or something, but thankfully it passed and we went back to our room. I was going to post a blog update at that point, but Blogger.com chose that time to go on the fritz, so I couldn't.
Anyway, we went back at 9:30, and from there I'm a little fuzzy on the next few hours. It was a lot of waiting, I remember, but I know it included a few things:
- Getting a yellow contestant card, half of which we had to fill out with name, Social Security number, etc., tear off and give to a CBS page.
- Getting our official "Price Is Right" name tags, a highlight of the day for everyone involved. Chuck wrote out all the tags, and as I told him when he passed by, the man has some nice handwriting.
- Getting another pep talk from Chuck. Only this time, it was a real pep talk. He got us all excited about the show and our role in it, and he had us practice cheering for Bob, which everyone seemed to enjoy.
- Going through the contestant interview.
The interview was obviously a key point in the day for me, because those few seconds would be my best chance to convince the producers that I should be selected as a contestant. We were sent in groups of 12 to another area of benches to go and interview with Stan, another producer/contestant coordinator guy. Stan would go down the line and ask each person some very basic questions: Where are you from? What do you do? And then he'd ask follow-up questions based on your answers.
Stan talked first to Dave, then he came to me. He asked me where I was from, and I told him, "Wickliffe, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland, where I have these five little ones at home waiting for me (POINTING TO THE PICTURE OF THE KIDS ON MY SHIRT). They've all been watching the show since they were toddlers, and they insisted that I come out here when we heard that Mr. Barker was going to retire."
Stan then said something that I didn't quite catch, followed by, "Do I have to call child protective services, since you're out here and not with the kids?" I told him, "No, no, their mother is with them. It's cool." He then asked me, "So what do you do, besides raising and making kids?" I told him I was a PR guy for a large charitable foundation, which he said "must be cool." I agreed it was, and that was it. He moved on.
At that point we were taken around to the other side of the building to join the people who had already been interviewed. It was about 1 p.m., and we waited around for another hour-plus while they completed the interview process.
One thing I should note here: It's hard to convey a sense for just how darned long this whole thing was, and how tired we really were. At times we were high on adrenaline, especially when something exciting or fun would happen, but at other times we were ready to sleep. We could barely keep our eyes open. The TPIR contestant experience is as much a test of endurance as anything else.
As we waited for the other interviews to be completed, we met some more interesting people. There were:
* Georgialynn and her husband from Hawaii (she would later be picked as a constestant)
* Brian and Grace from Orange County. He's a minister and she's a Bible student in college, though judging by the way they hung all over each other and laid next to each other on the sidewalk during our nighttime wait, I'd say they're affiliated with the Church of Free Love.
* Pat from Arizon, a "Price Is Right" devotee who had attended the previous day's show but hadn't been picked to come on down. She drilled me on the prices of various prizes and strategies for pricing games. The people around us were alternately amazed and frightened by the combined body of pricing knowledge Pat and I possessed.
* Jody from Wisconsin who, I'm told (and I base this only on second-hand information after the fact...I didn't see it happen at the time) actually wet herself when she was called as the ninth and final contestant of the day near the end of the show.
Round about 2:15 p.m. we finally lined up and started making our way into the Bob Barker Studio (yes, it's really called that). We walked up a flight of stairs and through a pair of double doors, and there it was. My first impressions were no different than those of probably 90% of the people who have been there:
(1) It's incredibly small. I mean, you have no sense for how small that studio is when you watch the show on TV. I'll bet there aren't any more than 12-15 rows of chairs in the center section. On TV, it looks like there are 30 or 40.
(2) It's very cold. I'm used to that, though, having spent a good chunk of time in television studios as part of my job.
Since we had relatively low priority numbers, we got seats right up front. Dave and I were seated in the fifth row, almost smack in the middle. I'm not sure there are better seats in the whole studio, and we were thrilled.
In the remaining minutes before the taping began, they played upbeat music on the sound system, causing those of us in the pumped-up crowd to clap our hands, sway with the music, and just generally get ourselves psyched for what was about to happen. When you've waited more than 13 hours for something, you'll get excited over just about anything.
At about 2:30 - the scheduled time of the taping - "Price Is Right" announcer Rich Fields came on stage to warm us up. He told some jokes, gave us some last-minute instructions (including the suggestion that we watch Jeff, the stage manager, so that we knew when to get up and cheer). Suddenly, Rich said, "Are you ready to get started?" And of course we responded with a deafening, "Yes!!" Rich sprinted over to his announcer's podium on the side of the stage, put on his headphones, and suddenly the music started and Jeff was telling us to cheer. The program was actually starting. It was almost surreal.
Of course, it was about to get a LOT more surreal for me....
(TO BE CONTINUED THIS WEEKEND WITH "THE RUNDOWN - PART II - COME ON DOWN!")
Anyway, why don't we pick things up from about 6:30 Tuesday morning, which was the last time you heard from us until after the taping had actually ended. As you might recall, we received our order-of-arrival slips at 6 a.m., having just completed an almost-five-hour wait on the sidewalk in front of CBS Television City.
Here by the way, is a photo of the sidewalk on which we waited, taken from across the street:
That whole sidewalk (and beyond) was packed with people when the CBS gates opened at 6. Here's a closer shot of the area in which we actually stood/sat/waited:
Looks comfy, doesn't it? And here's the bagel shop from which we rented our chairs (and which I'm sure makes a killing on "Price Is Right" audience members doing the overnight wait):
So we came back at 7:30 a.m. as instructed and sat on long metal benches in numerical order of arrival. These benches constitute the audience holding area, where we spent quite a bit of time over the next several hours. Unfortunately, though, I don't have any photos of them because I left my cell phone back in the hotel room, since you can't take any electronic devices into the studio.
Once we were all seated, we received a nice pep talk from Chuck, the contestant coordinator who would shepherd us through the whole process. Chuck was a contestant himself back in March of '05 and loved it so much that he applied for a job on the show. Now he apparently heads up the contestant babysitting process. A great American success story, really.
Chuck went around and talked to each and every person there to find out where we were all from. Later he asked if anyone was celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, divorces (really), etc. Then he gave us some further instructions and we were issued our official priority numbers. Dave was #68 and I was #69 (very similar to our order-of-arrival slips), and we were given our last bit of freedom for the day, being told to come back at 9:30 a.m.
Dave and I went and had breakfast at this nice little deli in an outdoor market -- yes, Ohioans, how often do you get to eat breakfast outside in January??. Dave felt a little sick after breakfast, like he was going to throw up or something, but thankfully it passed and we went back to our room. I was going to post a blog update at that point, but Blogger.com chose that time to go on the fritz, so I couldn't.
Anyway, we went back at 9:30, and from there I'm a little fuzzy on the next few hours. It was a lot of waiting, I remember, but I know it included a few things:
- Getting a yellow contestant card, half of which we had to fill out with name, Social Security number, etc., tear off and give to a CBS page.
- Getting our official "Price Is Right" name tags, a highlight of the day for everyone involved. Chuck wrote out all the tags, and as I told him when he passed by, the man has some nice handwriting.
- Getting another pep talk from Chuck. Only this time, it was a real pep talk. He got us all excited about the show and our role in it, and he had us practice cheering for Bob, which everyone seemed to enjoy.
- Going through the contestant interview.
The interview was obviously a key point in the day for me, because those few seconds would be my best chance to convince the producers that I should be selected as a contestant. We were sent in groups of 12 to another area of benches to go and interview with Stan, another producer/contestant coordinator guy. Stan would go down the line and ask each person some very basic questions: Where are you from? What do you do? And then he'd ask follow-up questions based on your answers.
Stan talked first to Dave, then he came to me. He asked me where I was from, and I told him, "Wickliffe, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland, where I have these five little ones at home waiting for me (POINTING TO THE PICTURE OF THE KIDS ON MY SHIRT). They've all been watching the show since they were toddlers, and they insisted that I come out here when we heard that Mr. Barker was going to retire."
Stan then said something that I didn't quite catch, followed by, "Do I have to call child protective services, since you're out here and not with the kids?" I told him, "No, no, their mother is with them. It's cool." He then asked me, "So what do you do, besides raising and making kids?" I told him I was a PR guy for a large charitable foundation, which he said "must be cool." I agreed it was, and that was it. He moved on.
At that point we were taken around to the other side of the building to join the people who had already been interviewed. It was about 1 p.m., and we waited around for another hour-plus while they completed the interview process.
One thing I should note here: It's hard to convey a sense for just how darned long this whole thing was, and how tired we really were. At times we were high on adrenaline, especially when something exciting or fun would happen, but at other times we were ready to sleep. We could barely keep our eyes open. The TPIR contestant experience is as much a test of endurance as anything else.
As we waited for the other interviews to be completed, we met some more interesting people. There were:
* Georgialynn and her husband from Hawaii (she would later be picked as a constestant)
* Brian and Grace from Orange County. He's a minister and she's a Bible student in college, though judging by the way they hung all over each other and laid next to each other on the sidewalk during our nighttime wait, I'd say they're affiliated with the Church of Free Love.
* Pat from Arizon, a "Price Is Right" devotee who had attended the previous day's show but hadn't been picked to come on down. She drilled me on the prices of various prizes and strategies for pricing games. The people around us were alternately amazed and frightened by the combined body of pricing knowledge Pat and I possessed.
* Jody from Wisconsin who, I'm told (and I base this only on second-hand information after the fact...I didn't see it happen at the time) actually wet herself when she was called as the ninth and final contestant of the day near the end of the show.
Round about 2:15 p.m. we finally lined up and started making our way into the Bob Barker Studio (yes, it's really called that). We walked up a flight of stairs and through a pair of double doors, and there it was. My first impressions were no different than those of probably 90% of the people who have been there:
(1) It's incredibly small. I mean, you have no sense for how small that studio is when you watch the show on TV. I'll bet there aren't any more than 12-15 rows of chairs in the center section. On TV, it looks like there are 30 or 40.
(2) It's very cold. I'm used to that, though, having spent a good chunk of time in television studios as part of my job.
Since we had relatively low priority numbers, we got seats right up front. Dave and I were seated in the fifth row, almost smack in the middle. I'm not sure there are better seats in the whole studio, and we were thrilled.
In the remaining minutes before the taping began, they played upbeat music on the sound system, causing those of us in the pumped-up crowd to clap our hands, sway with the music, and just generally get ourselves psyched for what was about to happen. When you've waited more than 13 hours for something, you'll get excited over just about anything.
At about 2:30 - the scheduled time of the taping - "Price Is Right" announcer Rich Fields came on stage to warm us up. He told some jokes, gave us some last-minute instructions (including the suggestion that we watch Jeff, the stage manager, so that we knew when to get up and cheer). Suddenly, Rich said, "Are you ready to get started?" And of course we responded with a deafening, "Yes!!" Rich sprinted over to his announcer's podium on the side of the stage, put on his headphones, and suddenly the music started and Jeff was telling us to cheer. The program was actually starting. It was almost surreal.
Of course, it was about to get a LOT more surreal for me....
(TO BE CONTINUED THIS WEEKEND WITH "THE RUNDOWN - PART II - COME ON DOWN!")
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Back home, posting soon
We got back into Cleveland last night (and immediately noticed that it was about 50 degrees colder than L.A., thank you very much). A lot to catch up on at work and at home, so I'll try to get a new post up tonight. Actually, I'm envisioning two posts in the next few days - one with details on the show itself, and one with details on the process of becoming a "Price Is Right" audience member. There may actually be something interesting to say on both counts.
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Success and failure (sort of)
I'm gonna keep this short, because I'm exhausted and we need to get something to eat:
* I got onto the show.
* I was one of the first four contestants called down at the start.
* I was so excited that I jumped up and down, screamed, and almost killed two of my fellow contestants with a bear hug.
* I won the first item up for bids (four electric guitars) with a bid within $100 of the actual retail price.
* I lost my pricing game (Flip Flop). Could have won a sauna. Just missed the right price.
* I spun the big wheel and won my half of the show with a total of 85 cents.
* I lost badly in the Showcase Showdown. I'll explain more later, but suffice to say that I thought my opponent had way overbid on his showcase, so I kept my bid almost ridiculously low just to be safe. Turns out he was only $1000 or so away from the actual retail price of his showcase, while I was more than $9000 off of mine. Yikes.
The point, I guess, is "mission accomplished." I got on the show, won on the big wheel, and made it all the way to the Showcase Showdown. I only walked away with four electric guitars (retail value $2,164), but what a great experience.
The show will on Feb. 16, 2007. My prizes will be shipped to me within three months after the air date.
I'll probably post more when I get a chance, most likely Thursday after I get home and get settled.
* I got onto the show.
* I was one of the first four contestants called down at the start.
* I was so excited that I jumped up and down, screamed, and almost killed two of my fellow contestants with a bear hug.
* I won the first item up for bids (four electric guitars) with a bid within $100 of the actual retail price.
* I lost my pricing game (Flip Flop). Could have won a sauna. Just missed the right price.
* I spun the big wheel and won my half of the show with a total of 85 cents.
* I lost badly in the Showcase Showdown. I'll explain more later, but suffice to say that I thought my opponent had way overbid on his showcase, so I kept my bid almost ridiculously low just to be safe. Turns out he was only $1000 or so away from the actual retail price of his showcase, while I was more than $9000 off of mine. Yikes.
The point, I guess, is "mission accomplished." I got on the show, won on the big wheel, and made it all the way to the Showcase Showdown. I only walked away with four electric guitars (retail value $2,164), but what a great experience.
The show will on Feb. 16, 2007. My prizes will be shipped to me within three months after the air date.
I'll probably post more when I get a chance, most likely Thursday after I get home and get settled.
Tape Day update - 6:30 a.m. Pacific time
Good morning! And a beautiful morning it is here in Southern California. It's only a little past 6:30, but Dave and I have been up for almost 6 hours. Do the math and you'll realize that we got out of bed around 12:45 a.m. How? Why?
Well, we turned out the light and went to bed about 8:50 p.m. local time, once we realized that Ohio State had officially rolled over and died. We slept for almost four hours before Dave woke up to the sound of someone running down the stairs outside of our room. He looked outside and saw that at least 25-30 people were already in line across the street, so he woke me up and suggested we go over there. I agreed, so we both took quick showers and headed over.
A quick count of those ahead of us showed that were about 37th or 38th in the line. Michael, an interesting guy from Rochester who was in line just ahead of us, had gotten there about 1 a.m. Those at the front must have been there since midnight or before. Ugh.
Anyway, there was a bagel shop across the street that apparently stays open all night on "Price Is Right" tape days, selling bagels and coffee to those in line. The shop also rents chairs for $5 apiece, so Dave and I decided to get a couple of them, which turned out to be a great idea. In the photo above you can see us lounging during our wait. Overnight temps here dipped down into the mid-40's, which would account for our winter-like apparel.
In the hours before the CBS Television City pages opened the gates at 6 a.m., Dave and I talked (with each other and with Michael), played cards and generally just hung out. At one point I walked back over to the hotel to get a sweatshirt and met Ted, the front desk guy here who is a TPIR expert. He and I talked a bit about the contestant experience and how to maximize my chances to be selected. He's an interesting guy.
At a few minutes before 6, people began packing up their chairs and sleeping bags (many slept on the sidewalk) and stood up as they prepared to get their order of arrival slips. There was a 15-minute delay or so before we shuffled forward toward the gates to get our slips. Ours look like this:
You'll notice that we're #'s 66 and 67. As the night went on, various people pulled up in cars and minivans and got into line ahead of us. People are apparently allowed to save spots in line, which didn't seem fair to us, but at least we're still in a good position to get into the show.
Anyway, once we got the order of arrival slips, we were instructed to return at 7:30 (about 45 minutes from now as I type), at which point I think we'll be admitted onto the CBS property. The next step, I think, will be the issuing of priority numbers sometime after 8 o'clock. Those numbers all but guarantee that we'll get into the studio, which is the first goal of the day.
I'll probably check in again with another blog post later this morning, since I believe we'll be allowed to come back to the hotel again after priority numbers are handed out. Stay tuned...
Monday, January 8, 2007
Sunny and 79 degrees
Yeah, we're here. And yeah, it's beautiful. Sunny with temperatures approaching 80 degrees. Pictured above is my pasty white Midwestern self standing in front of CBS Television City, the place where Dave and I hope to be attending a taping of "The Price Is Right" just over 24 hours from now.
I'm coming to you live from the air-conditioned comfort of Room 118 of the Farmer's Daughter Hotel. Let's throw out some random notes and observations:
* The audience holding area for "The Price Is Right" is just across Fairfax Blvd. from our hotel, which I gotta tell you is pretty handy. Dave and I went over to scope it out, and everywhere you looked there were people wearing "Price Is Right" t-shirts. I assume these are people who will be attending tomorrow's taping with us, since the audience for today's show is presumably already in the studio. It's fun to read the different t-shirts, the vast majority of which mention Bob Barker or feature his photo.
* So many "Price Is Right" contestants stay here at the Farmer's Daughter that they hold a nightly clinic at 10:25 p.m. on what to expect when attending the show, how to maximize your chances of getting on, etc. In the lobby are Polaroid pictures of the many Farmer's Daughter guests who have won big on TPIR over the last few years. They include a number of showcase winners and people who walked away with brand new cars. Very inspiring, actually.
* The flight from Cleveland to L.A. was a pretty uneventual, 4 1/2-hour experience. Watched a movie, did some reading, listed to the iPod. The standard stuff. Dave actually sat eight rows behind me, so once we boarded in Cleveland we didn't see each other again until we deplaned at LAX (where - did I mention? - it's sunny and 79 degrees).
* We took a harrowing taxi ride down L.A.'s famed 405 Freeway -- our driver was in quite a hurry, let me tell you -- to the hotel, but we got here so early that our room wasn't yet ready. So we walked around a bit before stopping at the Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill for a nice lunch and conversation. I would never admit ths publicly, because guys simply don't do this, but Dave is an extremely cool travel companion and a great person with which to share this experience. Again, though, don't tell him I said that, or else I could be sentenced to a series of noogies and shoulder punches by the International Man Court.
* During that drive down the 405, we saw the reknowned "Hollywood" sign off in the distance. Too cool.
* Number of famous people seen in L.A. so far: Zero. Number of Cleveland-area minor celebrities seen this morning at Hopkins: Three (Kellen Winslow Jr. of the Browns, Plain Dealer television critic Mark Dawidziak, and Cavs VP and former Lumberjacks hockey executive Kerry Bubholz).
* LOTS of Ohio State gear to be seen at the airport in Cleveland this morning, and even some on the flight to L.A. We're about three hours from kickoff right now, and Dave and I are pumped. We're going to order in a pizza and watch the game in our room. It starts at 5 p.m. local time.
* Speaking of time, there was a tip sheet for "Price Is Right" contestants at the front desk, and among the items was a recommendation that would-be audience members get into line no later than 4 a.m. Yes, that's right - NO LATER than 4 a.m. We had planned on getting over there at 4:30, but now we'll probably set the alarm for 3 a.m., walk out onto our balcony and check out the line (we can see it outside of our room), and decide whether we should hurry over right away or go back to bed for an hour. Considering how little sleep we got last night -- me because of Jack's most recent ear infection, Dave because he kept dreaming about being on Contestants Row (really) -- that ought to be interesting.
* In case you care at all, my plan is to blog at least once more before the taping, probably between the time we get our priority numbers tomorrow and the time we're instructed to go back to the studio (which I'm guessing should be between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Eastern time). After that, the next thing you'll read on here is how the taping went. That one could be posted as early as 7 p.m. Eastern, but might be a bit later if we decide to get dinner as soon as the taping ends. We'll see.
* Oh, and once again, go Bucks.
Sunday, January 7, 2007
See ya in L.A.
This is the last post before Dave and I venture out to the West Coast. We'll catch a direct flight in about 12 1/2 hours (9:05 a.m. Monday) and check in again once we get settled in Los Angeles.
Oh, and also, go Buckeyes!
Oh, and also, go Buckeyes!
Saturday, January 6, 2007
What I love about this show
There are certain things in life that just make you happy. For me, "The Price Is Right" is one of those things. I can't quite explain it, but when I hear that theme music, it puts me in a good mood. I know that's silly, but it is what it is.
Part of it, undoubtedly, is the psychological connection between "The Price Is Right" and being home from work or school. Throughout my life, the only times I've really had the chance to watch the show have been when I've had a day off, for whatever reason. Days off = good. Therefore, "Price Is Right" = good. Simple enough.
But there's more to it. I also have the deepest admiration for Bob Barker. Whatever he is off the set -- and you can make the case that at times he hasn't been the nicest man away from the camera -- he is a true gentleman and a professional on it. He knows the pricing games inside and out, and I think he really does root for the contestants to do well. That's despite the fact that half the time he's faced with obnoxious college kids or clueless lumps who make his job that much more difficult.
There's also a certain timelessness to TPIR. The set, as has been noted countless times by TV critics and game show fanatics, hasn't changed significantly in 35 years. There are still the same cheesy oranges and yellows, and Bob still talks into the same outdated, two-foot-long microphone. Years come and go, friends and relatives grow old and die, life takes it little twists and turns. But through it all, you can always count on hearing essentially the same theme music, seeing essentially the same set, and watching essentially the same show every weekday morning at 11. I like that.
You can talk about "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy" all you like. In the end, "The Price Is Right" is hands down America's most popular game show. For one thing, there's tremendous variety in the game itself. In any given episode, you're going to see six of 74 different pricing games (which is a lot more than they used to have...the pricing game roster has grown over the years). Also, the contestants are a lot like Mr. and Mrs. Joe Average American. They're college kids, enlisted men and women in the military, old people, SIWG's (standard-issue white guys - I hope to become one of these), and so on. You can identify with these people. Heck, you can be one of these people if you're willing to travel to California to attend a taping of the show.
I enjoyed being on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" a few years ago. I really did. But when it comes to "The Price Is Right," we're talking about a different level of game show experience. TPIR is, it's fair to say, an American institution in a way that "Millionaire" never could be. I run across few people who don't genuinely like the show, and many of those who claim to dislike it admit they still watch it from time to time. That's the raw animal magnetism of Bob Barker right there, folks. No other explanation for it.
In the end, it's almost irrelevant whether Dave or I end up being chosen as a contestant. Just the fact that I'll have the chance to sit in the icy cold, brightly lit, surprisingly small Bob Barker Studio in the cozy confines of CBS Television City is more than enough for me.
Part of it, undoubtedly, is the psychological connection between "The Price Is Right" and being home from work or school. Throughout my life, the only times I've really had the chance to watch the show have been when I've had a day off, for whatever reason. Days off = good. Therefore, "Price Is Right" = good. Simple enough.
But there's more to it. I also have the deepest admiration for Bob Barker. Whatever he is off the set -- and you can make the case that at times he hasn't been the nicest man away from the camera -- he is a true gentleman and a professional on it. He knows the pricing games inside and out, and I think he really does root for the contestants to do well. That's despite the fact that half the time he's faced with obnoxious college kids or clueless lumps who make his job that much more difficult.
There's also a certain timelessness to TPIR. The set, as has been noted countless times by TV critics and game show fanatics, hasn't changed significantly in 35 years. There are still the same cheesy oranges and yellows, and Bob still talks into the same outdated, two-foot-long microphone. Years come and go, friends and relatives grow old and die, life takes it little twists and turns. But through it all, you can always count on hearing essentially the same theme music, seeing essentially the same set, and watching essentially the same show every weekday morning at 11. I like that.
You can talk about "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy" all you like. In the end, "The Price Is Right" is hands down America's most popular game show. For one thing, there's tremendous variety in the game itself. In any given episode, you're going to see six of 74 different pricing games (which is a lot more than they used to have...the pricing game roster has grown over the years). Also, the contestants are a lot like Mr. and Mrs. Joe Average American. They're college kids, enlisted men and women in the military, old people, SIWG's (standard-issue white guys - I hope to become one of these), and so on. You can identify with these people. Heck, you can be one of these people if you're willing to travel to California to attend a taping of the show.
I enjoyed being on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" a few years ago. I really did. But when it comes to "The Price Is Right," we're talking about a different level of game show experience. TPIR is, it's fair to say, an American institution in a way that "Millionaire" never could be. I run across few people who don't genuinely like the show, and many of those who claim to dislike it admit they still watch it from time to time. That's the raw animal magnetism of Bob Barker right there, folks. No other explanation for it.
In the end, it's almost irrelevant whether Dave or I end up being chosen as a contestant. Just the fact that I'll have the chance to sit in the icy cold, brightly lit, surprisingly small Bob Barker Studio in the cozy confines of CBS Television City is more than enough for me.
Friday, January 5, 2007
A sobering reality
An article in this morning's Cleveland Plain Dealer mentions "The Price Is Right." The PD has been running a series of stories following three Ohio State students taking a road trip out to Arizona to watch the Buckeyes play in the national championship football game. Along the way they've made a few fun stops, including a trip to California today to attend a taping of TPIR.
Click here to read the article.
Two things in the story struck me:
(1) There's mention of a women who has been in the TPIR audience 12 times and has never been chosen as a contestant. The fact is -- and I'm starting to see this in stark clarity -- the odds are long that either Dave or I will get picked to be on the show. Only 9 people out of a studio audience of approximately 324 are selected as contestants in a given show, so while you want to do your best to portray yourself as a good candidate, you also have to approach this thing realistically.
(2) The story contains yet another admonition for potential contestants to be "very excited and happy." This contradicts what I've seen from others who say to just be yourself, whatever your personality might be. I suppose I'm a happy enough guy, though, so maybe this won't matter. As always, we'll see.
Click here to read the article.
Two things in the story struck me:
(1) There's mention of a women who has been in the TPIR audience 12 times and has never been chosen as a contestant. The fact is -- and I'm starting to see this in stark clarity -- the odds are long that either Dave or I will get picked to be on the show. Only 9 people out of a studio audience of approximately 324 are selected as contestants in a given show, so while you want to do your best to portray yourself as a good candidate, you also have to approach this thing realistically.
(2) The story contains yet another admonition for potential contestants to be "very excited and happy." This contradicts what I've seen from others who say to just be yourself, whatever your personality might be. I suppose I'm a happy enough guy, though, so maybe this won't matter. As always, we'll see.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
A list of lists
Looking over my notes from watching almost two weeks' worth of "Price Is Right"...
ITEMS WHOSE PRICES I WOULD HAVE ACED, HAD I BEEN BIDDING ON THEM:
- His & her snowboarding equipment (boards, bindings & boots): $765
- Two Blackberry devices: $700
- 34-inch widescreen HDTV: $1,799
- Digital piano (Yamaha clavinova): $2,595
- JBL desktop computer w/20-inch monitor, 250GB hard drive & color printer: $1,699
(Notice a pattern there? When it comes to tech stuff, I can usually gauge the price pretty well. It's the OTHER items that throw me...)
ITEMS WHOSE PRICES I WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE COME CLOSE ON:
- 3-foot animated Santa Claus & Mrs. Claus figurines: $1,570 (really?!?)
- 3-row pink pearl necklace: $1,750
- Several tins of Christmas snacks from the Popcorn Factory: $555
- Curio cabinet, Louis XV style: $2,205
- Silk chiffon evening gown from Demetrious: $950
(Again, see a pattern here? It's the girly stuff that gets me!)
MY TOP 5 FAVORITE T.P.I.R. PRICING GAMES:
- Cliffhangers (w/the little yodeling guy)
- 10 Chances
- Plinko (yeah, it's everybody's favorite)
- Dice Game
- Clock Game
(You can tell I'm old school. Those are all older games that have been around since the 70's, with the possible exception of Plinko, which might have been introduced in the 80's. Not sure there.)
MY TOP 5 FAVORITE T.P.I.R. CONTESTANTS:
- The blonde Southern California chick/dude who is fairly certain a can of tuna costs 15 dollars.
- The person who has no idea how the bidding on Contestants Row works ("The last person bid $800, so I think I'll bid $799!")
- The large women -- and I'm just going to come out and say this: They're generally not Caucasian – who almost knock over Bob when they get on stage.
- The college frat boys who somehow manage to get out of Contestants Row and spend the whole time yelling to the audience and cheering ("DUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!!!")
- The old people who take 15 minutes to "come on down," and when they do, they come right up on stage instead of taking their place on Contestants Row. Bob usually shoos them away with a look in his eye that says, "Old people. What are ya gonna do?"
TOP 5 CANDIDATES TO REPLACE BOB WHEN HE RETIRES IN JUNE:
- Me
- Chuck Woolery
- Rich Fields (the current "Price Is Right" announcer)
- Pat Sajak
- George W. (the guy needs something to fall back on after 2008)
ITEMS WHOSE PRICES I WOULD HAVE ACED, HAD I BEEN BIDDING ON THEM:
- His & her snowboarding equipment (boards, bindings & boots): $765
- Two Blackberry devices: $700
- 34-inch widescreen HDTV: $1,799
- Digital piano (Yamaha clavinova): $2,595
- JBL desktop computer w/20-inch monitor, 250GB hard drive & color printer: $1,699
(Notice a pattern there? When it comes to tech stuff, I can usually gauge the price pretty well. It's the OTHER items that throw me...)
ITEMS WHOSE PRICES I WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE COME CLOSE ON:
- 3-foot animated Santa Claus & Mrs. Claus figurines: $1,570 (really?!?)
- 3-row pink pearl necklace: $1,750
- Several tins of Christmas snacks from the Popcorn Factory: $555
- Curio cabinet, Louis XV style: $2,205
- Silk chiffon evening gown from Demetrious: $950
(Again, see a pattern here? It's the girly stuff that gets me!)
MY TOP 5 FAVORITE T.P.I.R. PRICING GAMES:
- Cliffhangers (w/the little yodeling guy)
- 10 Chances
- Plinko (yeah, it's everybody's favorite)
- Dice Game
- Clock Game
(You can tell I'm old school. Those are all older games that have been around since the 70's, with the possible exception of Plinko, which might have been introduced in the 80's. Not sure there.)
MY TOP 5 FAVORITE T.P.I.R. CONTESTANTS:
- The blonde Southern California chick/dude who is fairly certain a can of tuna costs 15 dollars.
- The person who has no idea how the bidding on Contestants Row works ("The last person bid $800, so I think I'll bid $799!")
- The large women -- and I'm just going to come out and say this: They're generally not Caucasian – who almost knock over Bob when they get on stage.
- The college frat boys who somehow manage to get out of Contestants Row and spend the whole time yelling to the audience and cheering ("DUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!!!")
- The old people who take 15 minutes to "come on down," and when they do, they come right up on stage instead of taking their place on Contestants Row. Bob usually shoos them away with a look in his eye that says, "Old people. What are ya gonna do?"
TOP 5 CANDIDATES TO REPLACE BOB WHEN HE RETIRES IN JUNE:
- Me
- Chuck Woolery
- Rich Fields (the current "Price Is Right" announcer)
- Pat Sajak
- George W. (the guy needs something to fall back on after 2008)
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
I Love L.A.
Right now the forecast for Los Angeles next Tuesday, Jan. 9 (Tape Day) calls for sunny skies and a high of 72 degrees. No matter how mild a winter we've had here so far, there's no way Cleveland is going to match THAT any time soon.
Of course, the low will be 46 degrees, which is probably what we'll be facing when we get in line at 4:30 in the morning. We'll wear heavy jackets then and discard them later on when we're able to head back to the hotel for a little rest.
Yeah, I love L.A. (with apologies to Randy Newman, of course).
Of course, the low will be 46 degrees, which is probably what we'll be facing when we get in line at 4:30 in the morning. We'll wear heavy jackets then and discard them later on when we're able to head back to the hotel for a little rest.
Yeah, I love L.A. (with apologies to Randy Newman, of course).
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
T-minus 7 days and counting
Sorry for the lack of updates over the weekend. The holiday came and went pretty quickly, and suddenly I realize that Tape Day is only a week away. Yikes! A few random thoughts as the day approaches:
* I've been watching and taking notes on every episode of TPIR over the past two weeks. I have a computer file full of prizes and their prices, bidding strategies, showcase showdown packages, pricing game rules, etc. I'm having to tape and watch the show everyday, but I can get through an episode in less than a half hour by skipping commercials and the spinning of the big wheel.
* As mentioned a few times, certain products and prizes seem to appear over and over, at least during this two-week stretch of shows I've been watching. Betty Crocker Seasoned Skillets, for example, is on all the time (they're $1.89 each, in case you're wondering). Same for 100-packs of Oxford index cards (69 cents) and bags of Purina Cat Chow ($6.99). There's a lot of furniture from a company called Flexsteel, too. I like their chair-and-ottoman combo.
* I hate to say this, but Bob is showing his age on the show. He sometimes has a hard time understanding people when they place bids on contestants' row, and the other day he mistakenly revealed the price of a product during a pricing game before he should have. I think he's getting out at the right time, or maybe even a few years past the right time.
* I haven't given much thought to what I want to say to the contestant coordinators in my interview, but I think it will be some combination of the following facts:
- I've been watching the show since the mid-70's.
- I have 5 kids who have been watching the show since they were toddlers.
- When I heard Mr. Barker was retiring, I immediately cashed in frequent-flyers miles and made arrangements to attend the show, because I knew it would be my last chance to see him as the host.
- It's a thrill/honor (or whatever kiss-up word comes to mind) just to be here where this show, which has given me so many great memories, is taped.
I dunno, is that too lame?
* The stretch from Sunday through Wednesday is going to be a exhausting. On Sunday afternoon, I'm driving to Pittsburgh with my brother to see an NHL hockey game (loge tickets!). We'll be lucky if we're home by midnight. Then I have to get up and catch a plane the next morning, and of course I'll be getting up fairly early on Tuesday for the show itself. Then Wednesday will be spent traveling back home. I have a feeling I'll sleep pretty well Wednesday night.
* Dave is probably going to sleep over our house on Sunday night, which cuts out the half-hour trip from Hambden to Wickliffe on Monday.
* A special hello to Ms. Gluck, Elissa's Spanish teacher from last year who is a fellow TPIR devotee and is just joining us here on the blog. Hola! She advises me to check the price of boats as part of my research, which I'll be sure to do. I've noticed they tend to give away a few boats per week.
* I've been watching and taking notes on every episode of TPIR over the past two weeks. I have a computer file full of prizes and their prices, bidding strategies, showcase showdown packages, pricing game rules, etc. I'm having to tape and watch the show everyday, but I can get through an episode in less than a half hour by skipping commercials and the spinning of the big wheel.
* As mentioned a few times, certain products and prizes seem to appear over and over, at least during this two-week stretch of shows I've been watching. Betty Crocker Seasoned Skillets, for example, is on all the time (they're $1.89 each, in case you're wondering). Same for 100-packs of Oxford index cards (69 cents) and bags of Purina Cat Chow ($6.99). There's a lot of furniture from a company called Flexsteel, too. I like their chair-and-ottoman combo.
* I hate to say this, but Bob is showing his age on the show. He sometimes has a hard time understanding people when they place bids on contestants' row, and the other day he mistakenly revealed the price of a product during a pricing game before he should have. I think he's getting out at the right time, or maybe even a few years past the right time.
* I haven't given much thought to what I want to say to the contestant coordinators in my interview, but I think it will be some combination of the following facts:
- I've been watching the show since the mid-70's.
- I have 5 kids who have been watching the show since they were toddlers.
- When I heard Mr. Barker was retiring, I immediately cashed in frequent-flyers miles and made arrangements to attend the show, because I knew it would be my last chance to see him as the host.
- It's a thrill/honor (or whatever kiss-up word comes to mind) just to be here where this show, which has given me so many great memories, is taped.
I dunno, is that too lame?
* The stretch from Sunday through Wednesday is going to be a exhausting. On Sunday afternoon, I'm driving to Pittsburgh with my brother to see an NHL hockey game (loge tickets!). We'll be lucky if we're home by midnight. Then I have to get up and catch a plane the next morning, and of course I'll be getting up fairly early on Tuesday for the show itself. Then Wednesday will be spent traveling back home. I have a feeling I'll sleep pretty well Wednesday night.
* Dave is probably going to sleep over our house on Sunday night, which cuts out the half-hour trip from Hambden to Wickliffe on Monday.
* A special hello to Ms. Gluck, Elissa's Spanish teacher from last year who is a fellow TPIR devotee and is just joining us here on the blog. Hola! She advises me to check the price of boats as part of my research, which I'll be sure to do. I've noticed they tend to give away a few boats per week.
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