The New Price Is Right (1994)

infobox television
show_name = The New Price Is Right


caption = The opening title to 1994's "The New Price Is Right".
format = Game Show
runtime = 30 minutes (with commercials)
creator = Bob Stewart
developer = Mark Goodson
Bill Todman
starring = Doug Davidson
narrated = Burton Richardson
producer = Kathy Greco
director =
country = USA
network = Syndication
first_aired = September 12, 1994
last_aired = January 27, 1995
related = The Price Is Right (U.S. game show)
num_episodes = 80
imdb_id =
tv_com_id =

"The New Price Is Right" was a short-lived nighttime version of the American game show "The Price Is Right", which aired from September 12, 1994 to January 27, 1995 in syndication. Doug Davidson hosted the show with Burton Richardson as the announcer. The show had its own set of prize models -- Julie Lynn Cialini, Ferrari Farris and Lisa Stahl.

The show was produced by Mark Goodson Productions and was distributed by Paramount Domestic Television (now CBS Television Distribution). Unlike the two previous syndicated versions, which had replicated the half-hour format of the daytime show with the same rules, announcers, models and except (usually) with a different host, this version had a different production staff. The rules differed significantly and were incorporated in subsequent European versions of the show. It is also the shortest-lived of the syndicated spin-offs of "The Price Is Right," both in number of episodes (80) and time between debut and cancellation (16 weeks).

Format

"The New Price Is Right" differed greatly from its sister show in several ways. On the whole, the entire concept, which had not been radically modified since the 1970s, was given a massive update in an attempt to appeal to a younger generation. Doug Davidson was at the time a popular actor on "The Young and the Restless", and Burton Richardson had made his mark as the announcer for "The Arsenio Hall Show". The models were also younger: while the Barker's Beauties of the daytime show were mostly past the age of 40, "The New Price Is Right" chose younger models in their 20s (although the original Beauties did make appearances on this series).

Among the most noticeable changes to game play:
*Instead of being called down to Contestants' Row, which this version of the program did not use, the contestants were called from the audience and came right up on stage to play the pricing games. To make up for this change, three episodes were taped with each audience, so that each audience would still produce a total of nine contestants (which equaled the total number seen on the daytime show since 1975).

*The prize budget for the show rose to fairly high levels. Cars not from General Motors, Ford Motor Company, or Chrysler Corporation appeared as prizes, a practice prohibited from the daytime show by executive producer Bob Barker and producers Phil Rossi and Roger Dobkowitz from 1993 to 2008. Daytime show associate producer Kathy Greco (who is now the producer of the daytime show) was in charge of this syndicated version, with Jay Wolpert also part of the production staff.

*Three pricing games were played per episode (just like its predecessors), followed by a Showcase Showdown and a one-player version of the Showcase (the only incarnation in the US so far to ever use such a Showcase round; many European versions of the game use such a round). Some of the pricing games were played differently than the daytime show, while others used experimental concepts that were later used. A few examples:
**Plinko: While the top prize remained the same, two experiments with different values on the slots were used. The value of the outermost slots on the board was increased from $100 to $2,500. Also, the small prize pricing was changed to a higher/lower pricing format, since the game frequently used items with three-digit prices. Finally, on the first playing only, an alternate pattern was used for the game board: $2,500-$1,000-$0-$5,000-$0-$5,000-$0-$1,000-$2,500. The highest amount won was $16,500.
**Clock Game: The game became digitized, with no prop on stage for it, and the contestant was provided with a $1,000 range to guess the price in for the prize. The game frequently used prizes with four-digit prices, and on some occasions, a third prize was awarded as a bonus for winning.
**Barker's Marker$: The name was changed to "Make Your Mark" the single time it was played on this version of the show, as Bob Barker was not the host of this version. This name for the game was adopted on the daytime show in 2007, when Drew Carey took over the hosting duties for Season 36.
**Hole in One and Grand Game: Instead of using grocery items, these games were played with small prizes; they were also the "only" games played where the daytime version used grocery items.
**Cliff Hangers: The mountain climber was given the name Hans Gudegast, the birth name of Davidson's "Young & Restless" costar Eric Braeden. The "Hans" name has since been frequently used on the daytime show in Season 36.
**Punch a Bunch: Instead of an over-sized "$10,000" bill as on the daytime show, the top prize was flashed on the video wall. Also, on some playings, Doug would pull the slip out of the hole as soon as it was punched. The player would then decide to keep the money, or punch another hole.
**Safe Crackers: As in the daytime show, two prizes were shown, but the smaller prize (the one whose price matched the combination of the safe) was placed outside the safe. The music played while dialing the combination to the safe was moved to daytime shortly after this version ended.
**Golden Road: Played the same, except that it began with a small prize or a fishbowl of cash.
**Super Ball!!: While the game itself remained the same, the staging was changed, due to there being no turntable; the small prizes were placed to the right of the Superball ramp. A memorable (and possibly costly) blooper occurred during a playing of this game, in which the show went to commercial after a player won the big prize with ball #3, instead of giving them a chance at the Superball.
**3 Strikes: This game provided the first number for free, and that number could repeat in the price of the car. These rules were adopted on the daytime show in 2008.
**Any Number, Money Game, One Away: These games used the same car reveal as Lucky $even, with the car being pushed out onto the stage instead of being behind one of the Big Doors.
**One Away: Instead of asking "ladies" or "gentlemen" how many numbers are correct in the price of the car, the player would ask the "people in control".
**Lucky $even: Whenever a player guessed a number in the price of the car incorrectly, a buzzer would sound, instead of a bell as on the daytime version. Also, the game was revealed with a harp stinger.
**Range Game: This game was not featured in the regular rotation; instead, it was used for the Showcase. "(See below for information.)"

In keeping up with modern times, "The New Price Is Right" did not use the traditional losing horns that its predecessors did. Instead, a faint "groan" on an electric guitar was heard, along with several sound effects of glass breaking. However, the international versions that used a similar format (notably "Bruce's Price is Right" in the UK) did use the traditional losing horns for a loss.

howcase Showdown

Unlike the other half hour "Price Is Right"s before it, "The New Price Is Right" had a Showcase Showdown. Two different versions were used:

The Price WAS Right: This was the Showcase Showdown that was used on most of the episodes. Effectively the same as One Bid, the most important difference was that the contestants from the three pricing games "bid" on an old item (which they did not get to win or keep) as revealed in an original commercial for the item instead of an actual prize. The three contestants were placed in Contestants' Row and were shown an old TV commercial. After the ad was shown, the players would bid on what they thought the product being advertised had cost at the time the commercial had originally aired. The person who was closest without going over won and advanced to the Showcase. To aid the contestants, host Davidson would give a clue stating how much a different item would have cost in that time period. (A similar concept had been used on the original 1950s series, with had offered, for instance, cars from 1919, and contestants would win a more contemporary equivalent prize.)

The Big Wheel: Played mostly the same way as on the daytime show, except that the contestants spun in order from highest to lowest winnings instead of the other way around. All traditional daytime Showcase Showdown rules and bonuses in effect at the time were used.

The producers had originally intended to use "The Price WAS Right" on every episode, but when the time came to start taping, the staff hadn't been able to research enough commercials for that to happen, apparently anticipating only a thirteen-week run. Therefore, on the remaining four weeks of episodes, the Big Wheel had to be used instead.

The Showcase

With only one person playing the Showcase, the pricing game Range Game was modified for the "New Price Is Right" showcases. A new prop was built with a $60,000 scale ($10,000 to $70,000); during the show's final commercial break, the winner of the Showcase Showdown chose rangefinder length at random from somewhere between $3,000 and $10,000.

A showcase was then presented; once it was finished, the rangefinder was started up the scale, with the contestant pulling a lever when he thought it was covering the showcase value. If correct, s/he won the Showcase.

Running Gags and Jokes

Despite the show's short 16-week run, "The New Price Is Right" had its own share of running gags. Examples include:

*Hole-in-One (or Two) - When a contestant did not sink the ball into the hole on the first putt, Doug would feel sorry for the contestant, wandering aimlessly around the stage until he "accidentally" bumped into the lever to change the "ONE" into "OR TWO" on the game's sign.

*Make Your Mark - Doug would give the contestant $100 to keep or give up to start the game, only to have producer Phil Rossi come out on stage to remind Doug to give the contestant $500.

*Magic # - Davidson called the lever a "leever" and the game board a "geezmo." He would also refer to the game as "Magic Pound Sign, for those with a pager" on occasion.

*Plinko - When a disc got stuck, like Barker (and presently Carey), Doug would also use the Plinko Stick. However, he would just bang the stick against the game prop to make the disc fall down instead of merely moving the chip with the stick.

*Cliff Hangers - Davidson, as mentioned before, referred to the mountain climber as Hans Gudegast. When the game was lost, after the commercial, Doug would joke and say that Hans was being rushed to the hospital. The "Hans" gag would often be used by Carey in Season 36.

*Showcase - Host Davidson and announcer Richardson frequently participated in showcase skits, more often than on the CBS daytime show.

*3 Strikes - On at least one playing, as Davidson was placing the 4 number chips and 3 strikes into the bag, he pulled out a rubber chicken; on the Halloween show, he pulled out a fake hand.

et

The show's set differed drastically from that of the daytime show. The Big Doors had different patterns, marbled door frames and no border lights. The turntable was replaced with a large video wall. A black floor replaced the white floor used on the daytime show.

Pilot

The pilot for the series was hosted by KTLA news personality Mark Kriski, with Bob Hilton announcing. Shots of the set from this episode can be seen in the opening sequence on early episodes.

Theme song

While this show's theme song was virtually the same as that of the daytime show, it was done in a smooth jazz arrangement. The theme song would carry over to Bruce Forsyth's "Bruce's Price Is Right" in the UK (as well as "El Precio Justo" in Spain and "O Preço Certo Em Euros" in Portugal). The "come on down" cue was also heard on "Bruce's Price Is Right", "El Precio Justo", and "O Preço Certo Em Euros", as well as Finland's "Mitä Maksaa", even though the Finnish version used a different main theme song.

Demise

Learning from the failure of the previous syndicated series in 1986, this version was separate enough from the network version of the show that it did not necessarily require it be aired at night (both previous versions were marketed as "The Nighttime Price Is Right;" in the case of the 1985-86 series, it led directly to a litany of little-watched late night clearances due to a lack of available prime time slots). Thus, many stations were able to air the show during daytime hours, and with the networks having abandoned daytime game shows by this point and the growth of smaller networks such as Fox, The WB and UPN, this left a large market opening for syndicated daytime game shows.

Because of this, however, "The New Price Is Right" was frequently preempted because of television coverage of the O. J. Simpson murder case. By mid-January 1995, it became clear that continuing the series was no longer worth the relatively high expense, and the show was canceled in mid-season (a very rare occurrence for syndicated series).

After the Show

Many of the show's concepts were taken to Europe where they were adopted in other European versions.

The prop and rule modifications carried over to the CBS daytime and prime time versions of the games, with two of the notable rule changes being adopted after Drew Carey took over the hosting duties.

* Big Doors: This version had a completely different design for the big doors, with a diamond pattern; the two previous syndicated versions shared the Big Doors with the daytime version. These Big Doors were repainted and debuted with a modified version of the daytime design in the August 1996 primetime season premiere of Season 25 (1996-97). These doors were repainted for Season 33 and Season 35 with new designs, and would be used until the end of Season 35 for daytime only (2006-07), when a new door design (8-panel) debuted for Season 36. A new set of door panels were made in 2003 for prime time. [ [http://www.golden-road.net/faq/index.php/The_Price_Is_Right_Timeline#Season_25_.28.2796-.2797.29 The Price Is Right Timeline] from Golden-Road.net]

* "Make Your Mark": The name of the game titled Barker's Markers on the daytime version was played once on this version. The name change was adopted for the daytime show starting in Season 36.

* 3 Strikes: The practice of providing the first digit in the price was adopted on the daytime show in Season 37.

* Burton Richardson: In 2001, when Rod Roddy was undergoing cancer treatment, he became one of the show's alternating substitute announcers. That season, he announced episodes #001SP-#003SP of the 2002 prime time military series, which led to the current CBS prime time series. Richardson also announced selected episodes after Roddy's death. While Rich Fields won the position permanently in 2004, Richardson announced a Christmas episode in 2006 when Fields was ill.

* Doug Davidson: He was given a host tryout for the daytime show after Barker's 2006 retirement announcement and is currently an alternating host at the live Las Vegas casino show.

* Kathy Greco: She continued to serve as Associate Producer until Season 36 of the daytime show when she was promoted to co-producer and then to Producer in Season 37.