THE PRICE IS RIGHT - Behind the Scenes

    I am editing this to add some pictures from the show as we watched today.  Pictures are at the bottom of the page.

Watching at Graeme's house

                            

Today is the day!   Tune in to The Price is Right and you should see some silly people you know.

We are all sworn to secrecy, until the day the show airs.  So you want some behind the scenes insight?

We did not get to contestants row and did not get on stage with Drew Carey.  We had a blast and we know how to do it for next time. 

 We had to sign a release which seemed to indicate that we could not come back for 10 years!  However, it states that you cannot be a contestant on the show for 10 years.  You can go again and again, if you want to, until you are actually a contestant.   We met one woman who had been there 10 times before.               
                

Arrive early.  Really early.  We arrived at about 9:30 am and were in the gate by 9:45.  Each person is issued a number.  We had numbers 112 and 113.

After you receive your number, you are shuffled off to the first holding area, outside undercover, with 250 other hopefuls.   Now you are making friends.  The people you are sitting with are the same people you will be with until you get into the studio.

At this point, a young girl with incredible handwriting makes your name tag.  Now you can introduce yourselves to your new friends.   At this point, they also bring you several pages of waivers and rules.  Bring a pen!  I always have about two in my bag and I shared with about a dozen people. (got them back too).  These pages include the part about don't tell anyone about what goes on here.  I did and haven't been arrested yet. 

Once the paperwork is done, everyone has their picture taken.  They prompt you to cheer or jump or generally look excited.  The pictures are distributed later.  They cost $20.00.  Most people bought them.  

Then you are all shuffled off to another holding area around the corner from the first area.   It was fun.  People tried out their cheers.  It was windy and we got cold. 

This time you move in groups of 15 people and stand in front of the producer and his assistant.  This is where the "interviews" take place.  They simply go down the line of people and ask where you are from and what you do.  The assistant jots down notes.

We have come to realize that at the point we were "interviewed" the decision as to who would be the nine lucky people who would make it to contestants row had already been decided. The questions the rest of the people were asked were just to make us think we had a chance.  One of the guys we were hanging out with noticed after the show that all the audience members that made it to contestants row numbers 1 - 100!  So even though we were early, we were not quite early enough.


Again we were moved around another corner to an area where there were tv monitors overhead that ran a loop of old Price is Right shows.  Very strange, sitting with all these fans of the show.  We talked about the show, we all did. 

                          

This is where you are sold lunch.  Yeah, it was passable but expensive.  Three choices - quesadilla, a burger or a cheese pizza.  One price $11.00.  We shared the quesadilla, thank goodness.   Drinks were $3.00 whether it was water or pop.


Now you get to go into the studio.  All electronic devices, phones, cameras etc. are taken away to be retrieved after the show.  If I had known that you could take pictures in the various line ups, I would have brought my camera.

Once inside the studio, you do not get to decide where to sit.  The people you made friends with are all scattered around the studio.  We suspect this is so the camera people have some idea where you are going to jump up from.  We were seated at the end of the row next to the little stage in the middle of the audience.  We should be quite visable.  Two silly seniors in bright orange t-shirts.

The atmosphere is electric!  You do not know that your aren't going to be called to "COME ON DOWN". 

                  
 

Drew Carey is exactly the way he appears.  He is a genuinely nice guy.  He chats with the audience, jokes with the other members of the crew and the "beauties".  The girls are much thinner than they appear on television and very pretty.  George Gray, the announcer and bearer of "COME ON DOWN" is fantastic.  He is funny and very personable.  Perhaps a little more down to earth than Drew.



By the end of the show, our hands were tingling from clapping and our throats a bit sore from cheering.

We found out a few things too.  You do not drive out of the studio with a new car.  Vouchers are issued.  You can go home to wherever and take that voucher into your local dealer.  There is no tax on prizes received under $1,000 but there are tax forms to fill out for larger prizes.  We met up with the husband of the showcase winner of the day who had won a sailboat and some other stuff.  The man surprised us because he was put out.  He said "What do I want with a boat?"  It was worth more than $25,000.  Why complain?

All and all,  we had a great time.  Great fun even if you don't win.  Would we go back?  Yeah but we would not take our rig into Los Angeles, - that's a whole other story.

Gwendolyn is pointing right at us

We chatted with this girl in the line.  She won the car behind her.  She made it to the showcase but did not win it.

They say that television adds 10 lbs to you.  Huh, how about 30?