14 Showcased Facts About The Price is Right

The Price is Right, with former host Bob Barker | Image: CBS Television

The Price is Right is more than just a long-running game show. At this point, it's a piece of somewhat kitschy Americana. From 1956 to present day, from Bill Cullen to Drew Carey, every generation of Americans has seen one of the show's incarnations since its inception. 

Mental_floss has a list of trivia about the show that's a pleasant, "blast-from-the-past" sort of diversion. A few items follow; see the list in entirety here. 

1. THE SHOW’S RATINGS IMPROVED WHEN BOB BARKER WENT GRAY.

In 1987, Barker had to get approval from the head of daytime programming to stop dyeing his hair, becoming one of the few TV hosts with gray hair. “I was prematurely gray,” Barkers told the Los Angeles Times. “I began to gray at my temples, and I guess it could be that technology at that time was not what it is today, but I didn’t look good. It looked like I had no hair at my temples, so they suggested I tint it.” Barker went on vacation and stopped tinting, and people complimented his gray locks so he decided to keep the look. “We taped ahead. So let’s say on the Wednesday show I had dark hair, but when we taped the next show I had gray hair, and that show aired on Thursday. I got a letter from a fellow who said, ‘Bob, you must have had one hell of a night.’

What else might have improved the ratings? Perhaps the following:

5. ONE TIME A CONTESTANT GOT SO EXCITED, HER TOP FELL OFF.


Before the term “wardrobe malfunction” was coined, a female contestant in 1977 had just that in the middle of an episode. When Yolanda was told to “come on down,” she got so excited that her tube top slipped and, for a brief second, revealed way more than is appropriate for a daytime game show. “She began jumping up and down and out they came,” Barker told Larry King about “the most talked about single incident in the history of the show.” When Yolanda finally got to her podium, Barker quipped, “I’ve never had a welcome like this.” 

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Been a fan for years. Drew Carey has certainly livened up the show. What's not to like an hour of commercials made into a game show. Plinko and Rat Race rule.
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