The Price Is Right

The Price Is Right is a television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia (Endemol in Netherlands). The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed media and board games. The franchise began in 1956 as a television game show hosted by Bill Cullen and was revamped in 1972. This version was originally hosted by Bob Barker. Since 2007, Drew Carey has hosted the program.

In the show, contestants compete to win cash and prizes by guessing the pricing of merchandise. The program has been critically successful and remains a stalwart in the television ratings. It also managed to break away from the quiz show format that has been used in other game shows. Since the current version premiered, it has also been adapted in several international formats around the world, most notably in the United Kingdom, Australia and Mexico.

In 2013, TV Guide ranked it No. 5 in its list of the 60 greatest game shows ever.

The original version of The Price Is Right was first broadcast on NBC, and later ABC, from 1956 to 1965. Hosted by Bill Cullen, it involved four contestants bidding on a wide array of merchandise prizes, whose values ranged anywhere from a few dollars, (in many cases, "bonus" prizes were attached after the fact, to the winner) to thousands, doing so in the manner of auctions except that Cullen did not act out the role of auctioneer. Instead, contestants tried to bid closest to the product's actual retail price without going over that price. Depending on the prize, contestants were allowed, in proper turn, to make multiple bids; or only allowed one bid. In the case of the former, each contestant would bid on the displayed item, until a buzzer sounded. They could make a final bid, or "freeze." The contestant whose bid was closest to the correct value of the prize – and had not gone over that value – won it. There was also a special game set aside for the home viewer, which offered several prizes in a package, which usually included a luxury vacation trip, and/or a new car as part of the package. Viewers would submit their bids via post cards; the winner was announced on the air. At the end of each episode, the contestant who had won the most (by dollar value) was declared the winner and became the returning champion, entitled to play again in the next episode.

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