A final live blogging of Bob Barker

Yesterday, Bob Barker filmed his final episode of The Price Is Right, which is to air a week from tomorrow. Unfortunately, due to a work schedule that is not conducive to PIR watching, today will be my final opportunity to catch a new episode of my beloved show. As a result, I have decided to repeat the "How to win at Price Is Right" gimmick from a month ago.

Prize: Home Gym
Player 1: 1100
Player 2: 2000
Player 3: 1800
Player 4: 2001
Actual price: 2599

Strong bidding from everyone. They must have read my previous blog entry on how to bid.

Game: 1/2 Off

By accurately guessing which of two prizes are half off, you can increase your chances at winning $10,000. The woman contestant played decently (c'mon, a pet shaver at only $20?) and narrowed it down to a 1 in 4 chance. She picked box number 3, which is foolish since we all know the money is in box number 6. (Which was my actual guess, proving that even when luck comes into it, I'm a better player than these peons on the TV.)

Prize: Home Theater Sound System
Player 1: 999
Player 2: 1000
Player 3: 1200
Player 4: 1
Actual price: 1030

Not good bidding this go around. Player 1 invited player 2 to go over the top by selecting one number below a nice round number. Player 2 could easily have been cut off with an 1100 bid, and yet still managed his way on stage. No matter the numerical odds, it's tough to beat good bidding. Player 4 should get honorable mention by taking 998 numbers.

Game: Make Your Move

There are three prizes whose prices are all run together. You separate out which numbers begin to which prize. The wild card is that the big prize was some futuristic golf cart, which no one could possibly know how to price. The good news is that a shredder is definitely $59 and the chafing dish is definitely $799 thereby telling the contestant by default that the electric golf mobile is $7,995. The contestant was ignorant, fortunately he relied on a somewhat intelligent crowd to achieve victory.

Prize: Cabinet
Player 1: 750
Player 2: 900
Player 3: 1400
Player 4: 1150
Actual price: 1050

Everyone was doing swell until player 4 biffed it up. Player 4 could easily have taken 901 and taken the maximum amount of numbers including the 1150 he wanted. Instead, he bid right in the middle and cost himself the opportunity to win his way on stage.

Game: Let 'Em Roll

Eh. It's a car game involving dice. The only skill involved is knowing whether some drug store products are higher or lower than item before it, thereby earning more dice rolls in an attempt to win the car. The contestant easily maneuvered her way through the weak skills assessment (detergent less than vitamins which is more than skin cream) to earn the maximum 3 rolls. She needed only one as she rolled five cars on the five die to win the car in a moment that Bob is calling a historic moment as the first (and probably only) time a contestant won the car on a single roll. Yay luck!

(Note: I bet the guy who bid 1150 on the last go around is kicking himself for losing out on a car for his foolish pricing guess)

Spin the Big Wheel:

Spinner 1: 65
Spinner 2: 60 + 50 = Bust
Spinner 3: 95 (Winner!)

Prize: His/Her Golf Equipment
Player 1: 1200
Player 2: 2095
Player 3: 1351
Player 4: 1
Actual price: 998

Solid bidding. I like it win the $1 bid is rewarded with victory. All is well.

Game: Barker's Bargain Bar

Simplistic game in which the contestant picks which of two prizes is the bigger bargain based upon two prices the show has put in front of them. 50-50 chance game that the contestant lost. No sofa and no piano for you!

Prize: LCD TV with built in DVD player
Player 1: 1000
Player 2: 800
Player 3: 1541
Player 4: 1600
Actual price: 1399

Player 4 is doing his best to tick me off by not wisely bidding. It wouldn't have mattered as the wise bid, based on his line of thinking price-wise, would have been 1542. Otherwise, another surprisingly strong show of bidding.

Game: Cover-Up

This game is incredibly difficult to explain so I'm not even going to try. The player lost, and I spent the time she was looking into the audience to see if tornadoes are going to rip the roof off my store while I'm working this afternoon. The answer looks to be yes.

Prize: Trampoline
Player 1: 1300
Player 2: 750
Player 3: 800
Player 4: 600
Actual price: 828

Player 4 has once again screwed it up. Not only did he miss out on a chance to win the car earlier, his consistently poor bidding will keep him in contestant's row the entire show. Shameful.

Game: Squeeze Play
39124 are all run together. The contestant must pick which of the three middle numbers to remove in order to make the price of the bed that he is trying to win. He removed the "9" and he should have removed the "1" to create a price of 3,924. He had a one in three shot, and he swung and missed. Kind of like me. Darn that slow pitch softball. Deceptively elusive.

Spin the Big Wheel:
Spinner 1: 25 + 25 = 50
Spinner 2: 85
Spinner 3: 10 + 85 = 95 (Winner!)

Final Showcase Showdown:
Showcase 1: Trip to Italy/Sailboat. The bid was 27,000. A bit high? (Actual price: 22,869)
Showcase 2: Dining Room/Hot Tub. The bid was 14,130. Sounds close to me. (Actual price: 17,831) Winner!!

As has likely been ascertained from several Bob Barker related posts, I will miss the Price Is Right. Bob will, too:

"How many 83-year-old men get up every morning knowing that they're going to have a standing ovation sometime during the day?"

Photo from KOMO-TV