Jonathan Goodson's 'Price Is Right'

[J.R.]

I always appreciated how TNPIR94 tried to be its own show instead of same thing, different hour. Different set, host, mentality and it seemed to develop its own set of quirks, trademarks and "in-jokes" towards the end.

Wasn't here where the Cliffhanger got the name "Hans"?

[PYLdude]

I always appreciated how TNPIR94 tried to be its own show instead of same thing, different hour. Different set, host, mentality and it seemed to develop its own set of qurirks, trademarks and "in-jokes" towards the end.

And I think if you brought it out today, it probably has a better fate than sixteen weeks of episodes.

[BrandonFG]

I always appreciated how TNPIR94 tried to be its own show instead of same thing, different hour. Different set, host, mentality and it seemed to develop its own set of qurirks, trademarks and "in-jokes" towards the end.

This. It set out to be different, and it actually worked. To answer G-R's question, the Range bonus game surprisingly worked IMO, and I didn't mind the range varying based on blind draw. At the same time, I think they went a little too far on the spectrum to make things different, since they already eliminated the bidding and only used the Showcase Showdown sparingly. I wouldn't have minded a traditional setup, although the Aussie format would've also been cool.

Wasn't here where the Cliffhanger got the name "Hans"?

I always thought Dennis James brought that up, inadvertently upsetting Janice, as that was her husband's name? Am I confusing TPiR lore here?

[snowpeck]

Wasn't here where the Cliffhanger got the name "Hans"?

I always thought Dennis James brought that up, inadvertently upsetting Janice, as that was her husband's name? Am I confusing TPiR lore here?

Janice was just upset by the game in general... her husband's name was Fritz.

Back on topic, the show wasn't that bad, but it got terrible clearances.  In my hometown it only aired once a week... two episodes in the wee hours of Saturday night after SNL was over.

[PYLdude]

I always thought Dennis James brought that up, inadvertently upsetting Janice, as that was her husband's name? Am I confusing TPiR lore here?

Janice was just upset by the game in general... her husband's name was Fritz.

Yeah. And one day he said "there goes Fritz" and the story goes that she went offstage bursting into tears and didn't come back out for the rest of the show.

From what I've read (I'm sure others have as well, so this is probably nothing new) Davidson just came up with the name out of the blue in honor of his co-star Eric Braeden (whose name was originally Hans).

[J.R.]

Back on topic, the show wasn't that bad, but it got terrible clearances.  In my hometown it only aired once a week... two episodes in the wee hours of Saturday night after SNL was over.

I believe the Des Moines area didn't get TNPIR94 at all. Am I correct on this?

[BrandonFG]

Ahh Fritz...thanks for the correction. I suppose I had the German origin right. :-P

I suppose Norfolk was an anomaly; we got the show weekdays at 4pm, but I remember my grandparents sending me a Dallas-area TV listing, and I believe they got the show on Saturday afternoons. I imagine the poor clearances and possibly O.J. hurt the show's ratings quite a bit. I know "Feud" is the show often cited, but from what I remember, a lot of shows that premiered in fall 1994 were one-and-done, one exception being (ObGameShow) Gordon Elliott's talk show.

[Jeremy Nelson]

Any reason why you didn't like him? Sure, he wasn't polished or anything,

I think this is plenty.

(And I already see the followup from the usual suspects: "Neither is Drew." To which I respond: that's his act.)

I think he would have gotten better with another season or two.

Yeah, I disliked game shows being beta-tested on live air long before this decade.

Fair enough. Point conceded.

Was Range Game a good end game? Yes. Better than having two people bid against each other, which 9 times of ten gets you a winner? Meh.

I disagree. Price '94 felt more like a bonus round at least, in that the win rate wasn't so friggin high. Nine times out of ten I can watch Price today and skip the showcases, only because I know that there will probably be a winner. It gets boring watching people win $20K+ prize packages where in many cases they just win by default. Most other versions of Price, along with '94,  feature the Showcase in a more traditional format and win rate, which I appreciate.

[PYLdude]

Was Range Game a good end game? Yes. Better than having two people bid against each other, which 9 times of ten gets you a winner? Meh.

I disagree. Price '94 felt more like a bonus round at least, in that the win rate wasn't so friggin high. Nine times out of ten I can watch Price today and skip the showcases, only because I know that there will probably be a winner. It gets boring watching people win $20K+ prize packages where in many cases they just win by default. Most other versions of Price, along with '94,  feature the Showcase in a more traditional format and win rate, which I appreciate.

1) then why are you watching the show? The point is to get to the showcase, isn't it? Why are you even bothering?

2) "more traditional"? The traditional format of The Price Is Right is two people get to the showcase, the winner is the closest bidder. How are any of these shows following any sort of tradition?

[TLEberle]

Do you think the syndicated, Doug Davidson-hosted edition of 'The Price  Is Right' in 1994 was a bad idea to begin with, or a good idea poorly executed? I say it was a good idea that deserved a better host and a more familiar look and feel to the daytime 'Price'.

I think that if it was the only version of TPIR, it could have worked out. (And I give Doug a little bit more credit than Chris Lemon does. But not much.)

The problem was that you're watching that and thinking "Why am I watching this version instead of the morning one?" and in Seattle, the show was on at 4p. TK-TPIR worked because it was Tom Kennedy and he capably handled the 30 minute format, and the show was on either in prime access or late night. I liked the show fine because I was 14 and hungry for game shows, but I would have much rather seen the original recipe version if possible. (and if you're watching both, that is an awful lot of guessing in a single day.)

[JMFabiano]

I always thought Dennis James brought that up, inadvertently upsetting Janice, as that was her husband's name? Am I confusing TPiR lore here?

Janice was just upset by the game in general... her husband's name was Fritz.

Yeah. And one day he said "there goes Fritz" and the story goes that she went offstage bursting into tears and didn't come back out for the rest of the show.

From what I've read (I'm sure others have as well, so this is probably nothing new) Davidson just came up with the name out of the blue in honor of his co-star Eric Braeden (whose name was originally Hans).

Does the "Fritz" episode exist anywhere?

Also, what's curious to me is Bob burying the show on the daytime PIR.  At least 2-3 clips of him doing this are on YouTube.

[Jeremy Nelson]

Was Range Game a good end game? Yes. Better than having two people bid against each other, which 9 times of ten gets you a winner? Meh.

I disagree. Price '94 felt more like a bonus round at least, in that the win rate wasn't so friggin high. Nine times out of ten I can watch Price today and skip the showcases, only because I know that there will probably be a winner. It gets boring watching people win $20K+ prize packages where in many cases they just win by default. Most other versions of Price, along with '94,  feature the Showcase in a more traditional format and win rate, which I appreciate.

1) then why are you watching the show? The point is to get to the showcase, isn't it? Why are you even bothering?

2) "more traditional"? The traditional format of The Price Is Right is two people get to the showcase, the winner is the closest bidder. How are any of these shows following any sort of tradition?

1) Yes, the point is to get to the showcase. But the showcase is my least favorite part of the show because it's not like your two best players are in it. Some people get up on stage with a half wit bid and get to the "bonus round" with a lucky spin on a giant wheel of numbers. I just feel a small disconnect when they get to that part of the show because I'm used to the best contestant (usually) making it to the bonus round of a given show. That's the way Price has always been for me.

2) I'm speaking generally in terms of bonus round win rate. A bonus round win, to me, is supposed to feel special. It's not something that should be won every day, and it's certainly not something that should be won by default (one player is off on their showcase by $10K+, and wins because the other player went over). You should generally be happy to see someone win it. I just feel "meh" when i see someone win a showcase because it happens almost every day. It's like if Pyramid awarded $25,000 a day to the player who got closest to completing the Winner's Circle- that's the best way for me to describe my feeling with the Showcase.

But hey, I understand I'm in the minority here- we may agree to disagree on this one.

[PYLdude]

Also, what's curious to me is Bob burying the show on the daytime PIR.  At least 2-3 clips of him doing this are on YouTube.

I don't think it was so much him "burying" the show as it was clearing up the confusion between the two. Weren't the two shows largely sharing personnel behind the scenes?

And honestly, it's the fault of whoever at Goodson or Paramount gave the promo ideas to the ad agency. The way they presented it, it seemed like they were trying to promote TNPIR as a replacement for the original show (and I know I read in a couple of places back then that there had been talk about the regular PIR losing steam and a fair share of its audience entering 1994)- just another in the list of problems with the show.

[clemon79]

IIRC, when they ran out of old prizes to bid on, that's when the elimination method switched to the Big Wheel (and also that awesome overhead shot).

I'm gonna go ahead and call shenanigans on this, because I distinctly remember Big Wheel and TPWR being interspersed during the run of the series, like sometimes they would play TPWR, and then for variety or because they happened to schedule three fast games that day, they would spin the wheel.

[J.R.]

1) Yes, the point is to get to the showcase. But the showcase is my least favorite part of the show because it's not like your two best players are in it. Some people get up on stage with a half wit bid and get to the "bonus round" with a lucky spin on a giant wheel of numbers. I just feel a small disconnect when they get to that part of the show because I'm used to the best contestant (usually) making it to the bonus round of a given show. That's the way Price has always been for me.

To me, the show has become pretty much a big party for well over a decade. So, they are far more concerned with everyone having a good time and giving anyone a chance to win big keeps them happy.

I've said this in the past but: As long as people are having a good time, nobody is going to care how "fair" the proceedings are.