Aspects of The Price is Right that you miss

[MSTieScott]

The show is also now permanently using the extended version of Contestants' Row with more separate displays -- that version had been created before the pandemic for episodes in which families competed together and they were trying to cram three or four people behind each display.

Here's an example of an episode from the most recent season. As you can see, each small group of related audience members has been separated to promote social distancing. Until someone gets called to come on down, at which point that person high-fives everybody they see on their way to Contestants' Row.

[clemon79]

Ah ok, thanks. Honestly, about as good as you're gonna get it for TPiR, I think.

[Neumms]

As someone else noted, I miss the days when the audience wore street clothes rather than t-shirts. Yeah, we know, everyone loves Drew and has Plinko on their bucket list. Stop picking them. I suppose the heavily practiced preternatural enthusiasm is here to stay, but I'd love to see the whole audience again. Just check for vaccinations at the door. If it encourages a few, all the better.

And I'd like to see an unriggable set-up for the Bonus Game again and the original nicely designed set-up for its sister the Shell Game.

[Mr. Armadillo]

T-shirts aren't street clothes?  Maybe I'm not as old as I thought.

[tvmitch]

I miss the creative camera work. The subtle zooms when a contestant wins, etc.

[aaron sica]

I think it was a Marc Breslow thing, but i liked seeing the shot of the showcase podium flashing the total during the credits.

[Steve Gavazzi]

I wouldn't know I missed this if it weren't for the Pluto channel, but I think the camera transition following the Train as it moves offscreen is one of the neatest things ever.

[SuperMatch93]

This shouldn't bug me as much as it does, but I miss the days when contestants weren't directed to run over to their prizes every. single. time.

[Brian44]

And I'd like to see an unriggable set-up for the Bonus Game again and the original nicely designed set-up for its sister the Shell Game.

At what point in time would you say Bonus Game wasn't a rigged set-up? Because my observations lead me to believe that the producers have made it incredibly easy or incredibly difficult to win since day one.

[rjaguar3]

And I'd like to see an unriggable set-up for the Bonus Game again and the original nicely designed set-up for its sister the Shell Game.

At what point in time would you say Bonus Game wasn't a rigged set-up? Because my observations lead me to believe that the producers have made it incredibly easy or incredibly difficult to win since day one.

I assume the above is referring to a setup where it's clearly impossible to move the bonus window around after the fact to a prize the contestant lost (or won).

[Otm Shank]

I assume the above is referring to a setup where it's clearly impossible to move the bonus window around after the fact to a prize the contestant lost (or won).

I think the point is that the game really hinges on the difficulty of the prize controlling the bonus window. There's two ways the game could be set up:

1) The higher/lower aspect is assigned to all four prizes and then the bonus is attached without considering difficulty of any particular prize

2) The higher/lower for the window controlling the bonus is deliberately planned: if you are over budget, you make the higher/lower margin close or use a prize that is difficult to price. If you want to ensure a win, make that window a particularly easy choice.

I'm inclined to think that #2 applied more often than not. I don't think "rigging" is the exact best term, which would be illegal interference, but they could certainly promote a win or loss to be nearly inevitable.

[Brian44]

Yes, that's where I was going with my reply. By that token, the HIGHER/LOWER aspect of Bonus Game has always been tougher than Punch-A-Bunch because your odds of winning the top prize with each correct guess are 15 times greater in the former.

If you want to force a win in Bonus Game, you only need to make one SP price easy to guess; in Shell Game, all 4 need to be easy to guess!

What I think may have been the greatest example of a forced win in TPIR's history happened in an early '90s playing of Bonus Game. The contestant lost the first 3 SPs. The 4th SP was a Monopoly board game. The wrong price was $7, the contestant correctly guessed higher ($11), and the BONUS was in that window.

[Otm Shank]

There is definitely a correlation between prize values and the odds. Punch-a-Bunch and Three Strikes are scaled accordingly to their odds. Bonus Game did not offer the largest prizes, save special occasions -- the win ratio for Bonus Game, Hit Me, and the coin-flip quickies must have had the lowest average prize value. (Risking hijacking the thread, because I'm sure someone has that to the penny.) Then games like Clock Game and Poker Game pushed down those prize amounts to fit the constructs of the game, and really should have been won most of the time.

[jjman920]

Yes, that's where I was going with my reply. By that token, the HIGHER/LOWER aspect of Bonus Game has always been tougher than Punch-A-Bunch because your odds of winning the top prize with each correct guess are 15 times greater in the former.

It's also important to remember that the main aspect of Bonus Game is watching the contestant play for each window and the reveal of all of them at the end. The main aspect of Punch-A-Bunch is to watch the contestant punch and the one by one reveal by the host. No punch is given for free, so it's vital to set up the HIGHER/LOWER portion to be easier so that the main aspect of the game can be played in the first place. Otherwise, the game could end without any punches being taken and the segment will fall flat.

[chrisholland03]

I've always been surprised they didn't go Shell Game with Bonus Game in the "Contestant gets them all right" scenario.