TPIR Studio Question

[chris319]

Since leaving studio 33 at TVC and moving to Glendale, does TPIR have a dedicated studio where the set is permanently erected and lit, or do other shows (such as LMAD, PYL) move in and out and share the same space?

In the olden days, CBS and NBC each had four main stages where game-show sets were constantly being wheeled in and out and lit.

I've worked in all four of the former NBC stages and have been in 33 many, many times as well as the other former CBS stages. I've been in 33 when it was totally empty (no sets in place) and when it was set up for TPIR. Pyramid was an interesting setup because the camera ramp was in place, running through the center of the audience, and had to be struck for other shows such as TPIR.

I've never been to the new studio in Glendale.

[Mr. Brown]

Granted, I've only been there twice, but I can tell you LMaD is set up literally right next to TPiR. You enter the studio from the west side of the building, pass by LMaD - which takes up the entire west half, there's an "alley" where there's crew present, along with an area for the models, and then you hit the TPiR set, which presumably takes up the entire east half.

Office space, dressing rooms, etc. run the entire length of the building on the south side.

Due to the way it is set up with no wall, there is no way both shows could be filmed at the same time. Additionally, it is my understanding that there is a shared control room.

The LMaD set was clearly decorated for the previous season, as Wayne Brady was on a taping break to do Broadway, so it did not appear as if it had been touched for a while. My guess is that they do not strike the sets, and if they do, it's very rarely. Somebody had recently complained on /r/thepriceisright that there was clearly dust on several of the TPiR set pieces...

[MSTieScott]

Although both shows taped at Haven in 2023, this year, Celebrity Family Feud taped at Sony Pictures Studios and Press Your Luck taped at Television City. So it seems likely the Price and Deal sets have been standing for a while.

[chris319]

That answers my question. Fremantle saves a pile of money by not having to set up, strike and light the sets for those shows. In addition, both shows must share a common area for the storage of prizes, pricing games and other set pieces. Presumably, CBS/Hackmann was charging Fremantle for set storage, so there is more money saved.

At CBS the stage crews were represented by IATSE local 33 and I presume that is still the case at Haven.

Does the new TPIR set have three doors in addition to the turntable unit as it had in 33? TPIR Live road show made do with only two doors.

[MSTieScott]

TPIR still has three doors and home base. The only thing the casual viewer would notice is different is the audience is no longer recessed.

One new expense that TPIR has to deal with is that prizes and pricing games are now stored off-site somewhere and have to be transported to and from the studio on a regular basis. I try not to think about how the decades-old games are repeatedly being loaded and unloaded from trucks (considering they were built to be wheeled short distances across a flat indoor hallway), as that makes me sad.

[chris319]

Do you suppose they're still storing prizes in the warehouses at Beverly & Fairfax?

If they're transporting pricing games to Glendale by truck, that could put a lot of wear & tear on the units.

[MSTieScott]

Do you suppose they're still storing prizes in the warehouses at Beverly & Fairfax?

Nope -- I was at Television City this summer, and all of the prizes were gone. One former prize warehouse was storing audience risers. The external pricing game storage area now holds Dancing with the Stars set pieces; the main pricing game area is now just miscellaneous storage. I don't know where they're storing everything, or how far away it is, but it isn't at Television City.

TPIR hasn't been completely wiped clean from the facility (the green screen used for souvenir photos is still over by the benches), but for the most part, it's gone. However, all of the Barker commemorative displays -- the Bob Barker Studio plaque, the Bob Barker Promenade plaque, and the mural painted on the exterior of Studio 46 -- are still up.

[chris319]

I've never seen the mural on studio 46.

I had dealings with CBS and TV City back in the '80s. To say they were not nice people would be the understatement of all time.

What's going on in 33 now? Studio 33 had been designated as "the game-show studio" back then.

[MSTieScott]

I've never seen the mural on studio 46.

Here are some Getty photos taken when it was revealed in 2003. Here's a tweet with a head-on shot of the mural without Barker also in the picture.

What's going on in 33 now? Studio 33 had been designated as "the game-show studio" back then.

When I was there this summer, the studio was being set up for a game show pilot.

Does Real Time with Bill Maher still tape there?

[Jsach]

I'm not sure where exactly the warehouse is, but it's "about a mile away" from what I was told. The offices are next to a Home Depot in Glendale, and occasionally you can see some Price props around their office from the sidewalk of Colorado Blvd. I don't think their warehouse and their offices are in the same building though.

They just leave some of the games out in the open behind the studio on tape days because there's not space in the building for them. I do not know what their plan is in the event of rain, but given what happened to Penny Ante, I'd hope there's some sort of plan. Allegedly they were constructing a warehouse on the lot, and they've made a lot of progress on the building next to the studio over the past year, but it still isn't entirely finished yet as of my last trip out. I'm going out again in December though so that may have changed.

Does Real Time with Bill Maher still tape there?

They recently switched studios to 56, I believe. I might be wrong about which one they're in now, but it's not 33.

[chris319]

I'm behind the curve on this. What happened to Penny Ante?

Did it get rained on before Bob Boden could move it to his house?

[SuperMatch93]

I'm behind the curve on this. What happened to Penny Ante?

Did it get rained on before Bob Boden could move it to his house?

From the Golden-Road FAQ:

Penny Ante was retired because of a series of mechanical problems that flared up throughout the 1990s and became considerably more frequent during Season 30. It was actually scheduled to be played in Season 31 on October 9, 2002, but it malfunctioned before the taping, was replaced by Pick-a-Number, and was subsequently removed from the pricing game rotation. The staff decided to retire it, but they reversed that decision later in the week; unfortunately, by that time, the game’s board had been placed outside by the garbage, where it was damaged beyond repair in a rainstorm. The show had long intended to rebuild the game, and although the process of doing so never really got off the ground, it was not officially declared as being retired until nearly five years after its last playing.