Stroll with us through the pricing game storage areas of CBS Television City.
This is the back of the Credit Card prop.Here is the back of Grand Game. The white “slide” that you see on the top of the prop controls the dollar amounts. To display $1.00, the slide is pulled all the way to the left. For each zero that is added, the slide is moved a bit to the right. Once the slide is as far right as it can go, $10,000 is displayed. Also visible are Pick-a-Pair and Dice Game.Here you can see the electrical portion of the Let ‘Em Roll dice table. This is not visible on camera.More games (such as Dice Game), as well as the steps to climb the Plinko board!Here you see the back of the Danger Price game. Additionally, one of TPiR’s most high-tech car backdrops is shown.Behind Ten Chances. You can see three blue handles. This is how the game operators control the numbers that seems to “magically float” across the board.On the left is the back of Bullseye. On the right is the back of Check Game.Behind One Away. The gray piece is what moves when they start revealing the numbers. You can see some hand-drawn lines, which represent where to stop the slide.Behind That’s Too Much. Also visible are pieces from Five Price Tags and Clearance Sale.This hand-written note can be found on the back of the Plinko board. The game premiered 3 months later, January 1983.Some props you see here belong to the games Bullseye, Punch a Bunch, Secret X, Plinko, Grocery Game, Cover Up, Clock Game, Now or Then, Temptation, Master Key, Bonus Game (behind NoT), and the back of Range Game. What you will not find in this area are the little props (i.e. Plinko Chips, Dice, TPiR Pennies).The old Check Out prop (with the scoreboard in a “folded” position) and CliffhangersThe new Check Out prop, in the CBS Shop for some final touch-ups.This is a shot from the side of the Cliffhangers board. To operate the game, it appears if a crank is turned, which moves the chain, thereby moving Hans (the mountain climber). The spot where Hans falls should the contestant lose is a cushion — but on it somebody drew a picture of a body with bones scattered about!Here’s the side of Clock Game. As you can see, there are two “holders” on the side of the game board. These holders are used for the orange box that you see Bob holding during the playing of the game. If you look closely at the shot, you can see a space where a third holder used to be. This is because Clock Game was often played for three prizes in the 70s and 80s. The wooden box on the back of the board is the holder that housed the dollar prizes during the 1986 Primetime Specials.Close up of the side of Dice Game, and the back of One Away. You can also see a prop from It’s in the Bag just to the left of Dice Game. The black piece in the left of the picture is the back of Secret X. You’ll note the free “X” that Bob picks up at game’s start.Double Prices, One Wrong Price, Cliffhangers, TPiR Train, Superball, and some trip backdrops.A distance picture of everyone’s favorite game, Joker.A prop from the retired game Fortune Hunter, Double Prices, It’s in the Bag, Pathfinder, and One Right Price.A group of pricing games including Flip Flop, Switcheroo, Check Game, and if you look closely, the cash register from Grocery Game.Grand Game, with protective cover. This picture also gives you a good shot of the backdrops that are often used behind cars. Most of the freestanding backdrops have a second backdrop that is attached behind it. You can see such a case above.Hi-LO, Money Game, Take Two, Switch?, Temptation, Freeze Frame, Hole in One, Race Game, Eazy as 123, and Shell Game. You can also see Side By Side right under the word “Lo”.Pick a number.. Any Number!A great shot of Master Key. Note the Sherlock Holmes-style detective smoking a pipe in the top center of the board!This is the back of the Master Key prop that sits center stage, along with the sign that hangs on the turntable wall. The cue card is simply there to remind Bob of the prizes being played for.Money Game. Notice the picture of the car the covers the word “money”. That picture is actually a small piece of glass that is removable. Next time they play Money Game for a truck, you will not see the car there, but rather a truck.Just like a Value Meal at McDonalds, the Let ‘Em Roll prop was recently “Super Sized”. What took us by surprise was that the prop does not appear to come apart. It is stored backstage is the same condition as you see it on camera.Here’s a shot of Bullseye on the flip side of the turntable. This picture gives you a good idea of where the games are loaded, and shows you some of the complicated turntable and lighting controls.Squeeze Play, complete with a 2001 paintjob.This Mercury Villager is one of three automobiles about to be offered to a lucky Triple Play contestant.Just which version of Pass The Buck are we playing? Check out the gameboard versus the sticker on the bottom!A unique view of Line ‘Em Up, Master Key, and the back of Cliffhangers.A unique shot of Master Key and Make Your Move.Here is the back of Push Over. You can see that some props used in the game are kept below the main prop.A variety of games! That’s Too Much, Clearance Sale, One Away, and Shopping Spree.A close up of the new Check Out prop, with no products on the counter. Shopping Spree is also shown.Here is a nice shot of the Check Out scoreboard. You can see the outlines of the win and loss indicators. When was the last time that “win” was lit up? A unique view of Mt. Cliffhangers.Two games are visible here — the back of 3 Strikes and the underbody of the Hole in One putting prop.Plain and simple! A nice close up of the Dice Game. Did you know that those large die are made of very lightweight material and very breakable? Hit Me is also shown in the back.Here is the back of the Freeze Frame game. As you can probably surmise, a operator stands behind the gameboard and turns the crank counterclockwise. This makes the numbers on the front of the board revolve. It’s interesting to note all of the graffiti on the back of the game. Now or Then is also visible on the right.Penny Ante, and the backs’ of Barker’s Bargain Bar & Pick a Number.One of Adam Sandler’s responsibilities is to load the pricing games with the proper graphics prior to the start of the show. He was kind enough to allow our cameras to follow, and here you can see Adam loading the target price into Grand Game. Fresh out of the Art Department, here’s a shot of the first new Pricing Game of Season 33, created by our good friend Roger Dobkowitz.Here’s a technical look at Pocket Change.Many people ask how a “Vane Display” works. As you can see here, the ‘flaps’ fold inward so that they are not visible looking at the display from straight on. This shot is taken from above, and the center flap is ‘hidden’ so currently a “0” is being revealed.Adam explains to us the process used in loading the Bonkers game. It turns out that he is missing a number “7”, and must order one from the graphics department prior to the start of the show.Sorry, John. Your face looks nothing like a seven!Here you see the bottom of the plunger that contestants press when racing against time in the Bonkers game. You’ll notice that there are no wires to be found. That’s because this prop is nothing more than a “dummy prop”, with the sounds being generated off-stage in conjunction with the pressing of the plunger.Some of the Pricing Games which do not involve alot of electronics are stored outside in one of the prize warehouses to keep space available inside the studio. Here you can see Temptation, Barker’s Markers, Take Two, Triple Play, and some covered small prize stands from Cliff Hangers.A picture of more covered up non-electric games. That’s the ultra-cool small prize podium from Joker. For whatever reason, the game itself is inside.John with the ever popular quickie, “1 Right Price” loaded on a cart and awaiting transport into the studio.Here’s the back of Temptation. The green electronic ‘boxes’ are where the price lights up as a contestant makes his or her guess. The brown panel is hinged as you can see, to make the process of loading the digits easier. Finally, on the bottom you can see the mechanism which releases the windows when Bob presses the buttons.The Flip Flop game remains on the turntable after a taping.This is the back of a Buy or Sell podium. Here you see what the models see as the lower the unchosen option.Another view of a Buy or Sell podium.Staff members often like to make their mark on the backs of pricing games. Here you can see such an example on the back of One Away.With as old as many of TPiR’s props are, it is certain that they are cleaned and recleaned many times over. Here you see a yellow square from the Secret X game. If you look closely, you can see that the board is rather dirty, with the cleanest part being the outline of an “X”. We hope somebody has some Pledge!Your walk down the Golden Road begins with these pencil erasers. Not visible on camera, a little reminder is left for Bob as to what the first gimme prize in the game is.This is the table prop used in Dice Game. Of course, this is not how you see it on tv. Here you see the table in its own protective case.A great photo of the current Let ‘Em Roll setup. Creeping up from behind is Pick a Pair and Bonkers.Scattered about are the On the Spot props. The floor tiles you see in the photo are quite heavy!The updated Card Game logo.For whatever reason, John loves Poker Game. (Maybe he just likes to gamble?) Here’s a great shot of the magnificent original board with One Away stealing a little thunder.This Joker ain’t wild…and he only shows his face about 4 times a year!America’s favorite game. It’s the rear of Double Prices. Everyone go out and party!Yeah! The first backstage picture of Magic Number on the site. Also visible are Pick a Pair and the rear of Pathfinder.Here is a closeup of the velcro stickys used in Bonkers!Yep, the rumor is true. Every time 10 Chances is played, the old buttons can be found right behind the game board. These buttons were retired because the wiring was no longer working, and suitable equipment to repair the problem could not be found (remember, these buttons were used for about 30 years!).ClockGameJohn poses by….well….Clock Game.The editors are not sure what was going through John’s mind as he stood next to the Joker prop. The back of Pass the Buck can be seen on the right.The Price is Right’s very own Adam Sandler doing his daily duty of loading the pricing games.Adam decided to keep up the ongoing ritual/joke of placing John’s head behind a pricing game prop.A great picture of Adam posing for the camera while treating Pick a Pair so kindly for an upcoming playing.Ok, when we said “posing” in the other pictures…maybe we should have saved that caption for this one!Something that is hard to see on TV when all the studio lights is on is how nifty the Freeze Frame display looks when it is lit up.A close-up of the clock used in Bonkers!The next few pictures we owe a big debt of gratitude to Adam Sandler and “Big Dave” for allowing us to bring them to you. Here’s Big Dave showing our members how the Range Game is loaded, which was a frequently asked question on our site.The clear plexiglass price is placed inside this box, which is on a movable track which goes up and down the range as needed. Inside the box is the light which will shine through the plexiglass and green strip to produce the price reveal we all know.Dave is shown here adjusting the price “box” down the track to correspond to a certain position on the range.Dave normally has to run from the back of the game to the front of the game in order to properly line up the price on the range. Today, he was lucky to have Marc assist with part of this task.Looks good to us!Here’s the back of the Range Game as it would appear on stage. (Dave included!) Dave will stand behind the prop and use the crank seen in the lower right hand corner of this photo to manually move the Rangefinder up the scale. He is cued with a small light when the contestant hits the button. This used to be mechanical but after a few malfuctions, it is now manually operated. (So technically, we CAN start the Rangefinder before 37 hours!)Just in case something breaks, some extra Flip Flop signage is safely stored behind the game.This is the underbody of the Credit Card game. What you see here is a close-up of the slot in which contestants insert the credit card prop. You can see that there is a “pump” attached to this slot, which helps the card make its decent and eventual excavation.Somebody is a copy-cat!1 Right Price must have done something wrong. It’s behind bars! Ha ha ha ha ha.Dave was very kind to us on our visit. He took us to see another amazing piece of equipment on the set. Shown here is the actual controls for Cliff Hangers. Inside this locked box are buttons which correspond with how many steps the mountain climber will take before stopping for each prize. Also, behind all the wiring, you can see 3 mountain climbers stored inside so that they are not damaged during movement around the studio.John shows us how the car label in Any Number is capable of sliding to the right. This was built into the game because when this prop premiered, it was used for both 4- and 5-digit cars. The other two prize labels do not move.Here’s Punch a Bunch backstage awaiting a taping. Normally this front area is completely covered up to protect the paper holes from accidentally being punched or cut.Elsewhere in the gallery we show you how many turntable games have their own storage platform. Now you see how these platforms line up perfectly with the turntable so that pricing games can be loaded and unloaded with ease.Outside we find stEP uP.Eddie shows us that this non-Easy as 123 prize retails for $675.Here we see Swap Meet mixed in with lots more backdrops in the outside storage area.Danger Price is an example of a game that was once stored inside. It recently found a home outside.A rare view of Lucky Seven from inside Door #3. You can see the neon lights above the numbers that are not visible on camera.A view from the rear of Lucky Seven. The numbers used in “today’s playing” are stored in the area marked “numbers here” until they are loaded on the gameboard.One of two number storage areas for Lucky Seven. This is attached to the back of the gameboard.John Sly is trying to make a very tough choice: Is he coming or going?The rear of Bonkers! Yes, numbers are printed on both sides of the cards.A unique shot of Check Out, 3 Strikes, and Line ‘Em Up.John shows us how the prize cards in 10 Chances are moved. Yes, somebody does stand on top of the gameboard during play.Here’s the rarely seen back of Clock Game. They had to open the back of the game up today because the Clock would not reset. Remember, Clock Game is OLD!A close-up of something nobody wants. It’s the Any Number piggy bank icon.No the blocks do not really go to China! Here you see a close-up of the inside of the Push Over discard box. Interesting, huh? Well, not really. But what we do find really interesting is what John is pointing to. You see, that’s a microphone that is planted inside of the box. Next time the game is played on the daytime show, you’ll now know why you can clearly hear the boxes go “thud” when they fall in this box!Here’s a shot of “Plinko” being wheeled out of the studio after it was played. This shot gives a good look at the railed area behind the board where the contestant stands.The Plinko board in storage. You can see the cover that is draped across the front to prevent damage to the pegs. To the right of the board is the back of That’s Too Much!As contestants climb the stairs to the top of the Pinko board, you will often hear Bob say something like, “You can see the same numbers that we see out here.” The numbers that you see in this picture represent the dollar amounts loaded into the slots below.The photo above shows you where Bob’s trusty Plinko Stick is kept when it is not in use…it fits right inside of the two clamps. This side of the Plinko board has never been shown on camera. A bit of history — the Plinko Stick was used on the game’s very first playing in 1983.This piece contains the dollar amounts that were used in the short-lived 1994 Doug Davidson Nighttime Price is Right. When Plinko was played on this version, a $2,500 spot was used on the far left and far right slots of the board. This prop was found underneath the stairs to the top of the Plinko board.Looks like the last contestant to play Secret X won! If you interested to know, the X’s are heavy plastic with velcro on the back. The yellow board is made of felt so the “X” will stick to it.Hi-LO, Money Game, Take Two, Switch?, Freeze Frame, Race Game, Eazy as 123, and the old Shell Game. In the back are props from Credit Card and 5 Price TagsThat’s Too Much, with protective cover.
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