After being under the radar for 26 years, Golden-Road.net’s staff unearthed two playings of Telephone Game late in 2004, and several other webmasters with game show pages also received information about its actual rules; nearly a decade later, on April 5, 2014, video of the last playing was finally put online by, strangely enough, Wink Martindale.
The game was a grocery item-car game that also involved two other prizes, both of which had 2-digit prices. The contestant could win no more than one prize; each one had a telephone by it, and the object of the game was to win the car by calling it on a pay phone. The game started with the contestant being given a $1.00 “credit.” He was then shown four grocey products and had to use the credit to buy two of them without spending more than 90¢. If he was unsuccessful, the game ended; otherwise, he was given a “Price Is Right dime” to use in the pay phone.
Bob then showed the contestant a “phone directory,” which had three 4-digit extensions. Each extension was the price of one of the prizes –- in dollars and cents for the small prizes, and in dollars for the car.
The contestant put his dime in the phone and dialed what he hoped was the price of the car; meanwhile, Janice, Dian, and Holly hovered over the prize telephones, each eagerly awaiting the call. Once the number was dialed, one of the phones rang, but no one knew which one until one of the ladies picked hers up. The contestant won whichever prize he had called, and the game was then over.
Telephone Game is the second-shortest-lived pricing game, having only been played three times. Telephone Game was retired because “it was lame.” (And no, we’re not making that up – that really is the official reason.)
The 3 prizes for the Telephone Game were announced in a most unique fashion. The contestant would be shown on stage and Johnny would be heard saying you can win…”A Food Slicer, a Toaster Oven, and……A NEW CAR!” The camera would cut to the door just as the car was announced.A fantastic Buick Regal! The 2 smaller prizes are a General Electric Food Slicer and a Norelco Toaster oven. The contestant will have a chance to win just one of these three prizes.Here’s a shot of the Telephone Game 2-part set on the Premiere of the game. Take a close look at the base of the table on the left side. The letters “T” and “G” are holding up the grocery products!The first portion of the game involves Grocery Product pricing. The contestant is given a $1.00 credit and is asked to purchase two of these four products. The contestant needs to purchase two items he or she believes are the least expensive, so that he or she will have 10¢ left over to place a phone call!These Certs breathmints have to be pretty cheap in 1978.And the contestant has chosen them. Bob reveals that they are only 20¢. A good “purchase!”The contestant next chooses this Hot Sauce. The sauce is only 35¢.The total of the two products the contestant chose are shown here. 55¢ leaves plenty of money to spare to make that phone call!Bob hands the contestant the Price is Right dime she’ll need in order to make her phone call. Next, we take out the directory – which is located right next to the oversized TPiR phone itself.Here are the 3 “phone numbers” today that will help this contestant win a prize, hopefully the car! One of the numbers is the price of the car in dollars, the other two are the prices of the other two smaller items in dollars and cents.The contestant puts her TPiR dime into the phone and begins to place her call.She believes the car is $5,995 and she dials the numbers accordingly.She turns to Bob and hopes for the best as the call is being “connected.” I found it amusing that she’s covering the phone with her hand so whoever is on the other end wouldn’t hear her?!All the Beauties have their hands on the phones. Which one is going to ring?Dian picks up her phone.If you look closely, just before the phone rings and the camera zooms in, the correct phone lights up. Dian’s podium is lit indicating that her phone is ringing and that the contestant has won the Toaster.Mary and Bob wonder which price was correct for the car. If you’ve been playing along, $5,600 was the correct choice.A little less than 3 weeks after the Premiere of Telephone Game, Jose was chosen and will play again. Let’s hope for better results this time!Oh boy, an Opel! This time we’ve got a Slow Cooker, and a Coffee Maker as the other two smaller prizes.Here’s a closeup of the General Electric Coffee Maker which is one of the two smaller prizes in the Telephone Game today.Nextel? Verizon? No, it’s just the long lost Telephone Game!A different angle of the game for this playing.Jose really cut it close! He’s BARELY got his 10¢ left in the bank in order to make his phone call!Even our host was shocked at how close the game was to ending before even getting to place a call!Here are the 3 numbers in the Price is Right Directory today.Jose, dime in hand, selects $4,489 as the price of the car. Let’s see…Jose waits patiently as the phones are ringing…Dian answers once again – but this time she’s standing with the car!Look closely, the price of the car is revealed under the “CAR” graphic on the podium.Jose is on his way home to Guam with a new car! Congratulations Jose!
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