Instead of being shown one product, each contestant is shown a prize package typically worth in the low-to-mid-five figures.Ĭontestants bid on their own packages and, whichever contestant comes closer to the actual price - again, without going over - wins their package. Later in the show, the six contestants - in two groups of three - spin a huge wheel (called the “Big Wheel”) in an event called the “Showcase Showdown.” The winner of each Showdown goes to the Showcase - a replay of the Contestants’ Row experience, only amplified.
More importantly, the winning bidder comes on stage with the host and gets to play for a larger prize. The contestant who comes closest to the price without going over (there is no tolerance for those who would overpay for a high-end electric mixer or do-it-yourself haircut machine) gets to keep the item. Contestants, drawn from the studio audience, are called by name to “come on down!” to “Contestants’ Row.” The host - now Drew Carey, but for decades, Bob Barker - presents them with a product, and the four contestants take turns guessing the price of that item. daytime game show The Price is Right has followed a similar pattern since 1972.
