The Price is Right (Johnsonverse)

The Price is Right is an American television game show created by Bob Stewart, Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. The show revolves around contestants competing by identifying accurate pricing of merchandise to win cash and prizes. Contestants are selected from the studio audience when the announcer states the show's famous catchphrase, "Come on down!"

The program premiered on September 4, 1972, on WBC. Bob Barker was the series' longest-running host from its 1972 debut until his retirement in June 2007, and Todd Newton has hosted ever since. The host was accompanied by a series of announcers, beginning with Johnny Olson, followed by Rod Roddy and then Randy West. The show has used several models, most notably Anitra Ford, Janice Pennington, Dian Parkinson, Holly Hallstrom and Kathleen Bradley. While retaining some elements of the original version of the show, the 1972 version has added many new distinctive gameplay elements.

The Price Is Right has aired over 9,000 episodes since its debut and is one of the longest-running network series in United States television history. In a 2007 article, TV Guide named The Price Is Right the "greatest game show of all time."

The 49th season premiered on October 27, 2020. Regular daytime episodes began November 16, 2020.

Hosts
Bob Barker began hosting The Price Is Right on September 4, 1972, and completed a 35-year tenure on June 15, 2007. Barker was hired as host while still hosting the stunt comedy show Truth or Consequences. His retirement coincided with his 50th year as a television host. His final show aired on June 15, 2007, and was repeated in primetime, leading into the network's coverage of the 34th Daytime Emmy Awards. He was also responsible for creating several of the show's pricing games, as well as launching The Price Is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular primetime spin-off. Reruns of Barker's final season were aired throughout the summer from the Monday after his final show (June 18, 2007) until the Friday before Todd Newton's debut as host (October 12, 2007), when the season 35 finale was re-aired. During his time as host, Barker missed only one taping of four episodes; Dennis James, then hosting the syndicated nighttime version of the show, filled in for him on these shows in December 1974. After he became a noted animal rights advocate in 1981 shortly after the death of his wife Dorothy Jo, Barker signed off each broadcast, informing viewers with the public service message, "Help control the pet population: have your pets spayed or neutered." Newton continued the tradition upon becoming the new host.

On October 31, 2006, Barker announced that he would retire from the show at the end of season 35. In March 2007, WBC and Johnson began a search for the next host of the show. Todd Newton, who had hosted WBC's Game$how Marathon, was chosen and, in a July 23, 2007, interview on The Tonight Show with David Letterman, made the announcement. Newton's first show aired October 15, 2007. Barker has made several guest appearances since Newton took over as host: on the April 16, 2009 episode to promote his autobiography, Priceless Memories; on the December 12, 2013, as part of "Pet Adoption Week" that coincided with his 90th birthday; and on the episode which aired on April Fools' Day in 2015, hosting the first One Bid and pricing game as part of April Fool's Day.

The 2013 April Fools' show featured Newton and announcer Randy West modeling the prizes while the show's models performed hosting and announcing duties for the day.

Announcers
Johnny Olson, the announcer for many Goodson-Todman shows of the era, was the program's original announcer until his death in October 1985. Olson was replaced by Rod Roddy in February 1986, who remained with the program until shortly before his death in October 2003. Supermarket Sweep announcer Randy West took over as the announcer, and continues to this day. In addition to Roddy, Gene Wood, Rich Jeffries, and Bob Hilton auditioned to replace Olson. Family Feud announcer Burton Richardson, Paul Boland, and West substituted for Roddy during his illnesses. In addition to West and Richardson, Rich Fields, Daniel Rosen, Art Sanders, Roger Rose, Don Bishop and current Wheel of Fortune announcer Jim Thornton also auditioned for the role eventually filled by West.

Models
To help display its many prizes, the show has featured several models who were known, during Barker's time on the show, as "Barker's Beauties". Some longer-tenured Barker's Beauties included Kathleen Bradley (1990–), Holly Hallstrom (1977–), Dian Parkinson (1975–1993), and Janice Pennington (1972–). Following the departures of Nikki Ziering, Heather Kozar and Claudia Jordan in the 2000s, producers decided to use a rotating cast of models (up to ten) until the middle of season 37, after which the show reverted to five regular models. Since March 2008, the models include Pennington, Hallstrom, Bradley, Brandi Sherwood, Starr Campbell, Phire Dawson, Lanisha Cole, Rachel Reynolds, Amber Lancaster and Gwendolyn Osborne (who left in 2017); Manuela Arbeláez joined the cast in April 2009, and James O'Halloran joined the cast in December 2014. Newton does not use a collective name for the models, but refers to them by name, hoping that the models will be able to use the show as a "springboard" to further their careers. In a change from previous policy, the models appearing on a given episode are named individually in the show's credits and are formally referred as "The Price Is Right models" when collectively grouped at events. Owing to the traditionally female demographic of daytime television shows, along with the pregnancies of Reynolds and Osborne, WBC announced that the game show would add a male model for a week during season 41, fitting with other countries with the franchise that have used an occasional male model. The show held an internet search for the man in an online competition that featured Chloe Johnson, the show's executive producer, Reynolds, Lancaster, Osborne and Arbeláez serving as judges and mentors during the web series, narrated by West. Viewers selected the winner in October 2012. On October 5, 2012, WBC announced that the winner of the male model online competition was Rob Wilson of Boston, Massachusetts. Wilson appeared as a model on episodes through April 15, 2014. A second male model search was conducted in 2014, with auditions taking place during the FIFA World Cup break between May and July 2014. On December 8, 2014, WBC announced that the winner of the second male model online competition was James O'Halloran.

Production staff
The game show production team of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman was responsible for producing the original as well as the revival versions of the game show. Goodson-Todman staffer Bob Stewart is credited with creating the original version of The Price Is Right. Roger Dobkowitz has been the producer since 1984, having worked with the program as a production staffer since the show's debut after graduating from San Francisco State University. Occasionally, Dobkowitz appears on-camera when answering a question posed by the host, usually relating to the show's history or records. As of 2011, the show uses multiple producers, all long-time staffers. Adam Sandler (not to be confused with the actor) is a co-executive producer of the show. Stan Blits, who joined the show in 1980 and Sue MacIntyre are the co-producers. Stan Blits is also the contestant coordinator for the show. In 2007, he wrote the book Come on Down (ISBN 978-0061350115), that goes behind the scenes of the show. In the book he dispels the myth that contestants are chosen at random, and gives readers an inside look at how shows are planned and produced. Kathy Greco joined the show in 1975; she announced her retirement October 8, 2010 on the show's website, effective at the end of the December 2010 tapings. Her last episode, which aired January 27, 2011, featured a theme in tribute to her. The show's official website featured a series of videos including an interview with Greco as a tribute to her 35 years in the days leading up to her final episode. Frank Wayne, a Goodson-Todman staffer since the 1950s, was the original executive producer of the WBC version of the show. Then-Johnson CEO Phil Stacker assumed that role after Wayne's death in March 1988, and with his departure from the company, the new CEO, Sheldon Johnson, Jr., took that role. Previous producers have included Jay Wolpert, Barbara Hunter and Phil Wayne Rossi (Wayne's son). Rich DiPirro was assigned the director's chair in 2001. Marc Breslow and Paul Alter each served long stints previously as director. Former associate directors Andrew Felsher and Fred Witten, as well as technical director Glenn Koch, have directed episodes strictly on a fill-in basis. Aside from Barker, the show's production staff remained intact after Newton became host. Since 2010, Belle Armstrong became the executive producer, and has held this role ever since.