Jones wins ‘The Price is Right’ showcase
Hogan High grad collects all kinds of prizes on game show
A few years ago Vallejo’s Robert Jones played a trick on his brother Dwayne Jones. Dwayne told his younger brother that he would eventually pay the price for his joke.
But it turns out the price was right for Robert.
On Tuesday the game show “The Price is Right” aired its taping from a month earlier on Feb. 16 — a show in which Hogan High 1986 graduate Robert Jones won “The Showcase,” which this time consisted of a new car, a trip to Miami, a computer, a kayak and some handbags.
The Showcase is the final game of each episode. Two contestants are each presented with separate prize packages, called Showcases. Each contestant must estimate the value of their prizes, and the winner is whoever’s closest without exceeding the actual value of the Showcase.
Robert Jones’ bid was $27,500, just under the real amount of $29,329 for the car. When his opponent, Joshua, bid $33,500, just over the real amount of $32,978, Robert was the winner and he celebrated by jumping up and down and screaming praise.
“What started out as a trick, turned into a treat,” Robert told the Times-Herald on Wednesday.
Robert is the younger brother of Dwayne, who is a counselor at Jesse Bethel as well as previously being a longtime basketball coach at the same school as well as Hogan. About 10 years ago Robert called “The Jerry Springer Show” but disguised himself and his voice as Dwayne.
“It all started as a joke,” Robert said, with a laugh. “I told the Jerry Springer people some stuff about him (that wasn’t true) and they kept calling him over and over again asking him to be on their show.”
Dwayne looks back now at the memory and laughs. “He (Robert) made up some scenario where I was fooling around with some girls and she didn’t know who the father of her kid was,” Dwayne now says with a laugh. “They called me twice! I had to keep telling them it wasn’t true. And I told Robert I’d get him back eventually.”
Fast forward about a decade later, and Robert thought he was getting that payback.
“So a month ago I get a call from the people on ‘The Price is Right’ asking if I wanted to possibly be on their show. I figured it was Dwayne getting back at me,” Robert continued. “So I went along with the joke and I soon find out Dwayne’s not part of it. I then started to think
it might be a scam, especially when they asked to do a Zoom interview with me. But I figured as long as they didn’t ask for any private information I would go along and shoot the video.”
It turns out it wasn’t a scam and a few days later Robert was asked if he could tape a show on Feb. 16. Immediately Robert said that he couldn’t do it as it was only a few days away and too short of a notice.
“I told my brother about it finally and he said, ‘Are you crazy?! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you,” Robert said. “So we booked two first-class tickets to Los Angeles and I did the show.”
Once there he knew what to do since he had been watching the show on television for nearly 30 years.
On the show there is one bid, in which four players in contestants’ row bid on a prize, attempting to bid as close as possible to, but without exceeding, the prize’s suggested retail price. The prize’s price is then revealed,
and the player with the closest bid walks onto the stage to play a pricing game.
The first four players for contestants’ row are called from the studio audience at the start of the show, and after each pricing game, a new player is called to fill the vacated slot.
“My aunt won a Porsche on the show 30 years ago and I’ve been watching the show ever since,” Robert Jones said. “It’s so engaging, it’s like you’re there even when you’re not. I would literally yell at the television when the people would guess the wrong price. I’ve watched the tape of my show about 10 times already.”
Dwayne said that Robert had his game face on prior to the show’s taping.
“As kids we used to stay in the same room when traveling in hotels, but as we’ve gotten older we don’t do that anymore,” Dwayne said. “This time, however, we decided to stay in the same room. I watched him practice for the show and he was serious about winning it.”
It turns out Robert had not only the right attitude, but luck was on his side as well, especially when he won $1,000 on the dollar spin.
“The spin kept slowing down and then stopped right between the 90 and the 5, just barely,” Robert said, with a laugh. “So that helped a lot. I give all the glory to God for helping me win.”
The show for years was hosted by Bob Barker, but since 2007 has been hosted by Drew Carey.
“He’s a real down-to-earth guy and is not big-headed or arrogant,” Robert said about Carey. “I was happy and had a lot of fun being on the show with him.”
As far as when Robert will make his trip to Miami?
“Well, let’s see. Whenever COVID-10 goes away,” Robert said, with a laugh. “Whenever that is I’ll be making a trip a few days before.”
And not one cent, uh, day after.