OTTAWA, COME ON DOWN!
‘The only sense that it has anything to do with consumer knowledge is that people know that a piano costs more than a jar of peanut butter.’
MORRIS B. HOLBROOK
Retired professor of business at Columbia University
How big is The Price is Right? The 41-year-old game show is so popular in Ottawa that the first Canadian tour of The Price is Right Live! almost sold out the 2,275 available seats in the NAC’s Southam Hall in a single day, and a second show was added.
Family Game Night alumnus Todd Newton is to host the shows in Ottawa on Monday. They won’t be televised, but each has about 60 prizes adding up to about $40,000 US.
Two dozen lucky audience members will have a shot at contestants’ row in each show. In its nine years of touring, about $10 million in prizes have been given away.
But if you want to win, it’s crucial to know the rules.
First up: ticket holders who want to be a candidate for contestants’ row have to get to the National Arts Centre three hours ahead of time to register — that’s 1:30 p.m. for the matinee and 5 p.m. for the evening show — and be warned that NAC parking is limited during the day.
The odds of being chosen depends on how many register.
Contestants must be over 19 and have photo ID to prove it and will be required to correctly answer a timed mathematical skill-testing question. Quebec residents are ineligible to be contestants under Quebec law.
There will be large prizes, although the producers won’t be specific because that would be cheating. Will the items up for bid be conspicuously Canadian? Perhaps a case of Kraft Dinner, a Coleman cooler, a Kevlar canoe and a trip to Banff?
Here’s the skinny on what to expect, based on observations from Edmonton Journal reporter Elizabeth Withey, who saw one of the two shows at Jubilee Auditorium.
Among those up for bid in Edmonton: a quadcopter — a remotecontrolled flying toy with four rotors. But a contestant would have to be a pretty savvy consumer of quadcopters to know how much to bid. They come in various sizes and shapes and sell online from $22 to more than $500.
Also up for bids in the Alberta capital: a helicopter alarm clock, a slot machine and a motionactivated snack dispenser and Shake Weight. This is an oscillating exercise dumbbell available online for two payments of $19.95 plus $9.95 for shipping and handling.
Some who have studied the role of game shows in popular culture have suggested that The Price is Right succeeds because fans see it as empowering. The show tests consumer knowledge, which is a different variety of smarts than, say, those displayed on Jeopardy!
But Morris B. Holbrook, a retired professor of business at Columbia University, debunked that notion in his book Daytime Television Shows and the Celebration of Merchandise: The Price is Right.
Holbrook, who taught courses in consumer behaviour, marketing strategy and the culture of consumption, argues that it’s almost impossible to demonstrate expertise on pricing the products up for bid.
“The only sense that it has anything to do with consumer knowledge is that people know that a piano costs more than a jar of peanut butter,” says Holbrook who taped and dissected six games in each of 31 episodes.
In Edmonton, where the host was Mark L. Walberg — of Temptation Island and Antiques Roadshow fame, not actor Mark Wahlberg — there was all the glitz usually associated with the show. The Price is Right cultivates an atmosphere like a casino or a carnival, says Holbrook.
Edmonton contestants played the classic Price is Right games including Plinko, Hole in One, Cliffhangers and Punch a Bunch.
There was one difference: instead of one player moving up through a progression of games, new contestants were called for each game. In all, 24 players were called to contestants’ row.
The Showcase contestant in Edmonton did not win the car and television that were the prime prizes of the night, and walked away with a high-end electric mixer and a supply of organic flour instead. A trip to Las Vegas also went unclaimed.
In his research, Holbrook concluded that while contestants knew a car costs more than a couch and a trip to Hong Kong costs more than a trip to Las Vegas, variations in bids suggested that when it came down to knowing actual prices, The Price is Right is simply a guessing game.
Holbrook was also intrigued by the contestants’ tolerance for being mocked over their hysteria at being chosen or their lack of knowledge about rules of the games.
He did his study before longtime host Bob Barker retired in 2007, ending a 35-year run. Barker would sometimes ridicule contestants who didn’t understand the rituals of the show. The only way to avoid this humiliation is to watch the show religiously, Holbrook observes.
Would-be contestants in Edmonton showed up in feather boas, tiaras and leprechaun hats. And they were prepared to make noise. One was so nervous, she sat down and the audience cheered on the contestants with shouts of “Higher!” and “Lower!”
Contestants seem to be chosen for their ability to get very excited, says Holbrook. Often, it’s about merchandise they couldn’t possibly use — such as a dune buggy or patio furniture that would, presumably, have to be hauled home.
Holbrook finds this disturbing. The show taps into the potent and persistent rags-to-riches-without- work myth. It’s the same myth that keeps would-be singers lining up to audition for American Idol in the hopes of becoming a singing star without regard to singing talent.
“It’s not just that it’s bad. It’s also sort of pernicious. It enshrines a set of values that are materialistic and thoughtless, and it encourages that. It is capitalism at its utmost,” he says.
“We live in a system that is run on the basis of greed.”
In the ’50s, game shows were the most popular television format. They cost little to produce and the audience identifies with the contestants. There has been a resurgence with reality shows, which often follow the same premise as game shows, says Holbrook.
Besides stuff, stuff and more stuff, part of the appeal is nostalgic. The Price is Right first appeared from 1956 to 1965, then was revamped in 1972 and has run continuously since, with comedian Drew Carey as host after Barker retired in 2007.
Most people can’t remember a time when The Price is Right wasn’t part of the cultural landscape, says Holbrook, who speculates that this is one explanation for the popularity of the touring version of the show.
“People have been watching this show their whole lives. But California is too far away to go.”