The Price Is Right (Australian game show)

The first version of the modern The Price Is Right format first aired in Australia on the 0-10 Network from 1973 to 1974; this version was hosted by Garry Meadows and announcer Keith Livingston. At this time, Reg Grundy Organisation was copying many shows from Goodson-Todman Productions in the U.S.; they had a flair for making detailed copies of sets, and The Price Is Right was no exception. Grundy staffer Bill Mason went to the United States to research the show in detail.[1]

The show started in an hour-long daytime slot on 5 February 1973 (a mere five months after the original first aired in the States), and was later given a half-hour, prime time slot on the network (premiering on 30 April 1973). This version established a completely different Showcase round. In it, the day's two top winners first bid on the price of one showcase in the "Showcase Playoff", played in the style of the short-lived U.S. pricing game Double Bullseye. Both players would be given a $50 range to bid within. After one player bid, the other player would be told whether to bid higher or lower than the other player's bid. The first contestant to bid the correct price then attempted to place the prizes in order from least to most expensive on a pricing board in the Showcase itself, similar to the later U.S. pricing game Eazy az 1 2 3. This contestant would become one of the first four contestants on the next show.

The Price Is Right later aired on Seven Network from 1981 to 1985 with host Ian Turpie and announcer John Deeks as The New Price Is Right. The show introduced a "carry-over" format with returning champions. At first, the format of the show consisted of three pricing games, the Showcase Playoff, and the Showcase for a showcase of seven prizes and the biggest winner competed against the champion in the Showcase Payoff. In 1984, a new format replaced the third game with the Showcase Showdown from the American version, with $1.00 earning a bonus prize and the winner facing the champion in the Showcase Playoff. Both players alternated bidding within a $100 range and the winner advanced to the Showcase. It is not known if there was a limit as to how many times champions could return; any shows where there wasn't a returning champion involved did use a third pricing game.

The show returned on 29 July 1989 until 14 September 1989 for an hour-long version, again hosted by Turpie airing Saturday nights on 10 TV Australia as part of Network Ten's attempted revamp that year; however, it only lasted 12 episodes. The format resembled the US version, with three games, then a Showcase Showdown, then repeat. The two Showdown winners then competed in the Showcase Playoff, with the winner advancing to the Showcase.

During the Turpie era, an exact bid on a prize up for bids won a $50 bonus.

The Price Is Right was revived again from 13 December 1993 until 2 October 1998 on Nine Network, hosted by Larry Emdur with announcer Shawn Cosgrove . The show used the same format as the 1981–85 edition, except that an exact bid on a prize up for bids earned a $100 bonus.

The show returned on 23 June 2003 on the Nine Network, again with Emdur (earlier news reports had speculated that former A*mazing host James Sherry would be the star, but he was replaced after the previously unavailable Emdur was freed up, following the cancellation of Cash Bonanza). The series carried on the same format until 2004, when it was made a one-hour programme to combat the Seven Network's hit Deal or No Deal, in the hopes that people would stay tuned to Nine for the news after watching the first half-hour. This format involved four pricing games; after the second and fourth games, a Showcase Showdown was played, with a $1,000 bonus for achieving a total score of $1. The two Showdown winners then competed in the Showcase Playoff, with the winner advancing to the Showcase. Beginning in 2004, before certain prices were revealed, the contestants were tempted with a "cash buyout" of between $1,000 and $50,000.

Cars given away on the mid-'90s version of the program were provided by Daihatsu and later SEAT. Early in the 2003 run, Suzuki cars were used for both the pricing games and the Showcase; once the Mega Showcase was introduced, Citroën cars were used for the pricing games, while Alfa Romeo cars were used for the Showcase. Holden replaced Citroen in 2005.

The show was replaced for a period of one week with a daily version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.

The Showcase at this time also added a prize of a $499,000 condominium on the Sunshine Coast in addition to eight other prizes, making the showcase worth between $500,000 and $600,000, and making it known as the "Mega Showcase". Three people won the "Mega Showcase": Marisa Tamboro (15 September 2004), Laurie Dennis (22 September 2004), and Joanne Segeviano (3 March 2005, during a special "Celebrity Week"). Another contestant did get all eight Mega Showcase prizes in correct order, but he took the cash buyout of $50,000.

In May 2005 the show returned to a half-hour, albeit with a new format. Only two pricing games were played each day, followed by a single Showcase Showdown whose winner advanced immediately to the prize-ordering part of the Showcase. The Showcase dropped the condominium as the top prize, but a cash jackpot of over $100,000 was added to the boot of the car to entice the bidder. It was then renamed the "Monster Showcase".

The Mega Showcase win of $664,667 (about US$612,000 or S$850,000) won by Segeviano was a world record for the Price franchise that stood until exactly three years later, in February 2008, when Adam Rose won US$1,153,908 on the U.S. primetime version of the show.

The programme ended on 24 November 2005, and Larry Emdur then signed with the Seven Network to revive the ailing Wheel of Fortune, which was cancelled after only a few months.

The Price Is Right was revived again in 2012 on Seven Network,[2][3][4] hosted by Larry Emdur with announcer Brodie Young. The show used the logo and look of the 2009 French version called Le Juste Prix (The Right Price). This version premiered on 7 May 2012.

The first episode of the revamp briefly paid tribute to[5] original host Ian Turpie, who had lost his battle to cancer earlier that month.

Speculation of an Australian revival started when Emdur, during a winter 2011 trip to Los Angeles (July), visited CBS Television City, where US version host Drew Carey had Emdur call down a contestant and host Cliff Hangers during a taping in July for an episode that aired in December 2011. Furthermore, US version announcer George Gray appeared on Rove LA, an Australian chat show also taped at CBS Television City (Studio 56) and has featured a Price prop on the show often.

In 2012, it was reported in various local newspapers in Melbourne and Sydney that the Seven Network were looking at reviving the franchise. On 28 March 2012, the Seven Network confirmed that the show returned with host Larry Emdur and aired on the Seven Network.

On 4 April 2012, production on the game show began at Global Television Studios in Eveleigh, New South Wales, with its début scheduled for 7 May at 5:00pm, leading into Deal or No Deal, which remains at 5:30pm. However, the cash and prizes featured were much lower in value than the previous versions (sponsored by Woolworths Pty), which disappointed many viewers. A scandal was also alleged in this version.[6]

On 22 October 2012, HSV7 (7 Melbourne) moved The Price Is Right to 3pm, with Melbourne travel show Coxy's Big Break taking over its 5pm timeslot. This move was made in an attempt to boost 7 News Melbourne ratings, but was unsuccessful.[7] The move led to speculation that the show would be axed, as it wasn't mentioned in 7's 2013 programming launch, and Emdur made comments on The Morning Show about "needing a new job".

The format was similar to the short-lived United States syndicated version hosted by Doug Davidson in 1994. After all three pricing games have been played, the two contestants with the highest winnings would go through to the Showcase Play-off. Only in the event where two or all three contestants are tied in value (mainly due to them losing in their pricing game), a one-bid round would be played (although with a current item, not based on a historical item, as was the case in the 1994 US version in question).

The basic Showcase format was used, but with a few changes. At first, the range was $1,000 (e.g. between $24,000 and $25,000) for the first three weeks before decreasing to its standard $100 (e.g. between $24,500 and $24,600). The Showcase itself decreased the items down to six; the car, as always, locked in last. The winner also now had 40 seconds to make all the decisions and if time expires, any item(s) left over are automatically locked in.

Its last episode aired on 7 December 2012. On 30 January 2013, the Seven Network officially axed the show, and has no plans to renew it.[8]

Fictional scenes from The Price Is Right were featured in the 1997 comedy film The Castle, showing the narrator's sister appearing on the show and almost winning the showcase, but leaving with the amount of $1,234 ("If only she knew the price of the luggage!").

The Australian consumer affairs program The Checkout spoofed The Price Is Right as The Consumer Price Is Right, based on the 2003 Emdur version, in 2015.

• List of longest-running Australian television series
• List of Australian television series