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Once upon a midnight dreary, Price is Right had 44 minutes of actual air time and 16 minutes of commercials.
As of 2025 I believe it is now 36 minutes of Price and 24 minutes of commercials which to me is criminal. I realize and recognize that commercials are necessary to help finance the budget for the show, most especially since the show no longer receives payment from companies for fee items such as the ones used in grocery item games and small prize games (e.g. Shell Game, Plinko, Cliff Hangers, etc.).
These are some ideas I would implement if I were in charge of the show...and many of these I realize will be criticized and I'm okay with that.
I know one thing the show has already done is at times at least, they will edit out any overbids in contestants' row. It would be both amusing and frustrating at the same time when that would happen 3 or 4 times in a row. I recall once where after the third overbid Bob asked the players "Do you even remember what the prize is?" and I don't think any of them did! So now with the time crunch the show editing out overbids is understandably necessary.
Often I have felt quite badly for the 9th and final contestant who is called to come on down. They get only 1 chance to bid while others could in theory have had as many as 6 chances to bid. To speed up the show and to make things fairer, I would say after the first one bid round and first pricing game, have just the remaining 3 players bid on the next item, rather than taking the time to call somebody else down. This also would save time as it would require one less bid. After pricing game #2 the remaining 2 players would bid on the next item and play pricing game #3. The last remaining player in contestants row would become one of 2 "Contestants not appearing on stage". After the first showcase showdown, have 4 new contestants called down to start the 4th One Bid round, etc. So instead of 9 contestants per show, you'd still have 8, and all 4 contestants in each half would have 3 chances maximum to win a prize and get up on stage.
Showcase Showdown - I know the big wheel is iconic. I know this suggestion is nothing short of sacrilegious but to save time on wheel spins, especially those that do not go all the way around, replace it with a Press Your Luck style board with the flashing lights (no repeating patterns so it would be Larsen proof). Have all 20 numbers up there from one nickel to $1.00. The players would still get two "spins" maximum to get as close to a dollar as possible. I realize the suspense of the wheel slowing down especially during a bonus spin can be quite exciting, but it has become a rather time-eating process. Furthermore, after 18 years of "Would you like to say hi to anybody?", I could do without that too. It's still the same mechanism to determine who gets to play in the showcase, but just a heck of a lot faster.
Two showcases has always been the norm. I would recommend for both time saving measures and cost saving measures to have just one showcase instead. Perhaps make it one showcase with 4 or 5 prizes instead of 2 showcases with 3 or more prizes each. This would cut back on time needed to announce each showcase. Bids would be written down in secret by each player (think Final Jeopardy! style), and after the final commercial, both bids would be revealed along with the actual retail price of the showcase. If both went over, it would be lost. If both wrote down the same exact bid, it would also be lost. If the player who comes closest to the actual retail price without going over is within $250 of the ARP, they would win the cash equivalent of the showcase amount, or perhaps a smaller cash prize to save on budget (e.g. $20,000, since pretty much most of the showcases today are at minimum $20K).
Certain pricing games could be sped up too. Pocket Change is a prime example of this. Rather than have the contestant walk over and pick an envelope off the board after each number is filled into the car price, just have them select the 4 envelopes off the board at the start of the game!
Ten Chances - Rather than have the player take forever to write down a price, show a list of possible prices for each prize and the player simply must choose which they think is right. Have 4 choices for the 2 digit prize, 6 for the 3 digit prize and 8 for the automobile.
Three Strikes - First, go back to 1 strike in the bag. Second, whenever a player draws a number, give them two chances to place the number instead of just one. The only time the player would not get to do this is if there are only 2 spaces remaining in the car price to be filled in.
One Away - Instead of the "Ladies do I have X numbers right?" spiel, just have the car horn sound right away to indicate how many numbers are right, or have an eggcrate display that lights up much the same way as used in games like Switcheroo and Line 'Em Up.
These are some ideas I have had as far as both time saving and cost saving measures for the show. I'm curious to hear your feedback about it and other ideas you might have.
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