TPIR 1992 contestant contract

[That Don Guy]

Someone posted a contestant contract for The Price is Right from 1992 on Facebook.
Two things caught my eye:

First, there was a $100,000 "hard limit" (i.e. if you win more than $100,000 in cash and prizes, you have to give the excess back).

Second, the "you must take all of your trips within one year" rule has an exception: if you win three or more trips, you are allowed to take one of them within 18 months.
(It also confirms something I wasn't sure about - you cannot give a trip to, say, your child and their spouse; you have to be one of the people that takes it.)

[parliboy]

First, there was a $100,000 "hard limit" (i.e. if you win more than $100,000 in cash and prizes, you have to give the excess back).

Yes, but that's not unexpected.  Consider the idea that shows with returning champions on CBS had both soft and hard caps.  At the time of this form, you retired with $75,000, but you could keep up to $100,000.

Since TPiR didn't have returning champions, there was no reason to address the soft cap in the form, so instead only the hard cap was addressed. 

Also: a lot of this is coming from memory, so if I got any of this wrong, treat it as an old man's rant.

[Matt Ottinger]

Someone posted a contestant contract for The Price is Right from 1992 on Facebook.

That "someone" is pretty well known in these parts.

[Kevin Prather]

Someone posted a contestant contract for The Price is Right from 1992 on Facebook.
First, there was a $100,000 "hard limit" (i.e. if you win more than $100,000 in cash and prizes, you have to give the excess back).

The contract doesn't say what happens to the excess, but presumably it goes to charity, same as other game shows.

[TLEberle]

Not sure we can know that for sure as Michael Larson isn’t around to share his winnings form. The book by Dave Wagner does have a copy of his form when he was an early winner on Press Your Luck of over $35,000 and includes the $25 supply of Rice a Roni or a Hoover vacuum, so down to the penny, and I don’t imagine he had to forfeit any overage back then.

[Kevin Prather]

Not sure we can know that for sure as Michael Larson isn’t around to share his winnings form. The book by Dave Wagner does have a copy of his form when he was an early winner of over $35,000 and includes the $25 supply of Rice a Roni or a Hoover vacuum, so down to the penny, and I don’t imagine he had to forfeit any overage back then.

Talking ex-rectum, but I seem to remember in the past when we've talked about this, CBS changed from a $25,000 soft cap and no hard cap to a $50,000 soft cap and $75,000 hard cap shortly after Larson's win. Maybe even in response to it.

[jjman920]

I just went back and compared with one of the photos I have with the front page of the contract as of 2023 in it and it's both surprising and unsurprising how similar, or down right same, some of the language is all these years. Though I guess if the language ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Ian Wallis]

Talking ex-rectum, but I seem to remember in the past when we've talked about this, CBS changed from a $25,000 soft cap and no hard cap to a $50,000 soft cap and $75,000 hard cap shortly after Larson's win. Maybe even in response to it.

At one time, $25,000 was a hard cap (probably early-mid '70s).  Not sure when it changed to a soft cap.  I vividly remember an episode of Joker's Wild where a lady contestant would go over the cap with another win, and Jack explained that $25K is the most she can win and the rest will have to be forfeited (either completely or to charity, can't remember which).  The scoreboard read $25,000.

There was also at least once on Match Game 7x where a contestant couldn't play for the whole $5000 because it would put her over.

[Adam Nedeff]

Not sure we can know that for sure as Michael Larson isn’t around to share his winnings form. The book by Dave Wagner does have a copy of his form when he was an early winner of over $35,000 and includes the $25 supply of Rice a Roni or a Hoover vacuum, so down to the penny, and I don’t imagine he had to forfeit any overage back then.

Talking ex-rectum, but I seem to remember in the past when we've talked about this, CBS changed from a $25,000 soft cap and no hard cap to a $50,000 soft cap and $75,000 hard cap shortly after Larson's win. Maybe even in response to it.

Not sure about in response to it (although it seems VERY likely), but the museum now has a copy of the memo from October 1984 notifying the network's daytime department that the winnings limit is being increased from $50,000 to $75,000.



Yours truly,
Someone

[Robert Hutchinson]

At one time, $25,000 was a hard cap (probably early-mid '70s).  Not sure when it changed to a soft cap.  I vividly remember an episode of Joker's Wild where a lady contestant would go over the cap with another win, and Jack explained that $25K is the most she can win and the rest will have to be forfeited (either completely or to charity, can't remember which).  The scoreboard read $25,000.

There was also at least once on Match Game 7x where a contestant couldn't play for the whole $5000 because it would put her over.

The change was no later than early 1979, since a contestant on one of the unaired episodes of MG '79 retired with $32,600. (And Gene made a point of saying that she got to keep the overage.)

[Mr. Brown]

I just went back and compared with one of the photos I have with the front page of the contract as of 2023 in it and it's both surprising and unsurprising how similar, or down right same, some of the language is all these years. Though I guess if the language ain't broke, don't fix it.

Yeah, really not a lot has changed. They got rid of the winnings cap and changed the production company and the trip stuff is only found in the Acknowledgment of Prizes now (and looking at mine, they got rid of the exception for 3 or more trips... they all must now be taken within 12 months.)

[BrandonFG]

Was the contract modified to mention that out-of-state car winners receive the cash equivalent instead?

[Joe Mello]

they got rid of the exception for 3 or more trips... they all must now be taken within 12 months.

That feels particularly mean considering they offer what feels like 83 trips per show now.

[Mr. Brown]

Was the contract modified to mention that out-of-state car winners receive the cash equivalent instead?

No, but the contract allows them to substitute prizes if they’re not available, for like prizes of “a comparable retail value” or cash. Again, this is in the AOP - the contestant agreement now is very light on details about prizes (iirc, just stuff about tax obligations and that they don’t owe them until the show airs).

The outdoor TV I got did not match the one I won on the show. It was actually a few hundred dollars more, too.

Comparing both side to side, it appears the biggest change is that they moved paragraphs 11 through 17 out of the contestant agreement and to the AOP. The language still mostly matches the 1992 agreement, with CBS/Goodson being changed throughout.