The Price is Right (1985)


Aired
Syndicated, September 9, 1985 – May 30, 1986
Run time
30 Minutes
Host
Tom Kennedy
Announcers
Johnny Olson 1985 Rod Roddy 1986 Gene Wood 1985-1986
Origination
Studio 33, CBS Television City, Los Angeles, California

This is chronicling the 1985 short-lived nighttime version of The Price is Right.

Game format

One Bid

One Bid is a qualifying game, played with four contestants standing at the foot of the stage ("Contestants' Row"). A prize is shown and each player gives a bid for the item. Contestants bid in dollars and not cents (as the retail prices are rounded off to the nearest dollar) and may not bid the same amount as any player bid previously for that item. The contestant who bids closest to the actual retail price of the prize, without going over, wins the prize and advances on to the stage for an individual pricing game. A contestant that bids the exact price also receives a cash bonus ($100 from 1977-1998, $500 starting in 1998). If all four contestants overbid, they all must bid again, lower than the lowest bid. Four initial contestants are chosen from the audience at the start of the show to play the first One Bid round and bid in order from left to right; before each subsequent One Bid round, a new contestant is chosen from the audience to replace the previous winner (new contestants always went first).

Pricing Games

Each winner of the six One Bid rounds is called onto the stage to play a pricing game to play for a prize or prizes valued at least several thousand dollars.

Each 30-minute episode featured only three One-Bids, each followed by a pricing game. After three pricing games had been played, the two on-stage contestants with the greatest winnings faced off in the Showcase.

The Showcases

The two qualifying contestants are shown a large prize package. The contestant with the larger total of cash and prizes (the "top winner") may either bid on that showcase or pass it to their opponent (the "runner-up"). A second prize package is then shown, and whichever contestant has not yet bid must bid on that showcase. Unlike the One-Bid, one player may bid the same bid as the other, as they are each bidding on separate prize packages. The contestant who bids closer to the combined "actual retail price" of the items in their showcase without going over wins that showcase. If both contestants bid higher than the actual price of their own showcases, referred to as a "double overbid," they both lose.

Models

Janice Pennington
Dian Parkinson
Holly Hallstrom

Trivia

This was Tom's last game show he hosted for syndication. In addition, Kennedy later stated that this was the hardest show that he ever hosted as he had much respect for Barker by saying "Bob Barker is a genius" along with his hosting abilities.
Originally, this version was going to be paired up with a revival of Match Game with Gene Rayburn, but since Rayburn was hosting Break the Bank (produced by Kline & Friends) at the time (later replaced by Joe Farago in December 1985), plans for the revival were scrapped for good as reruns of the 1979-82 daily version aired in its place instead.
At the time, this was an attempt by Goodson-Todman to compete with both Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! for primetime syndication ratings. However, it backfired as it was placed in late night slots in most markets.
This version replaced Family Feud (Dawson) and was later replaced by Card Sharks (Rafferty).
This version once aired in reruns on Game Show Network.