User:Daniel Benfield/Price Is Right Half-Hour Daytime Video Archive

CBS Daytime: September 4, 1972 - September 5/September 15 - October 31, 1975, with occasional shows between then and February 22, 1994 (800 episodes total)

Not many seem to know this nowadays, but following its 1972 return The Price is Right was a half-hour show for the first three years. For me, the half-hour era has a certain kind of charm to it that I can't really explain. GSN aired quite a few episodes from this period, and a bunch of master copies escaped from the vaults some years ago, so there's plenty of material for a page like this. :)

Big thanks to Golden-Road.net and The Price Is Right Summaries for much of the info and placement below. Note that the airdates shown are per the episode numbers; any reschedulings done by CBS are noted.

LEGAL STUFF SO I DON'T GET SUED: I'm only linking to these videos, only a few of which were uploaded by me, for the purposes of research and as a public record. Footage ©1972-75 (plus all applicable years afterward) Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions/FremantleMedia and associated entities.

Development (1971-72)
Originally, The New Price Is Right was intended to be solely a weekly nighttime syndicated series distributed by Viacom, with Goodson-Todman offering the show as early as Spring 1971 for a '72 start (Variety 4/28/71 Weekly, Page 34); after talks with original Price emcee Bill Cullen fell through around late January 1972, Mark Goodson spotted Dennis James sub-hosting Let's Make a Deal and chose him. While the staff hammered out the format following the taping of a pitchfilm on February 16 (little more than Mark and Dennis discussing ideas and showing off two example pricing games), then-CBS head Bud Grant expressed interest in a daytime network series. Grant selected Truth or Consequences host Bob Barker as emcee of the CBS version, with Television City chosen as the taping location for both the daytime and nighttime shows (Variety 5/10/72 Weekly, Page 51).

Problem is, according to Grant, Barker didn't want to host Price: Bob met Bud for lunch one day and begged him to give him the hosting reins on Gambit or The Joker's Wild instead, feeling that Price could be produced better. The theory I've seen is that Barker didn't want to host yet another audience-participation game (he'd been doing Truth since 1956 and had hosted the unsold Simon Says... in '71) and wanted a Q&A as both a change of pace and to be more versatile and hence desirable by producers (he'd previously helmed The Family Game for Chuck Barris in '67). Grant responded by saying that the other two shows needed traffic cops, whereas Bob had far more talent. I'm not sure exactly how, but through one method or another Barker backed down and accepted the job.

As for the show itself, the set was first put up on August 14, with the pilot taped the next day. Oddly, neither Bob nor Dennis hosted the pilot, although who did appears to have been lost to time. By all indication, the recording of said pilot has also been lost to time; it seems any paper records weren't kept, either, and as such it doesn't seem to be known whether the pilot format was the finalized one we all know (it's possible they elongated it specifically to test out/show off all of the "first five" pricing games with the caveat that the regular shows would use just three at a time, but that's just a theory on my part).

Regardless, with a firm grasp of what they wanted to do with Price going forward, the first taping of the series took place on August 19...

Season 1 (1972-73)
September 4, 1972 - September 21, 1973 (taped August 19, 1972 - August 19, 1973)

...And so here we are, with the show airing at 10:30 AM Eastern (9:30 Central). Some ideas stayed for the long run, while others were tossed out pretty early on; one idea that nearly became the latter was Clock Game, which almost got scrapped by Goodson due to the staff having issues with it during rehearsals.

The majority of this season can be easily distinguished by the "New" in the show's title, which remained through June 12 with #0412D (taped 5/6/73). The standard title debuted on the 26th, with show #0432D (taped 6/2/73).

1972

The first seven episodes taped were #0011D, #0013D, #0014D, #0012D, #0015D, #0022D, and #0013D(R). The first three all have the same lineup, as do the next four.

The original #0013D was replaced because one contestant was the common-law wife of one of the cameramen, making her ineligible; regardless, this is included in the "800 episodes" figure at the top of this page. As the replacement show was taped after #0022D, it hence has the many changes that first took place on the latter episode.


 * September 4, 1972 (#0101-1/0011D {PREMIERE!}: Any Number, Bonus Game, Double Prices {taped 8/19/72}, with the infamous first Item Up For Bids that doomed this to never seeing the light of repeats; studio master with slate, commercials, and perfect quality! {alternate copy, first ten seconds or so missing, average quality})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 10:42 of the primary copy (9:54 of the alternate) is the Fall/Winter 1972 one.]
 * September 5, 1972 (#0101-4/0012D: Grocery Game, Bullseye '72, Double Prices {taped 8/21/72, aired 9/6}; taped from GSN, video is a bit blurry {alternate copy from a later GSN airing, quality seems to be closer to average})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 4:32 of the primary copy (4:31 of the alternate) is the Fall/Winter 1972 one.]
 * September 6, 1972 (#0013D{R}: Grocery Game, Bullseye '72 {for a boat!}, Double Prices {taped 8/26/72, aired 9/8}; studio master with slate!)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 3:34 is the Fall/Winter 1972 one.]
 * September 7, 1972 (#0101-3/0014D: Any Number, Bonus Game, Double Prices {taped 8/20/72}, with a FUR COAT in the Showcase and an odd event that I'm pretty sure never happened again {Part 4}; studio master with slate and commercials, average quality)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 2:22 of Part 2 is the Fall/Winter 1972 one.]
 * September 8, 1972 (#0101-5/0015D: Grocery Game {with a rather strange player}, Bullseye '72, Double Prices {taped 8/21/72, aired 9/5}; studio master with slate and commercials!)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 5:06 is the Fall/Winter 1972 one.]


 * September 12, 1972 (#0022D: Grocery Game, Bullseye '72, Double Prices {taped 8/26/72}, with the first instance of a now-common event and quite possibly the cheapest Showcase ever offered; taped from GSN, last segment only)
 * September 15, 1972 (#0025D {taped 9/3/72}: Grocery Game, Any Number, Clock Game {3rd playing}; studio master with slate!)
 * [At this point, Grocery Game still has its original appearance. For a brief period around this point (including at least 9/18), the descriptive Showcase nameplates are put into the podiums during Showcase #2.]


 * September 18, 1972 (#0031D: Bonus Game, Any Number, Clock Game {taped 9/9/72}; taped from GSN)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 4:50 is the Fall/Winter 1972 one.]
 * [First episode where the descriptive Showcase nameplates permanently become orange (they previously used a few different colors). At this point, the credits still use the same Pinto Flare typeface as the opening logo.]
 * September 19, 1972 (#0032D {taped 9/9/72}: Grocery Game, DOUBLE BULLSEYE {debut!}, Double Prices {for a FUR COAT!}; studio master?, Act 2 only)
 * [At this point, the blank Showcase nameplates are still brown.]


 * September 28, 1972 (#0044D: Grocery Game, DOUBLE BULLSEYE {3rd playing}, Double Prices {taped 9/17/72}; studio master with slate! {alternate copy, taped from GSN})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 4:03 of the primary copy is the Fall/Winter 1972 one. Johnny ends the show by saying "This program has been recorded at Television City in Hollywood." At this point, the Ticket Plug still looks the same as it did at the beginning of the series.]
 * [By this point, a bunch of things are altered: the top and side of Grocery Game's countertop become red; Double Bullseye now has the Showcase podiums angled towards each other (they were initially staged the same way they are during the Showcase) and gives players a $500 bidding range; the blank Showcase nameplates become yellow for the red podium and pink for the yellow podium; the descriptive Showcase nameplates are no longer inserted during Showcase #2; and the credits are now done in Handel Gothic.]


 * October 2, 1972 (#0051D: Five Price Tags {2nd playing}, Grocery Game, Double Prices {taped 9/23/72}; taped from GSN, first segment only)
 * October 19, 1972 (#0074D {taped 10/8/72}: Five Price Tags, Grocery Game, Most Expensive {2nd playing}; taped from GSN {alternate copy uploaded by me with a Club AM segment after Act 3, quality seems to be about the same})


 * November 6, 1972 (#0101D: Five Price Tags, Grocery Game {for a FUR COAT!}, Clock Game {taped 10/23/72}, with Anitra's daughter helping to present a Showcase! {Part 4, Part 5}; studio master with commercials, audio/video is a bit off)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 3:57 of Part 4 is the Fall/Winter 1972 one. Still has the "old" intro. By this point, the Ticket Plug now has "TICKETS" in Futura with the rest of the words still in Helvetica.]

"From Television City in Hollywood..." added to intro (began by 11/14/72)
 * November 14, 1972 (#0112D: Grocery Game, Five Price Tags, Double Prices {taped 11/6/72}; studio master with slate!)
 * [Second episode taped during an IBEW (technicians') strike which lasted from November 3 through December 28, hence the sucky camera work...and it's really bad here. For some of this period, the opening logo does not zoom in.]
 * November 16, 1972 (#0114D: Any Number, Bonus Game {for a FUR COAT!}, Most Expensive {taped 11/9/72}; taped from GSN!)
 * November 17, 1972 (#0115D: Grocery Game, Five Price Tags, Double Prices {taped 11/10/72}; CBS repeat from 2/29/00, albeit slightly edited)
 * [Johnny doesn't use the Television City namedrop at the start of the show, instead introducing Bob with "And now, from Television City in Hollywood here's the star..."]


 * December 1, 1972 (#0135D: Five Price Tags, Grocery Game, Double Prices {taped 11/18/72}; taped from GSN, begins during Game 1, first three seconds have sped-up video and no audio)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 5:50 is the Fall/Winter 1972 one.]
 * December 8, 1972 (#0145D: Five Price Tags, Grocery Game {GREAT contestant!}, Most Expensive {taped 11/20/72}; taped from GSN)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 10:29 is the Fall/Winter 1972 one. Opening logo still does not zoom in.]
 * December 13, 1972 (#0153D: Any Number, Bonus Game, Most Expensive {taped 11/25/72}; taped from GSN)
 * [By this point, the opening logo now zooms in again.]

1973
 * January 8, 1973 (#0191D: Any Number, Bonus Game, Most Expensive {taped 12/23/72}; studio master, "shaky-cam" upload, first segment only)
 * [Big thanks to QWIZX's episode guide for pinpointing this one. By this point, several more black lines are now on the floor section in front of Contestant's Row, giving the entire area a pattern of squares; they were still not present on January 4 (#0184D, taped 12/10/72). Camerawork is still "wobbly".]

Camerawork returns to normal (began 1/17?/73)
 * 1973-74 (Clip of Bob talking with a Canadian contestant named Joseph who gives his occupation too quickly for anybody to understand {and not once does Bob ask him to slowly enunciate it}, from the ABC special The Great American Game Show {taped 11/11/74})
 * [Another player, Darryl, is seen at the 8:08 mark. As far as I can tell, there's really nothing here that narrows down the timeframe except the special's tapedate and the fact that QWIZX's Price episode guide doesn't list any Joseph or Darryl for any episode through 1/16/73 (1/17 being the first space this could fall in).]


 * January 22, 1973 (#0211D: Any Number {amazing playing!}, Bonus Game, Clock Game {taped 1/13/73}; taped from GSN {alternate copies: full show; first segment only; Game 2 only})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 1:30 of Part 1 is the Spring/Summer 1973 one.]
 * January 25, 1973 (#0214D: Bonus Game, Money Game, Clock Game {taped 1/14/73, aired 1/26}; taped from GSN {alternate copies: full show uploaded by me, some audiovisual issues but still watchable/audible; first segment only)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 3:35 is the Spring/Summer 1973 one. By this point, Money Game's car symbols are black-on-yellow (they were yellow-on-black through at least January 4), although the dollar sign in the car's price is still small; the latter was enlarged to its normal size by March 28 (#0303D, taped 3/25/73). Also at this point, Clock Game's pricetag graphics are still centered.]
 * January 29, 1973 (#0221D: Five Price Tags, Grocery Game, Double Prices {taped 1/20/73, aired 1/30}, with the first known use of Double Prices at Door #3; taped from GSN {alternate copy uploaded by me, video skew at bottom of screen nearly throughout, audio is a bit "underwater-y" but still audible})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 20:06 is the Spring/Summer 1973 one. At this point, Grocery Game's cash register still looks the same as it did on November 2 (#0094D, taped 10/22/72).]


 * February 14, 1973 (#0243D: Give or Keep, Any Number, Most Expensive {taped 1/27/73}, with only ladies as contestants {all of whom get a rose from Bob}; taped from GSN, specifically some Valentine's Day-related programming)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 15:28 is the Spring/Summer 1973 one. At this point, Give or Keep still has its original, small column titles.]

Show moves to 3:00 PM (began 3/26/73)
 * April 9, 1973 (#0321D: Hi-Lo {debut!}, Money Game, Clock Game {taped 3/10/73}, with Hi-Lo having some pretty different rules; taped from GSN)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 14:00 is the Spring/Summer 1973 one. By this point, Clock Game's pricetag graphics are left-justified.]
 * April 17, 1973 (#0332D: Grocery Game, Five Price Tags, Range Game {taped 3/17/73}; studio master with slate, timecode, and commercials!)
 * [By this point, Grocery Game's cash register (minus the "WIN!/OVER" display) changes to a gray-and-white style. At this point, Range Game still has its original $50 rangefinder and the Ticket Plug still looks the same as it did on November 6.]
 * April 18, 1973 (#0333D: Money Game, Give or Keep, Clock Game {taped 3/17/73}; studio master with slate and timecode, first minute only)
 * [By this point, Give or Keep's column titles have been enlarged to their standard size.]


 * May 8, 1973 (#0362D: Hi-Lo, DOUBLE DIGITS {4th playing}, Range Game {taped 4/1/73}; taped from GSN, no audio for a few seconds during intro {alternate copy... thing})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 7:53 of the primary copy (1:06 of Part 2 in the alternate) is the Spring/Summer 1973 one. By this point, Range Game has its $100 rangefinder; it increased to the normal $150 by June 8 (#0405D).]
 * [At this point, "From Television City in Hollywood..." is still used in the opening spiel. Also at this point, the Showcase displays still act the same as they did at the beginning of the series (namely, the bid being wiped before the difference/"OVER" is displayed).]

Title shortened to The Price Is Right (began 6/26/73); "From Television City in Hollywood..." removed from intro (began by 7/13/73)
 * June 1973-March 1975 (Clip of Darlene wanting a kiss prior to a Giant Price Tag game, which you've probably seen on a blooper special)
 * [After "New" was removed from the title, but the black step platform is present underneath the bases of the Big Doors (which were removed sometime between 12/25/74 and 3/5/75). That's really all I can determine.]


 * July 13, 1973 (#0455D: Five Price Tags, Hi-Lo, Clock Game {taped 6/17/73}; studio master with slate!)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 17:22 is the Spring/Summer 1973 one. By this point, the Ticket Plug has its traditional typeface (Handel Gothic) and a lighter orange background. Also by this point, the Showcase bids now instantly change to the difference/"OVER".]
 * July 17, 1973 (#0462D: Grocery Game, Five Price Tags, Double Prices {taped 6/17/73, aired 9/13}; studio master with slate!)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 4:30 is the Spring/Summer 1973 one.]
 * July 19, 1973 (#0464D: Five Price Tags, Grocery Game, Clock Game {taped 6/24/73}, with a FUR COAT in Showcase #2; studio master with slate! {alternate copy, by the original uploader})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 11:20 is the Spring/Summer 1973 one. At this point, Grocery Game's "WIN!/OVER" display is still blue. Also, Bob really likes Patricia's skirt, which feels incredibly awkward given he's still married at this point!]


 * September 19, 1973 (#0553D: Money Game, Give or Keep {for a car!}, Range Game {taped 8/19/73}; taped from GSN)
 * [By this point, the blank Showcase nameplates have become pink; they were still the color of the opposite podium on August 30 (#0524D, taped 8/6/73).]

Season 2 (1973-74)
September 24, 1973 - August 29, 1974 (taped August 19, 1973 - August, 1974)

The show continued on its way, introducing a few more games - some would stick around for the long haul (Race Game, Shell Game), while others didn't (Mystery Price). Indeed, the debut of Shell Game sent Bonus Game away from daytime for the rest of this season and (minus two playings) nearly all of the next.

The Double Showcase Rule debuts sometime between March 8 (#0795D) and April 18 (#0854D), requiring the winner to be less than $100 (read: "$99 or less") away from their Showcase price to get both. Unfortunately, a few winners had a difference of exactly $100, resulting in Bob awkwardly having to point out that they didn't actually win both Showcases (it happened at least twice, and the former instance had him going about it in a way that felt to me like "stereotypical game show host" with a hint of condescension).

1973
 * September 26, 1973 (#0563D: Mystery Price {debut!}, Any Number, Clock Game {taped 8/20/73, aired 11/29}; taped from GSN, Mystery Price playing only)


 * October 5, 1973 (#0575D: Mystery Price, Money Game, Clock Game {taped 9/9/73}, with the possible debut of Every Room In The House; taped from GSN, with commercials)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 3:35 is the Fall/Winter 1973 one.]
 * October 9, 1973 (#0582D: Lucky Seven, Mystery Price {with some weird overdubbing of music}, Most Expensive {taped 9/9/73}; taped from GSN, average video but still watchable)
 * October 26, 1973 (#0605D: Five Price Tags, Hi-Lo, Range Game {taped 9/23/73}, with a "Halloween Party" Showcase; taped from GSN)
 * [Not sure why a Halloween Showcase was done here, since a new episode did air on Halloween itself (#0613D).]


 * October 1973-March 1975 (Clip of Artelia just before a Range Game playing)
 * [Has the red stripe on the spinning Turntable panel, but the black step platform is present underneath the bases of the Big Doors (which were removed sometime between 12/25/74 and 3/5/75). That's really all I can determine.]


 * November 14, 1973 (#0633D: Temptation, Grocery Game, Most Expensive {taped 10/21/73}; taped from GSN, "MRC" logo in bottom-right corner nearly throughout, slightly blurry video, audio/video is slightly off, ends during credits {alternate copy of last segment, lower quality})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 11:02 is the Fall/Winter 1973 one. By this point, Grocery Game's "WIN!/OVER" display border has become white. Not sure whether Temptation has its original or standard staging here (the latter debuted by March 8, #0795D).]


 * December 31, 1973 (#0701D: Temptation, Hi-Lo, Most Expensive {taped 12/10/73}; studio master with slate!)
 * [Again, not sure whether Temptation has its original or standard staging here.]

1974
 * March 8, 1974 (#0795D: Temptation, Hi-Lo, Clock Game {taped 2/3/74}, with Bert Convy appearing to plug Tattletales; taped from GSN, Convy appearance only)
 * [By this point, the Temptation board has moved to its normal position on the stage, though it still does not have the option to change number guesses. Also at this point, there is still no Double Showcase Rule and the Showcase podiums still do not have their asterisks.]

Double Showcase Rule added (began by 4/18/74; asterisks added to Showcase podiums by this point)
 * May 28, 1974 (#0912D: Any Number, Bonus Game, Double Prices {taped 4/28/74}, with some really weird contestants!; taped from GSN, video is a bit fuzzy, ends during credits)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 17:35 is the Spring/Summer 1974 one. At this point, Any Number's name is added to its board; by this point, Bonus Game's name is added to its board.]
 * May 29, 1974 (#0913D: Temptation, Hi-Lo, Range Game {taped 4/28/74}; taped from GSN, video is a bit blurry)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 1:25 is the Spring/Summer 1974 one. By this point, Temptation has the option to change number guesses; this was still not the case on March 8 (#0795D).]


 * July 12, 1974 (#0975D: Temptation, Hi-Lo, Double Prices {taped 6/23/74}; taped from GSN {alternate copy of Showcase reveals})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 13:00 is the Spring/Summer 1974 one.]


 * August 15, 1974 (#1024D: Hi-Lo, Money Game, Double Prices {taped 8/5/74}, with a rather negative contestant; studio master with slate!)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 2:10 of Part 3 is the Fall/Winter 1974 one. By this point, the Ticket Plug and consolation prize plugs now use the "Ticket Plug" cue, which remains until 2007; they still used their original cue on July 9 (#0972D).]

Season 3 (1974-75)
September 2, 1974 - August 29, 1975 (taped August, 1974 - August, 1975)

The season where things began to truly fall into place, with some color changes to the set and games that were relatively minor...until August 19, at which point the show debuted not only the look that would keep them going for the long haul, but one of its most popular games.

One oddity of this season was the Do-It-Yourself Showcase, where the player picked numbered envelopes containing prize names; said prizes were then revealed and described, with the total of said three prizes being placed into the side of that player's Showcase podium and a "1-2-3" placard slotted into the top portion.

The problem with an idea such as the DIY Showcase is that it required nine prizes to be ready to go all at once (including a car), all nine prizes had to have the correct number pasted onto it or its display (depending on which prize was going to be associated with each envelope), the envelopes had to have the correct prize names put inside them, and given the myriad of possible choices (1-1-1, 1-1-2, 1-1-3, 1-2-1, etc.) the Showcase could be one of 27 different prices.

Don't get me wrong, it's a novel idea and goes smoothly in the only instance I know to be around, but there's so many ways it could go wrong that I'm not really surprised it didn't get used before or after this season.

1974
 * September-December 1974 (Promo for Price, alongside ones for The Joker's Wild, Match Game '74, Gambit, Now You See It, and Tattletales; purple-tinted video)
 * [The Price clips include a couple of Shell Game, which debuted June 17, 1974 (#0941D, taped 6/3/74). The Joker clips are of a Senior Citizens week, specifically the October 1, 1974 show (#507, taped 9/19/74). The NYSI clips are of the five-player format, which changed to the three-player style on 12/23/74.]
 * [Oddly, the promos aren't entirely arranged as the shows were on the lineup – the order was actually Joker-Gambit-NYSI (morning)/Price-Match-Tattle (afternoon), with no changes during the above timeframe.]


 * October 7, 1974 (#1101D: Lucky Seven, Give or Keep, Double Prices {taped 9/74}, with a questionable moment in Game 3; taped from GSN, ends during sponsor list)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 2:58:20 is the Fall/Winter 1974 one.]
 * October 21, 1974 (#1121D: Any Number, Hi-Lo, Race Game {taped 9/74}; taped from GSN, video is a bit blurry, audio is a bit low and slightly muffled)
 * [At this point, Any Number's displays are still gray; they became black by November 26 (#1172D).]
 * October 30, 1974 (#1133D: Clock Game, Grocery Game, Five Price Tags {taped 10/74}; taped from GSN, brief video issues during first segment)
 * [By this point, Grocery Game's cash register has returned to its blue-and-gray color scheme (it was still the gray/white style on #065N, taped 1/8/74), although the "WIN!/OVER" display border still looks the same as it did on 11/14/73.]


 * November 15, 1974 (#1155D: Lucky Seven, Shell Game, Race Game {taped 10/74}, with Race Game timed on a stopwatch?!; taped from GSN, small bit of intro missing)
 * [Oddly, Bob doesn't note that the "jukebox" is broken, suggesting that this isn't the first time this has happened.]
 * November 27, 1974 (#1173D: Clock Game, Five Price Tags, Range Game {taped 11/74}, with a Thanksgiving Showcase!; taped from GSN)
 * [Bob notes a few times that it's the day before Thanksgiving.]


 * December 25, 1974 (#1213D: Grocery Game, Any Number, Most Expensive {taped 12/2/74}, Dennis James' second show filling in for Bob!; taped from GSN!)
 * [By this point, Grocery Game's "WIN!/OVER" display border has been altered: curves are now around the corners of the lights, and the border is extended to separate the words. At this point, the black step platform underneath the bases of the Big Doors is still present.]

1975
 * March 5, 1975 (#1313D: Five Price Tags, Double Prices, Hi-Lo {taped 2/75}, with a brief but amusing error in Showcase #2; taped from GSN {uploaded by me})
 * [By this point, the black step platform underneath the bases of the Big Doors has been eliminated, leaving the floor under the Doors a solid white. Also by this point, the blank Showcase nameplates become orange; they were still pink on January 24 (#1255D, taped 12/22/74).]
 * March 13, 1975 (#1324D: Shell Game, Double Prices, Any Number {taped 2/75}, with some Showcase reveals that are a bit uncomfortable due to how Bob treats it; taped from GSN {uploaded by me}, first 10 seconds or so missing)
 * March 18, 1975 (#1332D: Money Game, Give or Keep, Race Game {taped 3/75}, with a really funny moment before the second IUFB and Johnny appearing on-camera!; taped from GSN, video issues at times, video is a bit "pixely")


 * March 24, 1975 (#1341D: Any Number, Give or Keep, Race Game {taped 3/75}, with some pretty close Showcase results {Part 3}; taped from GSN {alternate copy of Showcase reveals from the Decades video game, in master quality})
 * [At this point, Any Number's base is still brown and Race Game still uses magnets. After walking out, Bob notes "On our show Friday, we had a winner in every game we played. Not only that, the winner of the Showcase ended up with not one but two automobiles."]

Turntable carpet becomes green (debuted 3/26/75); Turntable wall borders become green (debuted 4/2/75)
 * April 15, 1975 (#1372D: Lucky Seven, Hi-Lo, Range Game {taped 3/24/75}, with Bob making up a "historic moment" in the Showcase that GSN actually called him out on in a promo!; taped from GSN)
 * [At this point, the opening logo still looks the same as it did in mid-1973; Range Game still has no logo; the Showcase podiums' bases are still brown; and the Top Winner still uses the orange Showcase podium.]

Opening logo becomes yellow and white (began by 5/13/75)
 * May 13, 1975 (#1412D: Hi-Lo, Any Number, Double Prices {taped 4/75}, with a great player and the Do-It-Yourself Showcase! {Part 3}; taped from GSN)
 * [By this point, the bases of Any Number and the Showcase podiums become green. Also by this point, the Showcase podiums are swapped, resulting in the Top Winner standing behind the yellow one.]
 * May 23, 1975 (#1425D: Clock Game, Give or Keep, Any Number; CBS repeat from 2/27/02, begins at first contestant calldown {the network's doing, for some reason})
 * [At this point, Clock Game still has no logo; one was added by July 4 (#1485D). It should be noted that this was the last "classic" episode to be rerun, and the only one after GSN's lease expired in 2000.]


 * July 8, 1975 (#1492D: Shell Game, Card Game, Most Expensive {taped 6/16/75}; studio master with slate!)
 * July 16, 1975 (#1503D: Clock Game, Grocery Game, Card Game {taped 6/75}, an amazing episode; taped from GSN, video is a bit pixely)
 * [Showcase #2 is a "Bicentennial Salute" (a recurring theme the show did for the next year or so to honor "Great Americans") to John Paul Jones. The show also introduces a "BICENTENNIAL" Showcase nameplate for these.]

Show moves back to 10:30 AM (began 8/11/75); rainbow set debuts in daytime (began 8/19/75)
 * August 19, 1975 (#1552D: Hi-Lo, Most Expensive, GOLDEN ROAD {taped 8/2/75}, with the debut of...well, guess; studio master with slate!)
 * [At this point, for reasons I can't fathom, Dian begins wearing a brunette wig to try and fool viewers into thinking she's Anitra.]


 * August 25, 1975 (#1561D: Temptation, Grocery Game, Race Game {a somewhat unusual playing}, with Showcase #2 being "Chapter 2 of Nellie Nebish's Nemisis" [sic] {taped 8/3/75}; studio master with slate!)
 * [By this point, Race Game replaces its magnets with the standard hooks and holes. Has a FUR COAT in Showcase #1.]
 * August 28, 1975 (#1564D: Five Price Tags, Range Game, Race Game {taped 8/75}, with a long third One-Bid round; taped from GSN)
 * [At this point, Range Game's base is still brown (it became blue by September 8, #1581D).]
 * August 29, 1975 (#1565D/Season Finale: Shell Game, TEN CHANCES {5th playing}, Most Expensive {taped 8/75}, with a "Bicentennial Salute" to Florence Chadwick; taped from GSN, video isn't the greatest but still very watchable, ends during credits)
 * [By this point, Ten Chances has adopted its first standard prize reveal, though the "right answer" cards are still red (they became blue by November 26, #1693D). At this point, the curtains behind the audience are still yellow (they became a pattern of red-blue-green-yellow-red-blue-green-yellow by September 8). Next-to-last playing of Most Expensive with its original set (the second set debuted on September 8).]

Post-Season 3
It was after Season 3 that the show saw its biggest change: for the second week of Season 4, Price experimented with an hour-long version, adding a Showcase Showdown after the third and sixth games and using a Rainbow Wheel during the experimental shows that would pave the way for the current Big Wheel. The staff didn't think this would work (indeed, the slate for the first episode has someone holding up a sign reading "Welcome aboard the Titanic. Enjoy the trip!")...but it did, and after another seven weeks of half-hour shows Price permanently expanded to an hour on November 3.

The exception was now the rule, with the former rule being an exception used only 16 times between Seasons 4-7, and then only to accommodate CBS' monthly Magazine series; there are only five known instances of a half-hour episode being rerun during this period (11/10/77, 11/30/77, 12/15/77, 10/4/78, 10/3/79), and then only generally for the East Coast.

After this, the half-hour format essentially became a special, done every other year between 1984-94 in an hour block with the Pillsbury Bake-Off. The Bake-Off was then paired up with a "Soapbreak Special" in '96 and classic Price shows in 1998, 2000, and 2002.

Note that none of this counts the 25th-Anniversary Special (1996) or A Celebration of Bob Barker's 50 Years in Television (2007), as each were an hour long with a whole bunch of clips. This also doesn't count the Gameshow Marathon premiere (2006), which was an hour long but played a weird merge of the American format and...well, pick one of about half a dozen international versions.

As far as I know, GSN never aired any of the half-hour shows done after Season 3.

1970s
 * October 27, 1975 (#1651D: Any Number, POKER GAME, Most Expensive {taped 10/11/75}, with Bert Convy appearing to congratulate the show on expanding to an hour; studio master with slate!)
 * [Showcase #2 is a "Bicentennial Salute" to Jackie Robinson. By this point, the sides of Any Number have become green; they were still brown on August 20 (#1553D, taped 8/2/75).]
 * October 28, 1975 (#1652D: Temptation, Grocery Game, Clock Game {taped 10/12/75}, with Charles Nelson Reilly appearing to congratulate the show on expanding to an hour; studio master, Charles' appearance only)
 * [By this point, Grocery Game's table has changed to a red-brick style; the previous look, a set of vertical stripes, had debuted on August 20 (#1553D, taped 8/2/75) and was still present on September 8 (#1581D, taped 8/30/75).]

1980s
 * February 21, 1984 (#5212D: Money Game, Cliff Hangers, Clock Game)
 * February 16, 1988 (#6762D: Give or Keep, Lucky $even, Danger Price; reception issues, "ghosts" in picture)

1990s
 * February 20, 1990 (#7552D: Lucky $even, Punch-A-Bunch, 1 Right Price)
 * [Reran 12/25/90 and 12/25/91.]
 * February 25, 1992 (#8322D: Lucky $even, Cliff Hangers, Pick-A-Number {for a car!} {alternate copy})
 * [Reran 12/31/92 (East Coast only) and 2/21/94.]
 * February 22, 1994 (#9092D: Lucky $even, Plinko, 2 For the Price of 1)

Australian Version (1973-74)
Network Ten: February 5, 1973 - 1974 (originally daytime, later primetime)

Hosted by Garry Meadows, this was the only version to debut during the half-hour era. Per Reg Grundy's tradition, it also had a very similar set and an amazingly-accurate logo (the music sounds similar, but not exactly, and would be reworked a bit for the 1980s runs). This also saw the debut of the Aussie franchise's Showcase Playoff, based on the short-lived Double Bullseye.

Based on the clips that have been shown in Aussie retrospectives, this version looks amazingly close to the American show, albeit in black-and-white (Australia didn't have colour television at this point, a fact gently mocked by the "first colour game show" spiel that opened Three On A Match). Two big differences are that a small Turntable with the show's logo on it was to the right of the Big Door which Garry enters from (which itself might be the only Big Door), and that Contestant's Row consists of four Showcase podiums. The Showcase Playoff "win cue" is the 1972-76 "come on down" music used during the body of the American show.

While the logo looks very similar to the American version, Grundy evidently didn't know how to upsize the dollar sign after removing "New" from the American logo and shifting "The" over, resulting in. A variant, seen on a banner behind Contestant's Row, has "The" to the left of the dollar sign, directly opposite from "Price".


 * 1973 (Two long clips of an episode from the network's 30th-Anniversary Special {1994}, consisting of much of the intro and the tail end of the Showcase Playoff {$7,105}; other clips were shown during the later special Ten Seriously 40, including a brief clip of Clock Game at 5:18)
 * [The narration on the 30th-Anniversary Special says that Price debuted in an early evening slot, but did so well that an hour-long version was added at lunchtime. If this is accurate, it'd mean hour-long Price wasn't an American idea.]


 * March 21, 1974 (The Age newspaper ad for Price, which claims that players could win up to $200,000!)

The Grandiose Salute (2015)
CBS Daytime: September 21, 2015

Okay, admittedly this is kind of a stretch, but I'd feel remiss if I didn't mention it since it kinda fits with the point of this page: to kick off Season 44, the show did a "Decades Week", each episode saluting a different decade in the show's history. Day 1, and the Season Premiere, saluted the 1970s...and mostly the half-hour era, at that.

From the intro being "A fortune in fabulous prizes..." to the New Price Is Right logo graphic to Door #4 showing the New Price Is Right version of Door #2 to Drew reciting Bob's greeting from the premiere to the Contestant's Row displays being brown with the Eggcrate numbers and the Goodson-Todman asterisks to the first four pricing games ever used being the first four pricing games of the day (with Double Prices played at center stage and Grocery Game played without its sign) to the Goodson-Todman closing spiel...I think it really does belong here.


 * September 21, 2015 (#7211K: Any Number, Bonus Game, Double Prices, Grocery Game, Squeeze Play, Cliff Hangers {for a car!}; original? broadcast)
 * [There's some other nice touches to the 1970s: Grocery Game's items are the same types used in its debut playing, Squeeze Play is played at center stage (it had moved to the Turntable sometime in Season 10) and has its original color scheme restored, Double Prices uses a trip skin for its prize (a trip to Portugal, with the location images even using the classic "rolling" transition), the light border is the 1970s style, the "Hour Power" opening title appears, and various classic cues are used. Also of note: Drew has an ECM-51, no glasses, and a hairpiece; the latter two stuck around for the next show, which saluted the 1980s.]
 * [On the classic cues: contrary to what people like Mike Richards have said, they still sound great, even if they get played in some odd spots. That said, "Walking" (used during the intro) wasn't really in good quality, although the whole intro seems like it was dubbed in post.]