The Price is Right/Price In Popular Culture

The original version of The Price is Right (or in this case The Prize is Priced) made an appearance on an episode of The Flintstones in which Barney Rubble appeared as a contestant. Barney missed out on one prize, but struck paydirt in the next round by winning a houseboat by bidding a mere two cents. In the 1987 film The Witches of Eastwick, you can see Daryl Van Horne (played by Jack Nicholson) ironing his shirt while watching The Price Is Right on a small TV in the background. In the 1988 Pixar short film Tin Toy, the TV was on in the background and one of the channels had The Price is Right on it. It had sound only since the camera focused on the baby and the Tin Toy, not the TV. Credits go to Mark Goodson Productions and Price Productions. In the 1989 film UHF, one of their fall TV programs on the U62 channel called The Lice Is Right is a parody of the show's title. In the 2006 spoof film flop Date Movie, during a spoof of The Bachelor called The Extreme Bachelor (hosted by Chris Harrison) a sped-up version of the Sheila Cole era TPIR theme song is played in the background. The theme in particular was made by David Kitay.

TPIR has been parodied multiple times on SNL and MadTV respectively.

Robot Chicken has also spoofed TPIR a few times as well in the skits ''Bloopers! Three from the episode "Massage Chair" in 2006 and in Bob Barker's New Gig'' from the episode "Squaw Bury Shortcake" (a parody reference of the title cartoon character "Strawberry Shortcake") in 2007.

In 1993, an episode of 2 Stupid Dogs, a cartoon originally aired on Cartoon Network and TBS, did a parody of TPIR called Let's Make a Right Price (self-explanatory title). While the format is generally the same, the losers of the bids get doggy treats, which is what the two dogs actually want because they were scavenging for food on the studio lot.

TPIR was also mentioned in some episodes of The Simpsons, starting with the 1992 episode called “The Otto Show” where Otto starts to watch the show on TV in their house; in another episode called “HOMR” from 2001, where Homer Simpson acts as the animated dog and says, "Don't spay or neuter your pets!"; finally, in an episode from 2003 called “The Fat and The Furriest” where Patty and Selma mention they were on the show.

Price was also mentioned in some episodes of Family Guy. The first few episodes were for Barker's era. The first mention came when Brian was watching the end of an episode and Bob gave his "spayed and neutered" signoff; a frustrated Brian wished he would "just die already." Another episode features Peter Griffin as a contestant on Survivor, as he accidentally knocks over the reality show's backdrop revealing the set of TPIR (both shows run on CBS). When Prince was on the show, he bid $350, a bid Bob initially did not understand and bid exactly correct. There was also another time when the Griffins rode with the Cliffhangers mountain climber and Cleveland was inside a Plinko chip. Another clip from Barker's era on Family Guy was also set during contestant's row; after a contestant bid $780, the last contestant bid $781. That infuriated the contestant bidding $780, so he said, "F**K YOU!" the artist formerly known as Prince was once a contestant on TPIR in the episode called "Tales of a Third Grade Nothing." There were a couple of episodes where Price was mentioned in Carey's era. The first clip was during Peter's Red Bull addiction; he appeared in the Showcase Showdown and gave the wheel an incredibly fast spin. After Peter sends out greetings to everyone to the camera, the wheel breaks off, rolls down and kills a section of the audience. Then Peter replies, "Whoa! Paramedics, come on down!" and goes crazy. Another episode during the current Carey era was when a girl got a very crummy showcase which included a hammock, chalk and a trip to Wilmington, Delaware. To much of her disgust, she replies, "I moved my abortion for this." Another episode called "Mom's the Word", when Evelyn is kissing Peter in the Drunken Clam, TPIR comes on TV. Another episode called "Brokeback Swanson", Joe trice to watch Price while manipulating the remote control with his mouth, however, it causes the volume to increase. In the episode "The New Adventures of Old Tom", all of the female models of TPIR have been replaced with male models as it results in a male contestant on the show rejecting a car that was offered to him in the process. Additionally, Rich was to be in one episode of Family Guy but he was dubbed over when his contract was not renewed in 2010 and he was let go. Besides the first mention, Barker and Carey have provided their voices each time they have been featured.

TPIR was briefly spoofed in a 2002 episode of the former UPN/Adult Swim animated series called Home Movies in one of the "movie montage" segments as The Price is Nice featuring Brandon Small (voiced by Brandon Small) as a Barker-Like host and Melissa Robbins (voiced by Melissa Bardin Galsky) as a model for the washer and dryer set. The episode in general was called "Time to Pay the Price".

Homestar Runner, a popular flash Internet Cartoon series from 2000 has referenced TPIR three times, the first one starting in 2003 in an episode called “Email: The Show”. Homestar's microphone resembles the famous pencil-thin microphone that was used by Bob Barker on the show from 1972 to 2007. Prior to this, another episode that also aired in 2003 was called “Main Page 19” where there were several allusions to the show: The last episode that aired in 2008 was called “Strong Badia the Free”, in which after Coach Z was chosen for the draft, he remarks: "I think they've all overbid! One dollar! One dollar!"
 * The trip to Hawaii board is styled like ones in longtime use on TPIR.
 * The gremlin is revealed and announced in a style that was similar to TPIR.
 * The chair has a "$" sign, implying that its price must be guessed like on any of the numerous pricing games from TPIR.
 * The sound effect after the wrong answer was apparently guessed was styled after the infamous "Losing Horns" from TPIR.

In 1994, Bob Barker guest-starred on The Nanny where he sat at a table when Nanny Fran Fine (Fran Drescher) spotted him.

During Bob's final year as host, the show made an appearance on How I Met Your Mother in which Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) was a contestant on the show. Barney claimed that Bob Barker was his father (which is completely untrue since Bob never had human children, and Neil knows it), so he came on the show just to meet and impress him. Barney was on a roll that day. The pricing game he played was Clock Game and he got the price of the first prize on his first guess (an achievement at least two contestants on the real show did) though we never saw it; on the second prize, Barney purposely guessed $1,000,000 all just to show Bob Barney's self pictures; by the time the clock almost ran out, Barney came through with the right answer and won. Later Barney spun $1.00 on the wheel and bids exactly right on the Showcase (something that would really happen during Drew Carey's second year as host); and just when Barney was about to tell Bob that he was Bob's son, he instead congratulated Bob on 35 years as host of The Price is Right. Barney never kept any of the prizes he won; instead he gave them all as wedding presents to his friends and newlyweds Marshall and Lily (Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan). The main plot of the episode in fact was the preparation of their wedding day. Neil went on to actually be a special guest on The Price is Right during celebrity week at the beginning of 2012 and won $65,238.40 for his favorite charity.

The NBC sitcom 30 Rock episode called “Christmas Special” from 2008 has Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) saying to Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), "If all you wanted was a hug from a black person, maybe you should host The Price Is Right!"

The Price is Right was also part of the plotlines during three consecutive episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful. Forrester Creations hasn't been doing too well, so Pam Douglas (Alley Mills) gave a call to The Price is Right and asked them to show off their fashion pieces on the models, but the show declined. So what Pam did instead was to appear on the show as a contestant and took Donna Logan (Jennifer Gareis) with her, much to Donna's chagrin. As it turned out, Donna was picked to be a contestant and surprisingly did very well. She won her pricing game which was Let 'em Roll after winning her One-Bid down at Contestant's Row, beat her two opponents at the Showcase Showdown Big Wheel and ended up winning both Showcases; during the closing of the show (like all loved ones of Showcase winning contestants) Pam came up on stage where she finally met Drew Carey. Additionally, Pam reveals her own fan crush on Rich. NOTES: Prior to these episodes, Bob Barker made a guest appearance on the popular soap opera. Two of the models had connections to B&B: Gwendolyn Osbourne-Smith started out as one of the models on that show before becoming a TPIR model and Manuela Arbeláez appeared in two episodes of B&B alongside Ellen Degeneres Show DJ Tony Okungbowa (Bob Barker ironically was one of Ellen's guests during the time of his final year); Jack Wagner of B&B made two guest appearances on TPIR.

Bob Barker appeared in a cameo role in the classic 1996 Adam Sandler film Happy Gilmore where he and Happy (Sandler) got into a big fight due to having some trouble during a golf match. For one moment, Happy thought he won (when Bob was unconscious Happy/Sandler said, "The Price is Wrong, B***h."), but it turned out to be a trick, for the tables were turned quite suddenly and Bob ended up winning the fight and saying, "Now you've had enough, B***h!" Adam, as a huge Price is Right fan, visited the show during a Price is Right special focusing on Bob's 50 years on television after a playing of Plinko. In 2015, They were together again to reveal that famous fight on Comedy Central's Night of Too Many Stars special.

ADDITIONAL NOTE:
 * In addition to the famous Barker/Gilmore fight scene, the classic game show Let's Make a Deal was also briefly mentioned as a conversation piece.

In a 2009 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw, a spoof of The Price is Right was parodied as The Price is Raw featuring Bob Barker as its guest host for the episode.

In 2003, TPIR was mentioned as a topic on VH1’s nostalgic miniseries I Love The 70's 1978 episode.

The 1984 song “I Lost on Jeopardy” (a parody Greg Kihn’s 1983 hit “(Our Love's in) Jeopardy”) by Weird Al Yankovic, referenced the show with these lyrics: "Don't know what I was thinkin' of; I guess I just wasn't too bright. Well, I sure hope I do better next weekend on The Price Is Right, -ight, -ight."

The 1998 rap song called “My Flows Is Tight” by Lord Digga, samples the Sheila Cole-era TPIR theme song.

The 2001 club dance hit, appropriately titled “Come On Down” by Crystal Waters, also samples the Sheila Cole-era TPIR theme song.

In 2001, TV Guide magazine ranked TPIR #1 as one of The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time. Prior to this, in 2013, TPIR was ranked #5 as one of The 60 Greatest Game Shows of All-Time.

In 2002, TPIR was mentioned as an hour-long documentary on E! True Hollywood Story.

In 2006, GSN ranked TPIR #4 as one of The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time. This special was hosted by Bil Dwyer.

In Alvin and the Chipmunks 3: Chipwrecked, Simon, Theodore and the Chipettes are riding on a basket to Zoe's shelter place on the deserted island. When the basket arrives at the place, Alvin, who already arrived at the shelter prior to the others, says the show's most famous catchphrase, "COME ON DOWN!"

In the 2011 film Jack and Jill, Jill (Adam Sandler) wanted to be on a game show as one of her to dos on her list. She went on Price with Drew Carey. Jill managed to make it to the Showcase Showdown, but she hurt her arm in process of spinning the big wheel. Despite the injury, she still won a lot of prizes. Notes: The scene used the Sheila Cole-era TPIR theme song and Come On Down cue, the set had Christmas decorations, and George Gray made an appearance.

In the sitcom Cybill, Cybill Sheridan's cousin from Arkansas named Lyle Clocum (played by Jeff Foxworthy) is obsessed with being a contestant on The Price is Right. The episode in particular from 1996 is called "Pal Zoey". ADDITIONAL NOTES:
 * The episode in particular also has a semi-reference to Jeopardy! as well.
 * Comedian Jeff Foxworthy would later go on to host Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, The American Bible Challenge and The American Baking Competition additionally, in 2011, Foxworthy would appear on an episode of Shark Tank as a guest "shark" in season 2.

In the sitcom Yes Dear, Jimmy (Mike O'Malley) cheats on the show by spinning the wheel from behind to go to $1.00. He cheated because he got another traffic ticket. After Bob rebukes Jimmy, it makes him cry and Bob comforts Jimmy by hugging him. After this, Bob tells him that after the show that they'll play Plinko and that there's a trampoline in the showcase for today, which makes Jimmy feel much better.



The Chuck E Cheese arcade game "Loose Change" uses the Sheila Cole era TPIR theme song.

In the Beavis and Butthead episode, "Screamers", TPIR was mentioned when Beavis and Butthead were watching Price on their TV. It had ladies screaming when they won their showcase and then the announcer says "Tomorrow on The Price is Right!"

In the Animaniacs episode, "Chairman of the Bored", the Warner Siblings meet a man named Francis Pumphandle, in which everyone calls him "Pip" (voiced by Ben Stein). Pip talks about cheeseballs and mentions about Bob Barker to the siblings and cannot stop shaking their hands.