User:Daniel Benfield/Price Is Right Seasons 4-8 Video Archive

After expanding to an hour, The Price is Right began adding games at a decently rapid pace not seen since Season 1. This page covers Seasons 4-8, spanning 1975-80.

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 ©1975-80 Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions/FremantleMedia and associated entities.

Season 4 (1975-76)
September 1, 1975 - July 2 [August 27], 1976

To celebrate the show's 3rd Anniversary (albeit a week late), Price did a special "Anniversary Week" from September 8-12, with each show running a full hour (10:30-11:30 AM Eastern) with nine contestants, six One-Bid rounds, six pricing games, and (to determine who played in the Showcase) two Showcase Showdowns.

While the show reverted to its standard half-hour timeslot afterward, it permanently expanded to 60 minutes on November 3. At the same time, the Rainbow Wheel used for Anniversary Week was replaced by the standard Big Wheel.

Originally, the Rainbow/Big Wheel was not set to the dollar before each Showcase Showdown. For instance, the first use of the Rainbow Wheel had it set to 25, and the first use of the standard Big Wheel started at 75. The normal procedure was in place by November 26.

While the Rainbow Wheel has since become pretty obscure, a few clips of its first appearance did turn up on the show during the 2010s. Perhaps more interestingly, for the Season 45 Halloween show (where everyone in the audience dressed as a cast member or Price prop while the cast dressed as contestants), at least one audience member was dressed as the Rainbow Wheel, complete with the curved "SHOWCASE" sign.

1975

 * September 8, 1975 (#1581D/Anniversary Week, Day 1: Golden Road, Grocery Game, Most Expensive {first playing with the second set}, Any Number, Range Game, Give or Keep {taped 8/30/75, aired 9/12/75}; studio master, first segment and most of Showcase Showdown #1 only {alternate copies: slate and complete SCSD#1, same source; slate and intro from the "old" master copy; first Showcase Showdown, also from the "old" master copy but includes preceding CNAOS plugs})
 * [By this point, several changes have been made: the curtains behind the audience become rainbow colored (previously all yellow), Range Game's base becomes blue (previously brown), and the Give or Keep board becomes green (previously brown). At this point, Golden Road still has its original lever-based price reveal and Grocery Game still has its striped table.]
 * September 12, 1975 (#1585D/Anniversary Week, Finale: Lucky Seven, Hi-Lo, Double Prices, Card Game, Shell Game, Range Game {taped 8/31/75, aired 9/10/75}; studio master with slate!)
 * [At this point, Anitra is still absent.]


 * 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 and a "Bicentennial Salute" to Jackie Robinson; studio master with slate!)
 * [By this point, Anitra has returned; Poker Game now automatically makes the best hand from the player's picks (previously, the player decided their hand themselves); and the sides of Any Number have become green (they were still brown on August 20, #1553D).]
 * 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 appearance.]

Show moves to 10:00 AM and expands to an hour permanently, standard light border and Big Wheel debut (began 11/3/75)
 * November 3, 1975 (#1661D: Golden Road, Grocery Game, Most Expensive, Any Number, Poker Game, Give or Keep {taped 10/20/75}; taped from GSN, quality isn't the greatest {alternate copies: slate and intro, from the circulating-for-years master copy; Showcase #2, from the DVD set's master copy})
 * [By this point, Golden Road uses a push-button reveal method. At this point, Poker Game's windows become black (they were originally white). Also at this point, each SCSD still starts the Wheel at some random amount.]


 * November 13, 1975 (#1674D: Some order of Grocery Game, Temptation, Range Game, One Right Price, Give or Keep, Any Number {taped 10/ or 11/75}; clips of contestant Walter prior to a Turntable game, from his reappearance on March 9, 2017 {#7844K})
 * November 21, 1975 (#1685D: Some order of Hi-Lo, Any Number, Most Expensive, One Right Price, Temptation, Give or Keep {taped 10/ or 11/75}; audio of Johnny Olson's warmup only)
 * November 26, 1975 (#1693D: Temptation, Grocery Game, One Right Price, Ten Chances, Give or Keep, Clock Game {taped 11?/75}, with a Thanksgiving Showcase; taped from GSN)
 * [By this point, Ten Chances' "right answer" cards have become blue (they were still red on August 29, #1565D). Also by this point, the Big Wheel starts on the dollar for every SCSD.]
 * [While Ten Chances is not revealed by the gold curtain and Bob does not pull down the board, both of these were present on 8/29/75 and all playings I've seen between here and when they stopped them permanently.]


 * December 11, 1975 (#1714D: Give or Keep, Ten Chances, Double Prices, Temptation, Shell Game, Race Game {taped 11/18?/75}; taped from GSN, via "WinTV")
 * [At this point, the opening titles still look the same as they did on 11/3.]
 * December 19, 1975 (#1725D: Five Price Tags, Clock Game, One Right Price, Any Number, Race Game, Grocery Game {taped 11?/75}, with a mildly awkward moment in the Showcase; taped from GSN)
 * [By this point, the opening titles have changed from "One Hour" to "HOUR POWER" and their first standard typeface has debuted, although at this point they are still blue (see below).]
 * December 31, 1975 (#1743D: Lucky Seven, Double Prices, Give or Keep, Five Price Tags, Clock Game, Most Expensive {taped 12/2/75}; taped from GSN)
 * [By this point, the opening titles have become green.]

1976
"Walking", the traditional opening/"come on down" cue, replaces the original cues in mid-February.


 * 1976 (KNXT promo for the show, airing daily at 4:00 PM{?!}, with some clips)
 * [Clips include a Showcase on The Adventures of Robin (probably a "Book of the Week Club" entry given the set, though unlike the instances I've seen there's more of a skit style with this one) and the 1975 April Fool's Showcase.]


 * January 6, 1976 (#1752D: Lucky Seven, Shell Game, Clock Game, Most Expensive, Card Game, Hi-Lo {taped 12/6/75}; taped from GSN, with a few commercials {alternate copies, no commercials: #1, same airing as primary but lower quality; #2, from a "WinTV" airing})
 * [At this point, Most Expensive's price reveals are still done the same way they were at the beginning of the run (flipped, usually at arm's length, just above their respective shelves). Also at this point, the Showcase Showdown still does not have the split-screen arrow graphic.]
 * January 20, 1976 (#1772D: Temptation, Clock Game, Grocery Game, Ten Chances, Give or Keep, Range Game {taped 12/22/75}, with a "Book of the Week Club" Showcase on Anna and the King of Siam; taped from GSN via "WinTV" {which makes fun of IUFB #3!}, tracking issues during first half, ends during Television City credit)
 * [By this point, the Showcase Showdown's original split-screen arrow graphic is present. For a brief period around this point (though not 1/6, 1/28, or 2/2), the credits are blue.]
 * January 22, 1976 (#1774D: Golden Road, Grocery Game {for a FUR COAT!}, Clock Game, Most Expensive, Five Price Tags, Poker Game {taped 12/23/75}, with a "Bicentennial Salute" to General George Marshall; studio master with slate!)
 * [Has the blue credits. By this point, Most Expensive's price reveals are now the standard style (flipped using both hands, with the tags next to the models' faces). At this point, the opening titles are still green and the Goodson-Todman logo still has the names displayed horizontally.]
 * [One of the models on this episode is Mary Poms, who was also a model on The Wizard of Odds and the 1960s Temptation.]
 * January 28, 1976 (#1783D: Lucky Seven, Poker Game, Hi-Lo, Shell Game, Most Expensive, Card Game {taped 1/5/76}; taped from GSN, with commercials)
 * [By this point, the opening titles become pink/red. Also by this point, the Goodson-Todman logo is altered to have each name displayed vertically, resulting in a more compact design.]


 * February 2, 1976 (#1791D: Lucky Seven, Shell Game, Most Expensive, Any Number, Range Game, Hi-Lo {taped 1/76}; taped from GSN, with commercials)
 * [By this point, the original intro/"come on down" cues are still present.]"Walking" replaces original intro/"come on down" cues (began mid-2/76)
 * February 25, 1976 (#1823D: Some order of Most Expensive, Clock Game, Shell Game, Hurdles, Money Game, Double Prices {taped 1/27/76}, with a FUR COAT in the Showcase round; studio master with slate, clips only)
 * [Last show of cameraman Rick Tanzi, who appears on-camera several times. At this point, the opening titles are still pink/red.]


 * April 1, 1976 (#1874D: Some order of Range Game, Hi-Lo, Money Game, Bonus Game, Ten Chances, Clock Game {taped 2/ or 3/76}, with a "Bicentennial Salute" to Dr. John Barrett Clapinger {who bears an uncanny resemblance to Roger Dobkowitz}; studio master, Showcase #2 only, audio/video is a bit off)


 * June 2, 1976 (#1963D: Golden Road, Hurdles, Double Prices, Dice Game {debut!}, Bonus Game, Race Game {taped 4/26/76}; taped from GSN, with commercials;{alternate copy, Dice Game only; quality isn't the greatest})
 * [At this point, Golden Road is still using its push-button price reveal method.]

Season 5 (1976-77)
August 30, 1976 - July 1 [August 26], 1977

Anitra Ford, one of the show's original models, leaves in late December. Three models try out, with one (Holly Hallstrom) becoming the show's new permanent third model around mid-February.

1976, Continued
By November 11 (#2114D), Bullseye's range changes from $5-$10 (with $9-$10 being the bullseye) to a more reasonable $1-$6 (with $5-$6 as the bullseye). Probably at the same time, and definitely by December 27, the "hidden bullseye" rules are relaxed so that any item that had a marker on the board was eligible; originally, only the item closest to the bullseye qualified.

Sometime between September 3 (#2015D) and October 14 (#2074D), the opening logo changes from having the word "Price" in yellow (with the rest of the words in white) to the full title using white text. This style remains, with rare exception, until the start of Season 30 in 2001.

Sometime between October 27 (#2093D) and December 7 (#2152D), the Showcase podiums' positions are swapped (red for the Top Winner, green for the Runner-Up).


 * November 1976-May 1977 (Home movie recordings of Jerri {video intro says she "was a TV star long before she met Erik Estrada"} including intro, most of a segment with Any Number, subsequent Showcase Showdown, and parts of Showcase round {nearly all of Showcase #2 missing}; "shaky-cam" upload, no audio)
 * [Any Number reveals both prizes at once, describing the car first. Showcase podiums are red for Top Winner and green for Runner-Up. Spinning Turntable panel's "game side" may be solid red (it's a bit hard to tell). Big Wheel seems to have its original, red handlebars (again, a bit hard to tell).]
 * [Showcase #2 is "Chapter 4 of Nellie Nebish's Nemisis" [sic], and has what seems to be a FUR COAT.]


 * December 10, 1976 (Promo for Price and the debut of Double Dare)

1977
Sometime between March 30 (#2313D) and May 23 (#2391D), a $100 bonus is added for a perfect bid in Contestant's Row.

Show moves to 10:30 AM (began 3/7/77)
 * March 30, 1977 (#2313D: Lucky Seven, Give or Keep, Clock Game, Grocery Game, Ten Chances, Danger Price {taped 2/77}, with Roger Dobkowitz making a brief cameo after Game 5 and Showcase #2 being a rewritten version of "The Magic Touch"; taped from GSN)
 * [At this point, there is still no bonus for a perfect bid in Contestant's Row.]

$100 bonus added for perfect bids in Contestant's Row (began by 5/23/77)
 * June 13, 1977 (#2421D: Any Number, One Right Price, Hi-Lo, Danger Price, Five Price Tags, Race Game {taped 5/77}, with a FUR COAT in Showcase #1; taped from GSN!, first part of intro missing)

Season 6 (1977-78)
August 29, 1977 - August 25, 1978

Probably most infamous for a couple of incidents that happened on consecutive shows (September 14-15), the latter being Alene fainting after winning her Showcase.

One of the show's bigger pricing game missteps comes in November, with the introduction of Professor Price...which gets retired after its second playing a week later.

Sometime between November 21 (#2571D) and 30 (#2583D), the walls of the Big Wheel change from gold to red.

1977, Continued

 * September 14, 1977 (#2473D: Clock Game, Secret X {debut!}, Any Number, Double Prices, Ten Chances, Hurdles {taped 6/27/77}; taped from GSN {alternate copy from an earlier GSN airing, lower quality and is about 20 seconds shorter})
 * [Yes, we all know what episode this is. And while the uncensored footage is around (complete with slate), I'm not linking to it.]
 * September 21, 1977 (#2483D: Lucky Seven, Clock Game, Grocery Game, One Right Price, Secret X, Card Game; taped from GSN, first two seconds or so missing)
 * [Secret X is still staged the same way it was on 9/14, and its question marks are still not present. Also at this point, the opening titles still act the same as they did on 12/27/76 and the spacing between the Showcase podiums is about the same as it was at the beginning of the run.]


 * October 25, 1977 (#2532D: Grocery Game, Card Game, Squeeze Play, Most Expensive, 3 Strikes, Bonus Game; taped from GSN, with commercials)

Show moves back to 10:00 AM (began 11/7/77)
 * November 11, 1977 (#2555D: Golden Road, Give or Keep, then some order of Range Game, Safe Crackers, Hi-Lo, Dice Game {taped 9/27/77}; studio master with slate and commercials, ends shortly after second segment)
 * [By this point, several changes are made to Golden Road: the original carpeted "road" has been replaced by the standard gold dots, a velvet rope has been added, and the push-button price reveal method has changed to the standard pull-tabs.]


 * November 15, 1977 (#2562D: Some order of Five Price Tags, Most Expensive, Range Game, Card Game, Hurdles, Danger Price {taped 9/ or 10/77}; clips of contestant Maureen, including the end of Hurdles, from her twin sister Marae's appearance on February 2, 2018 {#8195K, taped 11/15/17 hence the "40 years ago today" remarks})

Copyright info added to daytime credits (began by 12/30/77)

1978
Closing logo and copyright info enlarged (began by 2/16/78)
 * February 22, 1978 (#2703D: Hi-Lo, Danger Price, Any Number, Race Game, Secret "X", 3 Strikes; taped from GSN, with commercials)
 * March 17, 1978 (#2735D: Any Number, Secret X, Most Expensive, Double Prices {for a FUR COAT!}, Hole In One, Race Game; taped from KOLN or KGIN {not sure which} with commercials, begins during first calldown, ends during credits)
 * [By this point, most of Any Number's stripes have been painted green. At this point, the X's on Secret X's small prize podiums are still white (they became yellow by 2/12/81, #3994D).]

Show moves back to 10:30 AM (began 4/3/78)

Floor in front of Contestant's Row becomes solid white, with red Goodson-Todman asterisks (began by 6/2/78)
 * May 1978 or so (Most of a segment, with Bullseye '76 played for a 1978-model electric car)


 * June 1978 (Intro & IUFB #1, Act 5, Showcase Showdown #2, Showcases, & Closing Credits)
 * [Likely June 6 {#2852D}.]
 * May-December 1978 (Full segment {with 3 Strikes} and subsequent Showcase Showdown only)
 * [Big Wheel still has its red walls, so before the Bonus Spin was added. The focus of this video (Nancy Heimstra, who also uploaded this) was, at the time, a single chiropractor, which results in Bob (who's still married at this point!) basically hitting on her, even saying "I have this couch right back here..."]

"ALL RIGHTS RESERVED" added to daytime copyright info (began by 6/13/78)
 * June 13, 1978 (#2862D: Any Number, Race Game, FINISH LINE, Double Prices, Bullseye '76, Temptation {taped 5/15/78}, with a "Great Entertainer" Showcase on Jackie Gleason; studio master with slate and timecode!)
 * [Has a full credit roll. At this point, Jay Wolpert is still producer.]
 * June 27, 1978 (#2882D: Any Number, FINISH LINE, Clock Game, Squeeze Play, Temptation, Grocery Game {taped 5/24/78}; studio master, slate and Game 2 only)

Season 7 (1978-79)
August 28, 1978 - June 29 [August 24], 1979

By far the rarest season, with GSN only ever airing one episode and there only being a few other clips around that are confirmed as being from this season (a few others could feasibly be from the last part of Season 6).

Pricing game-wise, the show had two big failures this season: Shower Game and Telephone Game; the former was played just ten times, while the latter got just three. On the other hand, the season also introduced It's Optional (which stuck around until 1983 and remains the only proper two-car game), Penny Ante (which stuck around until 2002), and the show's first cash game Punch-A-Bunch (which is still in the rotation). Punch-A-Bunch and Penny Ante were pretty different in their earliest playings, though.

Probably the biggest change comes on December 12 (#3072D), when the green sections and Bonus Spin debut in the Showcase Showdown. Also by December 12, the Big Wheel's walls add pink Pinto Flare dollar signs, which remain until March 1988.

On April 23, after having ping-ponged the show between 10:00 and 10:30 four times since the hour expansion, CBS decides to go a different route and moves Price to 11:00 AM.

1978, Continued
Consolation prize plugs moved to start of Showcase Showdown #2 segment, final commercial break restored to Showcase round (began by 11/29/78)

1979
Punch-A-Bunch's standard rules debut on January 5 (#3105D), while Penny Ante's standard format debuts on March 30 (#3225D).


 * January-April 1979 (Clips of Jenny Jones as a contestant!)
 * [Johnny says to "Stay tuned for Love of Life, next"; Love moved to 4:00 PM on 4/23/79, having aired at 11:30 AM prior to that.]

Show moves to 11:00 AM (began 4/23/79)

Season 8 (1979-80)
August 27, 1979 - June 27 [August 22], 1980

In early October, the fully-orchestrated version of "Walking" (used during the intro) is replaced with an identical edit of the version used for the rest of the show.

Three pricing games debut this season, all in the Spring: Barker's Bargain Bar, Trader Bob, and Grand Game. While Bargain and Grand are still in the rotation today, Trader Bob was retired in 1985, shortly into Season 14.

1979, Continued

 * December 19, 1979 (#3523D: Grocery Game, It's Optional, Most Expensive, Range Game, Give or Keep, Money Game {taped 11/79}; taped from GSN, first few seconds missing, average video {alternate copy of last segment, average quality})
 * [Has what I'm guessing is a rarity in Give or Keep: Bob going over to the small prize podiums (he normally just stayed next to the board).]
 * December 26, 1979 (#3533D {aired 2/4/80}: Danger Price, Range Game, Hole In One, Double Prices, Bonus Game, Temptation; has commercials)
 * [Has a FUR COAT offered in Showcase #2.]

1980
Sometime between about early March and June 24 (#3742D), the "3 Strikes" sign changes from green to gold.


 * 1980? (Partial intro, most of segment 2 {with Race Game}, and SCSD#1 only {alternate copy})
 * [Apparently March 19 (#3603D).]


 * February 27, 1980 (#3573D: Any Number, Take Two, Hi-Lo, Squeeze Play, Cliff Hangers, Dice Game {Parts 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9}; taped from GSN {uploaded by me}, first segment missing)


 * March 6, 1980 (#3584D: Clock Game, Five Price Tags, Take Two, Squeeze Play, Dice Game, Hurdles; has commercials)