User:Daniel Benfield/Price Is Right 1980s Syndicated Video Archive

Syndicated, Daily: September 9, 1985 - May 30 [September 5], 1986 (170 episodes, taped March 1985 - February or March 1986 at Television City)

The second syndicated version of The Price Is Right was hosted by Tom Kennedy, who has been hard on himself in the years since but whom many agree did a good job.

As with the original 1972-80 series, this run was also called The Nighttime Price Is Right and was also pitched for Prime Access slots...but from what I can tell, it tended to get post-Midnight ones, probably because by this point Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! were ruling in syndication.

Unlike the previous nighttime series, the Perfect Bid bonus for Contestant's Row was present in this version. Originally, it was the then-standard daytime award of $100, which was increased to $500 by the end of the May '85 tapings. By all accounts, the Double Showcase Rule wasn't used on this version either, presumably again due to the higher budget this version had as well (Showcase winners here were in the $40,000 range).

This is the only nighttime version that GSN has aired, and even then I don't think they aired the whole run (although by all indication, if they didn't they got pretty close). As an interesting aside, for a period in August-September 1986, viewers who got this series could watch Price three times on Thursdays: Bob in the daytime, Tom at night, and again with Bob at night for the '86 Specials.

Needless to say, this run was also affected by Johnny Olson's death, although since this version had started taping in March they had enough to go into the new year without problem. As such, this page is divided by announcer: Johnny Olson, Gene Wood, and Rod Roddy.

Granted, there's other dividers along the way, but that's the major one. And boy, were there a lot of changes made during this period...

LEGAL STUFF SO I DON'T GET SUED: I'm only linking to these videos, none of which were uploaded by me, for the purposes of research and as a public record. Footage ©1985-86 Mark Goodson Productions/FremantleMedia and associated entities.

Fee Plugs
The fee plugs were an odd case on this version, as they don't seem to have been put into the episodes until shortly before being sent out by the distributor (The Television Program Source, a division of Columbia Pictures Television). As a result, some Johnny-era shows had Gene or Rod doing these plugs, while some Gene-era shows had Rod doing them; I've noted who does the fee plugs in each listing below, where available.

The fee plugs were definitely replaced for the repeat periods (four weeks during the season, then repeats throughout Summer '86), as GSN aired some "repeat masters".

Johnny Olson
Episodes taped March - September or October 1985

When the show began taping, the opening sequence mirrored the daytime show, using the light border and opening titles (in this case, "ALL NEW" twice and "TOM KENNEDY" twice). Johnny's spiel was a slightly modified version of the one used at the tail end of the previous nighttime series: "Here it is, all-new! And this audience is sparkling with excitement because a fortune in fabulous prizes may be theirs, if they know when The Price Is Right!"

About a month into taping, this was changed to the style used for the rest of the series: shots of all three Doors filled with prizes (they had about six or seven variations, most of them panning shots, although I don't think they had any set pattern of usage), as Johnny says "Here it is, all-new! A show sparkling with excitement because a fortune in fabulous prizes may be won tonight, if The Price Is Right!"


 * August? 1985 (WTVF debut promo)

Original intro/spiel
 * September 1985 (Lucky Seven, Grocery Game, Danger Price {taped 3?/85}, with Tom getting a standing ovation!; taped from GSN {alternate copy, large "MRC" logo in bottom-right corner throughout})
 * [Possibly the first taped show. Grocery Game still has its old set, and the Perfect Bid bonus is still $100. Gene does the fee plugs.]
 * Taped 3/85 (Money Game, Pick A Pair, Race Game {for season tickets to the Los Angeles sports teams}; taped from GSN {alternate copy})
 * [Pick A Pair still has its orange set. Rod does the fee plugs.]


 * Taped 3/ or 4/85 (Money Game, Most Expensive, Shell Game {Part 3}; taped from GSN)
 * [Gene does the fee plugs.]
 * Taped 3/ or 4/85 (Switcheroo {with a pretty rare event}, Danger Price, Range Game; taped from GSN {alternate copy, video turns B/W at points in first segment})
 * [Switcheroo still has its old set (thick vertical lines throughout). Rod does the fee plugs.]
 * Taped 3/ or 4/85 (Plinko, Race Game, Double Prices {for a car!}; taped from GSN)
 * [Rod does the fee plugs. One comment claims this was taped 5/85, which I doubt greatly.]
 * September 1985 (Lucky Seven, Plinko, One Right Price {for two trips!}, with Tom making a reference to The Young & The Restless {taped 3/ or 4/85}; original broadcast with a Ticket Plug, begins during intro {"-zes, if they know when..."}, kinda-low audio, video messes up a few times, ends late in sponsor list)
 * [Johnny does the fee plugs.]

Second intro/spiel
 * Taped 4/85 (Double Prices {for a car!}, Plinko, Danger Price; taped from GSN)
 * [Still has the blue audience seats. Danger Price still has its old set (it debuted, minus the red backdrops, by Johnny's last tapings of this version; see here). Johnny does the fee plugs.]


 * Taped 4/85 (Any Number, Take Two, Grand Game; taped from GSN, video is a bit bright)
 * [Has the blue audience seats, but the "onstage player" ones aren't shown. Johnny does the fee plugs, including one for the Sears Wish Book '85.]

Audience seats begin to change from blue to red
 * Taped 4/85 (Squeeze Play {for a car!}, Race Game, Grand Game; taped from GSN)
 * [Now has red seats for onstage players, but blue seats elsewhere. Johnny does the fee plugs.]
 * Taped 4/85 (Clock Game, Plinko, Double Prices; taped from GSN)
 * [Red "onstage contestant" seats, blue elsewhere. Rod does the fee plugs.]
 * Taped 4/85 (Includes Range Game; taped from KNBC, intro, first IUFB description, Range Game prize description, and first part of second? segment only)
 * [Red "onstage contestant" seats, blue elsewhere.]
 * Taped 4/85 (Shell Game, One Away {four-digit}, One Right Price; taped from GSN)
 * [Red seats throughout, which also applies to all of the below. Johnny does the fee plugs.]


 * September 9, 1985 (Premiere: Safe Crackers {for a car!}, Plinko, One Right Price {taped 5/85}; taped from WNBC, with Johnny doing the fee plugs)
 * [Safe Crackers still has its old set. This episode also circulates from a GSN airing with Gene doing the fee plugs.]
 * Taped 5/85 (Lucky Seven, Secret X, Squeeze Play; taped from GSN)
 * [Johnny does the fee plugs.]
 * Taped 5/85 (Punch-A-Bunch {with a pretty rare event}, Money Game, Most Expensive {for three trips!}; taped from GSN {alternate copy})
 * [Punch-A-Bunch has the yellow slips by this point (they were originally white); Most Expensive still has its The Price Is Right tags. Gene does the fee plugs.]
 * Taped 5/85 (Any Number, Grand Game, One Right Price {Parts 3, 4, and 5}; taped from GSN {alternate copy, video is a bit blurry, brief audio dropouts at times})
 * [Black curtains around the audience. By this point, the Perfect Bid bonus has been upped to $500. Rod does the fee plugs.]
 * Taped 5/85 (3 Strikes {four-digit}, Grand Game, Clock Game; taped from GSN)
 * [Rod does the fee plugs.]


 * Taped 6/85 (Money Game, Plinko, Most Expensive; taped from GSN)
 * [By this point, Most Expensive has its "1-2-3" pricetags. Rod does the fee plugs.]
 * Taped 6/27/85 (Range Game {for a car!}, Grand Game, Race Game {major problems with the prop!}, with Johnny playing General Patton in the Showcase; taped from GSN, video is a bit bright, video issues for first 10 seconds or so)
 * [Contestant's Row is still pink, and Grand Game still has no "Ten Thousand" graphic. Rod does the fee plugs, one of which is for My Little Pony: The Movie (released 6/20/86), indicating this is a "repeat master".]

Contestant's Row changes from pink to green
 * Taped 1985 (Any Number, ?, ?; original? broadcast, first segment only)
 * [Uploader lists this as 1986.]


 * Taped 8/85 (Lucky Seven, Clock Game, Secret X; taped from GSN)
 * [Rod does the fee plugs.]
 * January 10, 1986 (Safe Crackers, One Away {four-digit}, Grocery Game {taped 8/85}; taped from KYW with commercials, ends during fee plugs)
 * [Safe Crackers and Grocery Game have their current sets! Rod does the fee plugs.]

Uncertain placement
 * Taped 1985 (Golden Road {for a Ferrari!}, ?, ?; taped from GSN, first game only)
 * [Red seats throughout.]
 * November 25?, 1985 (Close of an episode with Johnny announcing, but Gene doing the fee plugs; taped from WTVJ)
 * November 28, 1985 (Close of an episode with Johnny announcing, but Gene doing the fee plugs; possibly taped from WTVJ)
 * [Red seats.]

Gene Wood
Episodes taped October - November or December 1985

Not much different, from what I can tell, although it's been said that Gene didn't really "gel" with Price.


 * Taped 10/85 (Punch-A-Bunch, 3 Strikes, Most Expensive; third IUFB has an appearance by the Tugboat, with an unnoticed incident where its life preserver falls off; taped from GSN)
 * [3 Strikes still does not have a "NO" graphic. Rod does the fee plugs.]
 * Taped 10/85 (Golden Road, Hi-Lo, Double Prices {at the Giant Price Tag}, with Gene signing off at the wrong point!; taped from GSN)
 * [Golden Road still has its "staggery" sign (with what looks like paint lines below a few letters). Rod does the fee plugs.]


 * Taped 10/85 (Golden Road, Grocery Game, Double Prices {at Door #3}; taped from GSN)
 * [Golden Road still has its "staggery" sign. Rod does the fee plugs.]
 * Taped 10/85 (Lucky Seven, Race Game, Grand Game; taped from GSN)
 * [By this point, Grand Game has added its "Ten Thousand" graphic but has not yet expanded it to include "Dollars". Rod does the fee plugs.]
 * Taped 10/85 (Grocery Game, One Away {four-digit}, Take Two; taped from GSN, begins during intro {"-ew! A show sparkling with excitement!"}, video is a bit bright and pixely)
 * [Rod does the fee plugs.]
 * Taped 10/85 (Money Game, Grand Game, Take Two; taped from GSN)
 * [Grand Game has its "Ten Thousand" graphic. Rod does the fee plugs, one of which is for the Sears Spring/Summer Catalog.]


 * Taped 10/ or 11/85 (?, Squeeze Play {for a car!}, ?; second segment only)

Rod Roddy
Episodes taped December 1985 - late February or early March 1986

By this point in taping (or at least all the below shows have it), the opening titles change from blue to red. This seems to mirror the daytime show, which was experimenting with red opening titles around this point.

I'm not sure when the series wrapped taping. I know that #N0335 (165) was taped 2/26/86, so based on that I'd say very late February or early March. Apparently, ratings were solid enough to warrant a renewal (Tom would later say that he would've stayed on as host if it'd been renewed), but for whatever reason things didn't come together.

On the other hand, it at least got a full season, unlike the next syndie attempt...


 * Taped 2/86 (Switcheroo, Range Game, Take Two; taped from GSN, video zooms in at times for whatever reason)
 * [By this point, Switcheroo has updated its board to allow for five-digit cars.]
 * Taped 2/86 (Race Game, Money Game, Safe Crackers; taped from GSN)
 * Taped 2/86 (Deluxe Dice Game, Danger Price, Cliff Hangers {Part 3}; taped from GSN, intro briefly messed up {alternate copy of last two segments, quality is a bit better})
 * [One YouTube comment claims this aired April 15.]


 * May 6, 1986 (Punch-A-Bunch, Any Number, Double Prices; has some bits of commercials, plus a Ticket Plug!)
 * [During Punch-A-Bunch, Tom makes reference to a one-punch $10,000 win where "I almost passed out".]
 * May 30, 1986 (Finale: Golden Road, Cliff Hangers, Double Prices; has a Ticket Plug and full credit roll!)
 * [By this point, Golden Road's sign has been cleaned up, a look that would remain until the sign's complete overhaul much later on.]
 * [After walking out, Tom says "They have the same feeling I do, welcome to The Nighttime Pri--you get the same feeling I do, this is going to be a very special show, huh? (audience cheers) Just have that feeling." He says "special show" a couple more times later on, and the Showcases are "Clues To Help You Know When [Season] Has Arrived", using Winter and Summer respectively (possibly referring to the tapedate and when this would air). The events after Tom signs off, which I've never seen in any other episode of any version, leads me to believe they knew (or at least suspected) it was the end.]