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The Price Is Right (1956)/At a Glance

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The Price Is Right show built up a loyal following as it progressed from the 1950s to the 1960s, usually finishing fourth on daytime (number 1 among all network game shows) and no. 8 for the 1959-60 and 1960-61 primetime seasons (number 1 among nighttime games as well). Through a strange quirk only known to NBC and the show's sponsors, it was moved from its Wednesday night 8:30 spot to Mondays at 8:30. A year later, in 1962, NBC moved it to 9:30 Mondays and its rating eroded at the behest of CBS's The Andy Griffith Show. At midseason 1963, Price moved to Fridays at 9:30 PM. By this time, NBC had high hopes for a new sitcom, Harry's Girls, in that it would skew younger than the audience Price advertisers wanted. NBC planned to cancel Price, both day and night, and then ABC stepped in and offered more to get the show than NBC was willing to pony up. Price moved to ABC and it was a step backwards: ABC did not have color telecasting facilities for the show as NBC did, and many markets did not have ABC affiliates. The show cleared in those areas on CBS stations under secondary affiliation. Price suffered greatly by this switch--the nighttime show lasted a year, and the daytime show lasted two years. It would remain in limbo till 1972, when it was revived and retooled for CBS and syndicated nighttime.

Of particular note, the very first show on November 26, 1956 nearly didn't make it on. The pilot was fraught with so much disaster (tote readouts malfunctioning, Bill Cullen's mic cord nearly strangled him as a turntable revolved) that NBC wanted to buy out the show's contract and cancel it. Bob Stewart asked NBC for a leap of faith--13 weeks, and if the show didn't click, then cancel it. It didn't take long for Price to find its following and become a hit.

Had NBC canceled the show, Stewart and Goodson-Todman would have tried to sell it to CBS, who two years later would impose a ban on all big-ticket giveaway shows in light of the quiz show scandals.

When Price was about to move to ABC, Goodson-Todman offered announcer Don Pardo a ton of money to go with them. Don refused, saying he had a good thing going with NBC (Johnny Gilbert would be the new announcer upon the show landing on ABC). Pardo's wife was furious and refused to speak to him...until he landed a new job on a little show called--you may have heard of it--Jeopardy!

The original show had occasional separate contests where the winners of certain prizes would participate in for bonus cash and prizes. Some involved word games, others involved predictions, and others would actually be the prototypes of the current show's pricing games. Among them:

  • A contestant took a sip from three goblets of champagne and had to tell which of the three was the most expensive.
  • A board showed the geographic coordinates and air temperatures (Fahrenheit) of five locales. A contestant chose one and that was the place he/she would be flown for a vacation. (As a joke, one locale was the steam room at the Luxor Baths in New York.)
  • "Cullen's Olde Antique Shoppe" displayed three antiques on loan from a museum. The contestant had to pick the most expensive and would win cash in the amount of the item's value.
  • A contestant was flown to London to sell 1,000 neckties at 10 cents per. He would receive $1 for every tie he sold.
  • On a board of words, a contestant's spouse chose three words. The contestant spouse had to rhyme it with a deliverable prize.
  • A contestant won a vibraphone and, with her husband, spent a week practicing the song "Always" with it. The couple would return the next week playing the song on the vibraphone with each of them alternating notes.
  • A contestant had to identify the six singers heard (in six separate cuts) performing the song "I've Got The World On A String."
  • A contestant was blindfolded and had to identify each of four instruments being played in a band behind the panel.
  • A contestant had to predict which three out of six New Year's resolutions her husband selected.
  • From 1959: All four contestants each wrote down what bonus prize they want if they won the ensuing bidding game. The winner of the game chose a new house and was awarded the prize and eventually had the highest total at the show's end, allowing him to return. Because the value of the bonuses were arbitrary estimates, the runner-up was allowed to return on the next show as well.
  • From 1962: A contestant was required to place bags of silver on his side of a giant assayer's scale without the other side, on which his wife was standing, rising up.
  • A contestant was shown five prizes then, one at a time, shown the Italian translation for them. The contestant was then required to remember the Italian translations to win those prizes.
  • A 1963 contestant (towards the end of the NBC run) was made an honorary judge at the Miss America contest. He would interview each contestant then write down the names of five girls he thought would have the best chance to be crowned Miss America. If any of his five choices made as a semi-finalist, finalist, or was crowned Miss America, he would win $2500 (semi-finalist), $5000 (finalist) or $10,000 (crowned).

Basic Information

  • Full Name: The Price Is Right
  • Premiere Date: November 26, 1956
  • Finale Date: September 3, 1965
  • Networks: NBC, ABC
  • Airtimes:

Daytime

Nighttime

  • 9/23/57 - 6/9/58, NBC, Mondays 7:30 PM ET, PT/6:30 PM CT
  • 6/26/58 - 9/11/58, NBC, Thursdays, 10 PM ET, PT/9 PM CT
  • 9/24/58 - 9/13/61, NBC, Wednesdays, 8:30 PM ET, PT/7:30 PM CT
  • 9/18/61 - 9/10/62, NBC, Mondays, 8:30 PM ET, PT/7:30 PM CT
  • 9/17/62 - 1/21/63, NBC, Mondays, 9:30 PM ET, PT/8:30 PM CT
  • 2/1/63 - 9/6/63, NBC, Fridays, 9:30 PM ET, PT/8:30 PM CT
  • 9/18/63 - 11/27/63, ABC, Wednesdays, 8:30 PM ET, PT/7:30 PM CT
  • 12/6/63 - 9/11/64, ABC, Fridays, 9:30 PM ET, PT/8:30 PM CT
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