Re:TPIR on GSN, and other game shows
That was the 1994 version with Doug Davidson, who was and still is on Y&R. I know many Price fans will howl with disagreement, but this life-long Price devotee loved the new version.
The set boasted a black marble look. Still had the three doors, but the "carpet" section was replaced by a video wall, so any games normally played "up on the stairs" were played on the main stage. The theme had a jazzier sound, but it was clearly recognizable as the classic Price melody.
Instead of contestant's row, players called to "come on down" went right to the stage to play their pricing game, all of which were played in the same way as the daytime version (though some were played for substantially bigger prizes). Eliminating the up-for-bids segments created time for a showcase showdown--on some shows it was "The Price Was Right," where the three players, down in a modified three-person Contestants' Row, guessed the price of a product in a classic TV commercial. Other shows used the wheel (due to not having enough classic clips cleared).
Only one player went to the showcase, a sort of modified Range Game. The player randomly pre-selected a range, and pulled a lever when they thought the price of the showcase package was within the range.
Sure it varied from the daytime version--that's what made it a good compliment. Remember just how dramatically the 1972 Price must have seemed to fans of the original. The 94 version was just a little twist on the established format.
As for Davidson, he had an easy command of the games and an excellent rapport with the players. Of course he wasn't Bob Barker Jr., but no one should try to be--he was his own person with a different style that still suited the show. Quite frankly, there's no valid reason he shouldn't be considered again, if he wanted the daytime gig when the time comes.
Price was one of many shows the syndicators kept trying to pitch as the sure-fire Wheel/Jeopardy killer, and no show could live up to the massive expectations that were set. It's only been recently with shows like Millionaire and Family Feud that the syndicators have done a better job of marketing the shows for other time slots in enough markets to make them viable.
The show did well outside of access in markets that tried it, but not enough did, and it fell victim to the same fate as so many other shows. (Though in Philadelphia, no one had an opening in access, so the Fox station buried it on weekends--if they didn't bump it entirely for sports--all over the schedule, with only two episodes. Hardly a good way to launch.)
> I seem to remember a short lived syndicated 1/2 Hr. TPIR
> sometime in the middle 90s, hosted by a guy who used to be
> on "The Young and the Restless." Any info on when this ran,
> or the gameplay?
>
> > > Or...How about the short lived 30 minute edition Night
> > time
> > > price is Right from the 80's...did it even have a wheel
> to
> >
> > > spin?...and who was the host again?
> > >
> > That was the Tom Kennedy version of Price, which lasted a
> > season. It was played exactly the way Price was before it
>
> > expanded to an hour: three pricing games; the top two
> > winners of the day play in the showcase.
> >
>