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I am so excited that “my” episode of Price is Right is airing this month! My sisters nor I were lucky enough to be called down as a contestant… but we will be on the FRONT row on November 20th acting like fools! We grew up watching the show each summer at Myma’s house (our grandma). She was a big fan of the show and Bob Barker and passed her love for PIR down to us! We loved reminiscing about her during our time together filming this episode!
Here are some of the FAQs from our experience at the taping of Price is Right:
How Do You Get Tickets?
Getting tickets to the Price is Right is super easy! Just visit website and select your tickets. Tickets do not become available until 3-4 weeks before the taping.
Priority tickets mean you are guaranteed admission (these are the best)!
General tickets mean you can come but not guaranteed admission.
Join waitlist means that no more tickets are available OR that tickets have not yet been released. Just read the details closely!
Print your tickets and bring them with you! You have to arrive by the time printed on your ticket. Plan to be there for 5 hours!
What Happens Once You Arrive?
There is no parking at the studio. The best/closest parking is at The Grove. It cost us $18 to be there for 8 hours.
You have to go through security. No weapons, etc. You can bring your phone but that will be taken later.
You show your tickets and begin sitting on your first set (of 3) long benches. Next, you fill out legal forms, show your ID, receive a contestant number and get your infamous name tag. Note that your name tag matches your legal first name. So, if you make it on stage many of your friends may not know who you are if you don’t go by your given name.
There is a small gift shop and snack bar for souvenirs. You can bring snacks and water bottles too!
Next up, you get your photo taken in front of a green screen.
Then you move to the next (outdoor) waiting area. The photo sales people come along and show you your pictures. Of course, you want to buy them so you shell out $20 each. To me, it’s priceless (Peck disagreed).
What Happens During the Contestant Interviews?
After waiting for everyone to arrive, you get taken back to be interviewed. The interviews take place with 15-20 people in a room. The chief contestant chooser, Stan Blits, asks each person some form of these three questions:
- What’s your name?
- Where are you from?
- What do you do?
This allows him to get a sense of you, your personality and if your looks line up for the show. If there is something you really want him to know, you have to figure out how to say it during this time.
What Happens After the Interview?
Next, we headed to our 3rd (outdoor) waiting area. We went through security again and our phones were confiscated. Here, we watched a full episode of the show on the tv screens. We also had access to buy more snacks and use the restrooms.
After what felt like forever, we finally were led upstairs to the show. Someone is in charge of telling you where to sit. To our surprise, we were led to the front row! I think they like having the best shirts/most energy/lots of bright colors close to the front because it makes for a great backdrop behind contestants row.
After everyone was seated, George Gray came out to welcome us. He explained that he would butcher everyone’s name when he called the contestants down. AND that we probably wouldn’t be able to even hear our names because it would be too loud but there are cue cards on stage with the contestant’s name so you could see who has been called down. He went over what to do as an audience and as a contestant… make an educated, clear and quick bid. The audience was to go crazy on their feet ALL the time except when a name was called because it was a trip hazard.
Next, they played some pump up music and got everyone dancing. By the time they were ready to start, we felt like we were at a huge party.
The music started, George started calling names, contestants came on down and then Drew came out on stage. We all went crazy!
I used up so much energy (and realized I forgot to eat lunch) that I was inhaling a power bar and chugging water during the commercial breaks. Drew would come out during that time to interact with the audience, tell some jokes and make us laugh.
What Should You NOT Bring to the Taping?
Be sure that you do NOT wear a fitness watch. They are not allowed- which is a shame because you burn approximately 800 calories dancing your butt off but get zero credit for it.
What Were the Biggest Surprises?
- The studio was freezing cold. I was expecting it to be warm with all of the lights. But, it felt great after being outside waiting for so many hours!
- When the big doors open on stage, they are REALLY loud but you can’t hear it on TV.
- The set up of prizes is pretty quick. They keep the prizes hidden/covered until right before you are supposed to see them. The same is true for the games too. It’s a surprise to the contestant, live audience and tv audience.
- It’s hard to see everything going on. Due to the positioning of the games/prizes/doors and lots of cameras, it’s hard to have a clear view. It makes helping the contestants on stage very challenging.
- You can’t hear any of the prize info. That’s why contestants are so clueless what they are bidding on… because they can’t hear it and sometimes even can’t see it well.
Overall, it was SO much fun! I would totally go back again! If you ever got the chance to go… DO IT!
Tune in on November 20th to see me and my sisters going bonkers!
brooke
brooke's brain 
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