Come on down! Priceless ‘Price Is Right’ celebrates its 30th anniversary Vegas style

Kimberley McGee

Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2002 | 8:20 a.m.

It has never happened before, and it may never happen again.

For the first time away from the Bob Barker Studio in Hollywood, the legendary game-show host and Rod Roddy welcomed contestants to "The Price is Right" in Las Vegas.

TV's longest-running game show taped its 30th anniversary show Thursday at Rio's Samba Theater amid delays, confusion, long lines and grumblings over the distribution of free tickets.

But fans who stayed and played cheered until they were hoarse. They shook with delight as gleaming cars and computer systems were given away on the game show. The 30th anniversary show will air Thursday, Jan. 31, at 8 p.m. on CBS (KLAS Channel 8).

"I've waited my whole life to be here," Susan Gluege, a Michigan resident, whispered. "My voice has gone out because I've been screaming ever since I knew I'd be in the audience."

It's not just the prizes and Barker's suave demeanor that mesmerizes the 32-year-old Gluege. Similar to many in the Las Vegas audience, being a part of the show was a personal achievement.

In 1972 Gluege's family came to America from Korea. While her mother worked, Gluege watched television. She had a window into American life by watching "The Price is Right." She learned the price of everyday items, math and her adopted language.

"I learned English watching Bob," Gluege said. "Now my children watch the show. I can't believe I'm actually here in line!"

Fans of the seemingly simple game show are what fuels "TPIR." The eclectic crowd of "TPIR" followers waited in line more than five hours beginning early Thursday morning to garner tickets, and waited again later that evening to take their seats at the night taping. Reports of jostling surfaced and law enforcement was eventually called in to help quell the disharmonious crowd.

Barker's appeal

Since it debuted on Sept. 4, 1972, Barker and his bevy of beauties have greeted 40,000 contestants and millions of television viewers. The object of the show is to guess the correct price of prizes, with Barker orchestrating the proceedings.

Barker began a career in broadcastingin 1946 at age 22, to finance his college education. After graduating with a degree in economics at Drury College in Missouri, he began working for a radio station in Palm Beach, Fla., then moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s. Within a week he was hosting his own radio program, "The Bob Barker Show."

He was hired by CBS in 1972 after stints as the host of "Truth or Consequences" and other game shows in the '50s and '60s.

"I've been lucky to do this all my life," Barker said during an interview at his Rio suite before taping.

Even with Barker's experience, all was not well for the road trip to Las Vegas. What upset the smooth-running 30-year-old machine that is "TPIR" was pulling the show out of its home on Stage 33of CBS Television City in Hollywood, Barker said.

Moving the towering games and set from Hollywood had not been considered in the show's 30 years, Barker said. But CBS wanted to do something special for the show's anniversary.

"I've always said taking 'The Price is Right' on the road would be like the second Normandy," Barker said. "I think I'm correct."

Most of the plywood-and-carpeted set was dismantled and loaded onto six moving trucks and hauled to the Rio one week before taping. The doors that slide open to reveal the big prizes on the set, such as convertible cars and motor homes, were too big to transport -- so they were built when they arrived in Las Vegas last week.

"It's really a job to move all these things and set it up to look like it does on TV," Barker said. "Everything runs smoothly at the (Hollywood) studio. We hoped it would here, too."

It didn't.

The super-sized elevator that rises from the middle of the Samba Theater's stage stuck the day before taping. Each cumbersome piece had to be rolled in by numerous stagehands.

It delayed the show, but the crowd didn't seem to lose its good cheer.

Come on down

Patrick Manship flew to Las Vegas from Anderson, Ind., to secure a place in the "TPIR" audience.

At 4 a.m. he lined up with nearly 10,000 other would-be contestants. Although the space was cramped as they waited by the Samba Theater to receive their free tickets, Manship said the mood was jovial.

"Everybody was real nice, we were having a good time," Manship said. "We are a respectful bunch."

Only 900 free tickets were handed out at the Rio. When Manship finally grasped his ticket, he went out and rented a leprechaun outfit from a local costume shop to wear on the show.

He wanted to stand out, he said. It wasn't easy.

Men in top hats, gold-lame shirts and homemade sweatshirts stood next to beaming women in jeweled hairdos and glittering jackets. Other audience members wore T-shirts congratulating Barker on his 30 years as host. Some wore cards and dice in their hair and others donned hats with personal messages to Barker.

Britney and Marci Ford were among a pack of five women in their 20s from Utah who wore baby-pink T-shirts that quoted Barker's traditional sign off, "Remember to spay and neuter your pets," along with a declaration of love for the game-show host.

"This has been a trial in disorganization," Britney Ford said of "TPIR's" Las Vegas show. "Our hopes were shattered, then they would rise. But we got tickets, finally. We love Bob!"

The 900 who did get tickets by 10 a.m. Thursday were told to come back at 2 p.m. to be interviewed by producers of the show before they could file into the theater at 4 p.m.

After being interviewed briefly by a producer or page, nine contestants and a few alternates were secretly chosen and their names typewritten on a sheet of paper that was placed on Roddy's podium. It is from this list that Roddy reads the names of those who "Come on down!"

"People who scream or shout don't get on the show, unless they do that naturally," Barker said. "We want people who are just themselves, quiet or really happy. We want them to be spontaneous and expectant."

Unfortunately, the usually seamless "TPIR" production hit a few snags, and the audience didn't file into the 7 p.m. taping of the show until 6:30 p.m.

Inside out

The audience entered the Samba Theater in a single-file conga line. Fans danced and cheered as they took their seats.

They couldn't stay still.

A group of men and women of varying ages moved toward the stage and bopped to the hip-hop music that played while technicians readied the set.

A video of "TPIR's" 25th anniversary special was played on two large screens at the front of the theater at 7:30 p.m. The more than 1,200 fans in the theater played along with the rerun -- applauding when a contestant won a prize and hushing each other whenever Barker began to speak.

When Barker finally emerged at 8:30 p.m., the crowd jumped to its feet. Young women screamed and shook their mother's upraised hands. Young men stomped their feet and gave each other high-fives.

The hour of power had arrived. The first contestant, Las Vegan Laurene Anthony, hugged Barker in disbelief as she won three automobiles in five minutes.

The show continued with a young man who nearly fainted when he realized he was going to play the most popular "TPIR" game, Plinko.

Plinko is a game where large chips are rolled from the top of a 14-foot maze to land on dollar amounts along the bottom of the board.

The contestant held the white stairway rail as he climbed the lavender steps to the top of the game to begin rolling the chips. The audience held its breath as he began to drop the chips into the plastic maze. He walked away with $2,500 and a few slaps on the back from strangers in the audience.

"The thing about our audience is that they aren't chosen for what they know before the game, they are part of the audience," Barker said. "That's what people love about the show. They are everyday people that get a chance to win money and prizes."