The Price Is Right (partially found unaired pilots for syndicated game show; 1993)
The show's logo from the aired series.
Status: Partially Found
The Price Is Right was a short-lived syndicated game show based on the CBS game show of the same name that ran from September 12, 1994 to January 27, 1995. It was a half-hour version of the hour long CBS version and was the third syndicated incarnation of the show. The show was hosted by actor Doug Davidson (from The Young and The Restless) and announced by Burton Richardson (who would voice the CBS version on several occasions between 2001 and 2006). It was cancelled after 80 episodes with viewers finding the version to be too different than the CBS version, although it would go on to have a cult following and receive praise for fans of the CBS version for being different than the CBS version.
Series Differences
Most of the show's differences are similar to the show's first 3 years of the CBS version.
| CBS Version | Syndicated Version |
|---|---|
| 4 Contestants were called on down to Contestant's row and they bid for one prize and the first contestant with the closest bid will not only win the prize, they get to go up on stage to play a pricing game. This happens 6 times throughout the show. | 1 contestant is called up on stage to play a pricing game. This happened 3 times throughout the show. |
| The two winning contestants bid on two separate showcases. The person with the closest bid will win the showcase. | The winning contestant must stop a $10,000 range going up a chart of amounts ranging from $10,000 to $70,000. |
| After 3 contestants are called up on stage, they spin the big wheel and the person with the highest number will move on to the showcase. | The 3 contestants play "The Price WAS Right" where all 3 of them must bid on an item from a commercial from 40 years prior based on what the price was at the time the commercial aired. The contestant with the closest bid will go on to play the showcase. In some episodes, this was changed to the big wheel. |
Pilot
Before the syndicated show was picked up a pilot was recorded in 1993[1] with KTLA anchor Mark Kriski as host, the pilot reportedly had the same format as the aired series. The set used for the pilot is debated, some sources say it was the CBS set[2] and some sources say it was the set that was used in the final series. The Showcase Showdown used in the pilot is also unknown but the showcase game was the same as it was in the final series. The series was picked up for syndication the next year but Kriski left before the series started filming[3] and was replaced by Doug Davidson.
Avaliblity
Only one clip from the pilot has been released, the showcase game (which looks like the pricing game "Range Game" with different colors) where a unknown contestant stops the range from going up was used in the series' intro. There are rumored to be more clips from the pilot used in the intro (like the Money Game and the Race Game which ended up not being used as a pricing game in the final series) but it is unconfirmed. As of the writing of this article, the pilot remains lost and Kriski has remained tight lipped about the pilot although his website lists the pilot along with a ticket from a audience member.[4]
A ticket for the pilot.
A screenshot of the showcase range from the pilot.
