NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
To celebrate its 50th season on the air, “The Price Is Right” announced a coast-to-coast “Come On Down Tour” on Monday where fans of the show can play games like Plinko and Spin the Wheel, compete for a showcase and have the chance to win a $50,000 grand prize at one of the tour’s fifty stops across the country.
The tour will kick off on Friday, March 25, at the Santa Monica Pier amusement park in California with a special lighting of the pier’s famed Ferris wheel to honor the show. Other cities that will welcome the mobile “game show on wheels” are New York City, Denver, Dallas, New Orleans, Nashville and host Drew Carey’s hometown of Cleveland, among other stops.
The tour also plans to stop at “additional landmark locations, such as the Route 66 sign, Gateway Arch, and the World’s Largest Basket.” Fans of the show can keep up with the tour’s cross-country journey by following “The Price Is Right” on social media.
Keeping in spirit with the “50th” theme, the tour pledges to give fans the opportunity to win prizes that support “beloved local business partners whose history is deeply tied to 1972,” “The Price Is Right’s” premiere year.
‘THE PRICE IS RIGHT’ CELEBRATES SEASON 50, BEING THE LONGEST-RUNNING GAME SHOW IN TV HISTORY
Through five decades of daytime cable television domination, the show still ranks high in household viewership by “keeping things fresh, new, and exciting, coupled with that nostalgia everyone knows and loves,” according to “Price Is Right” executive producer Evelyn Warfel, who spoke to Fox News Digital about the on-air show itself.
‘THE PRICE IS RIGHT’: WIN BIG WITH FREE TICKETS TO THESE GAME SHOWS
“I think ‘The Price Is Right’ is relatable to everyone, no matter what your walk of life is because it’s about shopping,” Warfel explained. “And I think that coupled with the nostalgia. … I haven’t met one person who hasn’t watched the show with their grandparents when they were young or didn’t watch it when they stayed home from school. So there’s a comfort level there.”
Through five decades of daytime cable television domination, “The Price Is Right” still ranks high in household viewership by “keeping things fresh, new, and exciting, coupled with that nostalgia everyone knows and loves,” according to executive producer Evelyn Warfel.
(Cliff Lipson/CBS via Getty Images)
Warfel, the first woman to hold the position of executive producer in the history of “The Price Is Right,” also dished about how the show works behind the scenes.
“We have a whole department dedicated to finding incredible prizes, the latest in everything,” said Warfel. “So if we play something, and it doesn’t get won, we’ll bring it back in a later episode and play it differently.”
“We have a whole department dedicated to finding incredible prizes, the latest in everything.”
“Maybe it was in a game one time and put in the showcase another time, or maybe a TV played by itself one time, and we’ll pair it with a living room or bedroom or an outdoor setting,” the producer added. “So we do use our prizes more than once, and we hope that they all get fulfilled for the season.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
With over 100 games featured on the show throughout its 50-year run, Warfel admits “we do have our favorites,” pointing to fan-favorite Plinko and Cliff Hangers as games that are featured much more often than others.
However, Warfel maintains that “we don’t repeat games” or “use any of the same games twice in an air week,” with decisions being mapped out by a game producer. Warfel also told Fox News Digital that “we have 79 games right now on rotation” and “we added two new ones this year.”
Bob Barker and a contestant look on as the Big Wheel spins on the game show “The Price Is Right” in February 1978.
(CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
“I have this desire to always want to make things bigger and better,” said the Emmy Award-winning executive producer, who also explained how important it was for the show to adapt during the coronavirus pandemic. “I think the biggest change we had to make was not having an audience.” Two years later, she is “thrilled to be able to have 50-some people back in the audience” and hopes “we can only go up from where we are.”
Still, Warfel maintains that the show has “to be responsible and mindful” when honoring legendary former host Bob Barker, who at age 98 puts him at higher risk of coronavirus. Barker, host of the “Price Is Right” for 35 years, was recently given a “salute” in a two-hour primetime special celebrating the show’s 50th season, where host Drew Carey “had some really nice words for him,” Warfel said.
