Comments for the Week of September 19-23

Biggest winner this week: Sharon Baker ($79,687) (September 19) On Monday, Sharon won Race Game in 12 seconds, winning four cars in the process. Not only was this the first time Race Game was played for four cars (obviously), but it was also the fastest win for this game since May 1, 2009 (7 seconds). Sharon was also most likely the first contestant in daytime history to win four cars. (Related stat: Only one contestant winning Triple Play has also gone on to win the Showcase - Taylor on November 3, 2008 Skyler on October 6, 2006. In that instance, a fourth car was not offered in the Showcase that was won.) $158,502 in cash and prizes was won on the season premiere - the fifth highest one day total in daytime history. (The total is still nearly $140,000 behind the $297,708 haul that was won on the Season 35 season premiere.) On Monday, the price of the sailboat was placed only $150 above the bottom of the scale. (In other words, the contestant could have won by not moving the range finder). That's the lowest a price has been placed on the scale since at least Season 36. (Other low: $160 on April 9, 2009) Also on Monday, 3 Strikes was played sixth. Last time it was not played first: October 15, 2008. Last time it was played sixth: January 13, 1997. On Tuesday, Chelyan's Magic # ($1,064) was $1,465 away from the lower priced prize. That's the largest miss in this game since at least Season 29. (Previous record: $1,350 on February 16, 2011) With the miss on Wednesday, Rachel is now 0-2 in her career as an inspirational putter. (Rachel's only other inspiration putt was back in Season 33.) On Thursday, the top prize ($16,000) was won in It's in the Bag. Last time that's happened: January 22, 2010 - 33 playings ago. On Friday, Jennifer got one of the small prizes in Spelling Bee exactly right. Last time that's happened: April 29, 2008. Since the start of Season 29, there have been 18 bids (the game has been played 100 times during this span). Four small prize games were won this week. That mark was achieved only once all of last season. Four grocery product games were won this week. That mark was achieved only once all of last season.

Comments for the Week of September 26-30

Biggest winner this week: Marie Andrews ($48,874) (September 28) The first nine Pricing Games played this week were all lost. However, following that horrific start, the Pricing Games went 13/21, to finish the week at a respectable 13/30. Nice comeback. Six cash games have been played so far this season. In five of these playings, at least $10,000 was won. The sixth game, Punch-A-Bunch, had a $2,500 win. In other words, it's been a very nice start to the season for the cash games. (In all of last season, $10,000+ was won in a cash game only 21 times.) So far this season, 3 out of the 6 bonus spins have landed on 45. On Monday, Casey had to remove the fake price's second digit in order to win Squeeze Play. The only other time the second digit was the right choice in five-digit Squeeze Play was September 23, 2005. (In that instance, the game was won.) Also on Monday, Emily only got one number right in the price of the car in Stack the Deck. That's the fourth time that's happened (However, in the other three playings, the contestants had gone 0/3 in the pricing portion). Prior to Wednesday's episode, the last time $10,000 was won in Grand Game was November 1, 2010 - 14 playings ago. Several unique events occured on the 7500th episode: Three cash games were played (1/2 Off, Grand Game, Plinko) - the first time that's ever happened in a daytime or primetime episode. Three car games were played (Lucky $even, Money Game, Push Over) - the first time that's happened since October 28, 2008. Two small prize games were played (1/2 Off, PlinkO), which led to the rare occurence of having six small prize games played in one week (six small prize games were also played the weeks of February 21-25, 2011 and April 6-10, 1998). The three cash game day also meant four cash games were played this week - the first time that's happened since the week of November 17-21, 2008. (Related stat: The premiere week of Season 35 was the last time five cash games were played in one week.)

Comments for the Week of October 3-7

Biggest winner this week: Lorraine Hersh ($58,752) (October 5) With the loss on Monday, More or Less has now been lost 11 straight times (11 straight playings where contestants have failed to win all four prizes). It's also been a full calendar year (October 4, 2010) since the car has been won in this game. It has also been 11 straight playings since the car was won in Switcheroo. During this span, only one contestant has managed to win more than two small prizes. (Related stat: Last time all five prizes were won in Switcheroo: April 18, 2007) On Tuesday, 1 Right Price was played for a $8,470 range - the most expensive non-trip and non-car prize ever offered in this game. (Previous high: a $7,650 electric bicycle offered last season.) On Friday, Brenda became the 200th contestant in daytime history to lose That's Too Much. Since premiering in Season 29, That's Too Much has a record of 71-200 for a 26.19% winning percentage. With their wins this week, Flip Flop and Side By Side improved their record to 3-0 to start this season. Last season, only two games started the year with three straight wins: Cliff Hangers and Side By Side (both were won four times before suffering their first loss). With the 2-0 start, 10 Chances has already matched (or exceeded) the number of wins it got in Season 37 (2-6), Season 38 (2-4) and Season 39 (1-6). So far this season, the 3 and 4 prize games are 1-0 when played for cars, but 0-11 otherwise.

Comments for the Week of October 10-14

Biggest winner this week: Anna ($55,487) (October 13) Streaks snapped: Race Game (six straight wins - prior to this week, the last loss was January 13, 2011) 6 out of the 10 car games played this week were won. Last time more than 5 car games were won in one week: November 2-6, 2009 (Season 38). In Squeeze Play, the last time there were repeating digits among the three possible removable choices, and you had to remove one of the repeating digits in order to win: June 19, 2008. In the 13 instances since then, you had to remove the non-repeating digit in order to win. On Wednesday, Pass the Buck was lost for the 12th straight time. It has now been a full calendar year since a car was won in this game (September 24, 2010). Perhaps the designation that "this is an easy game that people win all the time" should be changed? On Thursday, Pick-a-Pair was won for the seventh straight time. That's the longest winning streak for any Pricing Game since late in Season 38/early in Season 39, when Pick-a-Pair was won ten straight times. Also on Thursday, One Away was won on the first try. Last time that happened: June 2, 2009 December 16, 2008. Thursday's episode produced a lot of season firsts: The first time two out of the first four contestant failed to win their way up on stage, the first time the first two spinners in a Showcase Showdown went over $1.00, and the first time both car games were won. On Friday, Carissa won $21,000 in Plinko - the most won since August 27, 2010 ($21,500). Last time a contestant won at least $20,000 in Plinko despite only having 3 chips: April 23, 2008. So far this season, 15/19 Showcases were won by female contestants, including all five this week. In the previous five seasons, 56% of Showcases were won by female contestants. In other words, the men have been struggling so far this season. So far this season, the first bidder at the yellow podium has failed to win their way up on stage 6 times. In fact, contestants called before the third and fourth one bids have won just as often as contestants stuck at the unlucky yellow podium. All three Most Expen$ive playings this season have offered an Apple computer (a MacPro twice, a MacBook once).

Comments for the Week of October 17-21

Biggest winner this week: Rio Pacheco ($67,632) (October 18) - second biggest winner this season All ten car games played this week were lost. That's quite the contrast from last week, when the car games went an impressive 6-4. So far this season, Squeeze Play has been played 1st (Sep. 21), 4th (Sep. 26), 5th (Oct. 5), 3rd (Oct. 10) and 6th (Oct. 18). Will this game complete the cycle and be played second the next time it's played? On Monday, Flip Flop was won for the fourth time this season. Last season, it took until March 16th (the 21st playing) for this game to reach 4 wins. Conversely, Switch? is off to a disappointing 1-4 start. Last season, the game went 21-15 and got its fourth loss only on December 17 (the 10th playing). Switch? was the game with the most wins last season - it will need to turn things around quickly if it wants to achieve that mark again this year. On Wednesday, Gas Money was lost for the 13th straight time. It has now been a full calendar year (October 19, 2010) since a car was won in this game. During this span, only 3 contestants walked away with money - the remaining 10 contestants left with nothing. Also on Wednesday, Bullseye was played for a $27,845 trip to New Orleans - the most expensive prize ever offered in this game (including cars). It's also the most expensive non-car/non-Golden Road prize ever offered in a Pricing Game. Other expensive prizes: A $25,274 trailer in Range Game (February 5, 2009), a $25,235 Maxum Sport Boat in Push Over (April 21, 2009) and a $19,100 ski boat in Double Prices (September 24, 2001). On Thursday, Judy missed all three small prize pairings in 1/2 Off. Last time that's happened: April 28, 2009. Since the game premiered, seven contestants failed to eliminate any boxes. Only one out of these seven contestants miraculously managed to still win the $10,000 prize (April 16, 2009 2010). Only $35,799 in cash and prizes was won Friday - the first time this season a daily total was below $40,000. Out of the 12 games that have been played at least 4 times this season, 5 of them have already been lost four times: Most Expen$ive, One Wrong Price, Squeeze Play, Switch? and That's Too Much. Out of the remaining 7 games, only Flip Flop (4-1), Plinko (3-2) and Side By Side (3-1) currently have a winning record.

Comments for the Week of October 24-28

Biggest winner this week: Debbie Lomeli ($39,319) Streaks snapped: Lucky $even (5 straight losses - previous win was June 10, 2011), Pass the Buck (12 straight losses - previous time the car was won was September 24, 2010). In the past three weeks, the car games have weekly records of 6-4, 0-10 and 6-4. That's quite the fluctuation. Nine out of the eleven one prize games were played this week. Only Bonkers and Double Prices were not played. On Monday, Janice won 5 Price Tags even though she only got one out of the four small prizes right. Last time that's happened: December 10, 2007. Overall, in the past eight seasons, this game has a record of 2-16 when contestants only have one choice out of the five price tags. Also on Monday, Most Expen$ive was won. That's the first time, since Race Game on the season premiere, where a quickie game offering three or four prizes was won. During this span, the multi prize games were lost 17 straight times. By being played second on Monday, Squeeze Play became the first Pricing Game this season to be played in all six slots. Squeeze Play has only been played six times this season, so it was played in all slots in the absolute minimumn number of playings. Very impressive. On Tuesday, Bruce won Pocket Change by accumulating $3.10 in pocket change. That's the most money ever accumulated in this game. Previous high: December 2, 2008 ($3.05). (Note that there have been several playings where not all of the amounts were revealed. It's possible more money was actually accumulated in one of these playings.) Also on Tuesday, Shell Game was played for a $13,949 digital piano. That's the most expensive non-car prize offered in this game in the past 11 seasons. (Previous high: A $9,534 trip to Fiji on October 20, 2008). On Thursday, It's in the Bag became the 100th Pricing Game to be lost this season. On Friday, Stephanie missed her prize in Freeze Frame by $4,976 - one of the largest misses in the game's history (The biggest miss since Season 33 was $5,174 on October 3, 2005). Friday's loss is nothing new for this game - Freeze Frame has been lost 43 times in its last 47 playings. So far this season, Side By Side has a record of 0-2 when it's played for a snomobile and a record of 3-0 when it's played for any other prize. In the past seven episodes, all seven top winners passed the first Showcase. This includes Thursday and Friday - two episodes that offered a car in the first Showcase. Passing the first Showcase hasn't turned out very well for these seven top winners - only Mark from October 20 went on to win his Showcase.

November-December Comments

January-February Comments

March-April Comments

May-June Comments