Comments for the Week of December 31-January 4

Biggest winners this week: Mark Belfield ($64,687) (January 1) - Mark is the second biggest winner so far this season Garrett Deese ($61,133) (January 3) - Garrett is the fourth biggest winner so far this season. Men have managed to win big so far this season - currently the top 6 winners in Season 41 are all male. Streaks snapped: Freeze Frame - 6 straight losses (7 based on actual airdates) - the game had last been won on October 5, 2012 Five Price Tag s- 6 straight losses (7 based on actual airdates) - the game had last been won on April 3, 2012 Double Prices - 6 straight wins - the game had last been lost on September 4, 2012 - this was the first lost for this game this season Bullseye - 8 straight wins - the game had last been lost on November 10, 2011 There was a lot of winning going on this week - new season highs were set in total Pricing Games won (17), total car games won (5), total won in one episode ($112,924 on December 31), most expensive Showcase won ($52,557 on January 3) and total approximate winnings in one week ($458,655). Over $100,000 in cash and prizes was won on three different episodes this week (December 31, January 1 and January 3) (assuming the hot tub won in Clock Game on January 3 had a retail value of at least $3,492). Not bad, considering $100,000 or more was won on only three other episodes so far this season (October 10, December 5 and December 6). Some new season highs were also set in the Showcase this week - most expensive pair of Showcases ($115,438 on December 31), closest Showcase bid ($23 on January 1), biggest miss from a Showcase winner ($22,357 on January 3) and least expensive Showcase won ($21,258 on January 4). Six small prize games were played this week (Switcheroo, Rat Race, Cliff Hangers, 1/2 Off, Five Price Tags and Pinko). This is a pretty rare occurence - it's only happened on October 29-November 2 (7 small prize games were played that week), April 9-13, 2012, February 21-25, 2011 and April 6-10, 1998. Six different contestants spun $1.00 in the Showcase Showdowns this week. That's the most $1.00 spinners in one week in the past two seasons. On Monday, Pick-a-Pair was played first. That has not happened in a long time - the last known time Pick-a-Pair led off a show was May 4, 1987. Also on Monday, Switcheroo was played for a $29,213 car. That's the most expensive car offered in this game since it was played for a $41,255 Ford Thunderbird on December 12, 2003 (a special episode celebrating Bob Barker's 80th birthday). On Tuesday, Switch? was played third, becoming the fourth Pricing Game this season to be played in all six slots at least once (joining Push Over, 1 Wrong Price and Coming or Going). Also on Tuesday, Cliff Hangers became the first Pricing Game this season to be won 10 times. (Flip Flop subsequently joined this club on Wednesday.) With Double Prices picking up its first loss, Cliff Hangers is now the only game (that has been played more than two times) that has not been lost this season. Tuesday's Cover Up was the 100th time a car game was not won this season. Given that Cover Up has a current record of 0-7, it's somewhat fitting that Cover Up was the 100th loss. A trip was not offered in any of the six Pricing Games played on Wednesday. Every other episode so far this season has offered at least one trip in the Pricing Games. On Thursday, 1/2 Off was played fifth for the first time since March 15, 2010. 1/2 Off has been played fifth only six times in its history. One of the prizes offered in 1 Wrong Price on Thursday was a $600 shuffleboard. That's the cheapest prize offered in this game since $565 luggage was featured on February 10, 2005. On Friday, Lisa failed to win an additional chip in Plinko. Last time that's happened: June 10, 2011. In total, this has happened only four times since Season 29. Also on Friday, Bullseye was played for a car. Last time that's happened: October 8, 2008.

Comments for the Week of January 7-11

Biggest winner this week: Deborah Jay ($40,333) (January 10) Streaks snapped: Cliff Hangers - 10 straight wins - the game had last been lost on August 17, 2012. With Cliff Hanger's loss, Swap Meet (2-0), Bonus Game (1-0) and Shell Game (1-0) are the only remaining Pricing Games that have not been lost this season. On the other hand, there are 7 winless games (Check-Out, Cover Up, Hi Lo, Stack the Deck, Take Two, 3 Strikes, Triple Play), and 11 games that have not been fully won this season (Gas Money, Golden Road, It's in the Bag, Let 'em Roll, Master Key, Pass the Buck, Pay the Rent, Punch a Bunch, Rat Race, Step Up, Temptation) The four small prize games that don't offer car or cash as its main prize (Bonus Game, Cliff Hangers, Secret "X" and Shell Game) have a combined record of 14-3 this season (82%). Not bad. On Monday, Pathfinder was played fourth for the first time since January 18, 2008 (Season 36). In Pathfinder's history, it has been played fourth five times, and has been won at least three times (the result of the October 19, 1998 is not immediately known.) The previous time Pathfinder was lost on the final number: November 1, 2011. Neither Tuesday nor Thursday's episode featured a one prize quickie game. There has only been one other episode this season that didn't have a one prize game (December 7). Conversely, three one prize games were played on Friday (Bonkers, Balance Game, Push Over) - the first episode this season that featured more than 2 games of this genre. On Tuesday, Lucky $even became the first Pricing Game this season to be lost 10 times. On a more positive note, on Friday, Push Over became the third Pricing Game this season to be won 10 times (joining Cliff Hangers and Flip Flop). For the first time in its (brief) history, the prices at the very top of the board were correct in Double Cross. After 12 playings, the prices one from the bottom of the board have been correct most often (5 times). Double Cross is also 5-0 under these conditions. On Friday, Danger Price was played first for the first time since June 9, 2008 (Season 36). It's also the first time a four-prize game was played first since September 19, 2011 (when Race Game was played for four cars) and September 30, 2008 (Shopping Spree). Balance Game's win on Friday was the first time this season (out of 7 tries) where a car offered in a game not traditionally played for a car was won. (Bullseye, Check-Out, Hi Lo, Pick-a-Number, Range Game and Secret "X" were all lost when they were played for a car.) It has now been a full year (December 26, 2011) since a car was won in Pass the Buck (8 playings). During this span, six contestants got both product pairings wrong, while the other two contestants only won one additional pick. In addition, the most won in this game durng this span was $3,000 (4 times).

Comments for the Week of January 14-18

Biggest winner this week: Sean Leahy ($64,805) (January 16) - Sean is the second biggest winner so far this season. Streaks snapped: Push Over - 5 straight wins - the game had last been lost on November 12. Some new highs or lows for Season 41 were set in the Showcase this week: Largest miss on a Showcase that was ultimately won ($26,431 on January 14) and smallest Showcase overbid ($184 on January 15). It was a depressing week for several Pricing Games: Grand Game, It's in the Bag, and 1 Wrong Price all picked up their 10th loss of the season. On Monday, Flip Flop was played sixth, becoming the fifth Pricing Game to be played in all six slots at least once this season (joining Push Over, 1 Wrong Price, Coming or Going and Switch?.) The combined record of the three Pricing Games lost on Monday: 2-19 (Golden Road, Freeze Frame, Gas Money). The combined record of the three games won on Monday: 31-6 (Cliff Hangers, Double Cross, Flip Flop). While the car has not been won in the past 11 playings of Temptation, contestants have accepted gifts totalling $37,987 during this span (8 bailouts) . Not bad! One of the prizes offered in Thursday's playing of Take Two was $5,565 in shoes and handbags. That's the most expense prize offered in this game since at least Season 30. Prior to Thursday's playing, the last time one of the prizes in Take Two had a value above the target: October 22, 2009 ($2,790 ski equipment was offered; the target was $2,147). Thursday's playing of Stack the Deck was the first time this season a contestant got more than one of the grocery product pairings right and it was also the first time a contestant had more than two numbers right in the price of the car. Stack the Deck is still winless in the past 13 playings, but at least we are making progress... Also on Thursday, Thomas quit with $2,500 in Punch a Bunch, but he could have won $5,000 had he decided to go against the odds and keep playing. Prior to that playing, the last time a contestant quit too early was April 9, 2010 (the contestant quit with $5,000 but she could have won $10,000). One of the prizes offered in Friday's playing of 1 Wrong Price was a $500 home theater system. That's the cheapest prize offered in this game since at least Season 30. So far this season, there have been 53 playings of grocery product games. Nearly half of these playings (26 playings) have been either Grand Game (11 times), It's in the Bag (10 times) and Stack the Deck (5 times). No other grocery product game has been played more than 3 times this season. To make matters worse, Grand Game, It's in the Bag and Stack the Deck have a combined record of 1-25 this season (only Grand Game has been outright won).

Comments for the Week of January 21-25

Biggest winner this week: Amy McCue ($41,870) (January 25) Based on actual airdates, thirteen straight Pricing Games that were played for a car have been lost, including all eight car games played this week. The last car game win was Any Number on January 16. There was almost a skunking in terms of total cars won this week. The first (and only) car won this week didn't happen until Amy won her Showcase on Friday. On Tuesday, Freeze Frame was played first, becoming the sixth Pricing Game to be played in all six slots at least once this season. (Joining Push Over, 1 Wrong Price, Coming or Going, Switch? and Flip Flop.) The most expensive prize offered in Freeze Frame this season: A $9,514 trip to Amsterdam offered on January 22. The least expensive prize offered in Freeze Frame this season: A $5,145 trip to Amsterdam offered on January 14. Also on Tuesday, contestants were not rewarded for being mean. In the one bid round, contestants bid $1 above a previous bidder five times. In all five instances, that contestant did not end up winning the one bid. (Overall this season, approximately 52% of contestants $1 upping a previous contestant wound up winning the one bid round.) Surprisingly, the $9,941 hot tub, offered on Tuesday's playing of Make Your Move, is not the most expensive prize ever offered in this game. The record is still a $9,980 sailboat offered on April 12, 2011. It'll be interesting to see if that record will ever be topped. Talk about deja vu - both the January 7 and January 24 playings of Bargain Game offered a 55" Samsung LED 3D HDTV and a 16GB Apple iMac. Both playings were also won after the contestant correctly chose the television as the bigger bargain. There was a $3,956 difference between both choices in Double Prices on Thursday ($12,372 and $8,416). That's the largest spread used in this game since at least Season 32. (Excluding June 15, 2007, when the game was played for a car - there was a $5,519 spread in that playing.) On Friday, Double Cross was played fifth for the first time in its history. Double Cross has now been played third, fourth, fifth and sixth at least once. Will it ever get the opportunity to appear in the first segment? Also on Friday, Stack the Deck was played fourth for only the fifth time in its history. Stack the Deck was also lost, meaning it has now been over a calendar year since a car has been won in this game. (December 16, 2011)

Comments for the Week of January 28-February 1

Biggest winner this week: Asaf Lang ($45,806) (January 29) Milestones reached this week: 300th Pricing Game loss - Race Game (or Pay the Rent, if you include $10,000+ Plinko wins); 200th Pricing Game won - Push Over (or Cliff Hangers, if you exclude $10,000+ wins). Seven small prize games were played this week (Switcheroo, Punch a Bunch, Pathfinder, Rat Race, Plinko, Shell Game, Cliff Hangers). That ties the week of October 29-November 2, 2012 for the most small prize games played in one week in the show's history. Conversely, only two grocery product games were played this week (Pay the Rent and It's in the Bag). That also ties the week of October 29-November 2, 2012 for the fewest grocery product games played in one week in at least 20 years. On Monday, Pay the Rent was played third for the first time in its history. It has now been played first, second, third and sixth at least once. Based on actual airdates, it has now been 100 playings since the top prize was won in Punch a Bunch (March 25, 2008). The total winnigns during this span is $174,250, for an average of $1,743 per playing or a median of $500 per playing. Hole #40 (Row 4, Column 10) was also punched this week for the first time since March 24, 2004. All fifty holes have now been punched at least once since this 100 game losing streak began. The four holes that have gone the longest without being selected are: Hole #20 (Row 2, Column 10): October 31, 2008 Hole #43 (Row 5, Column 3): January 28, 2009 Hole #23 (Row 3, Column 3): March 31, 2009 Hole #30 (Row 3, Column 10): June 2, 2009 After the December 14 playing, Most Expen$ive had an overall record of 1-8 this season. Most Expen$ive has since gone 5-0 to improve its overall record to 6-8. Nice combeack! It's in the Bag, Most Expen$ive and Pathfinder have been played on the same episode three times in the past month: December 28, January 16 and January 30. (Pathfinder and It's in the Bag were also paired together on January 7.) On Thursday, Plinko was played fifth, becoming the seventh Pricing Game to be played in all six slots at least once this season (Joining Push Over, 1 Wrong Price, Coming or Going, Switch?, Flip Flop and Freeze Frame). Plinko is also the first non-quickie game to be played in all six slots at least once this season. Also on Thursday, five out of the six one bids were won by the bidder at the blue podium. That's the first time this season where more than four one bid winners came from the same podium. On Friday, Money Game was won in just two picks. This was the third perfect playing in this game since the start of Season 37 (It also happened on October 20, 2010 and November 24, 2008). Also on Friday, Ryan overbid on his Showcase by a mere $79. That's the smallest overbid since March 11, 2011 ($27). Between the Any Number win on January 16 and the Money Game win on February 1, 21 straight Pricing Games played for a car were lost. That nearly tied last season's futility record - in Season 40, 22 straight car games were lost between February 20 and March 7.

Comments for the Week of February 4-8

Biggest winner this week: Tiffany Armstrong ($50,198) (February 5) On Monday, the car in Pass the Buck was hidden behind #2. Last time that happened: February 1, 2011. Between February 1, 2011 and February 4, 2013, the car in Pass the Buck had always been hidden behind #1 (6 times), #5 (4 times) or #6 (10 times). Last time the car was behind #3 in Pass the Buck: February 22, 2010. Last time the car was behind #4: January 27, 2010. Total cash winnings in Pass the Buck this season after 3 playings: $12,000. Total cash winnings in Grand Game this season after 13 playings: $10,250 On Tuesday, Manuela made her 500th appearance on the Price is Right. Since Season 30, Manuela has made the fifth most model appearances, behind only Rachel (1189), Lanisha (624), Brandi (537) and Gwendolyn (536). The $4,450 trip to Ojai, the second one bid on Tuesday's epsiode, is by far the most expensive one bid of the season. (Second place is a $3,172 trip to Catalina Island). In fact, the trip to Ojai was almost as much as the six one bids offered on Wednesday combined ($4,753). Thanks to the $4,450 trip to Ojai, the six one bids on Tuesday totalled $10,527 - the highest value this season . It's also only the second time the six one bids exceeded $10,000. Bargain Game has now been won won eight straight times when it has been played for two trips. The last trip loss: June 26, 2008. On Friday, Lawanda set the Magic # too low by $47. That's the smallest miss in this game since December 21, 2009 ($9). So far this season, four episodes have had 5/6 Pricing Games won: November 5, December 27, February 1 and February 7. Three of these episodes ended in a Showcase double overbid. (Only November 5 did not end in a double overbid.) Two weeks ago, there had been 35 Showcase overbids this season. There have since been 11 overbids in the past 10 episodes, bringing the total up to 46. In other words, nearly 35% of the Showcase overbids so far this season have occured in the past two weeks.

Comments for the Week of February 11-15

Biggest winner this week: George M Bell ($49,193) (February 15) With Coming or Going getting the week off, Flip Flop is now alone in first place in terms of total playings. So far this season, Flip Flop has been played the most (19 playings), followed by Coming or Going (18 playings) and 1 Wrong Price/Push Over/Switch? (17 playings). In terms of car game playings, Any Number is in first place (16 playings), followed by Money Game (15 playings) and One Away (14 playings). On Monday, Eliza's combination in Safe Crackers did not end in zero. Last time that's happened: October 29, 2010. On Tuesday, Gena won Five Price Tags despite winning only one choice out of the five price tags. That's only happened three other times since Season 32. (Since Season 32, the record when one price tag is won is 4-25.) Also on Tuesday, It's in the Bag was played fourth, becoming the eighth Pricing Game to be played in all six slots at least once this season (Joining Push Over, 1 Wrong Price, Coming or Going, Switch?, Flip Flop, Freeze Frame and Plinko). This is the first time It's in the Bag has ever been played in all six slots at least once in the same season. On Wednesday, Temptation was played for the sixth time this season. In these six playings, Temptation was played fourth, first, sixth, fifth, third and second. In other words, Temptation has been played in all six slots after just six playings. Furthermore, this is the first time since Season 20 where Temptation was played in all six slots in the same season. Also on Wednesday, there was a $3,046 spread between both prizes in Magic # ($949-$3,995). Surprisngly, that was not the easiest set up in the game's history - there was a $3,171 spread ($1,000-$4,171) on the March 20, 2012 playing. Total cash won in six playings of Temptation this season: $13,036. Total cash won in fourteen playings of Grand Game this season; $10,251. 55 Plinko chips have been won this season. None of the chips landed in the $100 slot on the right side of the board. (All 5 $100 hits landed on the $100 slot on the left side of the board.) During the past two weeks, 7 contestants bid $1 in the one bid rounds. None of those contestants wound up winning. (Overall, the win rate amongst $1 bidders is 32% so far this season.) It has now been a full calendar year since Card Game was last played (February 16, 2012). Will the queen of spades turn out to be last card ever drawn in this game?

Comments for the Week of February 18-22

Biggest winners this week: Felicia Van Pelt ($60,828) (February 22), Ryan Hunter ($57,604) (February 19) - Felicia and Ryan are the sixth and seventh biggest winners so far this season. Pricing Game losing streaks snapped: Grand Game - 8 straight losses (13 based on actual airdates) - Grand Game had last been won on October 3, 2012. Lucky $even - 8 straight losses (9 based on actual airdates) - Lucky $even had last been won on October 25, 2012. Cover Up - 7 straight losses (10 based on actual airdates) - Cover Up had last been won on June 14, 2012. Nearly all of the results this week surpassed the results from last season's celebrity week:      Season 40    Jan. 2-6    Season 41    Feb. 18-22 Celebrity winnings $235,534 $319,360 Celebrity big wheel winnings $29,500 $39,500 Contestant winnings $470,728 $499,661 Biggest celebrity winner Snoop Dog ($72,585) Nene Leakes ($77,714) Biggest winner Stephanie ($104,346) Felicia ($60,828) Pricing games won 14/30 21/30 Cars won 7/17 9/16 With the exception of Snoop Dog (who spun 20), every single celebrity in the past two seasons has spun at least 55 on the Big Wheel. The best spin is Heidi Klum and Nene Leakes, who both spun 95. The $499,661 in cash and prizes that were won by the contestants this week is the most won in one week since the final week of Season 35 ($568,903). 21 Pricing Games were fully won this week (the 21 wins does not include partial wins in Punch a Bunch, Plinko and It's in the Bag) - the best result since the first week of Season 36 (24/30). Seven car games were won this week, the most since the week of October 27-31 of Season 37 (7/11) and the week of June 9-13 in Season 36 (7/10). The week of January 14-18 in Season 36 (8/11) was the last time 8 car games were won in one week. On Monday, Peggy punched the top left corner in Punch a Bunch and found a $5,000 slip. Prior to that playing, the largest dollar value that had been revealed in that hole (since Season 30) was $500. (Out of the four corners, the top prize since Season 30 has only been revealed in the top right and bottom left corners.) Also on Monday, there were multiple $1 ups (ie: 500-501-502) during three separate one bids, which is a new season high. $122,857 in cash and prizes was won by the contestants on Tuesday. That's the most won in one episode since June 4 of last season ($172,365). Also on Tuesday, Any Number was played first for the first time since November 24, 2010. On Wednesday, became the first Pricing Game to be played 20 times this season. Flip Flop was also won the 14th time this season, which is second only to Cliff Hangers (15 wins). On Thursday, Toni won Lucky $even and still had $2 left over after purchasing the car. The last time a contestant won Lucky $even with at least $2 left to lose: June 15, 2010 (this contestant actually had $3 left to lose after pricing a $23,391 Jeep Wrangler). Friday was Cover Up's first win of the season. It was also the first time this season the car offered in Cover Up didn't have a 1 or a 2 in the third or fourth digit of its price. With Cover Up being won for the first time this season (after starting the season 0-10), Stack the Deck is now the least prolific Pricing Game so far this season - absolutely nothing has been won in its seven playings. Also on Friday, Squeeze Play was played sixth, becoming the tenth Pricing Game to be played in all six slots at least once this season. (Joining Push Over, 1 Wrong Price, Coming or Going, Switch?, Flip Flop, Freeze Frame, Plinko, It's in the Bag and Temptation.) On Wednesday, Thursday AND Friday, the contestant that started the show at the yellow podium failed to win a one bid. Thursday was the 100th episode of the season. After 100 episodes: Pathfinder (12), 10 Chances (6), Master Key (4) and Golden Road (2) have already matched the total playings it received in all of last season. Coming or Going (+13), One Away (+12), Cliff Hangers (+11), Pathfinder (+11) and It's in the Bag (+10) are on pace to receive a significant increase in play over last season. That's Too Much (-18), Bonus Game (-12), Pick a Number (-10) and Hi Lo (-9) are on pace to receive a significant decrease in play over last season. View the complete comparison chart

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