Comments for the Week of April 28-May 2

Biggest winner this week: Amanda Hooper ($38,699) (May 2) It was a rough week in terms of Pricing Game wins. Only 5 Pricing Games were fully won (which does not include the $10,000+ wins in Pay the Rent and Plinko). That's by far the fewest wins in a 5-episode week this season (Previous low: 9 wins in the week of October 21-24 and November 4). It's also the worst performance since the week of September 20-24 in Season 39 (4 full wins). All 10 Pricing Games played for a car this week were also lost - the first time this season that's happened. (There were 3 winless car game weeks last season.) With the $26,000 win in Tuesday's second Showcase Showdown, the total Big Wheel cash winnings surpassed the $200,000 mark on the season. Overall, we are pace to have total cash winnings of $266,000 in the Showcase Showdown this season, which is challenging Season 37 ($264,000) for the lowest winnings since the cash bonuses were increased. Also on Tuesday, Lucky $even became the first Pricing Game to be fully lost 20 times this season. Lucky $even was also played for the 29th time this season, which already exceeds the total number of playings it received last season (28). On Wednesday, That's Too Much! was lost for the 19th time this season, so this game is not far behind Lucky $even in terms of total losses. However, That's Too Much! has a significantly worse winning percentage (13.6% vs. 31.0%) because it has been played seven fewer times than Lucky $even. Also on Wednesday, Range Game was lost with the price being placed $259 from the bottom of the scale. Prior to this playing, Range Game had been won 10 straight times (dating back to June 11 of last season) when the price was placed in the bottom half of the scale. The price of the car offered in Wednesday's playing of Stack the Deck was $20,135 - only the fourth time in the past four seasons (48 playings) a car in Stack the Deck ended in 0 or 5. By being played sixth on Wednesday's episode, Do the Math became the sixteenth Pricing Game to be played in all six slots at least once this season. On Friday, Magic # was lost for the first time since February 8 of last season. That snapped an eight game winning streak for this game. The Magic # loss leaves Bonus Game (8-0), Now..or Then (7-0) and Shell Game (4-0) as the only Pricing Games this season that have not been lost. A Pricing Game using grocery products was not played on Friday's episode, which snapped a streak of nine straight episodes featuring a product sponsored by Ology (1 copy paper, 1 shampoo, 2 tissues, 1 cleaner, 1 soap bars, 1 dish detergent, 1 castille soap, 1 laundry detergent)

Comments for the Week of May 5-9

Biggest winner this week: Lance Rhodes ($50,903) (May 8). Lance is the 19th $50,000+ winner of the season, and the first since March 25. 17 Pricing Games were fully won this week (this does not include the partial wins in Temptation, Punch a Bunch and More or Less). That's the most Pricing Game wins achieved in a single week this season. A mere $135 separated both Showcase differences on Tuesday's episode. That was the closest Showcase result of the season, and the closest since June 24 of last season ($12) It has now been 125 playings (since March 25, 2008) since the top prize has been won (or even punched) in Punch a Bunch. This includes all 118 playings since the top prize was increased to $25,000. On Wednesday, Shell Game was lost for the first time in five playings this season. That leaves Bonus Game (8-0) and Now.. or Then (8-0) as the only two Pricing Games that have not been lost this season. Also on Wednesday, Cover Up lasted the maximum five rounds. That's happened only one other time in the past 10 seasons: May 7, 2010. (That playing was also won). Carlene's total in Thursday's playing of Check Game ($10,294) was not the highest total ever achieved in this game. That record still belongs to the January 28, 2009 playing ($10,409). On Thursday, Lance got all three small prizes right in Pathfinder. That's only happened twice in the past two seasons (this playing and March 29, 2013). On Friday, Susan & Anthony became the 75th contestants to win at least $1,000 in the Showcase Showdown this season. Amount spun most often in these 75 bonus spins: 60¢ (8 times). Amount spun last often: 10¢ (once). All amounts have been spun at least once. Alice & Taylor's total in Friday's playing of Check-Out was a mere 15¢ away from the actual total. That's the closest difference since the May 2, 2013 playing (13¢). Wednesday was the 150th episode of the season. After 150 episodes: Pricing Games on pace to have the biggest increase in play compared to Season 41: Pick-a-Number (+15), Lucky $even/That's Too Much (+9), Swap Meet (+8) Pricing Games on pace to have the biggest decrease in play compared to Season 41: Cliff Hangers (-13), Pathfinder (-12), Clock Game/Freeze Frame/Grand Game/One Away/One Wrong Price (-10) 18 Pricing Games have already been played more times this season than they were in all of Season 41, including Pick-a-Number which has been played almost 3 times more often this season (17 playings vs. 6 playings). View the complete comparison chart

Comments for the Week of May 12-16

Biggest winner this week: Autin Sutherland ($39,093) (May 12) The total cash winnings in Plinko for the season surpassed the $200,000 mark on Monday's episode. Overall, $206,400 has been won in 33 playings this season (excluding the prizes won in the all Plinko episode), compared to $162,300 in 33 playings last season and $238,000 in 31 playings in Season 40. Since Gas Money premiered in Season 37, 21 contestants have made it to the final pick. 8 went on to win the car, 6 took the money and quit and 7 wound up losing everything. No products sponsored by Ology were featured in Monday's playing of Stack the Deck. That snapped a streak of 14 straight playings of grocery product games featuring an Ology product. Not only was Card Game played for the first time since February 16, 2012 on Wednesday's episode, but Adam drew something other than a $1,000 or $2,000 range card for the first time in 18 playings. Prior to Wednesday, one of the $3,000 cards had last been drawn on September 22, 2009 and the $5,000 card was last drawn on April 6, 2007. Only $119 separated both Showcase differences on Wednesday's episode ($5,374 and $5,255). That was the closest Showcase result so far this season. Wednesday was only the sixth time this season where there was no $1-upping in the six bidding rounds (no contestants bid $1 above a previous bidder). On Thursday, Shopping Spree was played with a $8,500 spending limit. That ties the record for the highest target ever used in this game (along with the June 13, 2012 playing). Shopping Spree was also played for a $4,995 pool table - the most expensive prize ever offered in this game. There were twelve different winning combinations in Friday's playing of Pay the Rent (12 different ways to win the $100,000) - the game was still winnable as long as you didn't place the multivitamins in the mailbox. That surpasses the April 24, 2013 playing (10 solutions) for the most number of solutions in a single playing of this game. In Friday's playing of Cover Up, Craig only managed to get one number right in the price of the car. Since Season 31, Cover Up has only been lost four times with the contestant only getting one or zero numbers right (including a complete wipeout on the December 20, 2012 episode). Also on Friday, Conor overbid on his Showcase by $11,590. That was the largest overbid so far this season. By being played fourth on Wednesday and third on Friday, Hi Lo and Double Prices became the seventeenth and eighteenth Pricing Games to be played in all six slots at least once this season, respectively. Hi Lo also became the first grocery product game to achieve this mark this season.

Comments for the Week of May 19-23

Biggest winner this week: Kaila Herz ($28,151) (May 23) On Monday, Switch? was lost for the first time since March 5, 2014. The loss snapped a five game winning streak for this game. Overall, Switch? has 16 wins this season and is in danger of not achieving 20 wins for only the second time in the past seven sesons. Also on Monday, Carol only needed 75¢ to purchase the car in Pocket ¢hange - the first time since January 15, 2013 where a contestant made no more than two mistakes in this game. In Tuesday's playing of Race Game, Kelly accidentally tried the same combination three times. That's the first that's happened since at least Season 32. Also on Tuesday, Pathfinder was played for a $15,837 Kia Soul. That was the cheapest car offered in this game since it was played for a Honda Fit ($15,379) on March 30, 2010. Contrasting games - Pick-a-Number has now been won seven straight times when contestants were asked to pick the first digit in the price of the prize (last loss - May 21, 2012). Conversely, despite being nearly the same game under this format, Balance Game is currently on an eight game losing streak. On Wednesday, Bullseye was played first for the first time since October 12, 1998 (Season 27). Bullseye has now been played in all six slots at least once this season. One of the prizes offered on Wednesday's playing of Eazy az 1 2 3 was a $519 mountain bike. That's the cheapest prize offered in this game since it was played for a $400 screen on the June 24, 2008 episode. By being played third on Thursday's episode, Side by Side became the twentieth Pricing Game to be played in all six slots at least once this season. Thursday's first Showcase was worth $40,634 - the third highest valued Showcase this season. Including Thursday's episode, there have only been three Showcases this season that have exceeded $40,000 in value, with the most expensive being $49,274 on November 11. By comparison, there were 41 $40,000+ Showcases last season, including 6 that were more than this season's current high. There was a $21,165 spread between both Showcase differences on Thursday's episode ($23,134 and $1,969). That was the largest difference between both Showcase results this season. On Friday, Do the Math was played for the 20th time in its history. It also used $700 in the equation - the lowest potential cash prize ever offered. In Friday's playing of Spelling Bee, Lori decided to quit with $4,000. Previous time a contestant quit with 4 unrevealed cards: April 18, 2011 (that contestant also would have won the car). Previous time a contestant quit with 5 unrevealed cards: September 23, 2010 (that contestant would not have won the car). All ten Showcase participants this week were female.

Comments for the Week of May 26-30

Biggest winner this week: Kathryn Collins ($56,744) (May 27) - Kathryn is the tenth biggest winner so far this season. Only one trip was offered on Monday's episode (in Flip Flop). That's the fewest trips offered in a single episode this season. It's also the first time this season where a trip was not offered during the Showcase. There were 4 $1 bids during the six one bid rounds on Monday's episode. That ties November 13 and April 24 for the most $1 bids in one episode this season. None of the contestants that bid $1 on Monday's episode wound up winning the one bid. At least on the November 13 and April 24 some of the contestants were successful with their $1 strategy! On Tuesday, That's Too Much! was won for the first time since January 6. That snapped a fourteen game losing streak for this game. (The third longest losing streak snapped this season, behind Temptation and Stack the Deck.) That's Too Much wound up being the only car game that was won this week. This is the first time since at least Season 36 where That's Too Much! saved us from having a week without a car game being won. Thanks to her $1 bid, Kathryn was $31,660 away from the actual retail price of her Showcase on Tuesday's episode. That was the biggest Showcase miss since December 30, 2011 ($43,628 → a $28,000 bid on a $71,628 Showcase). On Wednesday, Now....or Then was played in the first slot for the first time since February 27, 1998. Now....or Then was also lost for the first time this season, snapping an eight game winning streak for this game. With Card Game also picking up a loss, that leaves Bonus Game (8-0) as the only undefeated game this season. The two "then" products (February 2003) on Wednesday's playing of Now....or Then were the Blue Star oitnment and the Sensodyne toothpaste. Both products appeared often on the Price is Right way back then - the ointment and the toothpaste both appeared on four episodes airing back in February 2003. Wednesday's playing of Card Game was the third time (since the new range cards were introducted in Season 34) where the game could have been won without the contestant having to draw any cards. (It also happened on April 6, 2007 and April 22, 2008.) Also on Wednesday, Balance Game was won for the first time this season (in 9 tries). That leaves Triple Play (0-2) and 2 for the Price of 1 (0-5) as the only Pricing Games that have not been won or patrially won at least once this season.

Comments for the Week of June 2-6

Biggest winner this week: Joi Harrell ($53,889) (June 6) On Tuesday, Tracie lost Hi Lo by picking the least expensive product on the table. Previous time a contestant wound up picking the least expensive product in Hi Lo: December 10, 2010. On Wednesday, Make Your Move was played for the 400th time in daytime history. Make Your Move is the second Pricing Game this season to reach 400 total playings - Check-Out also joined the 400 club on May 20. Also on Wednesday, Joseph won the second Showcase Showdown with a score of 40 cents. That's the lowest winning score of the season for a contestant spinning first or second (excluding winning scores in a spin-off). (Specifically for the first spinner, the lowest winning score this season was 65 cents.) (For the third spinner, the lowest winning score was 15 cents (November 20 - a default win as the previous two contestants had gone over) or 25 cents (January 22 and February 26).) With the win on Wednesday, That's Too Much! has now been won four straight times when the contestant had to stop at the fifth price in order to win. With the win on Thursday, Bonus Game has improved its record to 9-0 on the season. Season 37 was last time a Pricing Game went undefeated for an entire season (Bonus Game at 6-0 and Shell Game at 3-0). Can Bonus Game remain undefeated to once again finish a season with a perfect record? The Scion tC, won in Friday's playing of Dice Game, was the 100th car won in a Pricing Game this season. At this pace, the total car game wins for this season should surpass the marks set in the previous three seasons (101, 103 and 96 car game wins in Seasons 39, 40 and 41, respectively) and could even surpass the mark set in Season 38 (112 wins). The $25,784 Mazda Miata MX-5, offered in Friday's playing of Any Number, was the most expensive car offered in this game since December 30, 2010 (another Mazda Miata, but worth $25,849.) Two Pricing Games were played for cash on Friday's episode (Plinko and Grand Game). Last time there were multiple cash games in the same episode (besides the all Plinko episode): October 31, 2012 (Punch a Bunch and Plinko). There were some keen bidders this week - there were two perfect bids in the one bid rounds on both Monday and Wednesday. Not bad, considering there has been only one other episode this season that has had more than one perfect bid (April 25) . So far this season, we have had 91 bonus spins in the Showcase Showdowns. That's the third highest total in the past ten seasons. During this span, only Season 36 (110) and Season 39 (107) have had more bonus spins.

Comments for the Week of June 9-13

Biggest winner this week: Christopher Lockhart ($41,801) (June 13) Only $28,000 in cash has been won in the 19 playings of It's in the Bag this season. That would be lowest total winnings for this game in a season since at least Season 29. (Current low: $32,000 in 20 playings in Season 39). As a comparison, more money was won in the "Big Money Week" playing of Cliff Hangers ($30,000) than has been won in the 19 playings of It's in the Bag ($28,000) this season. Including Monday's playing, Money Game has now been played perfectly three times this season (October 30, May 20, June 9). It's happened as many times this season as it has in the previous five seasons (Once in each of Seasons 37, 39 and 41). On Tuesday, Take Two was won in only one try for the first time since February 28 of last season. The previous 5 wins in this game were all won in two tries. On Wednesday, Coming or Going and Switch? both picked up their 18th wins of ths season - more wins than any other Pricing Game. Unless Coming or Going and/or Switch? can pick up two more wins in the final 13 episodes of the season, this will be the first time since Season 35 where no Pricing Game hits the 20 win plateau. Also on Wednesday, More or Less was fully won for the fourth time this season. That's the most wins ever for this game in a single season. (Previous high: 3 wins in Seasons 36 and 41) The six one bids on Wednesday's episode totalled $4,466 - the third cheapest total so far this season. On Thursday, 2 for the Price of 1 was won for the first time this season, snapping a 9 game losing streak for this game dating back to December 6, 2012. With Master Key also being fully won on Thursday's episode, that leaves Golden Road, It's in the Bag, Pay the Rent, Plinko and Punch a Bunch as the only Pricing Games that have not been fully won this season. It also leaves Triple Play as the only Pricing Game that has been fully lost every single time it's been played this season. Previous time Key #4 was the Master Key: October 5, 2009. Since then, Key #4 had been a dud 4 times, opened the lock for the first prize once, opened the lock for the second prize once and opened the lock for the car once. By being played first on Thursday, Balance Game became the 21st Pricing Game to be played in all six slots at least once this season. Balance Game is the 10th one-prize game to be played in all six slots at least once this season - joining Bonkers, Coming or Going, Double Prices, Flip Flop, Freeze Frame, Pick-a-Number, Push Over, Range Game and Side by Side. Check Game and (surprisingly) Squeeze Play are the only one prize games that are not currently part of this club.

Comments for the Week of June 16-20

Biggest winner this week: Ryan Hopkins ($43,571) (June 20) On Monday, Line em Up was played for the 17th time this season - that is now the most playings this game has ever received in a single season (Previous high was 16 playings in Season 27). Line em Up was lost after William got zero numbers right on his first try. Prior to this playing, Line em Up had been won 10 straight times (dating back to May 11, 2011) when contestants completely whiffed on their first chance. While Line em Up was lost this week, it is still the most frequently won car game this season. In fact, with 10 wins, Line em Up is the only car game with double digit wins this season. (In Season 41, Any Number, Money Game and One Away all got at least 10 wins.) Also on Monday, Freeze Frame was lost for the first time since February 17. The loss snapped a five game winning streak for this game. On Tuesday, Leilei won the Showcase Showdown with a score of 55 cents - the lowest winning score for a contestant spinning first this season (excluding spin-off spins). (Previous low was 65 cents on January 31, February 21 and March 14.) 1 Wrong Price was played first on Wednesday's episode, which allowed it to become the 22nd Pricing Game to be played in all six slots at least once this season. On Wednesday, Alexander won all four choices in Five Price Tags. Last time that's happened: April 2, 2010. Overall, since the start of Season 29, ten contestants have managed to win all four choices in Five Price Tags. Only two of these contestants failed to win the car: on November 9, 2005 and March 24, 2007. The other eight contestants won the car using three or fewer picks. In these 10 playings of Five Price Tags, the contestants had to guess "false" to win at least two of the small prizes. Also on Wednesday, Squeeze Play was won for the 17th time this season. That's the most wins for this game in a single season since at least Season 29. (Previous high: 15 wins in Season 39). Swap Meet was played for the 13th time this season on Wednesday's episode. That's the most playings this game has received since Season 24. Swap Meet is poised to be the most frequently played four-prize game for the first time since Season 24. (Second place is currently Danger Price with 10 playings.) On Thursday, That's Too Much! was played for a $27,790 Dodge Challenger. Then, on Friday, More or Less was played for a $31,400 Ford Explorer. These were the two most expensive cars offered in a Pricing Game this season (excluding the "Big Money Week", "Dream Car Week" and the "Best of 2013" episodes). Last time a $30,000+ car was offered in a Pricing Game (not named Golden Road or 3 Strikes and not from one of the episodes listed in the previous bullet): October 25, 2013 (a $32,972 Toyota Prius offered in Lucky $even). On Thursday, Punch a Bunch was fully won for the first time since March 25, 2008. That snapped a streak of 127 straight playings where the top prize was not won, including all 121 playings since the top prize was increased to $25,000. During this span of 121 playings, 385 punches were won. If you assume random punching and random slip placement, there is only a 0.04188% chance that the $25,000 slip would not have been found in one of those punches. (Also assuming there is a 1/50 chance of finding the $25,000 with each punch.) This was also the first time since at least Season 29 where the top prize was placed in hole #13 (row 2, column 3). On Friday, $16,000 was won in It's in the Bag for the first time since March 28, 2013. That snapped a streak of 28 playings were the top prize had not been won. The last time Punch a Bunch and It's in the Bag were both won in the same week? Season 30 - $16,000 was won in It's in the Bag on March 6, 2002 then $10,000 was won in Punch a Bunch on March 7, 2002.

Comments for the Week of June 23-27

Biggest winner this week: James Teed ($81,918) (June 26). James is the fourth biggest winner this season and the 27th biggest winner in daytime history. Bonus Game was lost on Monday, which snapped an eight game winning streak for this game (10 based on actual airdates) dating back to May 1, 2013. The loss means that every single Pricing Game has been lost at least once this season. Season 37 remains the last time a Pricing Game went an entire season without being lost (Bonus Game at 6-0 and Shell Game at 3-0). This was also the first time since June 2, 2010 where Bonus Game was lost when the contestant had won at least three out of the four windows. Prior to Monday's loss, Bonus Game had been won 20 straight times when contestants got at least three small prizes right. All three contestants in Monday's first Showcase Showdown were male. An all-male Showdown has only happened two other times this season - on the November 11 and May 16 episodes. Also on Monday, Amber became the first contestant this season to bid $3 in the one bid round. We now have had at least 1 $1, $2, $3, $4, $5 and $6 bid this season. On Tuesday, 5 out of the 6 one bid winners came from the red podium. Then, on Wednesday, 5 out of the 6 one bid winners came from the yellow podium. Prior to both episodes, the last time 5 one bid winners emerged from the same spot was January 31 of last season. The Mazda 2, won in Tuesday's playing of 10 Chances, was the 200th car won this season (109 won in Pricing Games, 91 won in the Showcase). The Showcase differences on Tuesday's episode were $970 and $897. Not only were they two excellent bids, but it was the closest Showcase result of the season ($73 difference). Wednesday's second Showcase ($46,935) was the second most expensive Showcase of the season (behind a $49,274 Showcase offered on November 11). The $20,554 trip to France, offered in Wednesday's playing of Bullseye, was not the most expensive prize ever offered in this game. First place is currently a $27,845 trip to New Orleans offered (and won) on the October 19, 2011 episode. On Thursday, Eunice became the 100th contestant to spin $1.00 in the Showcase Showdown this season. In the past 14 years, there have been at least 100 bonus spins in a season only three other times: Season 30 (105), Season 36 (110) and Season 39 (107). James spun a $1.00 in his bonus spin on Thursday's episode. It has now been seven straight seasons where we have had at least 4 $26,000 (or formerly $11,000) winners. Cover Up was won for the eighth time this season on Thursday's episode - more wins that in Season 40 and 41 combined (3 wins in each season). Cover Up was played for a $25,813 Chevrolet Equinox this week. That's the most expensive prize offered in this game since June 9, 2009 ($27,824 Ford Mustang convertible). Lucky $even was played fourth on Thursday, becoming the 23rd Pricing Game to be played in all six slots at least once this season. 23 Pricing Games were also played in all six slots at least once in Season 41. 13 games achieved this feat in both seasons (Bargain Game, Cliff Hangers, Coming or Going, Flip Flop, Freeze Frame, Lucky $even, Most Expen$ive, One Away, 1 Wrong Price, Plinko, Push Over, Switch?, That's Too Much!). Lucky $even was lost this week even though Timothy got two numbers exactly right. Last time that's happened: May 27, 2011.

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