Customer Reviews

Come On Down!: Behind the Big Doors at "The Price Is Right"

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although this book was very well written and well put together, I was a bit disappointed as it seemed more like a "commemorative book from the show's production." I would have liked to have read more on the histories of the individual games, and of course more on the Barker's Beauties. I don't think I saw any mention at all of Holly and Dian, and maybe it's because of the issues they had with the show, but to me it seems I'd much rather read an unauthorized tome if that's what it'd take. They're just as much a part of the show's history as Plinko or Bob himself.

Stan Bilts has worked on the The Price is Right for 28 years. He's the show's music director as well as a writer and contestant coordinator. The Price is Right, meanwhile, is the longest running network game show in history. It debuted in 1972, on the same day, we're told, that Joker's Wild and Gambit debuted. (Bill Cullen hosted an earlier incarnation of the show that aired from 1956 to 1965.) Bob Barker was the show's only host, from 1972 on, until he handed over the reins in October of this year to Drew Carey. This passing of the microphone makes the release of Bilts's behind-the-scenes look at the program particularly timely.

Bilts's book features a very brief--one paragraph--foreword contributed by Bob Barker, and an introduction in which the author discusses his own role on the show. There follow eighteen chapters that offer readers a look at what goes into getting the program on the air. Bilts discusses, for example, how the week's shows are planned, the nightmarish number of details that have to be seen to when it comes to the display and discussion of prizes, the lighting and sound, models and make-up, the games themselves, and the role of the show's announcer, who is also charged with warming up the audience before the curtain opens. (Legendary announcer Johnny Olson used to "run around, sitting in women's laps, rubbing his butt up against them, and making off-color jokes." Who knew?) The book's final chapter is a sort of challenge, in which the reader is invited to play along in a pretend game of The Price is Right, but it doesn't work very well as a self-scoring quiz.

Come on Down! is glossy and amply illustrated, so it may qualify as a coffee table book--one that's meant to be displayed and skimmed through rather than swallowed whole. There is indeed fluff in the narrative: Bilts is certainly not out to denigrate the show or anyone affiliated with it; all Price employees are hard-working and talented. That said, the book is well written and not entirely vanilla in tone. I laughed, for example, at Bilts's story about the thickly-accented contestant who mispronounced "Tidy Cat" on air (shorten the "i" sound). The most interesting part of the book for me was Bilts's chapter on his pre-show audience interviews. Audience members are all potential contestants, and prior to every show Bilts talks to them all, in groups of about twelve, interviewing 340 people in ninety minutes. The logistics of the process interested me, and some of the stories Bilts tells are gems. Here's a snippet from his conversation with a certain "Joanelle":

"'And what do you do?'

"'I'm involved with a church group that goes around the country promoting abstinence. Our motto is 'Have the romance, but keep your thingy in your pants!'' she says proudly.

"'That's pretty funny, Joanelle. Tell me, are you really concerned with what people are doing with their thingies?' I ask with slight bafflement.

"'You betcha, baby. We think you crazy men ought to control your big bad selves,' she says with hands on hips followed by a deep whooping hyena laugh.

"I look down at my crotch and realize that this woman is actually interested in controlling what's going on down there. And not just mine, but on a global scale. She's trying to reach out and not touch somebody. And there are millions like her."

On another occasion Bilts interviewed a couple moments after the wife found out that her husband had slept with her cousin. "Okay, Sy, why the hell would you be telling your wife on the line at The Price is Right that you slept with her cousin?" To his credit, Bilts considers the possibility that the couple was lying, but their body language when they weren't aware he was watching suggested that they were indeed headed for divorce court. Or perhaps Divorce Court.

If you're a fan of The Price is Right or interested in a light, behind-the-scenes look at a television institution, take a look at Come On Down! You'll leave the book with a greater appreciation of how complicated a business it is to produce a game show.

-- Debra Hamel

As a long time TV game show fan myself, I was anticipating Come on Down! The new behind-the-scenes look at The Price Is Right from show producer, Stan Blits. It is a pretty good book with pictures and stories of how each episode is put together and interviews with recent big winners from the show. The highlight of this book to me was the mention was the queen of Barker's Beauties, Janice Pennigton who deserves recogination as one of the greatest models in Game show history along with Vanna White (Wheel Of Fortune) & Carol Merrill (Let's Make A Deal) Summer Bartholomew (Sale Of The Century) and fellow Barker Beauties Dian Parkinson, Holly Hallstrom and Kathleen Bradley.

Even though I wish there more retro pictures from the show, COME ON DOWN! is still a nice collectable for any loyal friend and true of TV's longest running game show.

Everything you wanted to know about how the show is produced, how the contestants are selected, and just how much work goes into the show. Filled with wit and wisdom from Stan Blits, it's a simple read, never too technical or boring. Great trivia, too. The theme song and original package of prize music was recorded in London!! Highly recommended...

How do you begin to write about The Price is Right without even so much as a mention or single photo of former Barker's Beauties Dian Parkinson and Holly Hallstrom??? They each chalked up nearly twenty years apiece on the show and, along with Janice Pennington (who IS prominently featured), were as much responsible for the show's long run as Bob Barker himself.

What next? A Wheel of Fortune book with no mention of Vanna? Bob may be gone but it looks like he still wielded plenty of influence over this self-congrulatory piece of revised history in which the contributions of Dian and Holly have been "neutered" right out of the "official" story. Save your money for the UNAUTHORIZED version. PS Dian and Holly, we miss you!!!

There is absolutely no doubt that this game show has the "it" factor that transcends the ever-changing moods in pop culture and Stan Blits has seen the show as an ultimate insider; co-producer, music director, contestant coordinator and staff writer.

Blits provides a nice overview of the program while not getting too technical. It has the feel of sitting in the production room as he is reviewing tape while explaining things in a perfect one-on-one atmosphere.

Just like Bob Barker in the putting game, the book is a hole-in-one.

Hey has anyone in America never heard of "The Price Is Right"? Well, apparently everyone in America has!!! I'm a big fan of this long running favorite TV game show. I even auditioned to be a contestant myself! (Well it was a stage show version I went to see at one of the nearby casinos: "The Price Is Right Live!" stage show.)

This book gives you great details of the inside stories on what it's like to work behind the scenes. The directors, writers, producers, cameramen and all, and of course Bob Barker. Great stories from contestants who made their own homemade T-shirts. Inside stories about all the models who showed off the prizes. You know them as Barker's Beauties! The three different announcers, Johnny Olsen, Rod Roddy and current announcer Rich Fields. Even details of the pricing games the contestants play. (Yes, it includes the most popular game 'Plinko'.)

However, this book gives information about things that can go wrong, like one time someone who's been called to "Come on down!", but two people showed up with the same first and last names! The contestant who ran down onstage whose tube top fell off. Plus trips to places they used to give away, but don't anymore because of turmoils and unrests in those regions of the world. Also one time, the show accidently aired an episode that offered a trip to New Orleans just days after it was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. The producers and/or TV executives appoligized, fearing viewers would have been offended that the show would still give trips to New Orleans. (It was taped just before the disaster happened.) The people who work on "The Price Is Right" assured this won't happen again.

The book has many more features to check out. I recommend "Come On Down! Behind the Big Doors of 'The Price Is Right'" for anyone who's a big fan of the biggest game show ever!

This is a fun read! No one sets expectation it's Shakespeare, and the show itself is fun -- not going to change American foreign policy -- but Stan tells fun stories about the effort involved with show preparation and production and provides anecdotes that are as much fun for industry insiders as fans of the show. You could always try to get on the show and win the book as part of a prize package, but much less expensive and safer bet just to place an order here. Go for it...it's Price is Right.

Want to know more about what goes into your favorite GS, and see some rare photos, info on memorable contestants, etc? This is the book...music director Stan Blits has done a fine job putting this together, despite a couple of minor errors ("Check-Out" was not retired, and the short-lived "Gallery Game" is incorrectly referred to by its working title, "Masterpiece"). If you're a fan, or know someone who is, pick up a copy today!

I've been looking for such a publication ever since I got hooked on The Price is Right many years ago when in the United States.

How the show is done, how everything works, a great and detailed study on what moves the gears on this staple and its performers, from Bob Barker to his beauties.

Only negative I find is that on the last page there is an offer for a DVD of 20 priceless episodes of the show and which I understand was to have been available, along with another DVD, that of "Match Game, at BestBuy but it cannot be found in stores, in fact, associates don't even know it exists and it is not found either at the store's website.

Eugene