Contestant's Row

About[]

Contestant's Row (Now mostly known as "Bidder's Row" in the Drew Carey era) is the area at the foot of the stage where four to eight contestants play the "One Bid" round for the opportunity to proceed to the stage to play a pricing game.

Once the price is revealed, the closest bid under the price will flash, and that contestant will go on stage to play a pricing game. If all four contestants overbid, a buzzer sounds and the bids are cleared, and the contestants bid lower than the previous lowest bid. If the contestants overbid again, the procedure is repeated until a contestant bids under the price. If a contestant correctly guesses the exact price, a bell sounds and the winner receives a $500 bonus.

Now, due to the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases, contestant's row has been modified and the podiums are on the stage are spaced 6 feet apart from each other. Also, when a contestant plays a pricing game, the contestant, Drew and the game itself are all spaced out accordingly. The contestant is allowed to express his/her emotions, but no physical contact can take place due to the threat of COVID-19. Starting late 2021, audience members were allowed back into the studio. Still following COVID-19 guidelines from last season, The "One Bid" monitors were spaced out. Host and Contestants are still 6-feet away from contact.

History[]

In 1972, when the show started out as a half-hour show, all four podiums were orange and the contestants' bids were in eggcrate displays, with a Goodson-Todman asterisk on the left (similar to the star on the left on the original version) to indicate the winning bid (both the bid and the asterisk would flash upon the ARP reveal). But starting on August 19, 1975 (#1552D), prior to becoming an hour-long show, the podiums appear in different colors and in this order: red, green, orange, and blue, plus, the bids were/are now in Sports Type display. The colors of the second and fourth podiums switched on October 16, 1981 (#4225D). Since January 31, 2003 (#2415K), the color of the third podium changed from orange to yellow (this change carried over to the Million Dollar Spectacular and has stayed there ever since) and the frame borders from the display are marbled silver and the interior border becomes lined with black. From October 15, 2007 (#4041K, aired out of order on October 16) until June 29, 2009 (#4821K, aired out of order on September 18), the colors all became a brighter screen from a previous normal screen and the frame borders were changed to silver. Since September 21, 2009 (#4831K), Contestant's Row is made up of LCD monitors, but the familiar Sports Type display remains, plus, the screens can now hold five digits (prior to this, the screens held four) and also the brighter colors were changed back to its normal colors. From Seasons 40 to 44, the frame borders around the displays were removed. Starting in Season 45, the frame borders around the displays were brought back but have green LED borders with silver rims. On occasion from Seasons 38 to 41, the bid sometimes flashes slowly, and sometimes the bid flashes faster upon the ARP reveal. From Seasons 42 to 43, the bid flashes faster, and since Season 44, the bid flashes slower upon the ARP reveal. On occasion during certain specials since Season 38 (such as Military Specials), the Contestants' Row displays have specific symbols, backgrounds, or animated graphics on them. When the contestants bid, this symbol, background or animated graphic would be removed until the bid is placed in from the display by making some various slide transitions and effects revealing the normal colors most times, and sometimes the backgrounds such as sandy beach, dollar bills, and black backgrounds. On occasion since Season 45, the LED borders changes colors for a special themed shows such as Breast-Cancer Awareness special, and other times (such as Cyber Monday special 2016), the LED borders matched the same color as its display. On occasion since Season 42 (such as Teachers special), the bids uses various text fonts display other than a Sports Type display. On occasion (such as The Amazing Race Special) to accommodate the four teams of three or four adults each occupying it, the Contestants' Row is extended, with an orange Goodson-Todman asterisk between each pair of displays.
The chairs that the remaining One Bid contestants sit in are normal seats, with covers that distinguish them from the other normal seats. During the Barker era, each of the four seats had one word from the show's title ("THE,” "PRICE,” "IS,” and "RIGHT" from left to right). An exception to this was during the show's very first season, where the first seat had "NEW" instead of "THE.” After Drew Carey assumed the hosting role, the four seats were redesigned, with each one now sporting a hexagon from the wall seen during the host's entrance through The Big Doors.
Similar displays were also used on the original Bill Cullen-hosted versions of The Price is Right. Some notable differences were that the displays were on stands, similar to the current version's Season 49 style, and the same four players remained in their positions throughout the show.
In the 1994 syndicated version of The Price is Right hosted by Doug Davidson, "Contestant's Row" was permanently removed from this version of the show as there are no more "one bid rounds" to start off as contestants were immediately called to "COME ON DOWN!" in order to play a pricing game. However, it used a format called "The Price WAS Right" where three contestants stand in front of a quasi-"Contestant's Row" in green, orange and purple, arranged either by least to most winnings or by the order they were called. A vintage commercial for a product was presented to the three contestant's on a video wall who were then asked to bid on what the product cost back then. The contestant with the closest bid without going over advances to the showcase. In the event that all three contestants overbid (which rarely happened), the bids were erased as they began again, with Davidson instructing contestants to bid lower than the lowest bid in the previous round also no bonus was awarded in this version for a "Perfect Bid.”

On October 5, 2020, for Season 49, due to the pandemic (a.k.a Coronavirus/COVID-19)^[1]issues. It was announced by Deadline that the set has been redesigned with new podiums, and for this season alone, there was no studio audience being called to "COME ON DOWN!" any longer. A preview of this set could be seen on primetime specials called The Price is Right at Night which aired on October 27, 2020 and November 2, 2020 respectively. The premiere of the 49th Season of TPIR aired on November 16, 2020.

↑ 'The Price is Right' Returns To Production With a Redesigned Set, No Audience But All 77 Games Remain

On August 29, 2021, with the premiere of Season 50, the set has been modified. The studio audience returned, but with limited audience due to COVID-19 precautions. As said before, the "One Bid" podium(s) return, but with the extended version of Contestants' Row podiums that was primarily used for couples/group shows.
Starting in Season 52 (first taped July 28, 2023), the set has been modified with the return of a full studio audience for the first time in three and a quarter years since the pandemic in March 2020, and the Contestants' Row podiums unveiled a brand-new look with added the blue screens at the bottom of the One-Bid display, that was primarily used for the home-base turntable, as well as a special themed episode such as Survivor, etc., and the stairs are gone, as the winning contestants, especially for elderly people, walk their way on stage to play a pricing game. This made several changes when the production has moved to Haven Studios in Glendale, California. The Contestants' Row podiums uses the normal colors most times, except during the Showcase, in which the colors are all blue and the borders are light blue.

Special Rules[]

On July 3, 2014 (#6804K, aired out of order on July 4), people in the audience were asked not to wear their name tags, but their names are on Contestant's Row and Showcase displays.
On February 14, 2017 (#7812K), people in the audience were not just asked to wear their name tags, but the categories (Married, Engaged, Dating, Married 25+ years) only on the Contestants' Row.
On April 10-14, 2017 (#789xK, aired out of order on April 3-7) as a part of Socially Awesomeness Week, people in the audience were not just asked to wear their name tags, but the hashtags (#ModelMonday, #TwitterTuesday, #WinsDay, #TBT, and #FacebookFriday) only on Contestants' Row.