Golden Road

Golden Road is a game played for a car and two prizes. A trip along the Golden Road (originally a carpet, later dots, for a brief time also used a velvet rope and for another brief time, nothing) where the contestant tries to win two prizes and a car, each of which is more expensive than the previous. The game is noteworthy for offering some of the most expensive prizes on the show.

Gameplay[]

The game begins with a grocery item priced under $1, whose price is shown to the contestant (but which is never described by the announcer). The price of a three-digit prize is then revealed, with the hundreds digit missing. The contestant must choose one of the two digits in the price of the grocery item as the missing digit.
If they are correct, the game continues with a four-digit prize, whose missing hundreds digit is one of the digits in the price of the three-digit prize. If they are correct, they move on to select the missing hundreds digit in the price of a five-digit (or occasionally six-digit) car from the digits in the price of the four-digit prize. An incorrect guess at any point ends the game; however, the contestant keeps any prizes won up to that point.
Since the first two (or three for six-digit cars) digits of the car will be shown, the prize is usually billed as "worth more than [however many] thousand dollars” (Bob Barker) or “worth over [however many] thousand dollars" (Drew Carey) at the start of the game.
The numbers in the first two prizes generally do not repeat, but it is rumored that it did happen at one point.

Early History[]

Golden Road debuted on August 19, 1975 (#1552D), and all three prizes were won for the first time on November 3, 1975 (#1661D).
Golden Road's original claim to fame was that it always offered a prize worth more than $10,000, while other games typically offered cars in the $4,000 range (CBS had a game show earnings cap of $25,000 at the time). The prize value has since increased steadily, as CBS increased (and later eliminated) the earnings cap to the point where they are usually worth more (sometimes much more) than $60,000 on current playings.
On November 3, 1975 (#1661D), the very first permanent hour-long show, Golden Road got its very first win and during that time, the first digit of the three-digit prize was supposed to be concealed but the sleeve (using buttons to reveal at that time) was prematurely revealed and Bob offered contestant Christy the very first prize anyway. However, the second number from the four-digit prize and the third number from the five-digit prize had their numbers concealed.
Originally, the price podiums that conceal missing digits were concealed by plastic sleeves that the host would reveal at the pull of a lever or later, the push of a button. At times, these would cause the digit to be revealed prematurely, or when pulling the lever/pushing the button, would cause the sleeve to get stuck. On November 11, 1977 (#2555D), Golden Road had three changes-- the original carpet road was replaced with gold circles, the velvet rope was introduced (removed on September 19, 1979, #3393D) and the pushbuttons got removed and were replaced with pull-tabs.
By March 28, 1986 (#6055D), Golden Road's sign had been redone to have less glitter and give the letters a more professional appearance.

Later History[]

On October 6, 1999 (#1203K), the Golden Road set changed so that the colors of the first two price holders are swapped, changing the sequence from blue-green-red to green-blue-red. The title's font style changed to Times New Roman, similar to that of Lucky $even.
On January 15, 2001 (#1661K), the slimmer, colored price holders debuted.
Except for its premiere, the December 20, 2016 (#7732K), February 18, 2020 (#9032K) and the April 16, 2024 (#0582L) episodes, and the 50th Anniversary Special on September 30, 2021 (#047SP), when it was played third, second, third, sixth, and second, respectively, Golden Road is usually played as the first pricing game. From May 17, 1989 (#7283D, aired out-of-order on May 18) until his retirement in 2007, then-host Bob Barker almost always entered from the back of the audience at the beginning of the show when Golden Road (and other games that block door #2) was played, as the game takes up the entire stage and would have been given away with a Door #2 entrance.
- One notable exception happened on May 16, 2007 (#022SP), which marked Bob Barker's final $1,000,000 Spectacular when he entered the stage through Door #2; to keep his entrance from giving away the game, the dots that make up the "road" were not used, a change that was subsequently made on the daytime show with Drew Carey taking over at the start of Season 36, although it was undone after only the 2 times it was played. The dots are now set up during the first One Bid. However, Carey continues to enter through Door #2 and hasn't entered from the audience for this game or any other. One notable exception to this was on June 23, 2008 (#4391K), when he made the first of his three audience entrances (the other two were on February 17, 2015 (#7012K), during "#U Decide Week," in which the show's Twitter followers voted on whether Drew should make his entrance through the audience or from behind the Turntable; and September 23, 2015, in which it kept with the '90s theme.
- Golden Road was the final game played on the 50th Anniversary Special, which originally aired in prime time on September 30, 2021 (#047SP). This is the only time that this game was played as the sixth pricing game and during the second half of the show. However, since that show was a 2 hour long special, spacing out games between retrospective segments, the usual setup issues the game poses did not pose the same problem.
On The Price is Right (1994 – 1995, U.S. Version), Golden Road began with a two-digit prize or a fishbowl of cash.
Golden Road was the first pricing game to to be played on Drew Carey's first show on October 15, 2007 (#4041K, aired out of order on October 16).
On Earth Day on April 22, 2010 (#5134K) and April 22, 2015 (#7103K), in keeping with the Earth Day theme, Golden Road was renamed Green Road, while on October 29, 2010 (#5285K), in keeping with The Wizard of Oz theme, it was renamed again, this time to Golden Brick Road.
On September 26, 2013 (#6424K, aired out of order on October 17), during Big Money Week, Golden Road was played for a $189,565 Bentley Continental GT. During that playing, contestant Elroy Smith only had the first and second prizes guessed correctly. That segment was not aired on the East coast due to a CBS News Special Report and was never rebroadcast possibly due to having no pricing games won.
On November 20, 2013 (#6503K), during Dream Car Week, it was played for a 2014 Mercedes-Benz SL550 convertible worth over $114,000. During that playing, contestant Bryce Ford wiped out on the first prize.
On September 26, 2014 (#6815K), the digit "1" seen in the price tags was changed to a stick-like version without a serif (like a lower case "L"). The last playing with the serif version "1" was on May 16, 2014 (#6745K, aired out-of-order on June 13).
Prior to December 22, 2014 (#6931K, aired out-of-order on December 23), in which it was played for a $73,900 2015 Mercedes-Benz GL450 4Matic, the last time Golden Road received an official daytime win was February 20, 2007 (#3892K), when Bob was still hosting. On the day in question, a contestant named Giselle Moody not only won the car but became the first daytime contestant since Drew became host to completely win Golden Road; though a primetime playing from March 7, 2008 (#026SP, aired out-of-order on April 4) with Drew hosting was won in which the Viper was worth $87,910.
On February 16, 2016 (#7412K, aired out-of-order on February 19), during Dream Car Week, Golden Road was played for a $139,142 Mercedes-Benz S550 4MATIC Coupe and was won by a contestant named Adrain Kendrick.
On December 19, 2017 (#8132K) during Christmas Week, Golden Road was played for a $62,745 Audi A5 Cabriolet Premium Plus and was won by a contestant named Austin Collins. It was the cheapest car offered in that game (As of 2017) since Drew took over as host. Ironically, 3 Strikes had a more expensive car offered three days later.
On December 17, 2018 (#8541K) during Christmas Week, Golden Road was played for a $61,735 BMW 530i, making it the cheapest car offered in that game since Drew took over as host (The $62,745 Audi A5 Cabriolet Premium Plus was the second cheapest).
There were four episodes where a contestant won the showcase despite a wipeout of this pricing game: December 6, 1993 (#9001D), April 16, 2003 (#2503K), May 4, 2017 (#7924K), and November 25, 2020 (#9193K). The contestants in the respective episodes are Larry Cooper, Prentice, Judith Dye, and recently, Heather Daughtry.
On February 18, 2020 (#9032K), during Dream Car Week, it was played for a Porsche 911 Cabriolet convertible worth over $123,000. During that playing, contestant Melvin Austin lost on the second prize.
On November 25, 2020 (#9193K), during Thanksgiving Special, a brand new look for Golden Road debuts; a new logo with a cloud below with the same colors and a new font.
On December 23, 2022 (#0035L), The Ford Family became the first and so far, only family to win the car in the history of Golden Road, having won a $74,583 Audi S5 Sportback. In addition, they won their showcase for a total of $130,077 in prizes.
On September 25, 2023 (#0301L), Golden Road became the very first game played (and won) at Haven Studios in Glendale. This playing also used the Plinko harps from 1995-1997 instead of the one also used on Punch-A-Bunch.

Notes[]

This game cannot just have any three prizes. The first prize that is less than $1,000 has to share one of the two correct numbers from the starting item. The second prize that is less than $10,000 has to share one of the three numbers from the first prize. The third and final prize at the end of the golden road journey has to share one of the four numbers from the second prize.
There's no zero in the price of a grocery item at the start of the game.
The first two prizes cannot have any repeating numbers - however this did happen once before (on #5411D), most likely by accident.
The third prize can have some repeating as it will be the last prize to be played for.
The odds of winning all 3 prizes are 1 in 24, or about 4.17%. These are the exact same odds as Triple Play, probably because they both share the same idea of 2 options, then 3, then 4.
As with most multi-prize games, if Golden Road is lost on the first prize, the losing horns are played, but if a loss occurs on either subsequent prize, only the buzzer is heard.

Trivia[]

Jay Wolpert, then producer of The Price is Right, created Golden Road.
The most number of times this game was played in any season was 18 (season 12), while the least number of times this game was played in any season was 1 (season 3).
Due to its higher payout and longer playtime, the game was played less than 10 times per season since Season 28. Since Season 49, the game was played just four times a season.
Golden Road was one of seven pricing games seen on the first taping session of season 36, which was seen on October 15, 2007 (#4043K, aired out of order on October 16) and November 9, 2007 (#4075K aired out of order on November 6). It was also one of three "old" pricing games seen on the sixth taping session of the season, which was seen on November 26, 2007 (#4101K) and January 7, 2008 (#4131K, aired out of order on January 9).
Aside from expensive cars, Golden Road was often played for motorhomes and cabin cruisers during the Barker era. When foreign cars were reintroduced to the show in the Carey era, the game stopped offering motorhomes and boats in favor of European luxury/sports cars (although American luxury/sports cars are still occasionally offered).
Like Professor Price, Golden Road has never been the fourth or fifth pricing game to be played on the show.
Whenever the game was played, pyrotechnics normally go off in gold pots when the car was revealed and when the game has won.
During the prize description, the first model presents the first prize and the car while the second model presents the second prize. Following the prize description, the models were not involved when the game is played.
Unlike most car games, Golden Road is the only game where a podium was used when the car was revealed.

International version[]

On Der Preis ist heiß, the game was called Glückstraße (Road of Luck), and used a grocery item with a three digit price.
On Price Is Right: À vous de jouer [Price is Right: It's Your Turn] (where it was called La ruée vers l'or [The Gold Rush]), the game offered four prizes and the contestant had to determine whether the given incorrect price was higher or lower (making it more like More or Less).
On Hãy Chọn Giá Đúng, the game was called Con Đường May Mắn (Lucky Road), with the design was similar to the 70's design in the US version. To make the game harder, the missing number position for each prize is unstable, and will change every time it played. That means, sometimes the missing number is the last digit.

Gallery[]

To view the gallery, click here.

YouTube Videos[]

Christine O'Gee's Golden Road win (November 11, 1977, #2555D)
Golden Road win from 1988 (December 6, 1988, #7092D)
Exciting Golden Road Win from 1990 (January 4, 1990, #7484D)
Golden Road win from season 21 (May 31, 1993, #8851D)
Golden Road win from Season 26 (September 8, 1997, #0431K)
Golden Road win from Season 27 (December 9, 1998, #0933K)
Golden Road win from season 28 (October 6, 1999, #1203K)
Golden Road win from 2001 (January 15, 2001, #1665K)
Great Golden Road Win (April 15, 2002, #2131K)
Golden Road win from 2003 (November 10, 2003, #2671K)
Golden Road win for a Corvette! (December 9, 2003, #2712K)
Primetime Golden Road winner (April 16, 2005, (#020SP, aired out of order on April 9)
Golden Road win from 2005 (September 19, 2005, #3331K)
Last Golden Road win under Bob Barker's tenure (February 20, 2007, #3892K)
Another Primetime Golden Road winner (March 7, 2008, #026SP, aired out of order on April 4)
Playing under the name 'Green Road' (April 22, 2010, #5132K)
Golden Brick Road playing (October 29, 2010, #5285K)
Golden Road playing from Dream Car Week (November 20, 2013, #6503K)
The First ever Daytime Golden Road Winner under Drew Carey's tenure (December 22, 2014, #6931K, aired out-of-order on December 23)
Playing under the name 'Green Road II' (April 22, 2015, #7103K)
Dismal Playing from 2015 (December 23, 2015, #7333K)
Outstanding Golden Road Win during Dream Car Week (February 16, 2016, #7412K, aired out-of-order on February 19, 2016)
Disastrous Playing from Season 46 (November 16, 2017, #8094K)
Golden Road Win during Christmas 2017 (December 19, 2017, #8132K)
Golden Road Win during Christmas 2018 (December 17, 2018, #8541K)
Golden Road Win during Christmas 2020 (December 24, 2020, #9244K)
Golden Road Win during Christmas 2022 (December 23, 2022, #0035L)
The First Daytime Golden Road win at Haven Studios (September 25, 2023, #0301L)
Another Daytime Golden Road win during Christmas at Haven Studios (December 19, 2023, #0412L, aired out of order on December 20)
First Primetime Golden Road at Haven Studios (January 3, 2024, #77SP, aired out of order on January 2)
Golden Road win during Christmas from season 53 (December 23, 2024, #0821L)

1970s Pricing Games

Active Pricing Games