Grand Game

Grand Game
Premiere Date (Barker Era)	May 16, 1980 (#3685D)
Premiere Date (Carey Era)	October 17, 2007 (#4043K, aired out of order on November 13, 2007)
Pricing Game Location	Center Stage
Previous Premiered Pricing Game	Trader Bob
Next Premiered Pricing Game	Now....or Then
Finale Date (Barker Era)	June 14, 2007 (#4034K)

Grand Game is a game where contestants can win up to $10,000 by picking products that are under a target price.

Gameplay

• The contestant begins with $1 displayed on a game board and a "target price." The contestant is then shown six grocery items, four of which are priced below the target price and two of which are priced above.
• The contestant selects an item they believe is less than the target price. If they are correct, a zero was added to the display, increasing the prize to $10. This is repeated for two more items, correct answers increasing the prize to $100 and then $1,000. To this point, if a contestant selects an item priced above the target price, they leave with the amount shown on the board, including $1 for choosing incorrectly on the first pick.
• After winning $1,000, the contestant may quit the game and keep the $1,000 or risk it to choose the one remaining product that does not exceed the target price. If the contestant picks the last item that is below the target price, he/she wins $10,000. If he/she gets it wrong, the contestant loses everything and the game is over.

History

• The game premiered on May 16, 1980 (#3685D), making history as the very first pricing game played purely for cash (Punch-a-Bunch, which debuted three years earlier, also offered small prizes). The first win in Grand Game was on November 10, 1980 (#3861D), the eighth playing. The winner, a Samoan named Pauline Anderson, proceeded to chase Bob Barker around the stage resulting in a classic moment seen in many clip specials. On some occasion, it was played on the April Fools Day 2015 episode (#7073K, when Bob Barker returned as the show's "April Fool"), when a TV was being displayed, during a playing of Switch? and also played on Decades 1980s episode (#7212K), during a playing of Make Your Move.
• The displays for the grocery item’s prices were originally light green on dark green. They changed to the current dark green on yellow in early 1982, definitely by February 2 (#4382D).
• On December 13, 1983 (#5122D), when Bob attempted to reveal the price of the last item chosen but paused to talk to contestant Kathleen, the winning clangs sounded for a second, thus ruining the outcome of the game. Strangely, no one in the studio noticed.
• From late 1984 until April 1990, the game was introduced by a graphic reading "Ten Thousand Dollars" in red lettering. Until early 1986, the graphic simply read "Ten Thousand".
• The music sting used to introduce the game is the last few seconds of the theme to Family Feud. From September 14, 1992 (#8491D) to June 16, 1994 (#9254D), the game used the 1988 (and current) theme. Otherwise, the game has always used the theme from 1976 (the same year the original Richard Dawson-hosted version debuted).
• On The New Price is Right, small prizes were used, and target prices ranged from $50 to over $100. The game was accompanied by the Fortune Hunter Intro Cue.
• Originally, the Giant Price Tag was placed down, meaning the top of the Grand Game sign would be seen, thus ruining the mystery of what game would be played next. Later on, the Giant Price Tag was raised, and a different opening shot was used.
• On March 6, 2000 (#1391K), a new font was introduced for the "$10,000" portion of the game. However, the ".00" retains the original font style until it got replaced on April 4, 2000 (#1412K).
• Starting on May 17, 2002 (#001SP), Grand Game's top prize for prime time specials is $20,000.
• On September 5, 2012 (#6023K, aired out of order on September 4), Grand Game was played for $40,000 to celebrate 40 years of Price is Right. Contestant Pamela Howard, who first appeared in a 1976 nighttime episode with Dennis James and won an airplane, lost the game on the last pick.
• On April 25, 2013 (#6324K, aired out of order on April 23), November 19, 2014 (#6893K, aired out of order on November 14, originally rescheduled to air on November 12), October 15, 2015 (#7244K, aired out of order on October 14, originally rescheduled to air on October 16), the "Best of 2015" special on December 31, 2015 (#7344K), and February 19, 2021 (#9315K) for Price’s Big Money Week, the Grand Game was played for $100,000, starting at $10. The first and third playings were lost on the third pick (won $1,000), the fourth playing was a wipeout on the first pick (won $10), and the second and fifth playings won all the money.
  • Note that on the first playing (April 25, 2013, #6324K, aired out of order on April 23) the board operator flipped to the "$0" after contestant Jamie Caruso lost on the third pick, which violates the Standards and Practices for broadcasting. Thus, Jamie wins the money as the host Drew Carey informed in the ensuing Showcase Showdown.
• On June 24, 2016 (#7595K, aired out of order on September 1), in celebration of the 11,000th episode of The Young and the Restless, which aired on September 1, Grand Game was played for $11,000, starting at $1.10. On top of that, it was won.
• The appearance of Grand Game was updated on April 2, 2013 (#6292K), to include an updated Grand Game sign and new electronic displays for the money ladder (which no longer had the ".00") and target price. If the contestant loses, the flashing lights on the two displays stop flashing and "freeze". If the contestant loses everything on the fourth shot, both electronic displays turn red and the money ladder goes down to $0.
• Grand Game was won 13 times out of the 14 that had been played on the primetime version of the show. $10,000 was won from the 2nd (August 23, #002P), 4th (September 4, #004P) and 5th (September 11, #005P) primetime special from 1986. 10/11 had the top prize won. 6 of those wins were from Bob Barker's tenure and 4 of those wins were from Drew Carey's tenure.
• This is one of only three pricing games that do not involve any of the show's models (the others being Hot Seat and To The Penny).
• On the April Fool's Day 2016 (#7475K) episode, the $10,000 bill from Punch-A-Bunch was set up for the game, and the grocery item labels were light blue to match with the target price.
• On January 9, 2019 (#8573K), contestant Frankie James won an additional $20,000 bonus courtesy of Publishers Clearing House. It was played in the first slot.
• On September 25, 2019 (#8823K, aired out of order on December 6, originally rescheduled to air on September 26, but was preempted due to the testimony for Joseph Maguire, acting director for national intelligence), Grand Game had a new look. It has a new logo with The Price is Right dollar sign.
• On September 23, 2021 (#9514K, aired out of order on September 15, originally rescheduled to air on September 16), Grand Game was played for $1,000,000, with the game beginning at $100. Contestant Michael Vanhorn reached the $100,000 level and decided to play on for the million, but ultimately lost.
• On September 19, 2022 (#9901K), Grand Game was played for $51,000 (coincides with the Season 51 premiere), which contestant Jennifer Davison won.
• On June 19, 2023 (#0291L, aired out of order on June 26), Grand Game was played for $33,000 on the final episode taped in Studio 33, but it was lost.
• On September 27, 2023 (#0303L), Grand Game became the first game taped at Haven Studios. The first aired game was Golden Road on September 25 (#0301L).

Trivia

• To make the game work, the staff would do 1 of 2 methods. For 1, they can either show the target price and find 4 grocery items less than the target price with the other 2 being more than the target price. Or 2, they can select any 6 grocery items and then place a target price so that 4 are below and that 2 are above.
• The most number of times this game was played in any season was 30 (season 41), while the least number of times this game was played in any season was 2 (season 8).
• The odds of winning the $10,000 going in blind are 1 in 15, or 6.667%.
• Grand Game is the only game where contestants whose game ends early - by choosing an incorrect item before reaching the $1,000 level - will technically "win" more ($100, $10, or even just $1) than a contestant who plays to the very end and misses the final item (nothing).

Foreign versions of Grand Game

• While Grand Game's rules in other countries tend to be the same as the US, they may have different cash prizes, such as CDN$2,000 on Canada's Misez Juste or 10,000F (€1,524.49) on France's Le Juste Prix (equaling about US$2,000 after conversion to the euro).
  • On Mexico's Atínale al Precio (2010), whose game in this version is titled Cero de la Fortuna ("Zero of Fortune"), they had to choose five of the seven grocery items priced below the target price to win the top prize of MX$100,000. They could quit with their money before picking the fourth or fifth item.
  • In The Price Is Right Thailand ราคาพารวย (Rākhā Phā Rwy) the top prize is ฿20,000 as they started at ฿2.
• Germany's Der Preis ist heiß was overhauled for their version, called Vier mal die Nul (Four times the Zero). To win the DM10,000 (€5,112.92) grand prize, a contestant had to pick which was the correct product to a given question (i.e., which costs more?). Similar to the US, they started at DM1 (51c), and they used grocery products.
• The Vietnamese version, called Không mà có (No but yes) uses the "all or nothing" rule, so if the contestant selects an item priced above the target price, they don't get to keep the money they have earned, no matter how many items they picked correctly. They started at 0, an oddity, unlike most of the countries that start with 1.

Gallery

To view the gallery click here.

YouTube Links

Pauline Wins Grand Game & Chases Bob Barker (November 10, 1980, #3861D)
A $1,000 Bailout under Bob Barker's tenure (February 15, 1993, #8701D)
Wendy Wins $10,000! (June 18, 2004, #2955K)
Final Playing with Bob Barker (June 14, 2007, #4034K)
A $1,000 Bailout under Drew Carey's tenure (April 7, 2009, #4702K)
Grand Game for $40,000 (September 5, 2012, #6023K, aired out of order on September 4)
Grand Game with Sharon Osborne (January 21, 2013, #6193K, aired out of order on February 20, 2013)
First $100,000 Grand Game Winner (November 19, 2014, #6893K, aired out of order on November 14, originally rescheduled to air on November 12)
Last Dismal Playing of 2015 (December 31, 2015, #7344K)
$11,000 Winner (June 24, 2016, #7595K, aired out of order on September 1, 2016)
Debut of Grand Game's Third Set (September 25, 2019, #8823K, aired out of order on December 6, originally rescheduled to air on September 26)
First Win on Grand Game's Third Set (October 1, 2019, #8832K)
Second $100,000 Grand Game Winner (February 19, 2021, #9315K)