Grand Game

Grand Game
Premiere Date	May 16, 1980 (#3685D)
Pricing Game Location	Center Stage
Previous Premiered Pricing Game	Trader Bob
Next Premiered Pricing Game	Now....or Then

Grand Game is a game where contestants can win up to $10,000 in cash 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, their winnings are multiplied by ten to $10. This is repeated for two more items, multiplying 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 is not exceed of the target price. If the contestant picks the last item that is below the target price, he/she wins the top prize of $10,000. If he/she gets it wrong, the contestant wins nothing and the game is over. 

History

• The game premiered on May 16, 1980 (#3685D). 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 one 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?.
• 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).
• 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.
• 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 all the way 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 up, 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. The contestant 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), and October 15, 2015 (#7244K, aired out of order on October 14, originally rescheduled to air on October 16) for Price's "Big Money Week", and the "Best of 2015" special on December 31, 2015 (#7344K), the Grand Game was played for $100,000, starting out 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 playing 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 the contestant lost on the third pick, which violates the Standards and Practices for broadcasting. Thus, the contestant 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 out 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 cash prize of $20,000 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 two pricing games that do not involve any of the show's models (the other being Hot Seat).
• 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.

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.

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 $2,000 on Canada's Misez Juste or 10,000₣ on France's Le Juste Prix (equaling about US$2,000 after conversion to the euro).
• 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 grand prize, a contestant had to pick which was the correct product to a given question (i.e., which costs more?). Like the US, they started at DM1, and they used grocery products.

Pictures

1st Look

Here's the first winner of Grand Game. Watch out, Bob!

Here's a Grand Game win from September 9, 1991 (#8091D)...

...from October 18, 1994 (#9312D) which used the more familar showcase showdown font style in red...

...and from November 17, 1997 (#0531K). It's the same font style only it's bordered in green.

Here's what it looks like in the 2000s.

First Grand Game Winner (November 10, 1980, #3861D)

First Appearance of $20,000 Grand Game (May 17, 2002, #001SP)

Final Playing with Bob Barker (June 14, 2007, #4034K)

Grand Game for $40,000 (September 5, 2012, #6023K, aired out of order on September 4)

2nd Look

Like Bonus Game, the Grand Game went through some changes too.

This is a close-up of the new money display. When a product above the target price is picked, the lights simply stop flashing and chasing.

This is a close-up of the new target price display. When a product above the target price is picked, the lights simply stop flashing and chasing.

Here's an example of a loss on the fourth pick. As seen here, in addition to the stopping of the lights, the displays turn red, and the money display drops to $0 (as per the rules, the $1,000 is lost upon a wrong guess on the fourth pick).

Is this glue less than $4.50?

Yes! It's only $2.59.

Mark's $100,000 Win (November 19, 2014, #6893K, aired out of order on November 14, originally resheduled to air on November 12)

$11,000 Grand Game (June 24, 2016, #7595K, aired out of order on September 1)

It starts with $1.10?

This is a very rare winning graphic.

$20,000 Daytime Winner (February 21, 2018, #8224K)

Grand Game for $50,000 (October 12, 2018, #8445K)

She decides to take her $5,000.

Alternate Setups

For the Primetime Specials beginning in 2002, you could win up to $20,000 in cash!

For the 40th Anniversary Special, you could win up to $40,000 in cash!

Could we interest you in $100,000 in cash for Big Money Week?

Here's the Grand Game with the $10,000 Punch-A-Bunch bill next to it, just so we know what it is we're playing for. The grocery items are in blue, if you didn't know.

If you've seen Grand Game being played for $20,000 on primetime TV, it got played for the first time on daytime TV during big money week.

Custom photos

YouTube Links

A $10,000 Win!
A $1,000 Bailout under Bob Barker's tenure
A $1,000 Bailout under Drew Carey's tenure
Grand Game for $40,000 (September 5, 2012, #6023K, aired out of order on September 4)
$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)