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It's in the Bag is the game where matching grocery items in bags lead to big bucks.

Gameplay[]

  • The contestant is shown six grocery items and five grocery bags. Each bag has a price on it which corresponds with one of the six grocery items. One item's price is not listed on any bag.
  • One by one, the contestant must choose the item that matches the price on each bag. Then, the item inside the first bag is revealed. If it matches the chosen item, they win $1,000. They may then keep the money or go on to the next bag, essentially making a double-or-nothing bet that they have chosen the next item correctly. This repeats for each successive bag; thus doubling the money from $2,000 to $4,000 to $8,000 to the top cash prize of $16,000.
  • The first bag is usually the cheapest grocery item and the second bag is the most expensive. However, the reverse setup has also been used (the most expensive item in the first bag, and the least expensive one in the second).

History[]

  • It's in the Bag has been officially won at least 34 times (excluding 2 primetime wins). On October 17, 1997 (#0485K), the game's third playing, it received its first bailout. It got its first win on December 9, 1997 (#0562K), the game's 9th playing, while its most recent win happened on November 20, 2023 (#0381L).
  • On December 4, 1998 (#0925K), Bob uncharacteristically allowed contestant Jennifer Powell to make changes before revealing any grocery items, due to a severely dissenting crowd reaction. She did, correctly swapping two items that helped her net $8,000 before walking away.
  • On The Price is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular, starting on April 16, 2005 (#020SP, aired out of order on April 9), the last bag was worth $24,000. Before this, the prize was still $16,000. Roger Dobkowitz, the producer at the time, had stated that he did not simply double each bag because he didn't think anyone would want to risk $16,000 to go for $32,000. Future producers, however, would have indeed multiplied each bag by a factor of 2 (or 5) for such occasions.
  • When the game debuted, the lights that show the cash values were yellow; beginning on October 8, 1997 (#0473K), the game's second playing, the lights turned blue. This second playing was the game's first wipeout.
  • On September 22, 2006 (#3685K), after the contestant Joshua had won $4,000, Bob accidentally revealed the contents of the $8,000 bag before asking him if he would like to continue or not. It was revealed that Joshua would have lost had he decided to go on, but since Bob revealed the bag by accident, Bob had no choice but to award him the $4,000 for his correct guesses up to that point.
  • On February 20, 2009 (#4635K), the opening reveal's background changed from black to purple with a green border designed like the big doors.
  • On November 18, 2014 (#6892K, aired out of order on November 11) and October 18, 2019 (#8855K, aired out of order on October 16), during Big Money Week, it was revealed with the Door #4 video wall. On top of that, It's in the Bag was played for $80,000 with each step quintupled ($5,000-$10,000-$20,000-$40,000-$80,000). During the first playing, it was lost on the fourth bag, while it was lost on the second bag during the second playing.
  • On another Big Money Week, from February 20, 2018 (#8222K), the game was played for double the normal amount to $32,000, with the amounts doubled for each bag. On that playing, contestant Max Eunice stopped at the right time on the third bag and left with $8,000.
  • On the Summer Beach Party specials on August 11, 2015 (#7202K, aired out of order on August 10), June 20, 2017 (#7992K) and June 21, 2019 (#8805K), the game was renamed It's in the Beach Bag. On the first playing, contestant Misty Dillard bailed out at $8,000, but should have won $16,000 as she had all five items right; on the second, contestant Voncia Mitchell stopped at $4,000 but got the last two in the wrong order; and on the third, contestant Pamela Downs lost on the fifth bag.
  • On The Amazing Race primetime special from May 25, 2016 (#036SP), the set was repainted. On June 8, 2016 (#7573K), the repainted set got carried over to the daytime show.
  • It's in the Bag is most commonly the 2nd game to be played in the game's slotting list, having been played there over 150 times.
  • On June 2, 2020 (#9172K) and March 28, 2023 (#0172L), when Drew pressed the button to reveal what was behind the $8,000 bag, the bag didn't drop the first time. He had to push it a second time and it dropped.
  • On November 2, 2020 (#041SP), The Price is Right at Night with the Cast of The Neighborhood, Beth Behrs, the portrayer of Gemma Johnson, wins $16,000. Had she picked the right box in 1/2 Off, then she would've had $26,000.
  • On April 1, 2022 (#9785K), as an April Fools' joke, the game was renamed to just "Bag". Also, Jonathan Magnum from Let's Make a Deal was revealed in the $4,000 bag eating the can of beans that was in it.
  • On October 2, 2023 (#0311L), the game's $16,000 wall was retired (likely due to it not fitting in Haven Studios), and it was replaced with a set of trip screens showing the amount.

Trivia[]

  • This game was created by longtime producer Roger Dobkowitz and is said to be one of the favorites he created.
  • The most number of times this game was played in any season was 27 (season 26), while the least number of times this game was played in any season was 10 (season 48).
  • It's in the Bag is the first pricing game to debut on an episode with a production code ending in K.
  • A short-lived game show also called It's in the Bag originally aired on the now-defunct DuMont network owned-and-operated station WABD (now the Fox owned-and-operated WNYW) in New York City from November 16, 1950 until June 7, 1951 then on ABC from January 7 to February 22, 1952. The show was produced by Packager Shows, Inc. and was originally hosted by Win Elliott (1950-1951), then Jerry Toman (Jan 1952) and finally Bob Russell (Jan-Feb 1952). The assistants for the WABD version were Florence Morris and Joy Kent, while the assistant for the ABC version was Arlene James as "The Cashier".
  • On the game's first two playings, it used the same intro cue that was also used in Fortune Hunter. The third playing, which occurred on October 17, 1997 (#0485K), debuted its own intro cue that is still used today. Both cues would be used interchangeably until the original one was removed after February 5, 2007 (#3713K). They were also used as such on The New Price is Right, with the former cue opening Grand Game and Punch-A-Bunch, and the latter one opening Plinko.
  • In 2008 and 2010 video game editions of The Price is Right, instead of matching the items to each bag, players match the correct price tags to the items. In the 2008 edition, 2010 edition, and The Price is Right Decades, there are four bags instead of five bags. The corresponding cash-values of the games for each bag are $2,000, $4,000, $8,000, and $16,000.
  • For a contestant playing blindly, this is actually one of the hardest games to win. The odds of winning the $16,000 are 1/720, or 0.13888%.
  • In Drew's earlier episodes, he would often call this game just "In the Bag"; it's unclear if that was intentional or not.

International versions of It's in the Bag[]

  • Mexico: Called "Échatelo A la Bolsa" (translated to "Put it in the Bag"), the game was played for MX$32,000. The corresponding cash-values for each bag are $2,000-$4,000-$8,000-$16,000-$32,000.
  • Netherlands: Called "Gelukstas" (translated as "Lucky Bag"), the game was played for €6.000. The corresponding cash-values for each bag are €500-€1.000-€2.000-€3.500-€6.000.
  • Vietnam: Called "Túi ba gang" (translated as "Three Gang Bag" ('Gang' is Vietnamese length unit equal to space between thumb tip and pinky tip), the game was played for 16.000.000 VND. The corresponding cash-values for each bag are the same as the US.
  • Australia: Played for a Big W shopping spree. There are only four bags and five grocery items, and the game is all-or-nothing with no bailout options.
  • New Zealand: A popular TV game show with the same name ran on TVNZ originally ran on the radio in 1954 then was translated on television from 1973 until 1992. The show's original host was Selwyn Todgood from 1973 until 1986 followed by John Hawkesby from 1986 until 1990 then was replaced by Nick Tansley in 1992. Various episodes from both the Todgood and Hawkesby eras when the channel began transmission on the new Freeview service on September 30, 2007. Seventeen years later, the show was revived on Maori Television hosted by Pio Terei and Stacey Morrison in 2009.

Gallery[]

To view the gallery, click here.

YouTube Videos[]

First Ever It's in the Bag Win (December 9, 1997, #0562K)
Malcolm wins $16,000 (June 16, 1999, #1173K)
Jon wins $16,000 (October 29, 1999, #1235K)
It's in the Bag victory from a primetime special (The Price Is Right Salutes the U.S. Air Force, May 24, 2002, #002SP, aired out of order on May 30)
It's in the Bag win from 2002 (December 19, 2002, #2354K)
It's in the Bag win with a cool winning graphic (November 11, 2005, #3405K)
Last It's in the Bag win from Bob Barker Era featuring Tyra Banks (February 17, 2006, #3535K)
First It's in the bag win from Drew Carey Era (October 30, 2007, #4062K, aired out of order on October 15 as the first playing with Drew)
An It's in the Bag win from 2009 (April 29, 2009, #4733K)
An It's in the Bag win from 2010 (January 22, 2010, #5005K)
An It's in the Bag win from 2011 (September 22, 2011, #5634K)
A Wipeout of It's in the Bag in Season 40 (June 6, 2012, #6003K)
It's in the Bag with Demi Lovato (January 24, 2013, #6194K, aired out of order on February 22, originally rescheduled to air on February 21)
An It's in the Bag win from 2013 (April 17, 2013, #6313K, aired out of order on March 28)
A Heartbreaking It's in the Bag Loss (February 6, 2014, #6604K)
An It's in the Bag win from 2014 (June 20, 2014, #6795K)
Another It's in the Bag win from 2014 (December 26, 2014, #6935K, aired out of order on October 2)
It's in the Bag win from 2015 (November 3, 2015, #7272K)
A Heartbreaking It's in the Bag loss from 2019 (January 29, 2019, #8602K)
It's in the Bag win from 2019 (March 25, 2019, #8681K, aired out of order on March 11, originally rescheduled to air on March 11, which was ultimately its airdate, then to March 18)
Another It's in the Bag win from 2019 (April 22, 2019, #8721K, aired out of order on April 15)
An It's in the Bag Veterans Day win from 2019 (November 11, 2019, #8891K)
First $16K Winner of The Price is Right's 50th Season (October 1, 2021, #9525K, aired out of order on September 24)
"Bag" with Jonathan Mangum (April 1, 2022, #9785K)

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