Now....or Then

Now....or Then
Premiere Date (Barker Era)	September 17, 1980 (#3783D)
Premiere Date (Carey Era)	November 26, 2007 (#4101K)
Pricing Game Location	Turntable
Previous Premiered Pricing Game	Grand Game
Next Premiered Pricing Game	Hit Me
Finale Date (Barker Era)	May 31, 2007 (#4014K)

In Now....or Then, the prices of products are either "now" being today, or "then" being a certain month and year in the past.

Gameplay

• The contestant is shown six grocery items arranged on a circular board which is divided into six wedges (similar to the Trivial Pursuit Pie/Game Token) and a year and month some time (usually 8-10 years) in the past.
• The contestant selects a grocery item and must determine whether the price given for it is either the current price ("now") or the price as of the specified past date ("then"). To win the game and a large prize, the contestant must correctly guess three items that are on adjacent wedges of the circle. The contestant may continue selecting as many items as needed until the goal is either achieved or made impossible.
• There is an unstated rule that there are always four "now" prices and two "then" prices. Sometimes, there can be one product clearly marked "NEW!" which means that the product is obviously a "now" price. Even one or more items that didn't exist in the "Then" date in a few performances (depending on the "Then" date) means that it was a "now" price.

History

• Now....and Then premiered on September 17, 1980 (#3783D) and was won on the day it premiered in.
• Now....and Then was created by Steve Ryan, who also co-created the 1980s game show Blockbusters (which was hosted by Bill Cullen on the pilot that aired on October 21, 1980, and as a series from October 27, 1980 to April 23, 1982, on NBC, and was revived by the network from January 5, 1987 to May 1, 1987, with Bill Rafferty as host). Ryan created all of the rebus puzzles on Classic Concentration (which was hosted by Alex Trebek and aired as a test episode on April 25, 1987, and as a series from May 4, 1987 to September 20, 1991 on NBC). He also wrote puzzles for Password Plus (which aired on NBC from January 8, 1979 to March 26, 1982 and was hosted by Allen Ludden until 1980, later replaced by Tom Kennedy, based on Password created by Bob Stewart, Mark Goodson and Bill Todman) and Body Language (hosted by Tom Kennedy and aired as a pilot on October 9, 1983, and as a series from June 4, 1984, to January 3, 1986, on CBS). All three game shows mentioned were produced by Mark Goodson, with the second show mentioned co-produced by Bill Todman until his death on July 29, 1979.
• The earliest "Then" date was January 1975.
• On April 4, 1983 (#4871D), contestant Barbara Talon lost for guessing Then for the Sicilia Lemon Juice, since she can't get three adjoining from there, but the winning bells sounded and the setup flashed. The staff thought she said Now, but Barker corrected them.
• Until November 19, 1986 (#6273D), the game was named "Now....and Then," and Bob always mentioned it was "so-called because we play this game every now and then." The name was changed on December 2, 1986 (#6292D) to more accurately reflect the decision the contestant had to make. On September 22, 2015 (#7212K), the game reverted back to "Now....and Then" and its "Then" was the date of when it premiered.
• Until the late 2000s, the "then" prices were researched by Kathy Greco who used archived newspaper advertisements as her source, since that time, the "then" prices come from past episodes of The Price is Right.
• Often, the "Then" date on the board leads to quite interesting banter between the host and the contestant. Notably on April 10, 2008 (#4284K) playing, contestant Keith C. Johnson, a kindergarten teacher, upon seeing the "Then" date of March 1997 remarked, "Back when I was 21." Drew remarked, "Back when I was 21 as well." Keith made an appearance again on October 24, 2023 (#0342L), playing and losing on Range Game.
• On May 23, 2016 (#034SP), it was redesigned for the Survivor primetime special, and its "Then" date was the Survivor debut date of May 2000. On June 21, 2016 (#7592K), the redesigned set got carried over to the daytime show.
• On October 13, 2017 (#8045K), Now....or Then was played for a Mazda 6 Sport worth $23,925, and it was won.
• On February 19, 2018 (#8221K, aired out of order on February 22), during Big Money Week, Now....or Then was played for $30,000, but unfortunately, it was lost.
• On March 11, 2020 (#9063K), a contestant named Cara Cross won a $20,000 bonus for being the first person on stage to win their pricing game during PCH week. It was played in the fourth slot.
• The March 14, 2024 (#0544L) playing’s "Then" date, August 2014, remains the most recent "Then" date for now.
• Since February 9, 2021 (#9302K), Drew would reveal whether the other prices are now or then if the contestant had lost.

Trivia

• The most number of times this game was played in any season was 18 (seasons 13, 14 and 24), while the least number of times this game was played in any season was 6 (season 9).
• As shown here, the odds of winning the game are 25/64, or 39.0625%, if the contestant guesses randomly.
• If you can be sure that there will be 4 "Now" prices and 2 "Then" prices (or vice versa), and that you are allowed to make guesses at wedges that can no longer be part of a winning combination (which Drew has previously stated that you can), there is a guessing strategy that will guarantee a win, outlined here.
• Any time an incorrect guess is made, the item that is 180 degrees away on the circle must be correctly guessed at some point, because it is guaranteed that it will be part of whatever winning patterns may remain.

International versions

• On the Italian OK, Il Prezzo è Giusto, it was played under the name "Inflazione" (literally meaning "inflation").

Gallery

To view the gallery, click here.

YouTube Videos

A Terrible Playing of Now... or Then (February 17, 2010, #5043K)
A Playing Under "Now... and Then" During Decades Week (September 22, 2015, #7212K)
Another Playing Under "Now... and Then" in the Carey Era (December 30, 2015, 7343K)
Daytime Debut of Now... or Then's Revamped Set (June 21, 2016, #7592K)
A Car Win in Now... or Then (October 13, 2017, #8045K)
Now... or Then for $30,000 (February 19, 2018, #8221K, aired out of order on February 22)
A Now... or Then Loss from Season 47 (April 9, 2019, #8702K, aired out of order on April 2)
A Now... or Then Comeback from Season 47 (June 7, 2019, #8785K)
A Now... or Then Win with Phone/Car/Rent Bills (September 27, 2019, #8825K)