Roger Kurt Dobkowitz (born July 30, 1945 in San Francisco, California) is the head of his own production company in Los Angeles, California. He is best known for his 24-year tenure as a producer of the CBS game show The Price is Right.
Early Life[]
He graduated from San Francisco State University in 1972 after completing a thesis, An Historical Study of Prime-Time Network Audience Participation Shows 1948-1968. He currently writes a blog that reviews current and past movies.
Game Show Career[]
Other game shows that he has been involved with are Family Feud, the 1970s Double Dare, Now You See It, and the 1973-1982 era of Match Game. His sister-in-law, Karen Wohlmuth, is the current production manager of Price.
The Price is Right[]
Dobkowitz started as a member of the production staff with The Price Is Right when the show debuted in 1972 and became a producer in 1984. He created eighteen of the show's pricing games (one of which, Gas Money, debuted on the first new episode after his departure). He was also influential in the show's automobile restriction that until 2008 permitted automobiles and trucks from only three American manufacturers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) to be offered as prizes. He won five Emmy Awards for his work on the show.
Bob Barker would often ask Dobkowitz when the last time an unusual event in the show's history took place, which became such a frequent occurrence toward the end of Barker's tenure that one Showcase skit had Dobkowitz reading from a fake book entitled "Roger, when was the last time that happened?" The Official T.P.I.R. Record Book.
Dobkowitz left Price in July 2008, following production on the show's 36th season. While Variety reported that it was unclear whether his termination was voluntary, Drew Carey stated in an interview with Esquire that Dobkowitz was fired.
Cash Tornado[]
Dobkowitz was one of the contestants playing Force Field in the unsold lottery-themed game show pilot Cash Tornado hosted by the late Jim Perry and was announced by the late Gene Wood. The set and theme song were modeled after the short-lived 1994-95 syndicated version of The Price is Right.
The Daily Show (with Jon Stewart)[]
On a March 5, 2002 episode segment called "The Price is Riot" where 10,000 fans showed up for only 900 Price tickets as other are left out in the cold, Dobkowitz briefly appeared doing an interview with Stacey Grenrock-Woods using the 1982-07 Barker era intro wall as the background.
Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much[]
He appeared as an interviewer in the 2017 documentary film about Ted Slauson. Slauson studied prices intensively, with the assistance of a computer simulation he wrote, and was able to guess to the exact dollar.
Come on Down with Rich Fields[]
On June 20, 2022; Dobkowitz appeared on a podcast called Come on Down with Rich Fields hosted by former Price announcer Rich Fields along with co-host & TV veteran Dave Wagner. In the episode, they learn what special gifts that former host Bob Barker gave to both Dobkowitz & Fields along with how Barker is doing these day after his retirement from the show.
External link[]
The Dobkowitz family website
The Price is Riot - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Video Clip)
Price is Right Producer Roger Dobkokwitz | Come on Down: Episode 8