Squeeze Play

Squeeze Play is a pricing game played for a 4-digit prize (sometimes a 5-digit prize).

Gameplay[]

The contestant is faced with a set of five numbers, one of which doesn't belong in the actual retail price of the prize and must be removed from the group. The contestant cannot remove the first & last numbers, for they are the right numbers and in the correct positions. Once a number has been taken out, the remaining numbers squeeze together. If it's the correct price, the contestant wins.
Occasionally, cars or other prizes worth more than $10,000 would be played for; when that happens there would be six digits instead of five to look at, giving the contestant a choice of the middle four instead of three.

History and behind the scenes[]

Squeeze Play has been played on the Turntable since May 27, 1982 (#4544D); prior to that date, it was played on the stage and concealed by the Giant Price Tag. On March 1, 2001 (#1724K), the board's color scheme changed from blue to gray, the white lines changed to gold, and the black outline was added to the Squeeze Play logo. On the 44th season premiere, September 21, 2015 (#7211K), the game was played on stage again behind the Giant Price Tag and was repainted to its original color scheme, although it kept its logo from 2001. On the "Best of 2015" special on December 31, 2015 (#7344K), it was played near Contestant's Row.
The sound effect for the numbers squeezing together is the same one heard when the safe is opened and closed in Safe Crackers.
Squeeze Play has been fraught with mechanical problems throughout its history. Numbers have been stuck and misaligned, the "squeeze" has failed to operate promptly, and the door that opens the reveal has malfunctioned several times, usually resulting in then-host Bob Barker kicking it. One memorable playing from February 27, 1980 (#3573D) had Bob having trouble taking out the 2 and once he yanked it out, the remaining numbers were shifted before they could squeeze together and once done, the 9 was tilted and Bob tried to hit the 9 and then kick the numbers; another from January 16, 1995 (#9421D) had the reveal stuck as Bob pushed the button to reveal the price; he kicked the door and then pushed the button again, which not only caused the door to fall open to reveal the price, but also the price to fall to the floor, much to the audience's laughter (this incident was among the many featured on the 50 Years special in 2007). On May 10, 1989 (#7273D), the remaining four numbers even failed to squeeze together and Bob had to squeeze them manually by hand and on June 3, 1992 (#8463D), the reveal also failed to open, but instead of kicking it, he also opened the door manually by hand. On one occasion, Bob called out Roger Dobkowitz to help pull out one of the numbers.
On January 4, 1993 (#8641D), the foghorn sounded for a loss instead of the normal buzzer. It happened again on April 29 (#8804D) of that year.
Squeeze Play was occasionally played for four-digit cars until April 7, 1995 (#9535D).
Squeeze Play offered a five-digit prize for the first time on February 3, 2003 (#2423K, aired out of order on March 14, 2003).
On April 1, 2011 (#5505K), as an April Fools' joke, the four numbers failed to squeeze together again, causing host Drew Carey to squeeze them by hand.
On April 7, 2015 (#7082K, aired out-of-order on March 3), Drew forgot to press the button on the left; the stagehand in the back got tackled as he also took out some numbers after they were squeezed together.
On March 25, 2016 (#7465K), which is the 1st College Rivals special, a $17,520 Hyundai Accent was won to Michelle Stansbury (Duke) while Sean Miller (University of North Carolina) was denied.
On the Mother's Day Special that aired on May 12, 2017 (#7935K), an unknown stagehand appeared out from behind the prop before the numbers were squeezed together to wave hello to everyone. On the other hand, it said "Hi Mom!" on it. This is now done most of the time.
Since 2017, Drew would occasionally ask the contestant to say hi to the hand of the person squeezing the numbers together, which shows up in place of the digit removed. This is a fourth wall break. On April 1, 2024 (#0561L), Drew took the joke even further and had the stagehand show "his" face, but it was actually model Manuela Arbeláez disguised as one, complete with a uniform and fake mustache. Manuela had been in disguise backstage the entire time and was not one of the primary models in that episode.
On February 17, 2020 (#9031K), during Dream Car Week, Squeeze Play was played for a $19,258 Toyota Yaris Hatchback LE, and was won.

Trivia[]

The most number of times this game was played in any season was 57 (season 7), while the least number of times this game was played in any season was 21 (season 49).
Squeeze Play is one of three pricing games whose name references baseball. The other two are 3 Strikes and Triple Play.
Occasionally, an episode requires a segment with a little more time than usual and Squeeze Play is the lineup. That’s when the game offers a car.
Squeeze Play was one of seven pricing games seen on the fourth taping session of Season 36, which was seen on October 18, 2007 (#4044K, aired out of order on January 2, 2008), October 24, 2007 (#4053K, aired out of order on October 23), November 2, 2007 (#4065K, aired out of order on October 30), November 7, 2007 (#4073K, aired out of order on November 8), November 13, 2007 (#4082K, aired out of order on November 15), and November 22, 2007 (#4094K, aired out of order on October 19). It was also one of four "old" pricing games seen on the tenth/eleventh taping session of the season, which was seen on November 30, 2007 (#4105K), December 6, 2007 (#4114K, aired out of order on December 3), December 11, 2007 (#4122K, aired out of order on December 10), January 11, 2008 (#4135K), January 16, 2008 (#4143K), and January 24, 2008 (#4154K).
If the prize has two consecutive digits that are the same number, the number that has to be "squeezed" from the price must be between them, unless they include the first or last digit. This also prevents the game from having some specific prize values, like $19,995, as there would be no possible places to put the extra digit without creating at least two identical outcomes when one of the numbers is removed.

Appearances outside of The Price is Right[]

The grey-coloured Squeeze Play appeared on a 2014 episode of The Talk, where an audience member played it.

The Talk An Audience Member Wins The Price Is Right 0-50 screenshot

On a May 15, 2019 (#634) episode of the late night talk show on CBS called The Late Late Show with James Corden, Squeeze Play appeared with actress Octavia Spencer & legendary actor from Happy Days (a.k.a. "The Fonz") Henry Winkler as contestants.

TLLSWJC Octavia Spencer & Henry Winkler Play Squeeze Play

International versions[]

On the Mexican version, it was called "El Apretón", translated to "The Squeeze". Rules were the same as the American version.
On the 1980s UK version hosted by Leslie Crowther, as well as the Dutch version, it was played for a three-digit prize. Five numbers were shown, and thus the contestant had to take out two numbers to make a three-digit price.

Gallery[]

To view the gallery, click here.

YouTube Videos[]

A Close Call Win in Squeeze Play (January 9, 2004, #2755K)
Last Playing With the Grey Color Scheme (June 16, 2015, #7182K)
Squeeze Play Played Center Stage & Return of the Blue Color Scheme (September 21, 2015, #7211K)
Squeeze Play in Front of Contestant's Row (December 31, 2015, #7344K)
Squeeze Play for a Mazda6 Sport (May 17, 2017, #7943K)

1970s Pricing Games

Active Pricing Games