Switcheroo

Switcheroo is a game played for a car and four small prizes. The name comes from the fact that the contestant can switch the numbers around on his/her second turn.

Gameplay[]

The prices for five prizes (a car and four small prizes) are shown on the board, with the tens digit missing from each. The contestant is presented with number blocks showing the five missing digits, each of which is different. (The lines written under the six and the nine to prevent confusion of either a six or a nine.)
The contestant is asked to fill in the missing digits with the blocks. They are given a 30-second time limit (unless the contestant is disabled, at which point the time is increased) to ensure the game proceeds quickly. Once they have finished or the time has expired, the contestant is told how many digits have been correctly placed, but not which ones.
If all five prices are correct, the contestant has played the game perfectly and wins all five prizes, although this is rare (the first perfect playing did not occur until 1985 on the syndicated nighttime version). Otherwise, the contestant has the option of quitting and taking whatever prizes have the correct prices showing or make a "Switcheroo" and try to correct any mistakes within another 30-second time limit. The contestant is then told how many prices are correct.
After deciding to stay with the initial placement of the blocks or after making the Switcheroo, the correct prices are revealed and the contestant wins those prizes. If the car price is correct, the car will always be revealed last for added excitement.
It is impossible for a contestant to win exactly four of the prizes, as any four prizes being correctly tagged would necessitate the fifth block being with the correct price. For this reason, the display that shows the number of correct prizes cannot purposely light up the number "4."

History[]

On May 4, 1981 (#4111D), the buzzer sounded when the contestant got zero on the first try, which was correct, but on the second try, the buzzer sounded again but this time the contestant had three right. The bell should’ve sounded here.
At some point in early 1982, the blocks now have a bolder Swiss font.
On October 12, 1984 (#5435D), the game had its first-ever complete strikeout, with the contestant failing to get any prices correct on either of the two attempts. To add insult to injury, the eggcrate "number correct" display on the game board apparently also failed and only the buzzer sounds to indicate the contestant had nothing correct.
In 1985 on the The Price is Right (1985 – 1986, U.S. Version) with Tom Kennedy, the game had its first-ever instance where a contestant got all five prices correct on the first attempt.
On April 17, 1985 (#5693D), the display malfunctioned, initially having a delay on the number "2", then disappearing, reappearing, and changing to the impossible number "4", then finally back to "2".
On July 2, 1985 (#5782D), the game board was revamped to accommodate five-digit cars. The game's first five-digit car was offered on September 26, 1985 (#5814D).
Until May 20, 1991 (#8051D), there was no visible 30-second timer when a contestant was given an attempt to put all blocks in place. Prior to its inclusion, the 30-second time limit was not always strictly enforced.
During Season 20, the game added a foghorn to indicate that the timer had reached zero; previously, no sound effect was used in this situation. The foghorn disappeared in Season 21, but was reinstated for Season 31, and has been in use since then.
On April 14, 1995 (#9545D), the clock started at 45 seconds instead of 30 as contestant Brae Landon began to play. They had accidentally left the clock set to Race Game, another pricing game that uses it. As this happened, Bob got confused as she thought she had 30 seconds, later saying, "I'll stop her at 15, that's what I'll do!"
On October 2, 2003 (#2614K), which was the day that Coming or Going debuted, the game had its first (and so far, only) instance of a handicapped contestant playing the game (specifically, Tyler van Haetsma, a 2001 graduate of Calvin College), thus, then-Barker's Beauty Claudia Jordan helped place the blocks, and for the first time since April 14, 1995 (#9545D), the time limit was increased to 45 seconds.
On November 11, 2003 (#2672K), a 99-year-old contestant named James played the game after being called up onto the stage. The game was played without a time limit (Bob explained the clock was "broken"). As such, Bob placed digits into prices at James' request.
On May 25, 2005 (#3293K), the font on the prize descriptions, prices, and number blocks changed from Swiss to Dom Casual.
On May 21, 2008 (#033SP, aired out of order on April 30), during that night's The Price is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular, Switcheroo was chosen as the Million Dollar Game. The requirement to win the million dollars was to get all five prizes correct on the first attempt.
On one episode in the early 1990s, a contestant lost the car, but when the price was revealed, it was discovered that the numbers in the price of the car were not set up the right way, as the fourth digit in the car was accidentally switched with the third digit, thus making it impossible for the car to be won. On that discovery, Bob awarded the contestant the car.
Beginning on December 31, 2012 (#6161K), the spaces for the missing numbers are lit in light blue. Since October 27, 2021 (#9563K), these lights are turned off.
On October 16, 2014 (#6844K, aired out of order on October 15), during Dream Car Week, a Maserati Quattroporte SQ4 worth $109,430 was offered but was not won (contestant Molly Shultz only won the hairdryer, after discovering she had one right on her first try, and decided not to take a second chance). Also, the prop has been slightly updated, and the dollar sign in the price of the car has changed from white to red and the upper blue strips on the sides of the game board are painted white.
On November 7, 2016 (#7681K), contestant Lula Chan had only 1 prize correct after the first round, decided to play on, and still only had 1 right. The prize she priced correctly before time ran out on the ground, was the car.
On March 5, 2021 (#9335K), contestant Patrick Broadnax got 0 right on the first try, then 1 right on the second. In case that one was the car, Drew asked James to press the car button on his count of three. He did, but Patrick didn't have the car right. Then the check mark for the only prize Patrick had right lighted up, which was the pasta maker.
Sometime between October 27, 2021 (#9563K) and January 10, 2022 (#9671K), the checkmarks are now lit by LED lights.

Trivia[]

Since Drew took over, if contestants didn’t get all five right, they used to be given a second chance right then and there no matter how many are right without even being asked if they want it or not. However, he would implicitly imply on that chance that the contestant can choose to leave them alone. During that time, an exception was made in one playing in Season 37 when Drew offered a bailout directly, which he eventually started doing permanently years later.
Switcheroo has had 17 perfect wins (all five prizes won); the most recent perfect win happened on March 20, 2024 (#0543L, aired out of order on March 13).
From October 22, 1976 (#2085D) until June 1, 2010 (#5192K), after the car was described, the host tells the contestant that there are other prizes he/she could win and then the small prizes were announced and the prop was revealed afterward. Since October 5, 2010 (#5252K), the prop is revealed first.
Switcheroo uses the losing horns only when the contestant wins no prizes on the second try, although winnings of small prizes only are technically considered a loss.
This game and Race Game have some similarities.
1. They are both timed pricing games.
2. You do not have to win all of the prizes.
3. It will tell you how much time is left on the clock.
4. It will tell you how many you have right, but not specifically which ones.
5. After placing the element next to each prize, you would not get one number within a range of numbers (3 in Race Game and 4 in Switcheroo).
This game cannot just use any 4 items plus a car; the missing numbers have to be different.
The most number of times this game was played in any season was 31 (season 5), while the least number of times this game was played in any season was 7 (seasons 35, 39 and 43).
Switcheroo also has elements of Clock Game and Temptation.
If a blind contestant plays Switcheroo, the time limit can be 45 seconds.
Starting with the first perfect game under Drew's regime, All the checkmarks on that game no longer flash when somebody wins everything on that game.
This pricing game is one of the few on the show to still use eggcrate display technology in any capacity today. It is unknown if this game will ever get redesigned.
A suitable strategy for playing this game is to place the blocks of the four small prices first, leaving the remaining one to fill in the price of a car. However, some contestants don't realize this strategy while playing, so Drew always says they "stress out" over those small items, especially on the second try.

Think Music[]

There have been three different pieces of music that have been used in Switcheroo's history.
- The first cue is based on "A Bag of Rags" (1912) by William R. McKanlass. This song became the "unofficial" theme of Mack Sennett's Keystone Cops movies, as music was played in-theatre during the silent film era, based on suggested lists sent along with the movies that would fit the action or content. The source recording used for the cue is taken from the 1961 album Rides, Rapes & Rescues: Themes From The Great Silent Films, with performance credited to "Hangnails Hennessey and Wingy Brubeck", an alias for novelty musician Spike Jones and arranger Carl Brandt. The song itself is titled "Keystone Kapers or Custard's Last Stand" and is actually credited to Jones on the album.
- On the 1985 syndicated nighttime version and at least one daytime playing on January 6, 1992 (#8251D), a remix of the theme was used on the short-lived syndicated game show Celebrity Charades hosted by Jay Johnson & Squeaky in 1979 and was also used as the theme on the unsold game show pilot Babble also hosted by former syndicated Price host Kennedy in 1984.
- The current cue, entitled "The Head Clown", has been in use since March 23, 1992 (#8361D), in addition, its final measures are heard when switching prices in Switch?.

Appearances Outside of the Price Is Right[]

The pricing game appeared on a March 22, 2022 episode of The Late Late Show With James Corden with Drew Carey himself playing.

It's A Price Is Right Late Late Switcheroo! 3-45 screenshot

International Versions[]

The game has also appeared in the 2016 Indonesian and 2016 Thai version of the show. The game is played the same, except that the small prizes have three numbers in the price, with the middle number missing.

Gallery[]

To view the gallery, click here.

YouTube Videos[]

Original cue - "A Bag of Rags" (1912) by W. R. MacKanlass (play video at 1.25x to get speed used for cue)
First perfect playing with Tom Kennedy
A Win from 1997 (March 19, 1997, #0303K)
Handicapped Contestant plays Switcheroo (October 2, 2003, #2614K)
99 Year Old Contestant Plays Switcheroo (November 11, 2003, #2672K)
Wonderful Win from 2008 (December 8, 2008, #4541K)
A Win from Season 41 (December 31, 2012, #6161K)
A Painful Loss from Season 42 (January 27, 2014, #6591K)
Only Switcheroo Winner from Season 42 (April 16, 2014, #6703K)
Dismal Playing from 2014 (April 29, 2014, #6722K)
Another Painful Loss from Season 42 (June 23, 2014, #6801K, aired out of order on June 27)
Switcheroo for a Maserati (October 16, 2014, #6844K, aired out of order on October 15)
A Win from Season 43 (November 21, 2014, #6895K, aired out of order on November 12, originally rescheduled to air on November 14)
Dismal Playing from 2015 (March 11, 2015, #7043K)
A Painful Loss from Season 45 (October 18, 2016, #7652K)
A Disastrous Playing from 2019 (January 10, 2019, #8574K)

1970s Pricing Games

Active Pricing Games