is the price really so right?

what is it that makes bob barker and his glittering, neon-colored curtains so appealing to the masses? and i don't mean only to the masses of 60-something grandmothers from north dakota and iowa. what about the 23-year old military boy from san diego who is almost a certainty on any episode of the price is right? there are even the young, beautiful college girls on vacation from the east coast who squeal when their names are called to "come on down." it's easy to relegate this excitement to the materialistic prizes offered on the show and their effects, yet when was the last time an average american kid reeled with melodramtic suprise and nervousness from a circa-1992 solid oak dining set or a standard two-door refrigerator? still, an overabundance of joy and bizarre excitement is very present and even expected on this show that is a classic staple of american daytime television.

to me, that's exactly where the pleasure lay: daytime televesion. sure, the glimmering lights, shiny new toys on stage, a chance to climb the stairs and drop the discs in a game of plinko, the barbie-esque figures of the show's presenters, and even the chance to see someone from ohio or arkansas on national television all contribute to the shows effects (and let's not forget the freakishly skinny microphone held so steadily in the host's hands. who doesn't love the thing?). to me, however, the magic is due to the mysterious hour of the show's air time. when i was young, i assumed the show came on about the time of elementary reading hour or mid-morning recess or maybe a very sleepy morning science class. but the point is, i never knew exactly when the show aired, because i only managed to catch a random episode (and watch it with a sort of guilty pleasure) when i knew i was really supposed to be doing something else. either i took a sick day from school, i was missing school on vacation with the family, or i was supposed to be at work but managed to get out of it in order to lie around the house in my underwear. how could something so wrong feel so right?

with news of of barker's retirement next june and with a lack of proper entertainment to keep me interested on my birthday, i decided to fulfill that life-long goal of seeing the skinny mic in person, and i treated myself to the show for my 25th birthday. i was willing to enter a state of undue euphoria for the sake of finally piecing in a part of the puzzle of classic american culture i lacked.


to make a long story short, and to condense the 9-hour day into a few sentences, i made a fool of myself in just the way one ought when attending a taping of such importance. despite the day's inherent importance as my birthday, none of my friends joined me when i found my place in line at 5:15 am on december 11. so i quickly became friends with several filipino girls who stood behind me in line, and for the remainder of the day was as much a part of their gaggle as were the sandwiches and donuts they fed me in the late moring. when it was time to enter the studio at 1:00 pm, it was only the adrenaline from seeing the multi-colored drapes and shiny stage props in person that boosted our energy. the next hour was a flurry of cheering for bob, waving the proper hand signals to contestants on stage, and nervously waiting to hear the next contestant's name.

i was never called down to the front, i didn't get to bid on a prize, and i walked away from the show with no birthday gifts. i was happy enough when one of my new filipino friends made her way to the front, swept the price boards, spun the wheel to the $1.00 mark twice, and won the showcase showdown. at least i was with the family of winners. and if one happens to watch the show on january 30th, it is possible to see six filipino girls followed by a blond boy in glasses jumping hysterically on the stage as the credits roll.

a puzzle piece in place, 10 seconds of daytime tv fame, and an embarrasing bit of overexertion later, i definitely feel—although i may not know why—that something seemingly so wrong somehow feels so right.