Price Is Right Overhauls Set, Removes Audience (Sigh) Ahead of Return
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Just as long as they don’t mess with Plinko.
Price Is Right is set to resume production Monday following a months-long COVID shutdown, but as our sister pub Deadline reports, it will do so with a dramatically altered set as well as its signature audience.
“Bidder’s Row” is now on the same level as the main stage and each contestant will be six feet apart (see image, above). “I felt like it was odd for [host] Drew [Carey] to be talking down to only four people,” exec producer Evelyn Warfel tells Deadline. “It made sense when it’s 300 and it’s a whole audience, but it felt weird to me for him to be talking down to four people and then having it empty behind them.”
Warfel concedes that eliminating the audience — which has been a centerpiece of the game show for the past 50 years — “was the hardest part of all of this,” adding, “The audience is such a core part of that show. And so, for the first time in 48 years ,we’ve had to look at it and go, “OK, we’re bringing the show back and it’s going to be different and we have to hope and know that everyone understands what’s going on and how serious it is.’
“We want to bring back this show for everyone,” Warfel adds, “but it has to look different. If we want to come back, we have to do it safely.”
The good news: The signature “Come on Down!” will remain. Additionally, all of the series’ games will be back (Plinko, included). “We’re still going to have the same great games,” Warfel confirms. “We figured out how to bring all 77 games back while maintaining social distancing. So, they’ll see all their favorite games.”
The Price Is Right will be back on the air with original episodes later this fall.
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