TPiR 101

I've always had dreams of coming on down at The Price is Right. I would watch TPiR with my dad every chance I got. Even now I watch TPiR with my kids; eating popcorn and playing along with the games. The lights, the games, the prizes, everything was so enticing to me and looked like a lot of fun! Me and a couple friends in college tried getting on the show during spring break and during the Bob Barker era to no avail.

Fast forward a lot of years. Joe is starting his second semester of his second year of pharmacy school and I'm hoping me and the kids get to see him at least on Sundays. I was looking at TPiR tickets and saw they were doing a baby shower special (bonus that I'm pregnant) AND it was during Joe's Christmas break. We got priority tickets and made a fast 2.5 day trip to California. We saw my sister and her family, went to TPiR, and then drove the 8 hours home so Joe could make it to his rotation by 4 p.m. (which we made, barely).

Here are a few things I learned about TPiR:

1. The set is TINY! I'm talking teeny tiny. The show makes it look like a GINORMOUS room with loads of space. Nope. They have the showcase area where they occasionally play a game, three "rooms" where they have the fold-away doors to reveal really BIG prizes, and the main floor where everything else is played.

2. It is loud. A man on stage has to show cards of the people who are called to be contestants. One game they revealed three prizes: a computer, washer/dryer/ and another prize. I didn't hear or see that the computer was an iMac and was totally adamant that the contestant was totally wrong with her selection.

3. There are A LOT of cameras. So many, in fact, that it's really hard to see the games being played on stage. I had to watch what was going on on one of the mounted TVs.

4. George Gray is pretty awesome. 

5. It takes 4 hours to get through screening. And four hours on bleacher type seating to a pregnant lady is torture! But, you get to know the people around you pretty well.

6. Food is available. During the 4 hours of screening, we were lucky enough to get offered an actual meal. Buy one. It is a lot of food and pretty expensive. They also provide snacks. My advice: bring something to eat with you.

7. Wear a catchy shirt. Most of the people who made an effort to make a shirt or dress up in non-normal attire were seated where the cameras saw them the most. Joe and I were front and center, about 5 rows back.

8. Don't blow the interview. Part of the screening process is where a producer comes out and briefly chats with wannabe contestants. They want to know who you are, what you do, and where you're from. Come up with catchy things to say. Our producer did not like my answer of being a mom. In fact, he kind of mocked me and moved on. Jerk!

Since it was a baby shower special, only pregnant women were selected as contestants. I wasn't selected and did not win a new car. Bummer! The entire audience did receive a fancy-smancy diaper bag though.

Our shirts centered around us not knowing what the gender of our baby was. Joe had recipe cards and I had an oven. Joe and I were invited on stage where we met Drew Carey and he opened our card for us. We're having a ........ tune in to The Price is Right March 3. They may show our gender reveal during the show, or they may just air it on their website.