TFTP On This Day: "The Price is Right" from NBC (Feb. 1, 1961)

Posted to YouTube by user 'What's My Line?'
Length - 24:17

It Was 57 Years Ago Today: "The Price is Right" is one of the longest lasting and most venerable of TV programs--its current daytime version has been on for 46 years! But the program goes back even earlier than that. From 1956 to 1965, the original version of the program, hosted by game-show mainstay Bill Cullen, aired in both daytime and prime-time first on NBC, then (for the last two years of that span) on ABC. (With the current daytime version on CBS, this makes "TPiR" the rare game show that played on all three of the major networks.)

This prime-time episode (recorded from a much later rerun on Game Show Network), which aired 57 years ago today on February 1, 1961, features guest-host Arlene Francis of "What's My Line?" panel fame. The game play in this original version of "TPiR" is vastly different than in the current daytime version. Contestants make repeated, escalating bids on an item, with the one who gets the familiar "closest without going over" price as the winner. There were no pricing games per se, although in this episode there is one short price guessing bonus that follows a bid. The same four contestants compete throughout an episode (no "come on down" moments here), anchored by a returning champ from the previous week.

Contestants in this episode bid on some rather unique and elaborate prizes. The episode kicks off with a bid on a personal submarine (!), before moving on to more mundane (but still big-ticket) items such as a car, a grand piano, and a home swimming pool. The final prize of the night--won by returning champion Mrs. Patrick--was a house in Florida.