Come on Down!

So, I went to a taping of The Price Is Right today, which was probably the most fun I’ve had in a long time and I have had a lot of fun this year. I mean, it was an experience.

Before I start, I do want to say that they made us sign an agreement before the taping that said we wouldn’t spoil anything “by talk or by text,” so I’m not going to talk about any of the contestants or anything but rather the experience of going to the show.

I went to the show alone because my friend was supposed to go with me, but her daughter got sick. I had done quite a bit of prep: made a t-shirt (“Big Wheel or Bust”), loaded up and charged my Kindle, packed an extra book just in case Kindles weren’t allowed (they weren’t), packed a host of snacks (my ticket was for 9 a.m. and said the whole thing would take up to five hours), and GOT HYPED.

The first thing they do is give the paperwork mentioned above. Then I got my NAME TAG.

After that, I turned in my paperwork, and visited the gift shop. The gift shop had no ornaments, so I got a magnet. After the gift shop, I got two souvenir photos taken. One was a regular old picture and for the second one, the photographer prompted me to act like I had just won a million dollars. So obviously, I bought the second one.

Then, the waiting begins.

First, we (everybody in line) waited for the interviews. Then, we waited to be let into the studio. During that wait, they showed us an old episode (from 2017) of the show. Then, around 11:15 we went inside.

They have a studio DJ so music was playing when we got inside. A lot of super fun songs were played (Uptown Funk, Sexy and I Know It, some Pitbull song I don’t know the title of, U Can’t Touch This, etc.). I know they did this to get us hype, but it also had the bonus of making us move around, which was good because it was FREEZING in there. So, a lot of dancing and singing was going on, and at some point, someone started the wave, so we did that. I don’t think that’s a usual thing because one of the producer people took video on her phone.

Then, George Gray (the announcer) came out and explained how things would work. He asked us not to stand up during the “Come on Down!” part (even though we would most want to stand and cheer then) because it makes it harder for the camera people to figure out where the actual contestant is. (He was right. I totally wanted to stand up and cheer during that part!) He cracked a bunch of jokes–the funniest one being that it takes a lot longer for people to bid than it seems like on TV because people get stumped.

What he didn’t explain is that the other reason it takes so long is that it’s SO LOUD in there. We could barely hear his description of the prizes (which is to say we often only heard the first word or two and I talked to someone who made it to bidders’ row after and was told they could barely hear him either) and then we would all just start shouting out prices based on what we thought we saw on stage combined with what we thought we heard George say.

Anyway, after George did his thing, he announced contestants and the volume went up immediately. (I do have to note that the studio is a lot smaller than it looks on TV, but when we were all looking around for the person who got called, it felt really big. The decor is also kind of kitschy and looks verrrry ’60s. I mean, I like it, but it was very much like, “Oh, that’s interesting.”)

Then, Drew came out and we all got EVEN LOUDER.

In between games, Drew would talk to the audience while the crew set up. Someone mentioned Fortnite, so he did a bunch of jokes about Fortnite and weed. He would call people by name and ask them where they were from and some other stuff about themselves that he would then riff on. I said hi to him and he looked my way but then someone stepped on my moment and shouted, “WE LOVE YOU, DREW!” so he was all, “Who said that?” even though he really was responding to me. So anyway, I said hi to Drew, so we’re friends now.

I also waved at James and he waved back, so I have started planning our wedding.

More contestants were called, more games were played, the wheel was spun, the showcase happened and the whole time it was LOUD LOUD LOUD. But it was SO GREAT. The energy in the room was just good and positive. Everybody cheered for everybody else. We all yelled out (usually wrong) prices. And afterwards we were all like, “WHEW. I AM TIRED.”

So now I’m sitting on the couch, beat. I mean, just whipped. I didn’t know how much work being in the audience would be! It was just constant WHOOOO YAAAAAAY CLAP CLAP CLAP sit down jump back up WHOOOO YAY CLAP CLAP CLAP. My arms are tired is what I’m saying. And I’m sitting in my house in the quiet.

But I have told my family and a few of my friends that we definitely need to go to a taping when they come out to LA. It is just SO FUN. I mean, I am describing for you how great it was, but it was also completely indescribable in a lot of ways. I had a blast.

Also, as another note, I have decided that in my next life, I want the job of the young woman who was in charge of telling us when to applaud and holding up the signs with the names of the people called to come on down. She spent the whole time dancing and hyping up the crowd and looked like she was having a ball. That is her job! Every day! Dancing! And telling people to clap really loudly! (There might be more, but that’s all I saw and that’s the part I care about.)

The episode is scheduled to air on Feb. 20, 2019. I can’t wait to watch it and see how it compares to being in the studio.