Peek behind the curtain of ‘The Price is Right,’ the ‘best car show on TV’

“The Price is Right” is a fixture of American television. Since 1972, it’s been a mid-morning favorite of the preschool set, those playing hooky from school or work, the unemployed and anyone stuck in a waiting room. But at its core, the longest-running game show in history is a car show that often changes its contestants’ lives.

Motor Authority is out with a fun long read in which the author visits the show’ set inside the Bob Barker Studios on the CBS lot in Los Angeles. We meet the show’s host, comedian and Cleveland native Drew Carey, plus director Adam Sandler (no relation to the “Happy Gilmore” star) and music and talent director Stan Blits. The latter two are electric car converts — Blits, a leased Fiat 500e, and Sandler, a Tesla Model 3. Carey, meanwhile, owns a privately commissioned art Mini Cooper and a BMW 7-Series but favors a lane-splitting BMW C650GT scooter for his daily commute. “I just hate the traffic,” he says.

Blits also gets to cast the cars, of which there might be four or five given away as prizes to contestants on a given day — or none at all. Most tend toward economy models that cost less than $25,000, which makes it difficult, with the average transaction price paid for new vehicles reaching almost $39,000 in December, according to Kelley Blue Book.

The story dishes some interesting details about how the show obtains its giveaway cars, plus a great anecdote from Carey about getting away during a three-week break in a Porsche 911 Carrera, doing 160 mph in Montana and arriving in New York for a taping of “The David Letterman Show.”

Find the whole story at Motor Authority.