Last Call: Watch The Very First Episode Of The Price Is Right

As a game show geek, I was particularly excited to watch Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much, a documentary on Netflix about a math teacher, his obsession with The Price Is Right, and how he played a role in the only exact bid in Showcase Showdown history.

Bob Barker makes an appearance in this 2017 film, and I'm delighted to see the nonagenarian still among us (as of this writing). The documentary sent me down a rabbit hole, all the way back to the first episode of The New Price Is Right with Barker as host (A previous version of The Price Is Right existed from 1956-1965, but bears little resemblance to the show format we know today).

Here's that first episode from Sept. 4, 1972. It's jarring to watch the sedate audience, as contestants were asked to "Stand up!" instead of "Come on down!" There was no big wheel to spin yet (that came in 1975 when the show was expanded from 30 minutes to a full hour). But it remains a fascinating artifact of 70s daytime television, and it's nice to hear the theme music hasn't changed after all these years.