Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much

Last updated

Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much
Perfect Bid poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by CJ Wallis
Produced byCJ Wallis
Mallory Kennedy
CinematographyCJ Wallis
Edited byCJ Wallis
Distributed by Gravitas Ventures
Release date
  • October 13, 2017 (2017-10-13)(BendFilm Festival)
Running time
72 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much is a 2017 American documentary film that profiles Ted Slauson, an elementary school mathematics teacher and super fan of The Price Is Right . Interviews with Slauson reveal how he became fascinated with the show in the early 1970s, which drove him to memorize the prices of products, and his involvement with contestant Terry Kniess, who bid perfectly on a showcase in 2008 and gave no credit to Slauson for his assistance. [1] [2]

Contents

Synopsis

Ted Slauson spent his early life documenting and memorizing the prices of the prizes on The Price Is Right . When he turned 18, Slauson started traveling to the show to become a contestant. Even when he was not picked from the audience to be a contestant, Slauson yelled out prices—which is allowed—helping contestants win cash and prizes on the show.

Over many years, Slauson called out prices to contestants, allowing them to submit the exact price or "perfect bid" on various items, and helped a contestant make a "perfect bid" on the final showcase, helping them win both showcases (a feature of the game), totaling tens of thousands of dollars. Prior to that, he had helped two other contestants bid within a small margin of error on the final showcase, which also allowed them to win both showcases, per a feature of the game.

After helping a third contestant, Terry Kniess, with the "perfect bid" to win the double showcase of prizes, the show's producers finally started increasing and changing the diversity of items used on the show, including changing the options packages that impact the prices on automobiles, which are the highest priced single items available for the contestants to price, [2] making it less likely that a contestant can remember the prices by simply watching the show over a long period.

Despite Kniess maintaining that he had come up with the perfect bid on his own, Slauson reveals the truth behind the story that has been misrepresented for years. Ted Slauson is the most known contestant in the history of the show for such accuracy.

Cast

While Slauson, Barker and Dobkowitz were expressly interviewed for the film, there is also archive footage of Drew Carey discussing the incident with Kevin Pollak, from an episode of Kevin Pollak's Chat Show . [3]

Critical reception

The film has received positive reviews. [4] [5] [6] Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes currently has the film listed "fresh", holding a 100% score based on 6 critical reviews. [7]

Awards

Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much won best documentary at the Orlando Film Festival in 2017. [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Price Is Right</i> American television game show

The Price Is Right is an American television game show where contestants compete by guessing the prices of merchandise to win cash and prizes. A 1972 revival by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman of their 1956–1965 show of the same name, the new version added many distinctive gameplay elements. Contestants are selected from the studio audience: the announcer calls their name, invoking them to "Come on down!", the show's famous catchphrase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Barker</span> American media personality (1923–2023)

Robert William Barker was an American media personality and animal rights advocate. He hosted CBS's The Price Is Right, the longest-running game show in North American television history, from 1972 to 2007. Barker also hosted Truth or Consequences from 1956 to 1975.

<i>Secret Window</i> 2004 film directed by David Koepp

Secret Window is a 2004 American psychological horror thriller film starring Johnny Depp and John Turturro. It was written and directed by David Koepp, based on the novella Secret Window, Secret Garden by Stephen King, featuring a musical score by Philip Glass and Geoff Zanelli. The story appeared in King's 1990 collection Four Past Midnight. The film was released on March 12, 2004, by Columbia Pictures; it was a moderate box office success and received mixed reviews from critics.

In the United States, Standards and Practices is the name traditionally given to the department at a television network which is responsible for the moral, ethical, and legal implications of the program that the network airs. Standards and Practices also ensures fairness on televised game shows, in which they are the adjunct to the judges at the production company level. They also have the power to reprimand and to recommend the termination of television network stars and employees for violations of standards and practices.

The Price Is Right LIVE! is a staged production show based on the television game show The Price Is Right.

<i>The Man Who Knew Too Much</i> (1934 film) 1934 film by Alfred Hitchcock

The Man Who Knew Too Much is a 1934 British spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, featuring Leslie Banks and Peter Lorre, and released by Gaumont British. It was one of the most successful and critically acclaimed films of Hitchcock's British period.

<i>Carolina</i> (2003 film) 2003 American film

Carolina is a 2003 American-German romantic comedy film directed by Marleen Gorris, starring Julia Stiles, Shirley MacLaine, Alessandro Nivola, Mika Boorem, Randy Quaid, and Jennifer Coolidge. Lisa Sheridan has a cameo role in the film, and Barbara Eden has the uncredited part of Daphne. It is set in Los Angeles, California. Shot in 2003, the film failed to find a distributor and was released direct-to-video in 2004.

The American television game show The Price Is Right has, since its 1972 relaunch, employed a number of models to showcase the prizes and items that are given away on the show. From 1972 to 2007, the group was referred to as "Barker's Beauties", in reference to Bob Barker, who hosted the show during that period.

The Price Is Right is a British television game show based on the US version of the same name. It originally aired on ITV from 24 March 1984 to 8 April 1988 and was hosted by Leslie Crowther. The show later briefly moved to Sky One for one series as The New Price is Right from 4 September 1989 to 31 August 1990 with Bob Warman as the host.

<i>The Price Is Right</i> (Australian game show)

The Price Is Right is an Australian television game show that has been produced in a number of different formats, based on the American concept of the same title. The most recent of these formats began airing on 7 May 2012 on Seven Network. Larry Emdur, who hosted the program on two occasions prior to 2012, was the presenter for the 2012 revival.

The New Price Is Right was a syndicated edition of the American game show The Price Is Right which premiered on September 12, 1994, and ran until January 27, 1995. This was the third thirty-minute syndicated edition, following a weekly series that ran from 1972 until 1980 and a daily series that ran for one season between 1985 and 1986.

<i>The Price Is Right</i> (1956 American game show) American game show

The Price Is Right is an American game show produced by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, wherein contestants placed successive bids on merchandise prizes with the goal of bidding closest to each prize's actual retail price without surpassing it. The show was a precursor to the current and best-known version of the program, which premiered in 1972 on CBS's daytime schedule. It makes The Price Is Right one of only a few game show franchises to have aired in some form across all three of the Big Three television networks.

<i>The Price Is Right</i> (franchise) American game show franchise

The Price Is Right is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed media, and board games. The franchise began in 1956 as a television game show hosted by Bill Cullen and was revamped in 1972, initially as "The New Price Is Right." This version was originally hosted by Bob Barker. Drew Carey has hosted the program since 2007.

Frank Wayne was an American game show producer and host. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he was also associated with Mark Goodson Productions.

<i>Atínale al precio</i> Mexican game show

Atínale al Precio is a Mexican game show based on The Price Is Right that has aired in two separate runs on Televisa, both hosted by Marco Antonio Regil. The format is similar to the American version of the show, featuring many pricing games that have also appeared on that version.

<i>The Price Is Right</i> (Philippine game show) Filipino TV series or program

There are two versions of The Price Is Right in the Philippines, aired on two networks. The first version aired every Sunday on ABC from November 25, 2001 to December 8, 2002, and was hosted by Dawn Zulueta, with voice over provided off screen by Jefferson Utanes and later Michael Knight. The second version, hosted by Kris Aquino on ABS-CBN, It premiered on February 14, 2011, replacing Shoutout!. The show concluded on August 13, 2011. It was replaced by Junior MasterChef Pinoy Edition in its timeslot. Voice over is provided by "Rich," composed of the identically-named The Amazing Race Asia 4 winners Richard Hardin and Richard Herrera; at one point, due to a prior commitment by the Richards, ABS-CBN reporter Marc Logan, known for his tongue-in-cheek reporting and comedic voice overs, filled in for the duo.

CJ Wallis is a Canadian director from Vancouver, British Columbia, notable for the film Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much.

<i>The Final Table</i> Cooking competition Netflix show

The Final Table is an American cooking competition and reality television series hosted by food writer and critic Andrew Knowlton, and filmed in Los Angeles, California for Netflix. The first season was released on November 20, 2018. It features twelve international teams of two professional chefs each competing to create elevated dishes based on the country chosen for each episode. The first round is judged by a three-person panel—a food critic, and two culturally significant citizens, all representing the episode's country—assessing each team's interpretation of their chosen nationally significant dish. Interspersed among the cooking activities are video packages featuring the culinary biographies of the contestants.

<i>Love, Antosha</i> 2019 film by Garret Price

Love, Antosha is a 2019 American documentary film directed and produced by Garret Price, focusing on the life and career of actor Anton Yelchin. The film premiered in the Doc Premieres category at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival on January 28, 2019. The film was released by Lurker Productions in New York and Los Angeles in August 2019.

References

  1. Raelyn Giansanti (September 27, 2017). "'Perfect Bid' Trailer: How A Math Teacher From Texas Outsmarted 'The Price Is Right' — Watch". IndieWire. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  2. 1 2 Marini, Richard A. (June 8, 2018). "How one San Antonio man's obsession with 'The Price is Right' almost destroyed the show" . Houston Chronicle . Archived from the original on June 17, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  3. KPCS: Drew Carey #140 (1h28m20s). March 12, 2012.
  4. Simon Foster (December 10, 2017). "Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much". Screen-Space. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  5. Bradley Gibson (February 20, 2018). "Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much". Film Threat. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  6. Josh Sorokach (October 2, 2018). "'Perfect Bid' Tells The Story of The Man Who Outsmarted 'The Price Is Right'". Decider. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  7. "Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  8. "2017 Awards and Nominees". Orlando Film Festival . Retrieved March 2, 2019.

Bibliography