TPIR - The First Big Wheel

[alyr315]

The rainbow wheel was so much nicer. The little podium for the winner. It was prettier than that big wheel, but since the big wheel is so known, I guess we have to consider this a piece of real estate in price is right history.

[rovert40]

Ah, so this is what that gorgeous thing looked like brand new!

[Jeff98177]

Interesting how the wheel was on the 75-cent section when the first contestant went to spin, rather than the $1.00 section.

[MisterVideoGuy]

I notice the spinning noise is different than that of today's noise. When did it change?

[Tristin471]

wow this wheel was so easy to spin compared to todays wheel

[PatrioticPirate]

WHOA! I haven't seen this version of the Big Wheel since... hell, I swear it was 1976. I was 5 then. I even remember how the beep-beep-beep-beep-beep sounded back then, the exact note...

[Tsukiyomizero]

What the fuck is with her voice? "Stop" sounds like a man with a cold

[TelephoneRock4ever]

So cool! Was this from 1972? The wheel beeps sound really different. And did you notice the bellbottoms those girls were wearing? That was style!

[fballjones]

this was from 1975 when tpir went to a hour

[reanimate280]

mmm those girls look so retro porn starry...bob sank his putter into them after the show you can bet

[DrLove0378]

Bow chicka wow wow!

[Jere616]

pretty cool to see this oldie.

[noneedforclass]

This wheel seems lighter than it got later in the show, maybe they filled it with more blood as the show progressed.

[whitismygurl07]

aren't you so original... you would make dane cook so proud

[noneedforclass]

did it really piss you off that much haha sad day i guess should i pay for your counsoling to be fair anyways sorry for messing up your day haha

[whitismygurl07]

no it didn't make me mad... i thought you could've made something up on your own

[noneedforclass]

haha smoke a bowl and just chill you crazy ass

[CadillacL]

WOW, this is awesome to see.

[shoredude2]

This is not the first spinning of the wheel. The first wheel was used one week during a week of one hour specials (before the show was an hour) and went around sidways and was multi-colored.

[trailblazer91]

its not the first spinning of the wheel, but the first spinning of the big wheel we see on the show today, only modified. that first wheel you're talking about was known as the rainbow wheel.

[PsYcHoFaB]

This is the first "official" showcase showdown.

[bringthatbeatback]

i'd call tjat a great moment in americana history... the first winner of the big wheel was an african american! that truly made me smile

[bluebear1985]

For a brief amount of time there was another wheel, but it was smaller and it stood vertically. It was coloured like a rainbow. I heard it only lasted two weeks or something.

[yolichka1]

You are right, it was really small ! I remember that !!

[mitmfan]

It lasted one week: September 8 - 12, 1975. The Price is Right was trying out its hour format. If you have the TPIR DVD that came out March 2008, then there is an episode on there featuring the Rainbow Wheel, as it was unofficially called.

[gameshowguy2000]

And if I'm not mistaken, there was an episode in the trading circuit that featured the Rainbow Wheel. My guess is that THAT was the one.

[trailblazer91]

there used to be a video response to this that was a clip of the rainbow wheel but for some reason, its not there anymore. there might be another one somehwere out here

[RJS3566]

@gameshowguy2000 it's on youtube.

[UofLCardFan08]

Very cool. I've neve seen this before.

[lvoqr231]

Just so everyone knows this segment is also featured on the best of price is right dvd that came out this year

[iPod465]

what year is this ?

[Wolfman12395]

1975.

[Hondo20132]

Notice that at the end, it said 25 cents for Eleanor's winnings. But when it started to flash, it was quickly corrected to 95.

[TrevWks]

More than three decades and it's still $1000 for for a $1 spin.

[insanityXbillie]

i remember that wheel with the coconut sounds instead of that annoying "nu-nu-nu-nu-nu-nu-nu-nu"

[Hondo20132]

Really? 'Cause those sounds apperantly lasted for less than a month.

[GarthBeatty]

Yes, but you spelt his last name wrong. It's Barker.

[slunacourtier]

You mean Bob Barker?

[namk19]

hmmm here's a thought what about a 0 cent space?

[gamealarm]

No red carpeting?

[da40flyer]

In the first few years, it was the bare stage floor. Then there was a small red oval mat for several years, but people kept slipping on that mat. It's been in the last 10-15 years that the full red carpet was used.

[dickclarkfan1]

This was NOT the first Showcase Showdown. It was the first Showcase Showdown went to a full hour PERMANATELY. The 5 hour daytime specials was when the very first Showcase Showdown was played and featured the rainbow colored wheel.

[burr1aj]

Thats why it says the First Big Wheel.

[burr1aj]

Thats why it says the First Big Wheel.

[CaptainVideo40]

Which is the episode where the wheel broke loose and crashed into a soap opera set?

It sounds like an urban legend to me, because it would probably crush a few people and stop in the audience!

[dickclarkfan1]

Thats a urban legend. However if it would happen, the likely affected soap would be The Young And The Restless which tapes right next door.

[megamanj2004X]

and the Rainbow-colored wheel was also displayed sideways as well.

[mrgutchman]

@dickclarkfan1 does anyone have the clip of the rainbow wheel that can be uploaded here?

[tomgene1976]

Wow the wheel must have been lighter and sounded way different than it does today.

[forteDSX]

Did anyone notice people in the video is spinning the wheel with just one hand? The Big Wheel must've been light back then. Was the wheel made heavy on purpose? I mean, I've heard people on the (present) show comment on how heavy the wheel was.

[JDCoolMan21]

I like how even back in 197*-something (Whenever this was) the bonus was $1,000. When you could buy a brand new car for only $4,500... Why then, today, is the bonus still only $1,000 for getting a dollar? You would think the bonus would be like $5,000 with inflation and what not.

[tsntana]

When did the 15 and 5 turn green?

[steve01659]

December 1978.

[gameshowguy2000]

So that must've also been when the green sections offered a $5,000 bonus.

[steve01659]

Exactly.

[jeopardy60611]

I must have seen one of the first episodes with the bonus spinning because I remember being in Arizona at my grandparents' house in Dec. 1978 and watching a Showcase Showdown with green sections on the wheel.

[jondevon]

Wow! The prototype! It's amazing how much the show didn't change over the years. Basically just the beeper noise, a couple of colors here and there, and Bob's hair color!

[Julius121081]

The wheel for many years was light and went around several times, its not like that nowadays . Its heavy and hard to get it around at least once. It should be like that again

[Gogoschicka1980s]

Did the Big Wheel make that weird clicking noise back then?

[oldcbsfantwo]

Now numbers 15,100,and 5 are in green.

[matchgame90]

Wow, no kidding.

Woolery left wheel recently too.

Schmuck.

[burr1aj]

hahaha. hey, did you check out blockbusters yesterday, its new on NBC! Bill Cullen is hosting it! its pretty sweet.

[gfalcon]

Yeah, but I don't like this idea they have of combining Match Game and Hollywood Squares into one show. Sounds like a bad idea...

[Jtaylor1]

This is the big wheel before they added the green sections, bonus spins, and more bonuses.

[blueberridreams2007]

Whoa, that's so wierd. I've never seen the wheel look like that. I realized that in some videos of Showcase Showdown, the ones from the 70's use different beep noises than the ones I see today on T.V. Personally, I think this sound and the beep sound from 1977 are the best.

[MysticArksRevenge]

I agree with you!

[MysticArksRevenge]

I think so, too, bluberridreams 2007. I think they should bring back the original color scheme of the Big Wheel used in this video, as well as the original color scheme of the Price is Right set from 1972 to June of 1975 before they started using the Rainbow Set.

[weridkonnection]

the lady who won to play in the showcase looks like someone from present day...lol

[steve01659]

1975.

[mobi0501]

what year was this?

[wvoutlaw2002]

Well, with Drew Carey now the host, the Showcase Showdown is now the Showcase Hoedown! Cue music.

Close calls and narrow escapes, but that's another day.

Love to watch The Price Is Right, with them I like to play.

I got on stage to play Plinko in hopes of winning it all.

But all my chips landed in zero, and I cried like Lucille Ball!

[Mattyirish784]

neve rap again

[wvoutlaw2002]

That wasn't a rap. That was an imitation of the Hoedown portion of "Whose Line Is It Anyway".

[halomasterchief14]

ha 25 cents at the end then switched back to 95

[csilver22]

This is great to see - I can't believe this video still exists! It's funny that the prize for hitting $1 is the same today as it was 30+ years ago. I guess the Big Wheel is inflation-proof.

[Zoomer30]

I think they rasied the SCORE sign also, I have heard of quite a few people who hit their head.

Is it just me or do the early TPIR shows sound like they were filmed at a mimes furneral? Sounds like they are in a big empty room :D

[Jeff98177]

HAHAH I was going to say the same thing. The early shots of the audience are funny too, I've seen more animated crowds in dentists waiting rooms. :-)

[leandar]

That is pretty cool to see the wheel's beginnings like that. It does look weird to see them spinning it with one hand, hardly anyone did that later on unless they were fairly strong. And also, with no green sections and the weird sound, indeed the early wheel is kind of a shock nowadays.

[burr1aj]

if you thought that was bad, check out the wheel before this, its in the video responses.

[gsparkway324]

When were the green sections added 1979 or 1980?

[wvoutlaw2002]

They added the green sections and the bonus spin in 1979.

[wontonnoodle23]

What year did this debut?

[trailblazer91]

1975

[wontonnoodle23]

What about the video floating around that has the circular wheel that has it spinning horizontally? What year did that debut?

[wvoutlaw2002]

The sidways rainbow wheel debuted on Labor Day 1975 and lasted one week. The current wheel debuted in January 1976 when the show permanently became hour-long.

[wvoutlaw2002]

Correction: The current wheel debuted in November 1975.

[VerteXpw]

the big wheel was full of blood before? interesting lol

[jp2175]

the wheel sounds like the 3 stooges hitting one another

[luvasia]

lol :)

[Beatleslover13]

I Love THis!

[henrytvwhiz]

In this clip, Bob almost sounds the same as he is today!

[jumptotheledge]

There's a different sound for when the wheel is going around.

[tamalli]

pip-pip-pip-pip- pip - pip - pip

[MysticArksRevenge]

What's wrong with this beeper? I happen to like this one over the one they use today.

[reanimate280]

the beeping pitch was to close to an emergency broadcast signal ...so they changed it to the deeper tone ..so that if someone was taking a shit or just hearing the sound with out seeing the television they wouldnt panic ...its was a cold war thing

[mubd1234]

@reanimate280 I can see how a big person could spin the wheel fast enough to freak out some people.

[luvasia]

Hey, all the ladies wearing the same kinda of pants.:)

[fanieli]

lollllllllllllll

[Kimmypage44]

that beeping is too funny....ahahaha

kp

[1cpw]

Wasn't there a sideways wheel during the trial hour episodes a few months eralier?

[supergentleman]

Yes there was. The Price Is Right had some hour long specials in 1975 for a week, and on those hour long shows, they had a sideways rainbow wheel that only lasted a week.

[freeek04]

the contestants for that shoecase showdown also stood in contestant's row while waiting for their turn.

[wildchats]

The beeping was lower, slower, and the 5 an 15 spots were black. That's the only difference, aside from the wheel being more faster and easier to spin.

[freeek04]

and of course those side panels were gold and not covered in dollar signs.

[wvoutlaw2002]

Plus you could win the $1,000 more than once in case you tied at $1.00 and had a spin-off or two.

[Tyrone181]

The Big Wheel was a LOT easier to spin then as opposed to today.

[RonKind06]

Also, i hear that the old wheel was filled with blood.

[wvoutlaw2002]

Not really because some contestants banged up their knuckles on those pegs on the spinner's side. That led to them replacing those pegs with the handles that are still on the wheel to this day.