September 4, 1972: The Price Is Right returns to CBS. The original version had been hosted by Bill Cullen. This one is hosted by Bob Barker, and he remained the host until 2007. Announcer Johnny Olson (who died in 1985) hadn't yet developed the classic call-up: "Come on down!"
The full-hour show started with 4 contestants, each trying to guess the price of an item on the stage, presented by the female models who would eventually be known as "Barker's Beauties" -- some of whom would eventually sue him for sexual harassment. Whichever of the 4 came the closest to "the actual retail price" without going over was the winner, and got to play a "pricing game," in which they had to guess the prices of items, or drop a digit in the prices, or rearrange the prices to the correct items. The prizes could range from the actual items on the stage up to, as Olson would gleefully shout, "A new car!"
The show was taped at CBS Television City in Burbank, California, and all prices were based on a survey of stores in the Los Angeles metropolitan area that month.
This would be repeated until there were 3 semifinalists. Those 3 would spin a Big Wheel with sub-dollar prices on its panels, and the one who came the closest to getting $1.00 would advance to the final. If they got $1.00 even, they won a bonus, and a chance to win more money with another spin. Then they would repeat the process, until there were 3 more semifinalists, and another Big Wheel spin to produce another finalist.
Each finalist went to a "Showcase Showdown," where a whole set of prizes would be strung together. Usually, one would conclude with a new car, the other with a major all-expenses-paid vacation in some exotic location. (Sometimes, it would be an American city, but, since they taped in Burbank, it would never be Los Angeles. On the rare occasion that it was New York, I, growing up near that city, found it funny.) Again, the closest bid to the actual price of the total package, without going over, won.
There was also a half-hour version, airing weekly on Saturday nights, with 3 rounds, no Big Wheel, and of the 3 winners, the 2 with the prizes totaling the most worth advanced to the Showcase Showdown.
Wisely settling the lawsuits rather than risk any further damage to his good name by going to trial and losing, Barker was still considered too popular for CBS to fire, and was allowed to leave on his own terms. In 2007, finally giving in to age, the 84-year-old Barker handed the show off to comedian and former sitcom star Drew Carey. As of September 4, 2022, the show is still on the air, and Carey is still the host. (UPDATE: Barker died in 2023, 4 months short of what would have been his 100th birthday.)
The Joker's Wild also premiered on CBS on September 4, 1972, rehabilitating scandalized 1950s game show host Jack Barry. Alan Thicke, later the star of Growing Pains and father of singer Robin Thicke, was one of the writers of the theme song.
When The Joker's Wild was syndicated in New York on WOR-Channel 9 (now WWOR), it became my favorite game show as a kid -- mainly because, unlike The Price Is Right and Match Game, it aired after school, instead of during, so I got to see it regularly. (To my mother's dismay: I don't know if she objected to me watching so much TV, or to this show in particular.)
Barry hosted the show until he died of a heart attack in 1984. He was 66. Bill Cullen then hosted until it was canceled in 1986. The show has been revived in 1990-91, in syndication, with Pat Finn as host; and in 2017-19, on TNT, hosted by Snoop Dogg.
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September 4, 1972 was a Monday, Labor Day. In the years to come, CBS would air reruns of The Price Is Right on Labor Day, because the holiday weekend coincided with the Minnesota State Fair, and Barker became a regular guest there, running Price Is Right-like games.
At the time, Labor Day was still a day when baseball teams tended to host doubleheaders. These games were played:
* The New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles split a doubleheader at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The O's won the opener, 4-3. Fritz Peterson pitched well for 6 innings, but manager Ralph Houk brought Sparky Lyle in too soon. Though he saved 35 games this season, a major league record that would last all of 1 year, he gave up 3 runs in the 7th and 1 in the 8th, to lose. Oddly, O's starter Doyle Alexander, who would go on to pitch well both for and against the Yankees, left after 3 innings, and a former Yankee farmhand, Roric Harrison, went the rest of the way for the win.
The Yanks won the nightcap, 5-2. Rob Gardner won it, and Lyle saved it, defeating future Yankee Pat Dobson. Bobby Murcer hit a home run. For the Orioles, Mark Belanger, perhaps the greatest of the "good-field-no-hit" shortstops, hit a home run, 1 of only 20 he would hit in an 18-year career. He batted .228 lifetime, but won 8 Gold Gloves. Over the 2 games, Brooks Robinson went 3-for-7 with a walk.
* The New York Mets split a doubleheader with the Chicago Cubs at Shea Stadium. The Cubs won the 1st game, 2-0. Fergie Jenkins pitched a 4-hit shutout to beat Jon Matlack. Carmen Fanzone and Ron Santo hit home runs. The Mets won the 2nd game, 7-2. Gary Gentry outpitched Juan Pizarro. After not playing in the 1st game, Willie Mays went 1-for-3. Bud Harrelson and Ted Martínez each had 3 hits.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates swept the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-0 and 5-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Steve Blass pitched a 5-hit shutout in the 1st game. Al Oliver hit 2 home runs. Over the 2 games, Roberto Clemente went 2-for-7 with a walk and an RBI, and Willie Stargell went 5-for-8 with a home run, a walk and 3 RBIs. For the Phillies, hope was on the way: Mike Schmidt made his major league debut 8 days later.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline appeared as a defensive replacement, and didn't get to bat.
* The Minnesota Twins swept the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 and 4-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ray Corbin pitched a 4-hit shutout in the 2nd game. Over the 2 games, Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-7 with an RBI, and Rod Carew went 1-for-8.
* A doubleheader was split at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Boston Red Sox won the 1st game, 2-0. In the 1st game, Carl Yastrzemski hit a home run off Jim Lonborg, the 1967 American League Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award winner on opposite sides. Lonborg was outpitched by Luis Tiant, who threw a 5-hit shutout. The Milwaukee Brewers won the 2nd game, 6-2. Over the 2 games, Yaz went 5-for-7 with a home run, a walk and 2 RBIs.
* A doubleheader was split at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The Montreal Expos won the 1st game, 1-0. Carl Morton pitched a 5-hit shutout, outpitching Bob Gibson. The St. Louis Cardinals won the 2nd game, 8-7.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers, 4-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 6-5 at the Astrodome in Houston. The Braves scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th to come from behind and win. Hank Aaron did not start in the game, but went 1-for-2 with 2 RBIs after pinch-hitting.
* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 1-0 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Mike Corkins (4 hits over 6 innings) and Gary Ross combined on a 5-hit shutout.
* A doubleheader was split at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Dodgers won the 1st game, 6-5. The Cincinnati Reds scored 2 runs in the top of the 9th to tie the game, but the Dodgers won it in the bottom of the 9th, on a ground-rule double by Manny Mota that scored Bill Russell.
The Reds won the 2nd game, 8-4. Over the 2 games, Pete Rose went 3-for-11 with an RBI, and Johnny Bench went 2-for-7 with a home run, 3 walks, and an RBI.
* And a doubleheader was split at the Oakland Coliseum. The Oakland Athletics won the 1st game, 10-5. John "Blue Moon" Odom was the winning pitcher, and, in this last month before the American League adopted the designated hitter, hit a home run in his own cause. The California Angels won the 2nd game, 2-1. Nolan Ryan outpitched Joe Horlen. Over the 2 games, Reggie Jackson went 2-for-5 with a walk and 2 RBIs.
This was also the day of Game 2 of the "Summit Series," and Canada beat the Soviet Union, 4-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
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