Come on down to the 10,000th episode of ‘The Price Is Right’

This article contains some spoilers for Wednesday’s episode of “The Price Is Right,” airing on CBS at 10 a.m. PT.

It’s only 8:30 a.m. on a Tuesday in early February, but a party is in full swing at a church in Glendale. Though not a religious event, the occasion is certainly historic. This morning, “The Price Is Right” will tape its landmark 10,000th episode at Haven Studios nearby.

Devoted fans of the game show are congregated at the church, which doubles as an audience holding area, and they are decked out in colorful, homemade “The Price Is Right”-themed T-shirts, hats and accessories. They are clapping and dancing to upbeat tunes playing over the sound system and smiling ear to ear. For this lucky group who managed to secure tickets to the milestone episode, airing Wednesday, it is a rare chance to be part of the legacy of the longest-running game show on television.

“The Price Is Right” premiered in 1972 as a half-hour game show, following an earlier version hosted by Bill Cullen from 1956 to 1965. It expanded to an hour in 1975. With host Bob Barker and announcer Johnny Olson (and his catchphrase, “Come on down”), “The Price Is Right” became not only a daytime staple but a cultural institution.

The show remains popular and continues to thrive, thanks to Drew Carey, who took over as host in 2007 after Barker retired (he died in 2023). With a fan base that’s as loyal as ever, tickets to today’s taping were snatched up in mere days.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” says Richard Shannon, a moderator of “The Price Is Right” Reddit community, who is wearing green to symbolize money and a custom-made tie for the occasion.

Shannon, who has flown in from Key Largo, Fla., with his family, is no stranger to the show’s tapings; this is his 16th time attending. A fan of the show for as far back as he can remember, “The Price Is Right” has more recently become a cornerstone of his daily routine. He leaves work each weekday morning to watch the show at home with his octogenarian mother for whom he and his wife, Sherry (a former “The Price Is Right” showcase winner), are caregivers.

Sacramento native Ryan Digman also has a deeply personal connection to the show. Dressed in a yellow T-shirt that reads “I am a dad on a mission to spin the wheel” — a reference to the show’s famous Big Wheel — he shares that Nick, his 8-year-old son with autism, learned some of his first words by watching “The Price Is Right.” A framed photo of Nick is displayed on his shirt, along with bedazzled dollar signs and good luck charms. To nab his spot at the front of the line, Digman arrived at 4:30 a.m. “I’m hoping to get called down. I think my chances are really great,” he says. “My boy is excited to see me get up there.”

Although it may appear spontaneous, contestants are actually selected through brief interviews with a producer during the hours preceding the taping. However, they don’t find out they’ve been chosen until their names are announced. Of the 166 audience members, nine will be called to “come on down” to Bidders’ Row, and six will advance onto the stage.

When the clock strikes 9:45 a.m., it is time for this rowdy bunch, who surrender their cellphones for the taping, to move into the studio. Inside, the brightly lighted room pulses with energy as the dance party continues amid the set’s explosion of bright colors. The show’s iconic logo, dollar signs and daisies dot the walls, with nods to the 10,000th episode, including a 10K-shaped floral arrangement.

The excitement in the audience heightens when announcer George Gray greets the audience. Wearing a black sequin jacket and black shirt embellished with gold stars, he shares instructions while keeping things upbeat, playfully joking with the crowd. “This is way different from when you’re in your underpants on your couch eating Cheerios, yelling at the TV,” he says.

Announcer George Gray greets fans before the episode: “This is way different from when you’re in your underpants on your couch eating Cheerios, yelling at the TV.”

(Sonja Flemming /CBS)

At 10:35 a.m., he kicks off the taping. “Here we go, time to make a little history,” he says before announcing the names of the first four contestants. Among them is Digman.

As the audience cheers, the atmosphere becomes even more electric as Carey — wearing a gold metallic tuxedo jacket, a throwback to Old Hollywood glamour — emerges onstage to a resounding chorus of “Drew! Drew! Drew!”

With his affable nature, Carey leads contestants through the show whose format hasn’t changed since 1975: Bidders’ Row; pricing games; Showcase Showdown, where they spin the Big Wheel; and the final round, Showcase. For the 10,000th episode, however, cash prizes are significantly higher.

Another deviation from the norm is all six models are part of today’s episode: Rachel Reynolds, the longest tenured at over 20 years, along with Amber Lancaster, Manuela Arbeláez, James O’Halloran, Devin Goda and Alexis Gaube. (The show typically features two each episode.)

Digman, whose winning bid advances him to the stage, goes on to win his pricing game. Stunned as he rakes in $100,000, he bursts into tears and drops to the floor overwhelmed with emotion. The crowd goes ballistic for Digman.

Ryan Digman, left, a contestant on “The Price Is Right,” with host Drew Carey.

(Sonja Flemming / CBS)

And therein lies the beauty of “The Price Is Right.” Disneyland may be “the happiest place on Earth,” but “The Price Is Right” gives it a serious run for its money. The audience is so exuberant at times that it’s hard to hear what’s happening onstage as they root for contestants and shout advice, hoping to help them win big. The crowd feels like one big happy family that’s as invested in the outcome as the contestants themselves.

After the 90-minute taping, the audience exits the studio as the celebration continues onstage. Joining the soiree are more of the show’s key figures, including executive producer and showrunner Evelyn Warfel, the first woman to hold this position on the show, and longtime director Adam Sandler (not the actor).

Carey is beaming. “I thought it was a great show,” he says with a bright smile. “I love when the audience is full of superfans because they’re really into the show, and they all know what’s going on.”

He contemplates the show’s landmark achievement, offering that the show’s original producers, Mark Goodson and Bill Todman (who died in 1992 and 1979, respectively), would “be pinching themselves,” he says. “People in the TV business want a pilot to get picked up. They want the first season to go to a second season. They don’t think 10,000 episodes. They think, ‘Let’s have a good run. Let’s buy a house.’”

“The Price Is Right” production room during the 10,000th episode. “People in the TV business want a pilot to get picked up. They want the first season to go to a second season. They don’t think 10,000 episodes,” says host Drew Carey.

(Sonja Flemming / CBS)

Two days later, away from the lights and fanfare, Carey reflects on the journey that brought him to this milestone. Dressed casually in a plaid gray button-down shirt and beige pants, he drinks iced tea at a back-corner booth at Swingers Diner in West Hollywood. An investor in the beloved establishment, he famously paid for writers’ meals here and at Bob’s Big Boy during the 2023 writers’ strike. He first became a customer when “The Price Is Right” taped nearby at Television City, where it was housed for more than 50 years.

Ironically, Carey initially balked at the idea of hosting, telling his agent “F— no.” “I was like, ‘Are you out of your mind? I’m not going to host a game show,’” he says.

After successful turns on “The Drew Carey Show” and “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” Carey decided that moving forward, he would only take on work that was truly fun. He reluctantly shot a pilot for “Power of 10,” a short-lived CBS prime-time game show he would go on to host. But he was steadfast about not adding another game show to his résumé. “I thought ‘The Price Is Right’ was a show that only old people watched … that game shows were something you got stuck with,” he says.

Yet he reconsidered after realizing it could be enjoyable, and it’s safe to say the price was right: At the time, he was looking to buy a soccer team — he became a co-owner of the Seattle Sounders FC — and this opportunity provided the financial boost to do so.

However, he was unfamiliar with “The Price Is Right’s” particulars, so he had to get up to speed quickly, reviewing countless episodes and learning approximately 75 pricing games. Carey also sought advice from Barker, who encouraged him to make the show his own. During Carey’s first season, he “felt like a steward of the show for Bob. I didn’t want to f— it up.” Yet by the following year, he found his groove, incorporating his looser, more improvisational style into the role.

Now, with more than 3,000 episodes under his belt, Carey is at his most confident yet. “I think I’m better than I’ve ever been,” he says. “People tell me, ‘I love how much you’ve grown into this,’ and that they could see me getting better every year, year after year.”

“People tell me, ‘I love how much you’ve grown into this,’ and that they could see me getting better every year, year after year,” Drew Carey says about hosting “The Price Is Right.”

(Sonja Flemming / CBS)

Part of what makes him such a relatable host is his bond with contestants, shaped by his own upbringing in a “lower middle-class” family in Cleveland. Carey shares that he used to detest wealthy people, before laughing and noting the irony — his career has made him rich. Still, he says he has the strongest connection with “regular folks.”

”These are everyday people. That’s the magic of ‘The Price Is Right,’” he says. “We’re having a happy moment together, a common bond as people, and that’s all that matters. Contestants will say to me, ‘Thanks for the car,’ but I didn’t give you a car. CBS bought you a car. I just want to make sure you have a good experience going through this whole thing and that you win.”

Accordingly, Carey changed his introduction at the top of the show, preferring “Here’s your host” to “Here’s the star,” a holdover from Barker’s era. “I don’t think I’m the star of the show. The contestants are the stars of the show,” he says. “The reason that people watch the show is not because they want to see me. They want to see the contestants, the people they relate to, winning prizes.”

Meanwhile, since its debut, “The Price Is Right” has hosted 75,000 contestants, and given away more than $350 million in cash and prizes. Carey says that especially with new technological advances each year, who wouldn’t want to win a brand-new car or appliance? Still, he laughs as he reflects on some of the show’s more peculiar prizes, like a recently featured butter churn. “I remember looking at the camera like, ‘Are you f— serious?’” he says.

“But not all the prizes are aspirational,” he explains. “They’re just there to see if you know the price. It was part of a thing to win a bigger prize.”

As a long-standing signature of the show, prizes are presented by “The Price Is Right” models. But the show’s history with its models has not been without controversy. Over the years, multiple lawsuits were filed by former models, most of which were settled out of court. Allegations included sexual harassment, racial discrimination and wrongful termination. The last lawsuit was filed in 2011; none have ever involved Carey.

The show has since turned the page. In 2012, it began a new chapter by adding male models. Also, Carey has ensured that the models are properly recognized onscreen, with their names in the end credits. He scoffs at the nickname used for the models in the past, “Barker’s Beauties.” “I didn’t like that and didn’t want anything to do with it,” he says. “Am I going to call them ‘Carey’s Cuties’? No. I’m going to call them by their names. They’re people.”

Models Rachel Reynolds and Devin Goda backstage on “The Price Is Right.” The show features four women and two men as models.

(Sonja Flemming / CBS)

Carey has also added a more personal touch to the show’s sign-off. He maintains Barker’s tradition, advising viewers to spay and neuter their pets, but closes each episode with “I love you” and encourages viewers to take care of their mental health. It’s something he takes seriously; he struggled with depression after the death of his father when he was 8 and the trauma of being molested at 9. He attempted suicide twice, at 18 and in his early 20s.

A few months shy of his 67th birthday, Carey looks much younger. He has maintained a slim physique after losing 80 pounds in 2010 and also quitting alcohol. He credits his mental well-being to therapy, meditation, self-help books and a supportive, close-knit group of confidants, each of whom wears a matching friendship bracelet, which he is proudly wearing today.

Still, Carey’s life hasn’t been without its challenges, including the tragic death of his former fiancée Amie Harwick who was murdered in 2020. (Harwick appeared on the 2018 Valentine’s Day episode of “The Price Is Right,” and the couple broke up later that year.) In the devastating aftermath, Carey says the show, which paused production for the week following her death, brings him comfort and meaning. “These last few years have been like a nightmare in a lot of ways … like, really tough for me to go through where I just want to be in bed all day,” he says. “But hosting the show gives me a purpose, and it gives me something to do. I show up at this place where I’m loved and unconditionally taken care of. When I’m at ‘The Price Is Right,’ I’m pain-free.”

In the meantime, shortly after the 10,000th episode airs Feb. 26, “The Price Is Right” will go on hiatus before taping resumes in the summer. Carey will spend some of his downtime traveling. What’s more, and is no surprise to those who read his racy viral social media posts last year about Phish at the Sphere in Las Vegas, he plans to attend the group’s upcoming concert at the Hollywood Bowl. On New Year’s Eve, he deejayed the band’s after-party while wearing a custom black T-shirt that showed that even off the clock, Carey’s heart (and sense of humor) never strays far from the show. Printed across it in bold white letters: “I don’t know the price of anything.”