Would You Run For 236 Hours For One Minute of Airtime With Bob Barker?

A Blast from the Past     

I did just that ten times over when I visited CBS Television Studios for a taping of The Price is Right at the end of my solo run across America on trails in 1998. I ran for roughly 140,000 hours in my run across the country and was rewarded with 10 minutes of airtime with Bob Barker on the show. During the taping, he stopped the show three times to ask me questions about the trip. It was over so quickly; I was in complete shock the entire time. No one knows who will be picked when they sit down in the frigidly cold studio audience after waiting outside for hours. Everyone hopes they will hear their name but in each show, only 9 out of more than 300 get called to "come on down". I was the first in the second half to get to jog down the aisle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=autFqYoRk1Q 

My first two attempts to get on stage were a disaster. In the last chance, I bid on a collection of stuffed teddy bears. All of us in contestant's row had an expression on our face as if the elevator doors in Sears had just opened and we found ourselves in a hookah bar on Neptune. Teddy Bears?! Who's up on market segmentation of children's furry things? Luckily, none of us were. Added bonus: I was the last bidder. Everyone else bid higher than I thought the bears were worth so I went with the classic $1 bid. It just felt like the right thing to do, perhaps a spirit of Wilford Brimley was sitting on my shoulder that day, whispering into my tanned ear.

Whatever the reason, I won the bears and then went on to play One Right Price on stage. I had to pick which trip went with the one price tag and I was leaning towards Hawaii, rather than Canada but as I looked back into the audience, my two friends were holding up the letter "C" with their hands. A woman behind them leaned forward and mentioned that she had just come back from there and it seemed like the right price. It was and I won.

Soon after, I got to spin the big wheel. During a commercial break waiting for the spinning to commence, the producer asked the three of us if we had any questions. I took the opportunity to ask about the wheel. Being sensitive to Mr. Barker's veganism, he said the axle of the wheel sits in a natural fibrous material (leather). They can tighten the leather to change the speed of the wheel and also grease it on occasion, both of which affect the spin. There didn't appear to be any secret floor foot pedal on stage for Bob to stop the wheel should he want to, as I and my friends had long conspiratorially believed.

Though I was the top winner in the second half of the show and had the last spin, I couldn't beat the two women ahead of me who tied for a spinoff. I can't complain though, in 10 minutes of stagework, I had won over $8000 in prizes (and thus was subject to over $500 in California state income taxes).

Back home after the run, I began getting paperwork from the show to schedule my free trips. When I asked about the status of the bears, they told me there was a sourcing error at the manufacturer but I would receive them shortly by mail. It took several months but just prior to getting the UPS notice that they were on their way, I received a message from one of the show's managers. He said in all sincerity and seriousness, "Brian, we will get you your bears if it's the last thing we do."

Two huge boxes arrived a few days later and I was surrounded by a collection of the softest bed friends any five year old could want. But I was past that stage in life (well, mostly) so after selecting the smallest one to keep as a memento I was able to sell the rest which paid off the taxes on the winnings. Enjoy the clip.