The Price Is (Exactly) Right

Enter here to win tickets to the Louisiana premiere at the Joy Theatre Saturday, January 13 at 8 pm!

Forget English proficiency and citizenship tests. If immigrants want to truly understand America, they should study the true factor that unites all Americans: the long-running classic game show The Price Is Right. Generations of Americans milked sore throats and faked fevers to stay home from school and watch watch Bob Barker and his bevy of beauties give away a random assortment of precisely priced prizes; the beauties eventually included both sexes, the priceless Barker was replaced by affable TV mainstay Drew Carey, and inflation slowly drove up the price of Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt, but the show's charm has endured. A new documentary The Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much, from Baton Rouge producer Mallory Kennedy and director CJ Wallis, examines the scandal that emerged from a rare perfect bid.

In 2008, this classic bit of Americana was struck by scandal: a contestant named Terry Kneiss (pronounced "niece") guessed the exact value of the prizes in the Showcase Showdown, the finale of each episode that offers a five-figure package of goodies for bidding. This had never before happened. Kneiss claimed a combination of research, lucky numbers, and help from his wife had led to the winning bid, but sharp-eyed tape reviewers believed they'd seen him receiving advice from an audience member. (Which is within the rules, presumably partly because it had never before or since led to a perfect bid).

Kneiss' alleged ace in the hole was a superfan named Ted Slauson, a math teacher turned standardized test author who had been tracking the prices of items on the show since the Nixon administration. Slauson regularly appeared in the studio audience of the show, signaling wise bids to people he had befriended in line outside the studio. Kneiss kept his winnings, but the appearance if not the fact of trickery led to a scandal, with both Kneiss and Slauson claiming to have been the man behind the perfect bid. Slauson has happily participated in the documentary; Kneiss has not.

Kennedy noted that, not least because of Slauson's outspokenness and wit, the documentary is very funny, with a feel more like a comedy that a traditional documentary mood. She described the film as a love letter to this slice of Americana, as well as to long-time host Bob Barker, who participated in The Perfect Bid, as did The Price Is Right producer Roger Dobkowitz.

The documentary will have its Louisiana premiere January 13 at 8 pm at the Joy Theater. Tickets are $17.50-$25, and the evening will include a Q&A with Wallis, Slauson, and Dobkowitz. To win tickets, enter here.

The film will have a DVD release and hit streaming services in April; more information at perfectbidmovie.com.