Written by Tanya Terry, with photos courtesy of FIM
Featured photo: Attendees to ‘The Price is Right Live!’ can win new cars, vacations and household appliances, along with smaller prizes.
‘The Price is Right Live!’– the hit interactive stage show – is headed to Flint for an October 21 interactive stage show. The show was created in 2001, and the host told the Courier it remains fresh every time!
“In the words of the iconic Bob Barker himself, he said to take a little bit of Hollywood out across the country so that folks from coast to coast would have the chance to play the games they love from television and win fabulous prizes without having to go all the way out to Hollywood to do it,” shared Todd Newton, the host of “The Price is Right Live!”
The live show is very similar to the TV show, yet it remains unique.
“The Price is Right Live!” is owned and produced by the same powerhouse that owns and produces many other popular shows: global media production company Fremantle. The iconic production duo Mark Goodson and Bill Todman were the original creators of “”Family Feud” and “The Price Is Right” (including its touring stage version, “The Price Is Right Live!” Fremantle later took ownership of the entire Mark Goodson Productions catalog. In the U.S., American Idol is produced by Freemantle, as well. The game shows “Let’s Make a Deal” and “Press Your Luck” have also been picked up by the same media production company.
“When they saw a spot in the game show world to take this out and do it live from beautiful theaters across America, they seized it,” stated Newton. “And they’ve continued to support it and allow it to grow. And it’s working. It’s beautiful.”
By the time Drew Carey became host of “The Price Is Right” in 2007, “The Price Is Right Live!” had already been touring for several years.
Still, Newton, who became interested in game show hosting by age 12, spoke highly of the teacher-student relationship he had with Barker. Newton was hosting a game show called “Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck” on the Game Show Network, which was also produced by FremantleMedia. At the time, he would also go to tapings of “The Price is Right” two or three days a week for, for months on end, while they were taping. Barker would ask him what he saw and what he would do differently.
“He used to always say to me that ‘The Price is Right’ comes with a lot of emotion. This show means something to people. We were introduced to it by our parents, some of us, even our grandparents. There are wonderful memories tied to this show.”
Newton and his crew rotate as many of the over 100 different games from the television show’s history as possible on the live show. Pinko is played each night, along with spinning the wheel for the Showcase Showdown being done twice nightly.
“Even if you’ve seen our show in the past, this 2026 version is bigger and better and louder and more fun than we’ve ever had. We hope you’ll grab the family or grab your coworkers. It’s the perfect night out. It’s great for people of all ages. You do have to be 18 to play, but all ages are welcome to be in the audience. And it’s just a beautiful night out for people that love game shows and that love camaraderie and that loud, rambunctious fun that can only come from ‘The Price is Right.”’
Tickets are available online at https://tickets.thefim.org, or by calling the FIM Ticket Center at 810-237-7333.
