The Price Is Right Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Bonkers is a game that combines elements of Race Game, Split Decision and One Away, played with a single prize.

Gameplay[]

  • The contestant is shown an incorrect price (with only digits 3-8) and is given a 30-second time limit to correctly decide whether each digit in the correct price is higher or lower than the one shown. To do this, the contestant is given four discs, each of which is to be placed appropriately on the game board above or below one digit. Once all four discs are placed, the contestant presses a button on a separate platform and a sound effect indicates whether or not the discs are correctly placed.
  • If all four discs are placed correctly, the contestant wins the prize. If even one disc is in the wrong place, a buzzer sounds and the contestant must make changes without being told how many digits are wrong or which ones are wrong. They must continue until they have correctly placed all the discs or their time runs out. If the discs are not correctly placed when the time expires, the contestant loses. If time expires while the contestant is making a change, he or she is usually permitted to finish the change and confirm the final guess. Likewise, if one of the disks falls out after it is placed, the contestant is usually told not to go back and replace it, and just go ahead and hit the button.

Strategy[]

  • The best opening move is to go with the odds: Put the paddle above any number that is 5 or lower and below anything that is 6 or higher. This is the winning combination over a third of the time.[1]
  • If you get it wrong, it is best to change only one paddle per attempt. Using a swapping order inspired by Gray code, you can try all 16 possibilities using only 15 total swaps. Which number you should change first depends on the odds, the numbers, and the prize. For example, if there is an 8, it's much less likely to be higher than a 6 since there's only one possible digit instead of three.
  • Keep in mind that the show no longer offers prize packages under $5000, meaning there are actually only eight possible combinations if the first digit is a 5 or lower.
  • It is recommended to not look at the audience for help, as this consumes time. The key to winning it is simply getting as many guesses as possible from not having feedback on incorrect digits. Drew Carey usually advises contestants this information.

History[]

  • Bonkers debuted on September 24, 2001 (#1871K, aired out of order on October 1), and was created by then-host and executive producer Bob Barker. It was originally scheduled to premiere on September 18, 2001 (#1862K, aired out of order on September 25), but instead was replaced with Range Game for reasons unspecified. It may be because they were still working the bugs out of the game's tech.
  • On the game's first playing, the actual price was revealed with a price tag held by model Heather Kozar. It was also the game's first win. From the game's second playing (October 9, 2001, #1892K) on, the correct price now flips downward from under the game's prop after a button is pressed.
  • The game has malfunctioned on at least two occasions, resulting in confusion. On October 17, 2002 (#2264K), contestant Ron made a last-second change from the correct placement to an incorrect placement but the production staff had already signaled a win with the "winning" bells and the correct placement lighting up, thinking Ron would leave it there. Ron subsequently returned the markers to the correct placement and was signaled with a buzzer, before the winning bells sounded again and the clock set back to 30 seconds. Confused Ron changed one of the markers, before Barker finally stopped him. The prize was ultimately awarded to Ron after some additional confusion.
  • On June 2, 2008 (#4361K), the light sequence used at the start of the game, which normally stops as a contestant places discs, continued to flash. The producers awarded contestant Katie Hurst the prize, despite her failure in the game, with host Drew Carey stating the decision was based on the potential of the lights confusing a contestant (which also violated CBS Standards & Practices since the game's lights are not supposed to flash during regular gameplay).
  • On September 24, 2008 (#4433K), Drew made the buzzer sound at the start. The game was won on the first attempt, and Drew was so happy he forgot to reveal the price.
  • On February 12, 2015 (#7004K), contestant David Rowe moved the board while playing the game. After losing, the lights still did not turn on that showed the proper placement (which was the exact opposite of what he had on his last instance) while revealing the price and they thought the machine was unplugged before the lights finally turned on.
  • On April 19, 2016 (#7502K), the second disc fell when contestant Charley Casper put it on the lower part, but he still managed to win anyway.
  • Bonkers was played three in the Primetime edition. The first two were won. The first was to Salute the U.S. Marines on June 7, 2002 (#004SP, aired out of order on June 20) and the second was on March 27, 2004 (#015SP), the 9th Million Dollar Spectacular, Saluting Colleges & Universities.
  • The game has been won 143 times and on 46 of them, the contestant got it right on the first try.[1]
  • Although never on-air, the losing horns were used on June 23, 2015 (#7192K, aired out of order on May 20) December 28, 2017 (#8144K), April 15, 2021 (#9394K), and May 21, 2021 (#9445K).
  • On October 26, 2016 (#7663K), during Big Money Week, a special cash bonus was added to Bonkers, where a contestant would receive $1,000 for every second remaining on the clock. However, contestant Janet Smith won neither the prize nor the bonus.
  • On March 7, 2018 (#8243K, aired out of order on January 10), contestant Desmond Jamison won a $20,000 bonus for being the first contestant to win their pricing game during PCH week. It was played in the first slot.
  • On December 28, 2018 (#8555K, aired out of order on December 27), Carla Mirabelli was confused by this game, but managed to win a kitchen package worth $6,804 in two very slow attempts.
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, the contestant is instructed to push the button to reveal the price when the game is over, similar to Cover Up.

Trivia[]

  • The most number of times this game was played in any season was 22 (season 30), while the least number of times this game was played in any season was 6 (season 36).
  • Bonkers has never been played for a car, and never will be under the current rules, since all cars are worth over $10,000 now, unless the first number is given for free.

Appearances Outside of The Price Is Right[]

  • As part of a promotion by CBS (which is partners with Warner Bros. on another venture, the CW network) to promote Drew Carey as the show's new host, the Bonkers prop was brought to The Ellen DeGeneres Show for a promotional event during DeGeneres' interview with Carey.
Bonkers on Ellen

International versions[]

  • On the British One-Off pilot from 2017, hosted by Alan Carr, it was one of the two new games that was being borrowed from the American version; the other was Pay the Rent.
  • On the Netherlands Cash & Carlo, it was played under the title "Hurry Up" (no translation).
  • On the Vietnamese Hãy Chọn Giá Đúng, the game was titled "Đếm Ngược" (Countdown). However, the game had some different rules: The contestant has 60 seconds (instead of just 30) to put the chips on the board; however, the distance between the board and the button is further. Sometimes the game has five-digit prices, in this case, the first digit is given correctly. They revealed prices like the former reveal that was only used during the first Bonkers playing. Also, in Vietnam the incorrect price has all digits from 0-9, and one contestant (shown here) put "lower than 0" from the beginning until time's up.

Gallery[]

To view the images, click here.

YouTube Links[]

Bonkers went Bonkers (October 17, 2002, #2264K)
A Perfect Bonkers Win from 2005! (May 25, 2005, #3293K)
A Bonkers Win in Two Tries and Five Seconds Left! (March 20, 2007, #3922K)
A Perfect Bonkers Win from 2008! (September 24, 2008, #4433K)
A Perfect Bonkers Win from 2013! (January 11, 2013, #6175K, aired out of order on October 19, 2012)
A Last Second Bonkers Win from 2013! (February 1, 2013, #6205K, aired out of order January 11, 2013)
Another Perfect Bonkers Win! (January 31, 2014, #6595K)
A Last Second Bonkers Win! (October 14, 2014, #6842K, aired out of order on October 13)
Another Perfect Bonkers Win! (November 7, 2014, #6875K)


2000s Pricing Games
Flip Flop | Triple Play | That's Too Much! | Bonkers | Pass the Buck | Step Up | On the Spot | Time is Money (1) | Coming or Going | ½ Off | Pocket ¢hange | Balance Game (2) | Stack the Deck | More or Less | Gas Money
Active Pricing Games
Any Number | Bonus Game | Double Prices | Grocery Game | Clock Game | Five Price Tags | Most Expensive | Money Game | Range Game | Hi Lo | Lucky Seven | Temptation | Shell Game | Card Game | Race Game | Ten Chances | Golden Road | One Right Price | Danger Price | 3 Strikes | Cliff Hangers | Safe Crackers | Dice Game | Bullseye (2) | Switcheroo | Hole in One (or Two) | Squeeze Play | Secret 'X' | Take Two | Punch-A-Bunch | Bargain Game | Grand Game | Now....or Then | Check Game | Check-Out | Pick-A-Pair | Plinko | Master Key | One Away | Pathfinder | Spelling Bee | Make Your Move | 2 for the Price of 1 | Swap Meet | Pick-A-Number | Switch? | Cover Up | Side by Side | Freeze Frame | Shopping Spree | Eazy as 1-2-3 | It's in the Bag | Line 'Em Up | One Wrong Price | Push Over | Let 'Em Roll | Flip Flop | Triple Play | That's Too Much! | Bonkers | Pass the Buck | Coming or Going | ½ Off | Pocket ¢hange | Balance Game (2) | Stack the Deck | More or Less | Gas Money | Rat Race | Pay the Rent | Double Cross | Do The Math | Time is Money (2) | Vend-O-Price | Hot Seat | Gridlock! | Back to '74 | To The Penny
  1. 1.0 1.1 [1]
Advertisement