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One Away is a game played for a car where each digit in a fake retail price of a car prize is "one away", up or down, from the correct digit.

After guessing the numbers, the contestant asks the question: "Ladies/Gentlemen/Oh, Mighty Sound Effects Lady, do I have [at least/all] X number[s] right?"

Gameplay[]

  • The contestant is shown the wrong price for the car (colored in black), with each digit one higher (colored in blue) or lower (colored in red) than the actual digit in the price (zero and nine are considered to be one away from each other in this game). The contestant is asked to change each digit to the right digit.
  • After all five digits are changed, the contestant is requested to ask the backstage directors (who, specifically, have changed; see History) if they have one, then two, then three, then four and then five numbers right, in order, and is met with a car horn each time the answer is "yes" (on the game's first playing a series of bells were heard). If every number is wrong, the losing horns play instead of a car horn and the contestant loses automatically (a very rare event that occurred only four times; see below). Otherwise, the contestant is given one more opportunity to change however many digits they have wrong, without being told which specific digits are correct. The price is then revealed one digit at a time until the result is determined or inferred by the number of digits changed.
  • Perhaps ironically, one of the best outcomes a contestant could have would be to only have one number right after the first round of picks, because the first number of a car price is almost always obvious.

History[]

  • One Away first premiered on December 4, 1984 (#5512D). On its first playing, it was won.
  • One Away was played for cars less than $10,000 during the 1980s with a dollar sign placed on the first panel. In the early 1990s, it was frequently played for luxury cars. The game itself made it easily compatible with four-digit cars and five-digit cars. One Away has been played for five-digit cars exclusively since April 6, 1989 (#7224D).
  • Though the board was the same throughout the years, on May 17, 2000 (#1453K), the One Away neon sign was removed and replaced with a regular sign, due to repeated malfunctions with the neon inside it. The neon sign titled the game as “One away”, while the current sign had the proper title.
  • During Bob Barker's tenure, contestants were instructed to ask, "Ladies (or until February 27, 1995, #9481D, Gentlemen), do I have at least one number right?" On its first playing, however, contestant Susan Williams asked, "Gentlemen, let me hear the chimes", and dings were used instead of horns.
  • On another playing where dings were used instead of horns, Bob said "I wanna do it with a little horn!", and asking how many numbers she has right; each digit was revealed one-by-one until the final digit revealed. After that playing, Bob would ask "Ladies/Gentlemen, how many numbers do we have right?" followed by a series of honks for the number of correct digits. Occasionally, he would prompt the contestant to "ask for the honks" instead. On April 22, 1985 (#5701D), the format was changed to what it currently is today, initially having Bob say the phrase while also allowing contestants to ask for honks, while later letting the contestant ask for all of the honks later in 1985. Drew Carey instructs the contestants to use phrasing such as "Oh, mighty sound effects lady...", and has offered a variety of adjectives over his tenure. Usually, the contestant will be asked to kneel while asking if all five numbers are correct (sometimes, in this case, the question is changed to "...do I win the car?"). On the short-lived Doug Davidson version in 1994, contestants asked, "People in control..." Whenever the game was played on Tom Kennedy's syndicated version, instead of the contestant asking how many numbers were right, Tom did so himself, without addressing anyone.
  • The game has used four different horns. The first premiered on either the second or third playing (December 12, 1984 [#5523D] or December 17, 1984 [#5531D]), the second premiered on January 2, 1985 (#5543D), the third premiered on March 27, 1985 (#5663D), and the current horn premiered on September 11, 1985 (#5793D).
  • On July 1, 1985 (#5781D), contestant James lost the four-digit version of the game on his first try.
  • On February 23, 1988 (#6772D), a contestant playing the four-digit incarnation of One Away lost by getting no correct numbers on her first try.
  • On March 3, 1989 (#7175D), a mistake occurred when the third digit was a 1 as the wrong number, while the actual price had a six as the third number. While contestant Imogene did lose the car, as a result of this mistake, Imogene was awarded the car at the beginning of the second Showcase Showdown.
  • On May 28, 1990 (#7691D), a contestant named Jacqueline Graves lost the game on her first try, while playing for a Lincoln Mark VII. Before the reveal, the audience booed at her selected price of $12,751, to which Bob humorously chided the audience by saying, "Now, look. Don't start throwing things, you might hit me!" The audience then laughed. After Jacqueline politely asked "Gentlemen, do I have at least one number right?", the gentlemen were silent, but then played the foghorn and the losing horns. Bob Barker was confused as to whether or not that meant Jaqueline had no numbers right, and asked, "Was that a horn?" and was dismayed to learn Jacqueline indeed had no numbers right, although he claimed that it did happen once before. As the price was revealed to be $30,973, Bob explained a new Lincoln Mark VII would not have a 1 for the first digit, which is why the audience booed her before. (A man in the audience yelled "Give it to her!" Bob jokingly and sarcastically responded "'Give it to her!'" and chided to that response with, “I’m about as apt to give it to her as I am to give her my house!” and the man humorously replied, "Give her your house!")
  • On January 21, 1993 (#8664D), the horn sound effect normally played for this game was mistakenly used at first when the mountain climber fell off the cliff during Cliff Hangers, instead of the normal crashing noise. It then played a few seconds later.
  • On February 22, 2008 (#024SP), the first The Price is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular since Carey began hosting, a $1,000,000 bonus was offered if contestant Bronson Pasquale Farr could guess the price correctly on the first attempt (a rare feat that happened on several occasions in the daytime show). Unfortunately, it was lost.
  • During an October 2008 taping that aired on December 10, 2008 (#4543K), one of the models, Tamiko Nash, assisted in turning the panels. This was a one-time situation, as host Drew Carey was injured and the gameplay was adjusted to compensate for his foot injury. The episode that was originally scheduled for December 16, 2008 (#4552K, aired out of order on November 19), also from an October taping, was played in the same manner, which Carey also asked for the correct numbers on this episode (which was for time constraints; one of the Showcases that day had a The Bold and the Beautiful appearance, resulting in extra time).
  • On April 1, 2010 (#5104K), Mimi Bobeck from The Drew Carey Show, played by Kathy Kinney, took over as the "sound effects lady" and triggered the horn from her desk on the turntable.
  • On October 17, 2014 (#6845K, aired out of order on October 16), during Dream Car Week, a Tesla Model S worth $79,320 was offered to a woman named Vanessa Ansoorian, and was won.
  • On June 22, 2016 (#7593K), Sarah Ellis played this game for a Mini Cooper priced at $22,050. She got all 5 numbers right on her first try, with increasingly dramatic bribes for the mighty sound effects lady.
  • On October 10, 2016 (#7641K) Tracy Thomas was instructed to ask, "Oh, Mighty Tiffany of the Deal." (Let’s Make a Deal model Tiffany Coyne made a special guest appearance on the show.)
  • On October 12, 2017 (#8044K), during Dream Car Week, One Away was played for a $75,130 Mercedes-Benz E550 Cabriolet. Unfortunately, it was lost.
  • On February 21, 2020 (#9035K), during Dream Car Week, One Away was played for a $60,795 2019 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 1LT. It was lost, disappointing special guest Kurt Busch.
  • On November 2, 2021 (#9592K), Drew announces that he's learned that the sound effects are now being run by a gentleman; in spite of this, he continues the "Oh Mighty Sound Effects Lady" routine.
  • On September 20, 2022 (#9902K), a contestant named Paul Reyes lost the game on the first try, for the first time since May 28, 1990 (#7691D) and the first time with Drew Carey. However, he would become the first contestant to win the Showcase Showdown by getting the $1,000 bonus and winning his Showcase, despite wiping out of this pricing game earlier.

Trivia[]

  • The most number of times this game was played in any season was 34 (season 20), while the least number of times this game was played in any season was 11 (season 39).
  • As shown in this image, the odds of winning this game going in blindly are 5 in 32, or 15.625%.
  • One Away was one of seven pricing games seen on the second taping session of Season 36, which was seen on October 16, 2007 (#4042K, aired out of order on October 29), October 30, 2007 (#4062K, aired out of order on October 15), November 8, 2007 (#4074K, aired out of order on January 22, 2008), and November 21, 2007 (#4093K, aired out of order on October 22).
  • Originally, when One Away was lost, the foghorn sounded. From the 1990s and 2000s, the buzzer instead sounded for losses. This change was reverted sometime in the 2010s.
  • The game's sound effects when a wipeout occurs are inconsistent:
    • On July 1, 1985 (#5781D), it used a buzzer followed by the losing horns.
    • On May 28, 1990 (#7691D), it used the foghorn followed by the losing horns.
    • On September 20, 2022 (#9902K), just the losing horns are used.
  • Paul Reyes was the first contestant to win the showcase despite wiping out of this pricing game on September 20, 2022 (#9902K).

Foreign versions of One Away[]

  • One Away is played on versions of The Price is Right in numerous countries besides the United States, using anywhere from four to six digits and generally holding to its American rules. The only version known to be significantly different from the original was that found on the UK version of the show; on that program, the game was played for prizes with 3-digit prices, and contestants were given only one chance to guess the price.
  • On most foreign versions of the show, contestants are simply given a series of bells after their first turn to indicate how many numbers they have right. However, Cash en Carlo in the Netherlands does have its contestants ask for bells one at a time, although the question is directed at the announcer instead of the sound effects operator.

Pictures[]

To view the gallery, click here.

YouTube Videos[]

Awkward Price Reveal (May 2, 1985, #5714D)
4-Digit One Away Wipeout with Bob Barker (July 1, 1985, #5781D)
5-Digit One Away Wipeout with Bob Barker (May 28, 1990, #7691D)
A Perfect One Away from 1991 (September 11, 1991, #8093D)
Perfect One Away Win from Season 35 (March 27, 2007, #3932K)
Last One Away Win under Bob Barker's tenure (June 13, 2007, #4033K)
The First Playing with Drew Carey (October 16, 2007, #4042K, aired out of order on October 29)
A Perfect One Away from 2012 (October 3, 2012, #6053K, aired out of order on October 24)
A Perfect One Away from 2013 (January 25, 2013, #6195K, aired out of order on February 19, originally rescheduled to air on February 22)
Jake wins big on One Away (February 27, 2013, #6243K)
Another Perfect One Away from 2013 (June 13, 2013, #6394K)
A Win from 2014 (March 6, 2014, #6644K)
A Tesla Win from Dream Car Week (October 17, 2014, #6845K, aired out of order on October 16) One Away Wipeout under Drew Carey’s tenure (September 20, 2022, #9902K)

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