Changes: One Away

Revision as of 15:10, 22 June 2016

So called, because every number in a false price of the car is "one away" from the correct number.

It is the game, after guessing the numbers, the contestant asks the question: "Ladies/Gentlemen/Oh Mighty Sound Effects Lady, do I have (at least/all) # number(s) right?"

Gameplay

The contestant is shown an incorrect 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 of the digits to the correct 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 contestant immediately loses (a very rare event that occurred on May 28, 1990, when contestant Jacqueline Graves lost a $30,973 Lincoln Mark VII, guessing that the first number was a 1; 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's price is almost always obvious.

History

One Away first premiered on December 4, 1984. 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 trilon. In the early 1990s, it was frequently played for luxury cars. The game itself made it easily compatible for four-digit cars and five-digit cars.
Though the board was the same throughout the years, on May 17, 2000, the One Away neon sign was removed and replaced with a regular sign. That's because the neon sign continued to malfunction.
During Bob Barker's tenure, contestants were instructed to ask, "Ladies (or until March 8, 1995, Gentlemen), do I have at least one number right?" On its first playing, however, Bob asked the gentlemen how many numbers she had right, and dings were used instead of horns, and 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. By late 1985, the format was changed to what it currently is today. Drew Carey instructs the contestants to use a phrasing such as "O mighty sound effects lady..."; he 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, Kennedy did so himself, without addressing anyone. The original horn was shorter and louder than the more familiarized horn used shortly after; accidentally, the latter horn was mistakenly used on the January 21, 1993 episode when the mountain climber fell off the cliff during Cliff Hangers at first instead of the crashing noise before the crashing noise was played seconds later.
On March 3, 1989, 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 the contestant did lose the car, as a result of this mistake, the contestant was awarded the car at the beginning of the second Showcase Showdown.
On May 28, 1990, a contestant named Jacqueline Graves lost the game on her first try. (Before the reveal, the audience was booing at her selected price, to which Bob jokingly responded with "Now look. Don't start throwing things, you might hit me!") After Jacqueline asked "Gentlemen, do I have at least one number right?" the gentlemen made unhappy responses, leading to the foghorn and the losing horns sound. Bob Barker wasn't sure if that meant that she had no numbers right, and asked the gentlemen, "Was that a horn?" and was dismayed to know that Jacqueline indeed had no numbers right, although he claimed it did happen once before. Bob then explained that she chose a 1 as the first number instead of a 3 as it was played for a Lincoln Mark VII, which is why the audience was booing her before (One gentleman shouted "Give it to her!" Bob jokingly agreed to that response, later saying, “I’m about as apt to give it to her as I am to give her my house!”)
During an October 2008 taping that aired November 19, 2008, one of the models, Tamiko Nash, assisted in turning the trilons. This was a one-time situation, as host Drew Carey was injured and the game play was adjusted to compensate for his foot injury. Carey also asked for the correct numbers on this episode (which was for time constraints; the Showcase that day had a The Bold and the Beautiful appearance as a prize, resulting in extra time). The episode that aired December 10, 2008, also from an October taping, was played in the same manner.
On February 22, 2008, the first The Price Is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular since Carey began hosting, a $1,000,000 bonus was offered if the contestant could guess the price correctly on the first attempt (a rare feat that happened on several occasions in the daytime show).
On October 16, 2014, during Dream Car Week, a Tesla Model S worth $79,320 was offered to a girl named Vanessa Ansoorian, and it was won.
On June 22, 2016, Sarah 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.

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 true to its American rules. The only version known to be significantly different from the original was that found on the 1980s 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

YouTube Videos

One Away Wipeout (May 28, 1990)
A Perfect One Away from 1991 (September 11, 1991)
Perfect One Away Win from Season 35 (March 27, 2007)
Last One Away Win under Bob Barker's tenure (June 13, 2007)
A Perfect One Away from 2012 (October 24, 2012)
A Perfect One Away from 2013 (February 19, 2013)
Jake wins big on One Away (February 27, 2013)
Another Perfect One Away from 2013 (June 13, 2013)
A Win from 2014 (March 6, 2014)
A Tesla Win from Dream Car Week (October 16, 2014)

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 *On February 22, 2008, the first [[The Price Is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular]] since Carey began hosting, a $1,000,000 bonus was offered if the contestant could guess the price correctly on the first attempt (a rare feat that happened on several occasions in the daytime show).
 *On October 16, 2014, during Dream Car Week, a Tesla Model S worth $79,320 was offered to a girl named Vanessa Ansoorian, and it was won.
+*On June 22, 2016, Sarah 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.
 ==Foreign versions of One Away==