Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much

Other streaming services would have dragged this out for 2-3 episodes, which is unnecessary. Thankfully, we're presented with a 1 shot production that is more fascinating in showing the reality of a "live" game show (with an audience of less than 200) that airs to tens of thousands and comes across as a nationally known & important institution. Bottom line: there is no scandal, there is no fraud. It's actually kind of interesting to see the small audience regulars wrest control of a major network show that only intended to use them as background props and window dressing.

There is a lot to like about this documentary. It covers a silly human interest story in a lighthearted way. It treats the film's subject-Ted, The Price is Right-in a respectful way and never condescends to either. It moves at a great clip and while it is very much in the talking head mode the various locations/angles keep the film visually fresh.

Now the film is centered on the 2008 incident where Terry K. got the final showcase bid perfectly. The doc is mostly interested in demonstrating that he got help from Ted, which is fine. But I think a more dynamic version would have centered on the conflict between their two accounts of what happened. In a weird way the film isn't about what it is about because of being one sided in how it presents the history. It is not hard to imagine a better take on this material.

This very engaging documentary centers on the story of Ted Slauson, a mathematics teacher who become rather obsessed with the classic game show The Price is Right. Slauson, after becoming a fan of the show, realized that many of the items displayed for bids were often repeated. Thus, he began to record and memorize every item he could, leading to the knowledge that if he were on the show as a contestant he could be very successful.

Slauson, as the movie depicts, would begin to wait on the contestant lines very early in the morning, in the hopes of being interviewed and selected to be "called down" to bid on items, and, if successful, be in the final showcase. The film gives what I found to be a most interesting behind-the-scenes look at the game show, with Slauson narrating throughout and letting the viewer know his own personal experience, which was backed up by fascinating film footage of him in the audience and what was happening.

I won't give away too much how this all worked out but over the years Slauson appeared in the audience 37 times. There are also interviews with former host and executive producer Bob Barker and Roger Dobkowitz respectively, and another key figure in the doc is one of the gorgeous models on the show, Holly Hollstrom.

Postscript: As I usually do, after watching a doc I look up the histories of some of the people mentioned in it, and I was astounded to see on Wikipedia the bitter lawsuits, court cases, and settlements that took place over the years between Hollstrom, other models, and employees vs.Bob Barker and the show. This was not mentioned in "Perfect Bid", as I imagine the director C.J. Wallis just wanted to focus on the story at hand involving Slauson.

I didn't see a review for this film so I thought I'd leave one. It's an interesting story with a likable subject. The editing is very crisp, which is one of the most important things for a documentary. Some of the interviews have some slight audio issues and the music can be a little generic, but the illustrations and art style are well done. Overall, a fun watch.

I will not lie, I love game shows. I especially loved The Price is Right for the seeming randomness of the show and the prizes. Over the years the internet exposed some of the underbelly of the show, such as people not being able to afford the taxes on the prizes of the fact some went dozens of times and never got on. Most importantly, I learned the selection of contestants wasn't always random.

These are not the kinds of details that would make me hate the show. They are no different than a carnival game, and they have to stack the deck in their favor because promising cars, trips and campers and giving them away constantly would be costly. So it makes for the question...what if someone studies really hard, took advantage of lazy producers and literally made spread sheets to beat the system? Well, that happened in 2008.

Ted Slausen was a mathematician, and like anyone who is good with numbers, he was incredible at remembering them as well. Ultimately, he turned that knowledge into an obsession and actually figured out a way to beat his favorite game show. Before computers and other systems were involved, we saw this happen on Jeopardy and Press Your Luck as contestants utilized learned patterns and probabilities to win games.

Slausen probably would have gotten the perfect bid himself if chance had not hurt him before the show case showdown. But the events that led up to the perfect bid are a slow burn, a lifetime revelation. Drew Carey's commentary at the end is pretty amazing. "I thought this was the end of the show."

If you like the old time game shows, you will probably dig this little documentary.