An excerpt from the CineSource column, "Kevin On The Scene: DocFest 2008"
"One of the fest’s five world premiere’s – the low budget Come on Down! The Road to the Price Is Right – was an illuminating, giggly delight.
The directors, Jeruschka White and Caryn Capotosto, met DP Tuan Le at the University of Kansas in 1996.
White and Capotosto were invited to observe one family playing their annual Christmas Eve home version of The Price Is Right, giving them a new respect for the fans, which led to them soliciting TPiR fans from CraigsList ‘Missed Connections.’
For six years the pair worked and saved, blocked out mutual vacation time, then set out to do a round of interviews in geographic areas of the country.
True story: On October 13, Antonio Scardina, 44, handed a bomb threat to the receptionist at Lieff Cabraser Heimann and Bernstein on the 30th floor of the Embarcadero Center tower at 275 Battery Street. The building was evacuated. Scardina told the employee he was distraught after not getting called to Contestants Row onTPiR. “We don’t know the guy,” said White by phone from her job as a Brooklyn emergency medical technician. “I promise.”
The film covers all aspects of the cult morning TV game show’s fans:
* Practicing to jump up and down while high-fiving others on Contestants Row when one hears Wizard of Oz-like announcer Rod Roddy’s familiar “Come on Down.”
* The audience support-group panel of experts responsible for memorizing consumer product pricing cheat sheets.
* The hotel proprietor next door to Bob Barker Studio (which show vets liken to the ‘pulsating aura’ of Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory) leads a clinic for first-time TpiRattendees.
* The crowd of 600 occupying the sidewalk outside the studio at 5 am.
* Characteristics that producers seek in an ideal Contestants Row player – the uniformed soldier, the busty young gal in a tight T-shirt (preferably expressing her love for Barker, or urging to spay and neuter pets), the grandma, and the strapping young newlywed.
Useful tip: Never accept the bedroom set on Showcase Showdown, because Roddy’s next words are sure to be, “a brand new car.”
Saddest moment: The disillusioned soldier’s expression when he passes up the chance to win a speedboat, only to win a children’s furniture set.
Quirky detail: Tomato, the drummer for punk band Sound of Urchin is a TPiR fan.
The film covers all aspects of the cult morning TV game show’s fans:
* Practicing to jump up and down while high-fiving others on Contestants Row when one hears Wizard of Oz-like announcer Rod Roddy’s familiar “Come on Down.”
* The audience support-group panel of experts responsible for memorizing consumer product pricing cheat sheets.
* The hotel proprietor next door to Bob Barker Studio (which show vets liken to the ‘pulsating aura’ of Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory) leads a clinic for first-time TpiRattendees.
* The crowd of 600 occupying the sidewalk outside the studio at 5 am.
* Characteristics that producers seek in an ideal Contestants Row player – the uniformed soldier, the busty young gal in a tight T-shirt (preferably expressing her love for Barker, or urging to spay and neuter pets), the grandma, and the strapping young newlywed.
Useful tip: Never accept the bedroom set on Showcase Showdown, because Roddy’s next words are sure to be, “a brand new car.”
Saddest moment: The disillusioned soldier’s expression when he passes up the chance to win a speedboat, only to win a children’s furniture set.
Quirky detail: Tomato, the drummer for punk band Sound of Urchin is a TPiR fan.
Kevin Davis, November 2008
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From the SF Weekly:
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