To be in the audience of The Price is Right is free and there are a number of ways that you can request your free tickets—online, phone, old-fashioned snail mail, or at the CBS studios ticket booth. However, the tickets you request don’t guarantee you admittance into the studio—they just give you the right to stand in line outside the studio to get your “Order of Arrival Pass” (I’ll get into detail about those later). CBS posts their filming dates online and on each day they film two shows—one at noon and the other at 4pm. So, being the natural planner that we are, we assumed that we would need to be a few hours early to get admittance into the studio. Boy were we way off. After doing some thorough research online, we, amidst shock and hesitation, realized that we would need to arrive around at 4-5am to stand outside the CBS studios. That’s right, 0500 hours! I can barely get myself out of bed when my alarm goes off at 7:30 and I would need to be IN Hollywood at 5am. But, my determination to achieve my angeleno rite of passage prevailed and I, with Carla, pressed on.
Realizing that we most likely wouldn’t be waiting in line at 4am, we decided to find a loophole in the system. I requested tickets for the noon show, while Carla requested tickets for the 4pm show. If we didn’t arrive in time to get order of arrival tickets for the first taping, we could still make it to the second. Sneaky sneaky.
Note to those who plan on one day experiencing the taping of The Price is Right: Get a group of 15-25 to go. If you go in a group, you are guaranteed admittance and you can arrive at a reasonable time—like 10am—you know, the time the rest of the world starts bustling. Also, the best part about coming in a group is that one person is guaranteed to get called up to be a contestant.
So, the day finally came and with about 4 hours of sleep, 4 of us headed out to CBS studios to stand in line for our chance to hear… “COME ON DOWN!!” We left the South Bay at 5:15am sharp and arrived outside the studio a few minutes to 6 only to find the line wrapped around the block. You can imagine the panic we felt thinking our loss of sleep may have been for nothing. We parked around the corner in The Grove (they tell you not to do that, but if you shop their during the day, they can't stop you) and headed over to the studio. We staked our place in line and waited for them to start passing out the order of arrival passes. The numbered order of arrival passes determine whether or not you actually make it into the studio. Obviously, the higher the number, the less chance you have getting in. After you receive your order of arrival pass, you can then leave till your call-back time to be back for the show. The call time for the noon taping was at 8:30am and the call-back time for the 4 was at 12. They began passing out the arrival passes at 6 and slowly we crept ourselves to the front of the line. Getting anxious that our chances at the first show were becoming slimmer by the minute, Carla quickly moved to the front to receive a second set of passes for the 4pm show. We received our passes for the noon show and our numbers started at 213 (We had no chance!), BUT—our 4pm passes started at 33 (BINGO!... or should I say… PLINKO!! Haha).
With our 2 sets of passes in hand, we were off to grab some grub before returning to see if we could miraculously make it into the first taping. Thankfully, The Grove is located right next door to the CBS studios, so we walked to Dupars to fill our stomachs with a hearty breakfast.
At 8:30, we headed back to the studio to stand in line in the “Audience Holding Area” to wait for our numbers to get called. We knew there would be no chance, but the people-watching was well worth the trip. The area was packed with bright-colored shirts, puffy painted with clever sayings and anecdotes. The larger groups wore uniform shirts with team names and shout-outs to Drew Carey. One group even made 3D representations of the Price is Right games out of felt that were positioned on their chests. Everything from glittered headbands to 1970s polyester prom suits were present—it was probably the BEST people-watching experience I’d ever had. Cameras and cellphones were not allowed, though, so we have no photos of the amazing costumes we saw.
Our numbers weren’t called for the first taping, but we knew that was coming—so we headed back to the Grove to do a little shopping. It was 8:30; we had HOURS to kill. I have to admit, having some time to just browse through stores was not so bad. We shopped for a bit then headed out for some lunch in the farmer’s market. PS-I highly recommend Loteria’s Mole Poblano con Pollo tacos; they’re cheap and super yummy. A few blouses and a sweater later, we made our way back to the audience holding area to finally get called to start processing for the 4pm taping.
After filling out some paperwork, taking group photos in front of the Plinko green screen, a short interview with the producer, and a security check, we headed into the studio to our seats. At this point, we had been awake for almost 12 hours. We entered the studio and the walls were covered in psychedelic-colored drapes, decorated with large 70s flowers. The announcer, Rich Fields, came on stage to hype up the audience and then cameras started rolling. With each name that was called, my heart probably jumped a bit. I think all of us were both nervous and excited at the same time to get called. It would be awesome to be a contestant, but I didn’t want to be “that girl” that was always way over on the price and never got called up to play a game. We had one of those girls in our taping… she was a Hooters girl (not judging, I swear).
Being in the audience is ridiculously fun. The energy in that room could have lit up a city. The groups in the audience screamed with excitement and the contestants that were called up were pumped with funny dances as they walked up to the stage. You couldn’t help but want to root for all of them. Oh—and when we had to start guessing prices—you couldn’t hear the person next to you. I probably got a small case of laryngitis with all the estimated costs I was screaming. The taping lasted exactly an hour and not one of the 4 of us got called, but the experience was well worth the 4 hours of sleep and 13 hours dedicated to get in.
By the time we left the studio it was just before 7 and we were starving. We drove to Pink’s, pulled into a convenient spot on the street (which, by the way, is free after 7pm) and waited in line. On any given day, the line for a Pink’s hot dog can be an easy 45 minute wait. Some people wait for hours on the weekends. On a Monday at 7pm—you can get in line and be eating your hot dogs after a half hour. Not too bad. The menu was a bit overwhelming, but we narrowed down our choices. We ordered 1 chili dog, 1 turkey dog with sauerkraut and chili, 1 polish dog, and 1 Lord of the “Rings” dog which is a 10” stretch dog topped with bbq sauce and onion rings. Is your mouth watering yet?
I took one bite out of my stretch chili dog and I was a believer. I LOVE hot dogs. I mean—I really LOVE hot dogs. I don’t know how I lived this long without a Pink’s Hot dog. It was tantalizing! First, there’s the snap of the hot dog casing and the juiciness of the dog itself that hits the spot. Then, there’s the chili. The combination of flavors is a celebration in your mouth. Oh and let's not forget about the fries. They're perfectly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. With over 30 types of hot dogs and combinations, you just can't go wrong at Pink's. It's an LA institution that just cannot be missed.
What an amazing day! Not only did we get to be part of a show that we grew up watching, but we threw in some shopping, and topped it off with some of the best hot dogs in Los Angeles. To make things even better-- the day was relatively inexpensive. The biggest investment was our lack of sleep, but it was definitely worth it!
The Days Damage: Tickets to the Price is Right $0 + Parking at The Grove $15 + Breakfast at Dupars $68 + Lunch at the Farmers Market $30 + Pink's Hot Dogs, drinks, & fries $31 = $144 total
Items 12 & 14 check
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