½ Off
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½ Off is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. Debuting on May 28, 2004, it is played for a cash prize of $10,000 plus a $1,500 bonus, and uses small prizes. On primetime specials, the prize is raised to $25,000.
[edit] Gameplay
The contestant is shown three pairs of small prizes, one pair at a time. One item in each pair is marked with the correct price, and the other is marked at half of its actual price. The contestant must choose which of the pair is marked half off; they win both small prizes and $500 for each price they guess correctly, regardless of whether or not they ultimately win the grand prize.
There are also 16 boxes displayed onstage, one of which contains the grand prize. For each correct guess with the small prizes, half of the boxes are removed from play (down to eight, four, and two boxes respectively for each correct decision). Once the three pairs have been played, the contestant must choose one of the remaining boxes and open it in a special dramatic sequence arranged by the host. The contestant wins the $10,000 if they chose the box with the money inside.
[edit] History and behind the scenes
½ Off was created by former FremantleMedia employee Mandel Ilagan. Its set is the most expensive prop ever built for The Price Is Right. The game was originally planned to be played for a car, with a set of keys in one of the boxes instead of the cash. The game's method of revealing the contents of the box is similar to that of the retired predecessor Fortune Hunter.
The $500 bonuses were added at the start of the 36th season; prior to this, correct guesses won only the associated items.
Also in Season 36, the reveal was slightly changed; instead of Bob Barker leading the audience in "1, 2, 3, now!" before the contestant opened the box, Drew Carey counts to three and the contestant says a "magic word" (i.e. "alakazam!"); the contestant is to open the box upon saying the magic word.
On The Price Is Right $1,000,000 Spectacular on March 14, 2008, if a contestant won the game normally, they were given a chance to trade their $25,000 for the possibility of a $1,000,000 check hidden by the stagehands in one of the other 15 boxes. The contestant decided to keep his $25,000, and was proven to be nowhere near the million.
