After reading other reviews, it pretty much comes down to people either loved the show or hated the show. I'm somewhere in between. Being a TPIR fan for almost 40 years, I never saw myself being able to travel to California to see a live taping. So when I saw it was coming to a local venue, I was very excited and bought tickets immediately. I can say that I had very high expectations for the show. If you plan on attending, there are a few things to mention before you go. One reviewer said most of this info is in the rules, but I never saw them when purchasing my tickets.
1. Drew Carey does NOT host the show. George Gray is NOT the announcer either. Todd Newton was the host. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't remember who he was. {Note: You get a short bio on him as part of the show.} He was entertaining and funny as host and was very nice to all the fans waiting in line outside when he showed up for the show...lots of hugs and selfies.
2. Being picked as a contestant for the show is totally random. When purchasing the tickets, the website said to be at the box office three hours before show time to get registered to be a contestant. My wife and I took the day off to go early and spend some time together before getting inn line at 4:30 since the show started at 7:30. We parked close to the theatre and decided to walk by it to see if any people were in line yet. No one was there yet and as we walked by the theatre, some employees of the theatre stopped us and told us where the line would start and what time they would start registering people to be contestants...which turned out to be 3:30...an hour earlier that on the website. We left there, had lunch, came back by the theatre and people where starting to line up. My wife and I were #7 and #8 in line. After about three hours of waiting, we were each handed a card asking for our first and last names and month and day of birth. We were told that we could be going in to register and would need our tickets and a form of ID. Once the doors opened to register, we were shuffled to one of twelve people sitting at tables. That person checked your ID and tickets, put your name of the price tag, gave to you and told you to put the card with your name and birthday in a basket and "Good luck!" No interview process or anything along the Hollywood version of the show. Just so you know, the line for registering took a couple of hours. After we finished, we sat at a bar across the street and watched people go thru the line. Also, you don't have to buy a ticket to be a contestant. You can register to be a contestant and possibly be selected to participate without ever buying a ticket. That doesn't seem fair to us people who paid good money to have the chance to play. Also, with the selection being random, there were people chosen as contestants who didn't even seem like they want to play. I remember one lady taking a couple of minutes to make it to the stage because she was just walking casually. I was very disappointed by the selection process. Also, making elaborate TPIR shirts won't do you any good...save your money.
3. The show is very short in my opinion. I was expecting the show to last two to two and a half hours. It barely grazed an hour and a half. I'd say only a third to a half of that time was actually game playing. In total, there were four bid and stage prize rounds, two wheel rounds and the showcase showdown. The rest of the time is either video clips of the show on a screen or the host interacting with the audience.
4. If you should be selected to "COME ON DOWN," you only get one chance to bid. Each bid round, four different contestants are chosen. If you don't get the right bid on your first try, you're given a free t-shirt and sent back to your seat. Even the wheel rounds are comprised of three randomly selected people...not the ones who won the bid rounds. {Note: The prize for winning the bid round was $250.# Same is true for the showcase showdown...two randomly selected people are chosen
5. The showcase showdown was a total rip off. Both contestants bid on the same showcase. For our show, it included an electric bike, a trip to California #including airfare from Mobile, AL} where you would also get to see a taping of the real show, a trip to Hawaii, and a Chevy Spark. The "actual retail price" was in the 21 thousands...way under what I would've bid. It was way under what both contestants bid too. There was also some rule that your bid had to be with $100 of the "actual retail price" to even win the car. The car alone would run $12K to $15k. I totally think the showcase is rigged.
All in all, I had high hopes for the show, but in the end, I was left a little disappointed. Is it worth the money to go? If you are a big fan like me, yes it is...just know what to expect. If your so-so about the show, spend the money on a good movie...it will last longer and be cheaper.