I must've had a helluva night last night, because I think I just lost two months.

Seriously. I go to Innertube this evening to watch today's episode of The Price Is Right... So, around 6:30, I'm sitting here, watching the intro....

"Hmm... 'Great Games'.. Yeah.. 'Exciting Prizes'.. Yep... Wait a second. There's someone in the front row in a green shirt, I've seen him somewhere before. And sitting next to him is some woman wearing a black hat and a colorful Madonna shirt... I have that very same shirt. And I have a hat just like....."

WHATWHATWHAAAAAAT?!?!?!

Needless to say, I almost fell out of my chair. Now? Today?! This wasn't supposed to air until January 21! It was even on the board that Chuck paraded around the studio with... January 21, 2008.

Oh boy. I wasn't prepared for this at all. I didn't get up to tape this. I wasn't even prepared to post about this... I suppose the next time I go to a taping and it's supposed to air a little over a week later, I should expect it to air that same night?

Well, too late now. They jumped the gun and aired my episode two months and six days ahead of schedule... So, here we go with Chuck's Grand Finale.

Triple Play: After the show kicked off with Drew walking through those big doors (and waving at Michael and I - as we must've done SOMETHING to catch his attention), it's time for the first item up for bids. Laura wins herself a 42" plasma TV, and the chance to play Triple Play.

The first car was a Chevy Cobalt, with the two options being $14,130 and $16,014. $16,000 seemed a little high for a Cobalt, so we were urging her to go with $14,300. The actual retail price was $15,515 (nice poker hand), so we're moving on...

Next was a Pontiac Vibe, this time with $17,860, $18,150 and $19,262 as the choices. Knowing that the Vibes they offer on the show are in the low $18,000's usually ($18,200 or so to about $18,600), I was urging her to go with $18,150. It was very close, but correct - the actual retail price being $18.195...

Lastly, we come to the Ford Escape hybrid, and four price tags: $21,962, $22,444 (another nice poker hand), $23,110 and $24,921.. I was debating between $23 and $24... $23 seemed a bit low, but $24 seemed a bit high...

Eventually, I decided on $23... Laura went with it as well... Sadly, that Escape was $25,930. Wrong choice, and Laura won none of the three cars.

Sorry.

Cliff Hangers: Yvonne wins herself a set of self-study language courses, and the chance to play Cliff Hangers for a living room group and a game collection.

Before discussing the game itself, let me give a little background on Yvonne. Yvonne did pretty much spend the whole show shaking. Drew tried to do his best to get her to relax - first with humor, then by standing next ot her in Contestant's Row during a break and talking to her. No such luck.

But, thanks to him talking to her, we did find out that Yvonne works at a nursing home, caring for Alzheimer's patients. Needless to say, the minute she said that, she had one huge fan sitting in the front row.

The first prize Yvonne had to take a guess on was a fondue set. I was thinking $25. Yvonne went with $29, and Hans moved up ten spaces. The fondue set was only $19.

Next up was a hamburger-shaped phone. I knew it was a $30 phone (I'd seen it before). Yvonne guessed $35, moving Hans another five spaces closer to his doom (now only 10 steps away).

Lastly, it's a two-speed blender. I was thinking $45 (which would give her a little wiggle room, if it happened to be over $50). Yvonne guessed $40.

We sat and watched as Hans moved up.. And up... And up... And stopped at 24 - one space away from a painful fall. The blender was $49, and Yvonne had won herself that living room and those games!

After Yvonne won and made her way back into the audience, I took both of her hands in mine and told her "Yvonne, my father has Alzheimer's, and I just want to say thank you for what you do. Bless you!" Yes, she was still shaking like a leaf, and I hope I didn't freak her out by doing that. But it just felt right. I feel that people who do that kind of work don't get thanked nearly enough - if it's even possible to thanked enough.

So, again, Yvonne: Congratulations. And thank you.

Drew also had some fun with her and her shaking - like acting like he was being electrocuted everytime he touched her. That said, there was no doubt he was as genuinely happy for Yvonne as the rest of us were when she won.

Check Game: Gay wins herself a 8' sailboat, and the chance to play Check Game for a trip to New Orleans. This is my second time seeing this game in person. and wouldn't you know it.. I finally get to see someone who thinks that you write on the DISPLAY, and not the check.. Oh, boy!

I thought the trip was a bit more than it was, and would've won by a gnat's rear had I been playing ($2,000 even for my check, giving me a total of $5,000 - right on the borderline to win).. Michael was thinking $2,500, which worked out even better for the contestant.. Well, kind of. Gay is from Mississippi.

I guess she's going to fly from Mississippi to Los Angeles to fly to New Orleans, then fly back to LA to fly back home?

Are you dizzy yet? I know I am. And I'm already dizzy enough from watching 67 days of my life disappear.

Showdown #1: Laura opens up the first Showcase Showdown with a spin of 35 cents. She wisely goes again, and this time hits 65 - giving her $1.00 and that $1,000 bonus.

Yvonne's first spin stops on 55. Going again, she manages to find 55 yet again - giving her $1.10 and ending her day.

Gay starts off with 95 cents - a good score just about any other day, but not today. Needing that nickel, she instead finds a dime - going over by five cents.

It's now time for Laura's bonus spin. Surely I can watch someone win some money in their bonus spin this time... Right?

Nope. 75 cents. But, she will be moving onto the Showcases at the end of the show.

Eight trips to Mecca. Three $1,000 winners. Now if only I can finally see a $5,000 winner. Or $10,000 winner. Or $20,000 winner. Or $1,000,000 winner.....

2 For The Price Of 1: Robert wins himself a multicolor gemstone necklace, and the chance to play 2 For The Price Of 1 for an ATV and a freezer chest... And we all get the chance to watch a technical problem. Wheeeeeeee!

It all started off so routine: Robert gets up on stage, he and Drew go back to the door, Robert sees his prizes, and Drew explains the rules (that Robert has to guess the correct price of the freezer from three pairs of numbers, and gets one number for free). Robert asks for the second number as the freebie.

Drew asks them to light up the middle number...

He asks a second time...

He asks yet again...

The door starts closing.

Drew stares toward the doors and asks "What did I do wrong now?"

Nothing, of course. The damned number just wouldn't light up. So Robert sat there on the turntable (as we flashed "$579" at him with our fingers - the first number was a choice between 5 and 9, the third was a choice between 2 and 9) while they worked on the game behind the closed door.

A few minutes later, they re-opened the door and edited out Drew's numerous attempts to ask for the second number. This time, with the set working properly (and the second number was indeed a 7), Robert went with $579, and won himself an ATV and a freezer.

Money Game: Tristan, bidding $7 (second, no less) wins himself a dining group, and the chance to play Money Game for a Dodge Ram ST.

With three "obvious" choices up on the board for the front of that truck (21, 22 and 23), I thought "21 seems low. Start with 22!". Tristan started with 21, though, and uncovered a dollar sign - giving him $21.

Next, he tried $22. Yet another dollar sign, and now $43.

With no other logical choice for the front, he goes with 23 - and uncovers the front of the car. Now, he just needs to find the back of the truck in the next two turns, and he has himself a new truck.

His next guess is 99, and another dollar sign. $142, and now just one turn left.

(Boys and girls: If you ever become a contestant on The Price Is Right, and play Money Game, don't ever choose a number in the 90's - unless you KNOW the price of the car and just want more money. Roger never puts the back behind 90-something. Ever.)

With one turn left, I was urging him to take 44. Why? Because it does seem a lot of the time on this game that the back of the car is behind a number in the 30's or 40's. And with 44 directly to the right of 23, it would've been the ol' "front & back" trick (where the front and back of the car are right next to each other on the board).

Tristan did indeed take 44, after his friends and "Some people in the front" (Gee, wonder who?) shouted at him enough. Drew lifted the card to reveal.... A dollar sign.

$186, and no truck for Tristan. The back of the truck was behind the rather-odd (as this isn't a number you see on the board very much at all) 11.

Not that 11 would've been a bad guess, either...

Sorry, Tristan.

Most Expensive: Alyssa manages to quickly get up on stage, having been the last contestant chosen for the day. She wins a set of luggage, and the chance to play Most Expensive for an outdoor gas grill, a wine cabinet and a computer.

From the minute Rich described all three prizes, I was fairly sure it was the computer. Then I thought about my last to Mecca, where Most Expensive had a computer as one of the three prizes (in fact, it was the most expensive) and thought "You WOULDN'T do that again, would you Roger?... Yeah, you would. You're not going to fool me again."

Well, sure enough, I was yelling for #3. Michael was yelling for #3... Sadly, she took #2.

The grill was $1,399, and likely the least expensive.

The computer was $2,507, meaning that wine cabinet needed to be at least $2,508...

No such luck. $2,030, and we close out yet another 3 for 6 day in the Bob Barker Studio.

Showdown #2: Alyssa opened things up by getting 65 cents in her first spin. After being urged by the audience to spin again, she did - and landed on 95 cents. Ouch.

Yes, I was one of the people urging her to spin again. While there is a more than 50/50 chance of going over spinning on 65, it is a fairly low score - not likely to stand up with two people spinning behind you.

Good call. Tough break.

Next up was Tristan. He landed on 70 cents with his first spin, and wisely stopped.

Well, again, wise call, but yet another tough break. Robert gets himself 95 cents in his first spin, and locks up a second spot in the Showcases.

Showcases: It's Showcase time on The Price Is Right, where Maddy has witnessed so much magic already (Jeanette's 'Vette, Vickyann becoming part-owner of CBS, Dennis' painful overbid that led to one priceless moment in May). And, of course, with Maddy and Chuck in the house...

Lightning never strikes twice in the same place. Let's just move on.

Robert came into the Showcases at the top winner, with Laura the runner-up. And, now, it was time to check out those lovely gifts that one of them might get to win today...

Showcase #1 was brought to us by the Priceleone family (complete with the models dressed up like gangsters). The Showcase consisted of two surfboards (which I joked were $9,000, after an old lady once bid $9,000 on two surfboards many years ago.), a violin, $3,000 in cash, and a Dodge Caravan SE.

Robert was surely going to bid on this Showcase... Yep, he was going to bid on... He passed it?!

Needless to say, I was more than a little stunned. He passed on the car? Maybe he loves his car... Or doesn't drive.

Well, it's now Laura's Showcase.. I was thinking $26,000 exactly, which is what she ended up bidding herself.

So, now, we come to Robert's Showcase... A bedroom group, complete with a sleep set, a home alarm system, and a trip to Shanghai...

Despite never seeing that particular bedroom group before (and judging by some of the posts on the forum, it might've been the first time it was ever used on the show), I was thinking "Bedroom group, alarm, trip... Probably a little more expensive than Dennis' Showcase, since it's not Ashley furniture, and it's a trip to China"... I came up with $16,700.

After a few seconds of urging Robert to go with $16,700, he instead came up with a bid of $16,500. I still thought it would turn out to be a pretty good bid, though I know I found it a bit funny that this was a reverse Dennis situation - the contestant taking a bid close to the one I suggested, but going a couple hundred lower instead of higher.

Could.... Naw.

Michael got a look at Roger after Robert bid, and told me Roger was sitting there, his arms on the desk, and his head leaning over his arms. I heard that and thought "Uh oh. Either we have another painful double overbid, or...."

Naw. No way. I mean, a Double Showcase Win? During Chuck's final show? After all, the first time I went to a taping and came across Chuck - and gave birth to the Legend Of Chuck, Vickyann became part-owner of CBS... What are the odds of another DSW to close out Chuck's time as a page?

Lightning never strikes twice in the same place, after all.

Then again, two prior tapings where Chuck was working.. We got Vickyann's DSW... We got Dennis' painful reverse-DSW. So two tapings, two insanely close Showcase bids...

Well, with the break wrapping up, it was time to see who would win his or her Showcase. And no matter what, I knew we were in for some excitement...

Drew started with Laura. The actual retail price of her Showcase was $28,675, giving her a difference of $2,675 - a fairly good bid.

Now we move onto Robert. "Robert, you had the trip to China, the bedroom set, the alarm system, and you bid $16,500. The actual retail price... Sixteen thousand..."

And, in a moment of deja vu, I'm standing there thinking.. "Don't be over.. Don't be over... Don't be..."

"Six hundred...."

(Lil' Maddy: SHANGHAI SURPRISE!)

I didn't hear Drew finish saying that the Showcase was $16,644. I didn't need him to, either. I was too busy screaming and going apeshit, as it truly was deja vu all over again...

"A difference of one hundred forty four dollars! Robert, you win both Showcases! Both Showcases!"

Lightning had just struck again.

"Thanks, Laura. Thanks for playing! Forty nine thousand, three hundred ninety seven dollars worth of prizes for Robert today!"

And, what a fitting way to close out Chuck's stint as The World's Greatest Page.

After the show closed, we went over to shake hands with Robert (as we had with all of the contestants throughout the show, since all of them had to walk by us). He instead hugged the both of us, genuinely thrilled over his big day.

Congratulations, Robert!

As everyone started to file out, we got another chance to shake hands with Roger, where he again thanked us for coming. Michael brought up his reaction to Robert's bid, and The Dob said "Well, we are slightly over budget..."

Whoops. Well, you're even more over budget now.

Well, with that said, I think it's safe to say I now only have three more chances to be a contestant on the show. Why?

Taping #4: Double Showcase Win.
Taping #8: Double Showcase Win.

Which means I am sure I will receive a lifetime ban (for betting on baseball?) after taping #11, because Roger surely knows that if I come back a twelth time, there'll be yet another DSW to blow up the budget..

I'm teasing, of course. You guys aren't going to ban me.. Right? Right.....?

Though, I'm sure Roger will run for the hills if he ever comes out to see Chuck and I there at the same time. Three tapings together, two DSW's (and a third that came damned close). When you put us together, bad things happen to the budget...

All in all, another very special day. Some great contestants, a lot of fun, a DSW, and of course... CHUCK! CHUCK! CHUCK!

The best news of all, of course, is that since it's now January 21, 2008, I have another 11 months to go until Christmas. How was the 2007 Christmas show?

Labels: Chuck, Lil' Maddy, The Drew Is Right