Magic Number (pricing game)

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The correct title of this article is Magic #. The substitution or omission of a # sign is because of technical restrictions.

The "Magic #" display between the two prizes

Magic # is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. Debuting in 1992, it is played for two prizes, each worth between $1,000 and $3,000.

1 Gameplay
2 Trivia
3 Strategy
4 See also

[edit] Gameplay

Two prizes are shown; the one on the left is the lower-priced item. The contestant pulls a lever on the game's machine to search for the "magic number" – that is, a number that falls somewhere between the prices of the two prizes. If the number indeed falls on or between the two prices, he wins both prizes.

[edit] Trivia

Magic # can never be played first -- the game's computer takes too much time to boot up for it to be played any earlier than second.
- Although it is possible to plug it in early and play it in the first slot, it would block Door #2 and require an audience entrance -- something the producers are not willing to use for this game.

During the early years of this game's life, the "Magic #" automatically rounded itself to the nearest ten every time the contestant stopped it. While this was never supposed to happen, it went unnoticed by the producers for a good number of years.

On the 1994 syndicated version of TPIR, Doug Davidson referred to the lever as the "leever", and to the display as either the "geezmo" or the "geezmo thingy". He also jokingly referred to the game itself as "Magic Pound Sign."

Magic # is the only pricing game which is completely controlled by the contestant.

Although host Bob Barker's explanation of the rules makes it sound otherwise, it has been confirmed that the game is won if the magic number matches the price of one of the prizes.

One contestant decided that a number in the early 100s was the magic number. Not surprisingly, he did not win.

On two occasions, the game's lever was misaligned; when the contestant decided to stop, the number kept incrementing or decrementing itself very slowly. The second time this happened, Bob declared a technical win after the staff couldn't find a way to fix the problem.