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.
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Magic # is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. Debuting on the Season 21 premiere on September 14, 1992, it is played for two prizes, each worth at least $1,000.
[edit] Gameplay
Two prizes are shown, and the contestant is told which is the less expensive of the two. The contestant must then find a "magic number" - a number that falls between the two prices, exact numbers inclusive - to win both prizes. To do so, the contestant raises and lowers a lever attached to the prop that will increase or decrease the number displayed on the readout.
[edit] History
On 1994's syndicated The New Price Is Right, Doug Davidson referred to the lever as the "leever", and the display as either the "geezmo" or the "geezmo thingy". He also jokingly referred to the game itself as "Magic Pound Sign."
On October 21, 1997, the game malfunctioned. When the contestant stopped the lever, the Magic # began to go down one number at a time. Bob and the contestant set the number again to stop it from going down.
For the first several years of Magic #'s existence, the game's computer automatically rounded the magic number to the nearest ten every time the lever was released. This was never intended to be a feature of the game, and the issue was corrected once the producers realized it was happening.
Until very recently, the ring around the number in the device would rotate, making the yellow dots on the ring seem to orbit the number. Now, the ring is stationary. However, this is likely due to a malfunction with the prop and not an intentional change.
When the lever stopped, it used to have an ending sound to it. This was removed sometime in 2005. The ending sound was also used when the contestant won the prizes until September 1994.
