When Minh Do heard the famous line, “Come on down,” he had no idea that Aug. 28 would be his best birthday ever — and end with a payoff of more than $50,000.
Do, a junior exercise and movement science major, grew up watching “The Price is Right” with his brother and sisters whenever the show was on television, but he never imagined he would one day be a contestant and win a Showcase Showdown.
The show airs at 10 a.m. Thursday on CBS.
In August, Do drove to Los Angeles to stay with his sister, Phuong Do, for a week before she started school at Marymount College in Rancho Palos Verdes.
On their tour of Hollywood, they visited the set of the ABC television show “Politically Incorrect” with Bill Maher on Aug. 24.
After making a few inquiries, they also got 10 tickets for “The Price is Right,” filmed at the CBS television studio. While none of their friends were interested in going with them to see the show, Do and his sister were determined to attend. But before they could get on the show, they waited in line for more than 10 hours, he said.
“The producers interview everyone on the show,” Do said. “The contestants are not picked at random. The producers just have to like you.”
Do said he told the producers he was a college student at the University of Oregon and he was training for an Iron Man Competition.
“I think they liked my look,” Do said, who purposely wore an Oregon sweatshirt during the audition.
Seated in an audience of 300 people, Do was the last of six contestants picked to play the games.
“I was pretty positive about it,” he said. “I had a feeling I would get picked.”
Do’s sister had a different response.
“When he got called up on stage, I had a delayed reaction,” she said. “I saw him get up to walk on stage and then it dawned on me ­­ my brother is on ‘The Price is Right.’ I started screaming. I was so ecstatic.”
But from the minute he set foot on stage, Do said he wasn’t impressed by the national television set.
“I don’t think the stage has changed for 30 years,” he said, adding that the orange-painted set still looks like it is from the 1970s.
Do said meeting Bob Barker, the host and executive producer who has won 11 Daytime Emmy awards, was a scary experience. Do said Barker’s stage makeup was caked on his face, and during commercial breaks, Barker went backstage for touch-ups three times.
Do also said models Janice Pennington, Kathleen Bradley and Nikki Ziering, who are now in their late 40s, were wearing cheap dresses and too much makeup.
“It looked like wax coming to life,” Do said.
Do said that in person, announcer Rod Roddy is short, stocky and wears bright, funky suit coats. Roddy is the one who invites the contestants to “come on down.”
After bidding on some prizes and missing twice, Do used the technique of bidding $1 over the highest price for a Capresso Coffee and Espresso Maker. The audience booed him, but Do’s guess was the closest to the actual retail price without going over, and from there the prizes rolled in.
Do played a true/false game and won an iron, a digital scale, a water purifier and a month’s supply of eggs, although he said he doesn’t really like eggs.
Later in the show, Do spun the wheel last, because he had won the most prizes, and was one of two contestants in the Showcase Showdown.
Do said he recommends that contestants bid the highest amount possible on prizes.
“The prizes look cheap, but they are really expensive,” he said.
Do celebrated his birthday after the show with his sisters at The Cheesecake Factory in Redondo, CA.
Do plans to use his winnings to take his older sister Kim, a senior journalism major, on a trip for six nights to Malaysia this summer.
Do also said he will sell the two American-made cars he won, a 2000 Mercury Sable and a 2001 Dodge Stratus, and possibly invest in a convertible Volkswagen Bug. Do said he would have to pay the taxes and license fees on the cars, along with income tax on the rest of the prizes.
“All they give away is American cars,” Do said. He presently owns a Honda Accord, which he is also planning to sell.
While other game shows like “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” reap the benefits of sudden popularity, “The Price is Right” is the longest-running game show in television history. Now in its 29th season, it remains America’s highest-rated daytime game show — especially among college students.
“It’s a classic television show, because Bob Barker is just your typical game show host,” said Kristin Snyder, a fan of the show and a sophomore sports marketing major. “New game show hosts are always trying to imitate Bob Barker.” Snyder said she enjoys the show because the contestants get so excited and because it differs from Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy because of the variety of classic games like Plinko and Hole in One.