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In these times, miracles are few and far in between. But we got just that this morning, when three contestants spun a dollar on The Price Is Right's Showcase Showdown.
For the uninitiated, it's the segment on the game show when three contestants are brought out to spin the Big Wheel. There are cent amounts on the wheel, going from 5 cents to 100 cents in increments of fives. Each contestant gets up to two spins, and the point is to get closest to a whole dollar without going over. The contestant with the highest amount moves on to the Showcase finale. Anyone who goes over a dollar is disqualified.
Working with these guidelines, the three contestants pulled off an amazing feat on Monday morning: they all spun a dollar. You can watch the momentous event here:
Needless to say, the chances of this happening is exceedingly rare. You have a 5% chance of hitting a dollar on your first spin. And there's a 9.75% chance that you'll hit a dollar from adding the amounts of two spins. Which is to say that the odds are stacked against you if your goal is to land on a dollar. But to have it happen three times? And for everyone to take two spins to do so? The odds of this are one-in-a-thousand.
Everyone—from the contestants to Drew Carey—acted as if they'd just witnessed lead being turned into gold. "A three-way tie on the dollar would be amazing. This just might happen," Carey said just seconds before the feat was finalized. And then it did happened, and the crowd went into a pandemonium. Also, how heartwarming was it to see the three contestants share a group hug? They're radiating with gratefulness; not just at winning cash amounts (you get $1,000 if you land on a dollar), but also at being able to share in their victory. As a tie-breaker, the contestants all did a bonus spin; Manfred took home the honors and advanced.
People Tweeted their astonishment and joy:
Did all 3 contestants just spin $1.00 on the price is right?? #Unbelievable #PriceIsRight
— Dakota (@gatorhater09) October 17, 2016
Watching that 3-way tie on #spinthewheel on #PriceIsRight just made me so happy #noway #ithappened #daytimeentertainment
— Willow Fiddler (@WillowFiddler) October 17, 2016
#PriceisRight I skipped work today because I knew it would be special. 3 way tie for $1 on The Price Is Right!
— Truthseeker (@Save_This_USA) October 17, 2016
Highlight of my day so far: 3-way tie at a dollar spinning the wheel. #priceisright #mylifeisexciting
— Mary🌺 (@mar_scare) October 17, 2016
As noted by some people on Twitter, this wasn't the first time that a three-way tie happened on the dollar. According to one user, the last time it happened was in 1991:
This diminishes today's feat, but only by a little. As we'd mentioned earlier, Monday's tie happened after all three contestants used up both of their spins. In the incident posted from 1991, two contestants got a dollar on their first try, while the third contestant took up two spins. The holy grail, of course, would be if all three contestants got the dollar on their first try, which, to our knowledge, hasn't happened on the show yet.
