‘The Price Is Right’: Here’s the Man With the Power to Choose the Hit Game Show’s Contestants

Each week, hundreds of The Price Is Right fans line up to wait hours to try their hand at becoming a contestant on the long-running game show.

It’s not an easy – or brief – process by any means, but the show’s winners will tell you it was worth every moment to hear, “Come on down!”

Stan Blits interviews over 50,000 candidates each season

Stan Blits, a producer on The Price Is Right, plays an enormously important role on the show as contestant coordinator. It’s a job he’s held, impressively, since 1979. Blits knows at this point what he’s looking for in a contestant.

Watching the crowd of player hopefuls, Blits looks for enthusiastic players. That’s what the show’s all about: the excitement and eagerness to play and win. In a conversation with The New York Post in 2013, the producer offered an example of a parent and her children that he initially liked but eventually didn’t go with.

“I really liked them in the interview,” he said. “They were total Americana — nicely dressed, good looking. I thought ‘Let’s give them a shot.’ But I watched them [in the audience], and they didn’t applaud. They weren’t cheering. If you die off on me during the show, you’re out!”

Blits explained why he can’t pick contestants randomly

The show producer, who’s also its musical director, explained that while it might make sense to choose contestants without any rhyme or reason, he has to go with his gut. If not, it could mean an awkward moment on camera.

“I always tell people: ‘If we drew names out of a hat, we would be off the air in a month,’ he told The New York Post.

“I jump around like a court jester out there,” he continued. “I am looking for energy, sincerity and potential humor.”

And then there are the candidates who simply won’t give up on the dream of being on The Price Is Right.

“I have people who come back over and over and over,” he says. “Our record is 158 times. That person still hasn’t made it on.”

Blits’ dos and don’ts

Here are some tried-and-true tips from the contestant picker himself to increase your chances of appearing on the show.

Do have fun and make sure you look it: “If you can keep the energy up and keep my attention that way, you have potential,” he told The Post.

Don’t overdo it: “Some people think jumping up and down or waving their fist will help. But it doesn’t.”

Do remember energy is everything: “If you can match my energy, and exceed it,” Blits told Business Insider in 2018, “and maintain it, you have a really good chance of being on the show.” 

Don’t try to buy your way on the show: “People bring me stuff all the time, but I can’t take anything. Not even a business card.”

The biggest don’t? Blits told The Washington Post in 2019, it’s “to underreact to something spectacular, like the chance to win a car.”