Greatest. Episode. EVER!

After an eighteen day wait, the rest of America finally got to watch what I first witnessed. Believe me, biting my tongue about this for nearly three weeks was painful, as you are about to see.

If you have not yet watched this episode, there are MAJOR spoilers in this post. You may want to wait and watch it yourself first.

If you have seen it, or don't plan to, read away and enjoy!

"HERE IT COMES! From the Bob Barker Studio at CBS in Hollywood! The first show of our record-breaking 35th year on CBS! It's the fabulous sixth minute Price Is Right!"

IUFB/PG #1: And with those words, we're off. After Kimala, Maria, Michael and William become the first four lucky people to get called on down to Contestant's Row, Bob makes his entrance through door #2 - greeted with a thunderous ovation (one, sadly, that TV just couldn't capture. You HAD to be there!)

And the first item up for bids in this landmark show? How about a $3,960 trip to Cancun!
Michael wins his way up on stage, and get to play Lucky $even... For a Cadillac CTS!

You can not imagine the electricity in the place when the car was reveal. Why? For those who don't watch, the cars played for in L$ are pushed out on stage. So imagine the thrill at watching that thing roll on out!

Michael's first guess was a 5, and lost $3 of his $7 when the door opened to reveal a 2.

His guess on the third number was a 7. The door opened to, sadly, reveal a 3 - costing Michael his last $4 and starting off season 35 with a kick to the gut.

OUCH!

Or, as Bob put it: "What a terrible way to start the 35th year on CBS!"

IUFB/PG #2: After the commercial break, Rich calls Carolyn on down to join the fun. The next item up for bids is a fitness bicycle, with a retail price of $1,999. Maria wins her way up on stage.

How do you top kicking off the season with Lucky $even for a Cadillac? How about 3 Strikes for a Corvette!

3 Strikes has always been one of my favorite games. It's played for expensive cars, and the gameplay is very exciting!

We watch as Bob puts the five numbers into the bag: The 0, the 1, the 3, the 5, and the 9. Then, of course, that evil red strike...

We're all thinking the price is $53,190. Of course, it isn't just about knowledge in this game. You need some luck as well.

Maria's first draw? The 0. She wisely chooses to put it fifth, which is correct.

Her second draw? The 9. She guesses third, and is once again correct.

Third pick? The 5. She goes with the obvious choice - first - and is rewarded by being correct yet again.

Fourth pick? The 3. She guesses second, and sure enough, it's second.

Four down, 1 to go - literally!

At this point, the audience is chanting "1! 1! 1! 1!" - which Mike and I started, of course. :P

Damn! The strike! Strike one...

1! 1! 1! 1!

No! Strike two!

Now it's nervous time in the Bob Barker Studio. We go from looking like we may have an exacta, and now are worried about a heartbreaking loss.

1! 1! 1! 1! 1!

And she draws.... the 1! WE HAVE OUR FIRST WINNER OF SEASON 35! A $53,910 Corvette, and the audience is going nuts!

I still love 3 Stikes, but that aged me FIVE YEARS! From looking like she was on her way to a clean sweep, to a full count? It's not nice to scary Maddy so!

IUFB/PG #3: Next to join our party is Vickyann. Next up for bids is a grandfather clock, valued at $3,285! Kimala wins her way up on stage, just in time to hear everyone's favorite words....

Yep, Kimala, you're about to play Plinko!

Oh, boy.

The first time I saw Plinko in person, I watched in horror as Andrew got all five chips - and put four of them into $0 and won a total of $500.

So, needless to say, I was a little nervous about this one.

Kimala also got all five chips, and all we could do at that point was cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Chip #1? $0!

Oh, no. Not again.. NOT TODAY!

Chip #2 brought more excitement... And $10,000! The Maddy Plinko curse is over! Break up The Maddy!

The third chip found it's way into $1,000, for a total of $11,000.

The fourth chip landed for another $100.

And the final chip dropped into $500, for a total of $11,600 - a HUGE improvement over my first experience with Plinko.

Showcase Showdown #1: Time to roll out the big wheel, because it's Showcase Showdown time! Michael, Kimala and Maria will be spinning for a spot in the Showcases, and perhaps even some cash.

Michael leads us off, getting a mere 45 cents in his first spin. His second spin is a suspensful one that stops of 25, giving him 70 cents total.

Next up is Kimala. Her first spin goes for only 30 cents, and she must spin again. Her second stop on 40, giving her a tie with Michael - and a spinoff if Maria doesn't beat them.

However, you can quickly forget those ideas. Maria gets 85 cents in her first spin, moving onto the Showcases at the end of the show.

IUFB/PG #4: Elissa becomes the next lucky audience member to be announced by Rich, and makes her way to Contestant's Row. Now we are bidding on a hot tub, valued at $3,495!

Wow, you know it's one special day when the prizes offered up for bids are the kinds of prizes usually offering in pricing games!

Vickyann wins her way up on stage, and gets to play Push Over for a Dodge Caravan SE.

This was a game that stumped me. I thought it would be the first choice possible ($19,460, the first five cubes). However, I read up after the taping that there is an unwritten rule that they NEVER use the first available choice in this game.

Vickyann went past that, and settled on $20,194. I was worried about her choice, but it was the only remaining choice that made any sense.

After stopping there, Bob asked the audience if we thought we had another winner - and got a mixed reaction.

Well, I'll eat crow, because Bob opened the flap to reveal... $20,194! And yet another winner, and another standing ovation!

And for those of you keeping score at home, we've reached the halfway point of our extravaganza. We have two winners in four games (three with the unofficial Plinko win). They've given away two vehicles and over $11,000 in cash.

And we still have two pricing games and the Showcases to go...

IUFB/PG #5: Adam is next to take a trip down to Contestant's Row, and next up for bids is a queen-sized bid, valued at $3,084!

William, the last of the first four contestants, gets up on stage to play Double Prices.

Double Prices is usually not one of the more exciting pricing games. They offer a prize, and show two price tags. Pick the right one, and you win. About it's only redeeming quality is that it is one of the original pricing games, dating back to the very first show.

Well, today Double Prices will be exciting, thanks to the fact that William is playing for an 18 foot skiboat!

Mike and I actually saw the prop for Double Prices rolled out during the One-Bid, and my jaw dropped. Holy shit! A prize that is either $16,112, or $18,994?!

Fortunately, there is a little rule of thumb when it comes to boats on boats on The Price Is Right: Take the length of the boat and multiply it by $1,000. So, that boat just screamed $18,994.

That was William's choice - and the correct one! We have another winner! We have another standing ovation! And during the commercial break, William had fun posing near his boat and the big doors.

IUFB/PG #6: Well, it's now time for one last contestant. And that would be Deborah...

No. I'm kidding. No luck. Margaret gets to come on down. Our last item up for bids was a drum set - and our first overbid of the year, as all four contestants were over.

The second time around, Carolyn wins that $1,080 drum set, and her way up on stage - just in time for our jaws to drop some more.

Before revealing the prizes, Bob told Carolyn that she was about to play Most Expensive. Most Expensive is another quickie game that isn't one of the more exciting games on The Price Is Right. It's played for three prizes. If the contestant picks the most expensive of the three prizes, they win all three.

When Bob said they were just about to play Most Expensive, on this show, with these prizes, I put my hand over my mouth and said "Oh my god".. Because I had a feeling what was coming next...

And imagine the thrill in the studio when door #1 opened to reveal... A new PT Cruiser!

And behind door #2... A new Jeep Wrangler SE!

And door #3... A Chevy Impala LS!

Holy shit! Three cars!

Most of the audience was thinking it was the Impala. I knew it was the Jeep. Which led to an exchange with a person in the row in front of me:

Person: "What?! Are you crazy?! It's the Impala!"
Me: "That's a $19,000 Jeep."
Person: "And that Impala is over $20,000!"
Me: "Not for an Impala LS. Those are the low-end ones. It's about $17,000."

Well, Carolyn picks the Jeep, so they'll reveal that one last...

The PT Cruiser? $16,000.

The Impala? $16,990.

At that point, the person in front of me turns around to say "Wow. I think you're right!"

So, now, time to reveal the price of the Jeep.... $19,135!

It's another winner, and over $50,000 in cars!

So that's four wins (five, counting Plinko).. That's 6 cars, a boat, and $11,600 in cash!

All that's left to go is the second Showcase Showdown, and those "Fabulous Showcases"...

Showcase Showdown #2: In the second Showdown, we have William, we have Vickyann, and we have Carolyn.

William leads us off, and posts a tough score right off the bat: 95 cents. He obviously stays, and take his chances.

However, that score didn't last very long... Vickyann gets that $1.00 in her first spin, winning $1,000 and forcing Carolyn to tie her.

That, by the way, marked the second time I've seen someone get $1.00 in person.

Carolyn's first spin goes for 40 cents. Now only the 60 will help, but it's not to be. She gets only 45 cents in the second spin.

Sadly, this taping also makes it 2 for 2 of watching a contestant get nothing in their bonus spin. Vickyann gets 40 cents, but she is moving onto the Showcases with Maria!

Showcases: Now, most people get fired up to hear Plinko is about to be played. Me? Give me those Showcases. Maybe it dates back to the fact I watched the show since 1979. Why? Back then, you only had one cash game (Punchboard), and 99% of the time they played for cars, they were cars well under $10,000.

The Showcases were the thing. That was often where we saw the big prizes. Besides, there is no thrill like seeing a contestant win both Showcases - nor the heartbreak of watching a Double Overbid.

And this being a season premiere? Believe me, I was anticipating fireworks for these Showcases...

Showcase #1 was a trip to New York City, an assortment of digital cameras, and a brand new Saturn Sky!

Mind you, I had no idea what that car was until today. I didn't recognize it, and despite sitting five feet away from Rich Fields, I couldn't hear him. So I was lost on that car, but I was thinking it looked fairly expensive, and would go for about $35,000-$40,000 alone.

Maria, who was the top winner and had the choice of Showcases, chose to bid on this. She bid $35,000, which I was thinking was a fairly decent bid.

So now Showcase #2 belongs to Vickyann.

Her showcase starts off with a JBL home theater system. Next up is a Robotron/Joust arcade game.

But, before going to the third prize, let me give you a bit of a story...

While in line, Mike and I chatted with someone named Donald. He told us that the evening before, around 5:00 pm, he was bored and looked out the window of his hotel room to see something being brought into Television City. A certain something that he believed to be very fast, and very expensive.

Well, he saw right. Because the last prize in Vickyann's showcase was a Dodge Viper!

Vickyann, after saying "hi" to a few people, gives a bid of $89,500. This was not a popular bid with the audience. People were shouting "$60,000" and "$70,000". For a Showcase with a Viper?! That car is over $80,000 by itself!

Vickyann's bid was scary. Because it could've been close - close good, or close bad. And while going over at all costs you the Showcase (as someone said during the commercial break), it's the close overbids that HURT. I mean, if someone is over by $10,000, they're over, you know it, you forget about them...

Well, it's finally time to reveal the prices of those Showcases. And the best way to do it is let Bob's own words speak for themselves...

"Maria, you have bid $35,000 on your showcase. And the actual retail price is... $33,089. You are over. And Vickyann, if you don't go over, you're a winner."

Now, at this point, it's nervous time in the Bob Barker Studio. I mean, after all the excitement, all the winning, all the fireworks, to possibly have a Double Overbid?! The horror!

On the other hand, though? This could be incredible. This could be exciting. But a double showcase win? Naw... It couldn't happen... Could it?

It's time to find out the price of Vickyann's Showcase. At this point, I'm standing there, unable to see anything. Where I was, the cameraman blocked the view of her Showcase podium, so I was stuck looking up at the monitors and hoping I can hear Bob:

"You bid $89,500 on your showcase. And Vickyann, the actual retail price of your showcase is... Eighty nine thousand...."

At this moment, I'm looking up at the monitor, thinking "Oh, god, please don't be a painful overbid."

"...Seven..."

The audience goes nuts. Now I can't even hear Bob! All I can do is look up at the monitors to see them put up the difference on the display.

239. TWO HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE DOLLARS. I stand there, point at the monitor, and scream at the top of my lungs for a few seconds before I shout "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! LOOK WHAT SHE JUST DID!"

"...thirty nine! YOU WIN BOTH SHOWCASES! Both showcases!"

Still unable to hear Bob, I see Vickyann's total flash up on the monitor. $147,517!

"You have won $147,517! Vickyann is the biggest winner in Price Is Right history, daytime!"

334 people are now on their feet, screaming, applauding and in an utter state of shock. A DOUBLE SHOWCASE WIN! A minivan, a Saturn Sky, a Viper, various other prizes, and $1,000 in cash! What a haul!

You can see I was not kidding when I said I sacrificed my voice for television history! I screamed! I shouted! I pumped my fists! I high-fived random strangers!

While I prefer Vin Scully's call for Kirk Gibson's home run in the 1988 World Series, the more fitting quote here was Jack Buck's: "I DON'T BELIEVE WHAT I JUST SAW!"

Thanks to heelsrule1988 on Golden-Road.net, you too can watch this historic moment. He posted Vickyann's Showcase reveal on YouTube. Click here and enjoy!

There are a list of things I have always wanted to see in person. I want to see Hole In One played. I want to see someone get $1.00 in their bonus spin (especially a Million Dollar Spectacular). I want to see Golden Road played - especially if it's won. I want to see Triple Play. I wanted to see 3 Strikes - which did happen.

And, I wanted to see a Double Showcase Win.

And not only did I get to see it unfold, but to see the biggest daytime winner in not only TPIR history, but CBS history! Vickyann's winnings shattered the previous record, held by the infamous Michael Larson - who of course memorized the patterns on Press Your Luck's big board, taking home $110,237 in 1984.

For this, I am sure CBS is grateful.

After the show, with a hoarse voice and exhausted, I got to run into Vickyann and her husband. And just like with Jeanette, I congratulated her on her record-shattering victory.

What an incredible day. What an incredible moment. Ladies and gentlemen, season 35 has kicked off in grand fashion!

And words cannot express how grateful I was there to witness it, first-hand.

Congratulations, Vickyann!