When Josh and Lisa Kaplan of Newtown Square realized they were about to become “empty nesters,” they set out to plan an epic West Coast summer family vacation. Their daughter, Gabrielle, was headed back for her junior year at Vanderbilt University in the fall, and their son, Jared, was about to begin his freshman year at The University of Maryland.
“We took the trip to California in August,” Josh said. “We had the best time visiting the La Brea Tar Pits, the Griffin Observatory and Disney Land.” They packed a lot more into their week-long vacation with a tour of the Warner Bros. Studios and Sequoia National Park and checked out the sights, sounds, and streets of Hollywood.
As if that was not enough to fill the family scrapbook, on the last day of their trip, the Kaplans found themselves at a live taping of The Price is Right game show. Josh said he got the tickets on a whim. “I remember when I was young, my parents got us tickets to a live taping of the show Kate & Allie,” he laughed. “I wanted my kids to experience something similar, but because we were there during the writer’s strike, the only tickets I could get were for game shows.”
Josh did admit that he was pretty excited about scoring seats to The Price is Right. “When I was a kid, I may have pretended to be sick from time to time to stay home from school to watch The Price is Right and Let’s Make a Deal.” But Josh said that he had no idea how involved the process was from the minute they showed up to the time they took their seats. “We were one of the last ones in line, so we had to wait a while to get in the doors,” he explained. “Then we all had to fill out information forms, turn in our cell phones and answer interview questions.”
Josh said that initially, it seemed as though the interviewers were asking his daughter Gabrielle more questions than the rest of the group, so he thought there was a chance that she would be called to “Come On Down,” but when they asked her why she was there, Gabrielle said it was because her dad really wanted to go. “I think the kicker was after that, they asked her what she thought of the game show, and she told them that she had never watched it,” he laughed.
Josh, Lisa and the kids took their seats in the audience of about 250 people. They described the room as smaller than expected, very bright and extremely loud. In fact, it was so loud that they barely heard the show’s host, Drew Carey, call Joshua Kaplan to be the next contestant on The Price is Right! Josh jumped up from his seat and ran down the aisle, donning his finest Philadelphia Eagles t-shirt.
He took his place on Contestants Row, and the bidding began, but Josh kept losing. Then, when it came time for the final round of bidding, where in order to win, the contestant needed to be closest to the price without going over, Josh pulled the infamous $1.00 bid price on a set of power tools. Every other contestant bid too high, so Josh made his way to the stage.
The next round for Josh was a game called 2 for the price of 1. He needed to guess the price of a pair of foot massagers to win them as well as a six-night trip to Montreal. “I thought it was going to be easy for me because I happen to have a foot massage machine at home,” he said. “What I didn’t account for was Hollywood prices. I guessed $390. Turns out I was about $400 too low!”
Josh’s luck took a turn for the better when it came time to spin the big wheel to make it to the final showcase round. “Wow, that wheel is heavy,” he chuckled. “I was more concerned with throwing out my back than winning anything at that point.” In a game where the player to advance must come closest to $1.00, his first spin landed on $.50. Josh had to decide if he would take a second spin or stay put and hope that the other two contestants either scored lower or went over $1.00.
Not only did he not throw out his back, Josh’s second spin landed on $.50 again, earning him a $1,000 cash prize and a spot in the final showcase. The first showcase package included a trip to Germany, a living room set with an 85” Smart TV and a Harley Davidson Motorcycle. The second showcase featured an Apple watch, a trip to Hilton Head and a Mitsubishi Outlander SUV. Josh was called to bid on the first showcase.
“Being on that stage is a lot different than watching it from your couch,” he said. “The audience is so loud that it’s hard to hear the prize descriptions, and the cameras often block your view of the products.” Josh said he had to rely on instinct and help from the audience, who make price suggestions using their hands. “I looked at my wife Lisa, and she was holding up two fingers and then seven fingers, suggesting I bid around $27,000,” he explained. “I had an idea of the price on the trip and the living room set, but I had no idea how much a Harley Davidson cost.”
When it came time to make his bid, Josh said $32,300. His opponent, Bridgette, bid an even $30,000 for her showcase package. Drew Carey revealed the actual cost of Bridgette’s showcase first at $36,688 – a difference of $6,688. He then moved on to Josh, whose showcase package was valued at $29,789. Although his bid was closer to the actual price, he went over and lost the final round.
“Overall, it was a great experience for me and my family,” Josh remarked. “We had an amazing vacation that ended with a fun and memorable experience on the show.” When asked if there were anything he would have done differently, he laughed and said, “If I had listened to my wife, I’d be riding around Newtown Square on my Harley right now!”
Publishers Note: Josh, you may not have won the showcase but you made your hometown proud by getting to the final round of the game show we all love. Forget the Harley lost. Your bigger win is letting Sheila quote you about the lesson you learned – to always listen to your wife Lisa. Smart man! With a smart wife! No wonder you’re the parents of Jared, our Student of The Month last February, and Gabrielle who was our Student of The Month in April 2021. Smart Family!