‘The Price is Right’ Gave Away a Trip to Maine Again and Made a Common Mispronunciation
The Price is Right is well known for giving away trips all across the world, but lately they have been sending people right here to Maine.
For the second time in a month, they offered another trip to Maine, but showed once again that they really aren't all that familiar with our state.
Back on January 19, as part of one of the showcases, The Price is Right offered a trip to Portland, Maine, except that their stay was at Ocean's Edge in Lincolnville, over 80 miles away from Portland.
On February 4, they offered another trip to Maine playing the pricing game Coming or Going, this time to Bar Harbor.
Here's the description of the trip as read by announcer George Gray,
You and a guest will fly round trip coach from Los Angeles to Bangor, Maine and head to Bar Harbor in your rental car, for a six night stay in a king ocean room at The Balance Rock Inn. Situated against the beautiful backdrop of Frenchman's Bay, this luxurious and peaceful property overlooks a stunning secluded beach. Daily breakfast is included.
Can you guess what got mispronounced? It's no surprise, that Bangor was not only mispronounced by George, but also host Drew Carey as BANG' ger not BANG' gore. There's even debate about Bangor having the sound of one or two G's, but that's a story for another time.
I can't fault either of them for mispronouncing Bangor because everyone who doesn't live in Maine does it, and with good reason. How do you say "doctor?" Pretty sure you don't pronounce it as DOC' tor. You say DOC' ter.
Drew Carey isn't the only host of The Price is Right to mispronounce Bangor either. Original host Bob Barker had a contestant back in the early 80s that he asked where they were from. Bob thought they said Bangor and he asked "Bangor, Maine?" The contestant corrected him saying it wasn't Bangor, and then Bob turned to announcer Johnny Olsen to ask him "Isn't there a Bangor, Maine, John?" I remember this from way back when I was a kid because it was the first time I had heard Maine mentioned on The Price is Right, and Bob screwed it up.
As for the trip to Bar Harbor, contestant Horatio was playing Coming or Going to win the trip. All he had to do is decide if the price was "coming or going." Here's an example of how the game is played.
The price for the trip to Bar Harbor was either $7859 or the numbers were reversed and it was $9587. Which do you think it was?
Horatio ended up winning the trip when he correctly chose $7859 for the price of the trip to Bar Harbor. I wonder if he knows how to pronounce Bangor?
If you want to watch the episode it's available on cbs.com.
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