Magic Number (pricing game)

Magic # is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. Debuting on the Season 21 premiere on September 14, 1992, it is played for two prizes, each worth at least $1,000.

Gameplay

Two prizes are shown, and the Contestant is told which is the less expensive of the two. The contestant must then find a "magic number" - a number that falls between the prices of the two prizes - to win both prizes. To do so, the contestant raises and lowers a lever attached to the prop that will increase or decrease the number displayed on the readout.

A number which matches the price of either prize will also count as a win.

History

On 1994's syndicated The New Price Is Right, Doug Davidson referred to the lever as the "leever", and the display as either the "geezmo" or the "geezmo thingy". He also jokingly referred to the game itself as "Magic Pound Sign."

For the first several years of Magic #'s existence, the game's computer automatically rounded the magic number to the nearest ten every time the lever was released. This was never intended to be a feature of the game, and the issue was corrected once the producers realized it was happening.