When you think of The Price Is Right, you most likely think of the host, Drew Carey. But, announcer George Gray is just as much a part of the show as Carey and the models, despite not being on camera for the whole episode. His voice most certainly is.
George Gray has been the announcer for the game show since 2011 and told TV Insider about his experiences in an exclusive interview. “My first episode that I taped was November 18, 2010, so I call that my anniversary date, even though the announcement wasn’t until 2011 so, I’m working on my fifteenth year now,” he said.
He also opened up about how he got the job 15 years ago. “What had happened is the executive producer was somebody who he worked with my agent, and we were in the same agency, and we were friends, and we had started kind of working together on Weakest Link (which Gray hosted at the time),” he said. “He actually came in and did some producing for that.”
“When Price, about 10 years later, was looking for an announcer, not only did we know each other, we’re friendly, but we also worked together. And so he said, ‘Yeah, I want you to come in and be one of the I think it was six guys they brought in.’ I’m not sure of the exact number. What they did, which is pretty genius, is rather than have auditions with the casting director and then you see who gets it, and then you put them on air, you get an on-air audition. The show referred to us as guest announcers.”
“And so when it was time for it, I got to go last and when it was my turn, the executive person said, ‘All right, it’s time for you. All you have to do is knock it out of the park. But just so you know, we’ve already got our guy.’ And I said, ‘I know. I know who it is. I already know who it is. I’ve been watching, been watching all the shows, and I know who it is. It’s Jeff Davis. The guy’s amazing. He’s a genius, he’s handsome, he’s quick on his feet. He’s a jerk [laughs].’ And he said, ‘No, I can’t say who it is. I’m like, ‘I already know who it is.’ He’s like, ‘Well, all you got to do is knock it out of the park.’ So I even thought, ‘Well, I can’t, I’m not even going to book this, but I get 20 episodes, and it’s going to be a lot of fun, so I’m just going to go have fun’, and that’s all I did, is I went and have I went and had an absolute blast. And now I’m 15 years in,” Gray explained. He said that the show feels like family and he and Drew Carey greet each other backstage before filming and then catch up during commercial breaks.
When asked about how The Price Is Right has changed since he joined, Gray said, “It’s amazing, because for 54 seasons, if you watch the very beginning of it, it’s different. There’s Johnny Olson, there’s a crowd of people sitting there, quiet in a room, and the camera’s just panning around like it does right now, and you just hear John Smith stand up, then ‘Come on down.’ Then John politely gets up and politely walks on down. There are still elements of that like the camera spin.”
“Everybody goes bananas now, and there’s all the applause. There’s always a little something new, but there’s always something that’s exactly the thing that you know and love. Even in those 15 years, I’ve seen a couple of new games. We get some new colors every season, to brighten things up, and change things slightly, but it’s still that warm atmosphere that you know and love,” George Gray told TV Insider.
The show has come a long way. Gray told TV Insider that even though he butchers every single contestant’s name, there are cards on stage with their first and last name to help him and let the audience know how to spell it.