A.V. Club readers triumph as New York Times corrects Price Is Right story
In a Great Job, Internet! post last week, I alerted readers to a shocking injustice perpetrated by The New York Times against game show fans, pop culture nitpickers, and all those who rally to the cause of truth. To recap: In the latest installment of its consumer-advocate column “The Haggler,” the Times helped a woman who was waiting to receive prizes she’d won on The Price Is Right. David Segal, who writes the Haggler column, indicated that the aggrieved party had won her prizes in Price’s Showcase Showdown round. That was incorrect. In fact, the contestant won the lion’s share of her prizes in the climactic Showcase round—the Showcase Showdown is when players spin a big, colorful wheel for a chance to participate in the Showcase. Confusing the Showcase with the Showcase Showdown is a common mistake but a mistake nonetheless.
After a tweet to Segal about the error failed to get results, I turned to A.V. Club readers, inviting them to email the Times and request a correction, politely. Nobody wanted to make life difficult for Segal, who writes a splendid, amusing, and helpful column. But many of you concurred with me that the Showcase Showdown mistake threatened to unravel the very fabric of public discourse, at least as it pertains to daytime TV shows with wheels that go “boop boop boop.” Many of you also agreed that it would be fun to make the proud, mighty Times confront the minutiae of a program that lavishly rewards people for knowing about how much a can of green beans costs.
It brings me inordinate joy to report that your efforts were successful. Yesterday, the Times corrected the story:
Correction: August 23, 2015