 The original version of "The Price Is Right" was first broadcast on NBC, and later ABC, from 1956 to 1965.Hosted by Bill Cullen, it involved four contestants bidding on a wide array of merchandise prizes, whose values ranged anywhere from a few dollars, (in many cases, "bonus" prizes were attached after the fact, to the winner) to thousands, doing so in the manner of auctions except that Cullen did not act out the role of auctioneer.Instead, contestants tried to bid closest to the product's actual retail price without going over that price.