Cliff Lipson / CBS

One of the questions Richards says he gets most often is what qualities decide who gets to "come on down!" to be a contestant on the show. "The real answer is we're looking for people that are being themselves, and not pretending to be more excited or more odd or whatever it is," he says. "We're looking for people who are authentically excited to be there, are naturally gregarious, are interested in having a good time, and who we think will enjoy the prizes that we're giving away."

Before loading into the Price is Right soundstage at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, audience producers interview each contestant, but they don't have a great deal of time. "We have roughly 20 seconds with each person," Richards says. "So are we able to really ascertain all that? No. We're looking for any kind of cue that makes us think they're going to like our prizes. Most people who come to the show like the types of things The Price is Right gives away."

If it has seemed like contestants that arrive in a large group of people all wearing the same outfits have a better chance of getting on the show, Richards says that is only thanks to math. "If you come in a big group of 15 people all in the same shirt, just statistically, one of you is probably going to get chosen, just because there are 300 people in the audience, and we have to pick nine of them," he says. "We almost have to pick you, because we need enough people to come down."