Daytime television viewers got a surprise this week as Bob Barker welcomed an ISU student to “come on down” on “The Price is Right.”

Nate Yoder, senior in sociology, made it on stage for Monday’s airing of an episode that was taped March 18.

Yoder, his girlfriend Megan Kropp and six of their friends had trekked to the studio as part of their spring break trip. They arrived at the lot around 5 a.m., waiting about three hours before being given the paperwork to get on the show.

Once inside, the audience was given a pre-show update by announcer Rod Roddy.

“Women are allowed to kiss Bob on the cheek, but men can’t,” Yoder said Roddy told the audience.

Yoder was one of the original four contestants called from the studio audience to play the game.

“You go on the show hoping someone you know will get on stage. It was just a huge rush,” said Brian Smith, one of Yoder’s friends on the trip and senior in management information systems.

Yoder, wearing a red ISU T-shirt, looked on as the first item up for bid was rolled out. He placed his bid of $1,099 on a washer and dryer and took the stage as the actual retail price of $1,148 was announced.

“I about had a heart attack,” said Kropp, senior in art and design.

The excitement of the moment escalated when it was announced that Yoder would play “Spelling Bee” for a brand-new Mercury Cougar.

The game involved guessing the price of a product. If Yoder could guess within $10 of the actual price, he would get cards with either a “C,” an “A” or an “R” on the back, plus two instant-winning “CAR” cards.

Barker pointed out that there was good news and bad news after Yoder finished all three of his guesses, each unsuccessful.

“The bad news is, you can’t spell CAR without the R,” Barker said. “The good news is you have made history.”

Yoder was the first person in history to miss all three products.

Knowing he couldn’t spell CAR with only two letters at his disposal, Yoder had the option of taking the money represented on the front of the cards – a total of $1,000 – or fighting the odds in hopes that one of his two cards was an automatic winner.

He went for the car.

“I figured if I was going to pay taxes on something, it might as well be something big,” Yoder said.

With a flip of the cards, Barker revealed two “C”s.

“It was almost a relief because we would have had to get the car back [to Iowa],” Kropp said.