I have always had a soft spot for people obsessed with classic TV game shows. The stories of ordinary people cracking some seemingly impossible formula to beat the system have always fascinated me – less on an intellectual level and more as a pure guilty pleasure. So when a documentary suggestion popped up called Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much, I jumped straight in.

The documentary chronicles Theodore Slauson, an everyday American bloke whose casual affection for The Price Is Right spiralled into a full-blown spreadsheet obsession. His version of the story goes that he began noticing pricing patterns simply because he watched the show so much – not because he was some savant Rain Man figure, but because the producers continually recycled prize packages.

While undeniably quirky, Theodore comes across as down to earth, even if his hobby sits well outside the norm. The film tracks how an innocent interest escalated into obsessions, including coding his own computer software to practise bidding at home, networking with fellow obsessives and attending dozens of live tapings. Over time, Theodore’s routine presence turned him into a familiar face for long-time host Bob Barker and the production crew.

However, the real anchor of the doco’ centres on an infamous chapter in daytime television history when in 2008, contestant Terry Kniess submitted an exact, dollar-perfect bid of $23,743 on his final showcase – a statistical near-impossibility that ground taping to a halt and sent producers into a tailspin suspecting the show had been rigged. The documentary positions Theodore as the mastermind behind the chaos, claiming he told the exact numbers to his wife, who yelled it from the audience. Because the story is framed almost entirely through Theodore’s perspective, it should be taken with a grain of salt, however, the evidence presented is very compelling. Kniess has historically maintained he calculated the number himself, leaving viewers to weigh Theodore’s claims against the reality of the taping and, much to its credit, the documentary doesn’t take a definitive side.

Yet, what makes the story engaging is simple; Theodore is an engaging storyteller – far more charismatic than you might expect from someone this fixated on daytime television. His delivery feels like having a yarn with a bloke at the pub reminiscing about the glory days. You quickly find yourself rooting for him, even though his tale is not about a personal jackpot.

Perfect Bid functions best as an easy, surface-level peek into an offbeat slice of pop-culture history. It is not an exhaustive investigative breakdown of network television, nor does it dig up dark production scandals or villains. Instead, it offers a brisk, well-edited talking-head interview interspersed cleanly with archival broadcast footage and commentary from figures like Bob Barker and producer Roger Dobkowitz.

At 72 minutes, you will not walk away with profound epiphanies about human psychology, but as a lighthearted story told by someone convinced of his own bizarre legacy. If you are after an easy weekend watch about an oddly charming subculture, it is well worth your time – playing out much like the daytime game show itself.

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