Let's Make A Deal

Let's Make a Deal is a television game show aired in the United States. The original and most widely known version aired from 1963 to 1977. Other short lived versions aired in 1980, 1984, 1990 and 2003. The show's attraction was its deals - audience members were challenged to maximize their winnings by matching wits against the host, usually Monty Hall, who also co-produced the show from the '60s through the '80s with his partner, Stefan Hatos.

The show opens with a series of deals between Monty and contestants he picks.

A classic example: Monty Hall picks a studio audience member at random to become a contestant. He gives him a plastic egg. Monty: "You have a plastic egg that may have a thousand dollar bill hidden in it, or it may have a lot less. You can either keep that, or trade it for what's behind the large box on the display floor." (In early versions, "that (model) Carol Merrill is showing us" would also be added.)

Now the contestant is forced to make a difficult choice: keep the egg he's been given in the hope that a thousand dollars is contained within, or pick the box and its contents instead. Either may have a prize of value – the egg could contain $1,000, or the box might reveal a prize (e.g., a refrigerator/freezer and a gas range). However, either location may also contain something worthless, called a zonk on the show.

Zonks became as outrageous as the audience:

* Giant shoes
* A garbage can for each day of the week
* Giant stuffed toys
* A ton of watermelons
* A room of junky, worn furniture; broken, rusting 19th-century appliances, etc.
* Every type of live animal imaginable (they were rented from local zoos or farms)
* Junk antique automobiles (usually rusted out shells with steaming radiators, flat tires, broken windshields, etc.)
* Models and announcers dressed as comedy characters (e.g., Merrill as the mother "disciplining 'Baby Jay'" for throwing a tantrum in an oversized crib).
* 500 pounds of bananas
* a giant barrel of chicken fat
* 500 pounds of lettuce
* a dozen chickens who lay eggs
* 100 pumpkin pies
* 500 pounds of tomatoes
* A ton of cabbage
* A tall baby high chair
* A tall, large rocking horse
* Punk rockers
* A giant hot water bottle

The goal, of course, for contestants was to increase their winnings by making the right choices as given by Monty Hall.
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Other deals

Other typical deals included the following:

* Two traders (or couples) competed against each other to price a series of four grocery items or small prizes. The first contestant gave a price, and the opponent gave one; the one who was closer got a cash prize (e.g., $100). Each succeeding item is worth more (e.g., $200, $300 and $400), with the players alternating turns going first. The first trader (or team) to collect a pre-set amount (usually $700) won a grand prize, such as a car or a trip (and got to keep any leftover money). The losing contestant was offered a regular take-it-or-leave-it deal in exchange for any cash accumulated; the consolation deal was also played for both teams if both obtained less than the required amount.
* Keys which unlocked anything from boxes (containing money, trip tickets, etc.) to cars, usually from a choice of three. Hall always offered cash or a curtain/box as options. Variant: A couple chooses one key from a choice of three, with a car offered as the grand prize (and a sure-thing buyout offered once Monty demonstrated one of the "dud" keys).
* Deciding whether an announced prize was real or fake and choosing a cash amount or the box/curtain as a substitute.
* Choosing an envelope, purse, wallet, etc., which concealed dollar bills. One of them concealed a pre-announced dollar bill (usually $1 or $5), which awarded a car or trip. The other envelopes contained a consolation gift of $500, $1000 and $1500. The player had to decide whether to keep his/her choice or trade.
* Choosing four of seven envelopes, each containing $1 and $2 bills, whose contents they hoped added up to at least $7 for a grand prize.
* Monty's Cash Register, wherein a couple had to punch keys on a 15-key register. Exactly 13 of the buttons hid amounts of either $50 or $100, and getting to a stated amount (usually $500-$1000) won a grand prize. The couple could stop at any time and keep what they have (always then being tempted with a follow-up keep-or-trade deal) but hitting "no sale" at any time ended the game; one twist would involve the two "no sale" buttons; if the unlucky button were struck on the first try, hitting the second "no sale" button the very next time also won the grand prize. Otherwise, Monty allowed the couple to take home whatever dollar amount they hit with the next key punch.
* Three unrelated traders act as a team on deals. Sometimes, only one was allowed to speak for the team without consultation of the others; other times, a "majority rules" format was used. Usually after a series of deals, Hall broke up the team and could individually decide on one or more options on a final deal.
* Beat the Dealer: three contestants would choose envelopes to start the game; two of them contained $500 cash, the other $50. The two dealers who chose the $500 continued on to try to win a middling prize by picking the higher-suited card out of nine off a game board. The one who won could then risk the prize and the cash by picking two more cards - one for themself and one for Monty. If the player picked the higher card for themself, they added a new car (or another big prize); otherwise, they lost everything.
* At the start of the show, a contestant given a large grocery item (e.g., a box of candy bars), always containing a cash amount. Throughout the show, he/she is given several chances to trade the box and/or give it to another trader, in exchange for the box or curtain. Only after the Big Deal of the Day was awarded (or if the last trader with said item elects to go for the Big Deal) was the cash amount or prize given. Variant: A "claim check" given to a trader at the start of the show for any prize shown during the regular deals and chances to trade throughout the episode. The prize ranged from cash and cars to zonks. The "claim check" was sometimes played as the very last regular deal, however, with one sure deal offered in lieu of its contents.

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Skill-based games

Several games, however, were skill games testing a contestant's consumer knowledge or memory (a la The Price is Right). Games of this nature included:

* Arranging small prizes (usually $5-50) by dollar value.
* Choosing which item was a pre-announced price (e.g., 55 cents), or added up to a certain amount (e.g., $1).
* Recalling which grocery items were concealed beneath the letters of a car model (e.g., P-O-N-T-I-A-C) or trip destination (G-E-R-M-A-N-Y).

Several times during the game, Monty would offer a "sure-thing" prize to call off the deal. Even if the contestant failed, Hall offered a consolation prize (usually, the small items and/or $50).
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Big Deal of the Day

The top two winners in each show were eligible to either keep their winnings or give up everything already won for a spot in the Big Deal of the Day.

If one or both of the top winners declined to give up their winnings (usually because they won a car or large amount of cash), Monty would go down the list of winners - highest to lowest - until he had two traders. (Very rarely, even a player who had been zonked could find themselves given a chance at the Big Deal.)

In the Big Deal of the Day, the two contestants were allowed to make a simple choice between three doors. The day's top winner had first choice. One door hid the day's Big Deal, which often had the day's most expensive prize (a luxury or sports car, a trip, furniture/appliances, a fur, cash ... or more often than not, a combination of two or more of said items). Zonks were never included in these deals, although the contestant always risked winding up with far less than their original deal (e.g., a $1200 living room set for $200 worth of small kitchen appliances).

During the classic era (1963-1977), the daytime Big Deal of the Day was typically worth $2000-$5000; the nighttime and syndicated show's Big Deals were worth $8000 to $15,000 or more, with cars often being part of the runner-up door.

Some of the more notable Big Deals included:

* A Cadillac Eldorado convertible.
* A modular lodge.
* A mink or sable fur coat.
* Recreational vehicles – everything from pickup trucks with camper shells, to 25-foot Fleetwoods and Winnebagos.
* A first-class vacation to Europe.

During the 1975-1976 syndicated season, a new Super Deal was offered for "Big Deal" winners. The contestant could risk his Big Deal winnings on a 1-in-3 shot at adding a $20,000 cash prize. The other two doors caused the player to lose the "Big Deal," but he/she took home a $1000 or $2000 consolation prize. Later, the consolation prize was changed to $2000 and a mystery amount ($1000 to $9000). The Super Deal was discontinued when the show permanently moved to Las Vegas for the final season (1976-1977). By that time, the "Big Deal" ranged from $10,000-15,000.