Let's Make a Deal


Let's Make a Deal is a television game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created and produced by Stefan Hatos and Monty Hall, the latter serving as its host for nearly 30 years.
The format of Let's Make a Deal involves selected members of the studio audience, referred to as "traders," making deals with the host. In most cases, a trader will be offered something of value and given a choice of whether to keep it or exchange it for a different item. The program's defining game mechanism is that the other item is hidden from the trader until that choice is made. The trader thus does not know if he or she is getting something of greater value or a prize that is referred to as a "zonk," an item purposely chosen to be of little or no value to the trader.
Let's Make a Deal is also known for audience members who dress up in outrageous or crazy costumes in order to increase their chances of being selected as a trader.
The most recent edition of Let's Make a Deal has been airing on CBS since October 5, 2009, when it took over the spot on the network's daytime schedule vacated by the long running soap opera Guiding Light. Wayne Brady is the host of the current series, with Jonathan Mangum as his announcer/assistant. Tiffany Coyne is the current model, joining in 2010, with musician Cat Gray in 2011.

Broadcast history

Let's Make a Deal first aired on NBC in 1963 as part of its daytime schedule. The show moved to ABC in 1968, where it remained until 1976; and on two separate occasions the show was given a weekly nighttime spot on those networks. The first syndicated edition of Let's Make a Deal premiered in 1971. Distributed by ABC Films, and then by its successor Worldvision Enterprises once the fin-syn rules were enacted, the series ran until 1977 and aired weekly.
A revival of the series based in Hall's native Canada was launched in 1980 and aired in syndication on American and Canadian stations for one season. This series was produced by Catalena Productions and distributed in America by Rhodes Productions, Catalena's partner company. In the fall of 1984, the series returned for a third run in syndication as The All-New Let's Make a Deal. Running for two seasons until 1986, this series was distributed by Telepictures.
NBC revived Let's Make a Deal twice in a 13-year span. The first was a daytime series in 1990 that was the first to not be produced or hosted by Monty Hall. Instead, the show was a production of Ron Greenberg and Dick Clark, and featured Bob Hilton as host.
A primetime edition was launched in 2003 but drew poor ratings and was cancelled after three of its intended five episodes had aired. This version had reporter Billy Bush as host, and had a significantly larger budget.
A partial remake called Big Deal, hosted by Mark DeCarlo, was broadcast on Fox in 1996. In 1998 and 1999, Buena Vista Television was in talks with Stone-Stanley to create a revival hosted by Gordon Elliott, but it was never picked up. The show was one of several used as part of the summer series Gameshow Marathon on CBS in 2006, hosted by Ricki Lake.
As noted above, CBS revived Let's Make a Deal in 2009. The revival premiered on October 5, 2009, and CBS airs the show daily at 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Eastern time. Like the program that it replaced, the long-running soap opera Guiding Light, affiliates can choose to air it in either time slot; most affiliates, however, prefer the early slot in order to pair the two CBS daytime game shows together. Markets running the show in the later slot include Baton Rouge, Kansas City, New Orleans, St. Louis and Wichita.
From September 27, 2010 to October 1, 2010, Let's Make a Deal and The Price Is Right aired two episodes a day on an alternating week. CBS did this to fill a gap between the final episode of As the World Turns, which ended a fifty-four-year run on September 17, 2010, and the debut of The Talk. The double-run games aired at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
Although the current version of the show debuted in September 2009, long after The Price Is Right and the two Bell created daytime soap operas had made the switch to high definition, Let's Make a Deal was, along with Big Brother, one of only two programs across the five major networks that was still being actively produced in standard definition. For the start of production for its 2014–15 season in June 2014, Let's Make a Deal began being produced in high definition, with Big Brother 16 making the switch later in June. Let's Make a Deal was the last remaining CBS program to make the switch by air date, with the first HD episode airing on September 22, 2014.

Past personnel

Monty Hall hosted the original daytime network series for its entire run ; Hall also hosted its accompanying primetime and syndicated series as well as the two 1980s syndicated efforts, and he served as consultant for the current version until his death in 2017. Geoff Edwards also stepped in to host for a week in spring 1985, when Monty came down with laryngitis.
Bob Hilton became the new host for the NBC 1990 series; however, due to low ratings, Hilton was fired from the show and in October 1990, Hall returned to the show and remained as host until the series was canceled in January 1991. Billy Bush emceed the 2003 series, with Hall making a cameo appearance in one episode.
Each Let's Make a Deal announcer also served as a de facto assistant host, as many times the announcer would be called upon to carry props across the trading floor. The original announcer for the series was Wendell Niles, who was replaced by Jay Stewart in 1964. Stewart remained with Let's Make a Deal until the end of the syndicated series in 1977. The 1980 Canadian-produced syndicated series was announced by Chuck Chandler. The 1984 syndicated series had Brian Cummings in the announcer/assistant role for its first season, with disc jockey Dean Goss taking the position for the following season. The 1990 NBC revival series was announced by Dean Miuccio, with the 2003 edition featuring Vance DeGeneres in that role.
The longest tenured prize model on Let's Make a Deal was Carol Merrill, who stayed with the series from its debut until 1977. The models on the 1980s series were Maggie Brown, Julie Hall, Karen LaPierre, and Melanie Vincz. For the 1990 series, the show featured Georgia Satelle and identical twins Elaine and Diane Klimaszewski, who later gained fame as the Coors Light Twins.
Hall and Merrill both appeared on the current Brady version, each making one-week appearances each. The 2013 celebration of the franchise's 50th anniversary was Hall's last official appearance on the show prior to his death, but Hall also appeared in 2017 CBS publicity shots with Brady as part of a CBS Daytime publicity photo celebrating the network's daytime ratings.
When the current version debuted in 2009 at Las Vegas, Alison Fiori was the show's original model, lasting for much of the first season in Las Vegas before the show moved to Los Angeles. During the 2013-14 season, Danielle Demski was the show's model for most of the season while Tiffany Coyne was on maternity leave, and remains as Coyne's backup when necessary, most recently during the 2019-20 season.

Production locations

The original daytime series was recorded at NBC Studios in Burbank, California and then at ABC Television Center in Los Angeles once the program switched networks in 1968. The weekly syndicated series also taped at ABC Television Center, doing so for its first five seasons. After ABC cancelled the daytime series in 1976, production of the syndicated series ceased there as well and the sixth and final season was recorded in the ballroom of the Las Vegas Hilton hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 1980 Canadian series taped at Panorama Studios in Vancouver, BC, which production company Catalena Productions used as its base of operations. The All-New Let's Make a Deal taped its first season of episodes in Burbank at NBC Studios, then moved to Hollywood Center Studios in Hollywood, California for the second and final season. The 1990 NBC daytime series was recorded at Disney-MGM Studios on the grounds of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The 2003 revival returned production to Burbank.
The current edition of the series first originated from the Tropicana in Las Vegas. The show returned to Hollywood in 2010, first at Sunset Bronson Studios and later at Raleigh Studios. The show currently films at Saticoy Studios in Van Nuys, California.

Music

The theme music for the 1963-77 versions was composed by Sheldon Allman. The theme, along with all incidental music, was performed by an in-studio combo led by Ivan Ditmars, consisting of an electric organ, guitar, drums, and on the nighttime version, a harp. In some seasons of the nighttime show, the combo was further augmented by a horn section. The final season of the nighttime show taped in Las Vegas eliminated the in-studio band in favor of pre-recorded tracks, due to Ivan Ditmars' retirement.
The 1980-81 theme, composed by Stan Worth, was an updated version of the original theme, with more of a disco sound.
The 1984-86 version featured a brand new theme provided by Score Productions, although original composer Sheldon Allman returned as music director for the first season. Todd Thicke replaced Allman in that role for the second season. Both music directors utilized music from previous Hatos-Hall shows, such as Split Second, as incidental cues during the show.
The 2009 revival features another new theme composed by Brian Teed. Since 2011, keyboardist Cat Grey has provided in-studio musical accompaniment.

Format

Game play

Each episode of Let's Make a Deal consists of several "deals" between the host and a member of the audience, referred to as "traders." Audience members are picked at the host's whim as the show moves along, and couples are often selected to play together as traders. The deals are mini-games within the show that take several formats.
In the simplest format, a trader is given a prize of medium value, and the host offers them the opportunity to trade for another prize. However, the offered prize is unknown. It might be concealed on the stage behind one of three curtains, or behind "boxes" onstage, within smaller boxes brought out to the audience, or occasionally in other formats. The initial prize given to the trader may also be concealed, such as in a box, wallet or purse, or the trader might be initially given a box, envelope or curtain. The format varies widely.
Technically, traders are supposed to bring something to trade in, but this rule has seldom been enforced. On several occasions, a trader is actually asked to trade in an item such as their shoes or purse, only to receive the item back at the end of the deal as a "prize". On at least one occasion, the purse was taken backstage and a high-valued prize such as the ignition key to a new car was placed inside of it.
Prizes generally consist of either cash or merchandise with genuine value, such as a trip, electronics, furniture, appliances, or a car. At times, a small prize may contain a cash bonus or a written/recorded message awarding cash or a larger prize to a trader who has chosen it. Traders who choose boxes or curtains are at risk of receiving booby prizes called "zonks," which can be outlandish items or legitimate prizes with very little value. On rare occasions, a trader receives a zonk that proves to be a cover-up for a valuable prize, such as a fur coat hidden inside a garbage can.
Though usually considered joke prizes, traders legally win the zonks. However, after the taping of the show, any trader who had been zonked is offered a consolation prize instead of having to take home the actual zonk. This is partly because some of the zonks are impractical or physically impossible to receive or deliver to the traders, or the props are owned by the studio. A disclaimer at the end of the credits of later 1970s episodes read "Some traders accept reasonable duplicates of zonk prizes." Starting in the 2012–13 season, CBS invited viewers to provide zonk ideas to producers. At the end of the season, the zonk declared the most creative was worth $2,500 to the winner, and other viewers' zonk ideas were also used. For every viewer-developed zonk, the host announced the viewer who provided the zonk. The contest has been continued throughout the past several seasons after its 2012 introduction.

Quickie Deals

As the end credits of the show roll, it is typical for the host to ask random members of the studio audience to participate in fast deals. In the current Wayne Brady version, these are often referred to as "quickie deals", and are conducted by the host, announcer, and model each. CBS will post information on the show's Twitter address days before taping to encourage audience members to carry certain items in their pockets in order to win an additional $100-$500 when the host, announcer, or model approaches them at the end of the show and asks to see such items. The deals are usually in the form of the following:
Deals are often more complicated than the basic format described above. Additionally, some deals take the form of games of chance, and others in the form of pricing games.

Trading deals

Types of trading deals employed on the show include:
A wide variety of chance-based games have been used on the show. Examples:
Depending on the game, the trader is given the opportunity to stop the game at various points and take a "sure thing" deal or cash/prizes already accumulated or continue on and risk possibly losing.

Pricing games

Other deals related to pricing merchandise are featured in order to win a larger prize or cash amounts. Sometimes traders are required to price individual items within a certain range to win successively larger prizes or a car. Other times traders must choose an item that a pre-announced price, order grocery items or small prizes from least to most expensive, or two items with prices that total a certain amount to win a larger prize. These games are not used on the CBS version because of their similarities to The Price is Right.

Quiz games

On the CBS version, due to the similarities of the pricing game concept with The Price Is Right, quiz games are used instead. These deals involve products in the form of when they were introduced to the market, general knowledge quizzes, currency exchange rates, or knowledge of geography of trips to certain locales used as prizes.

Big Deal

The Big Deal serves as the final segment of the show and offers a chance at a significantly larger prize for a lucky trader. Before the round, the value of the day's Big Deal is announced to the audience.
The process for choosing traders was the same for every series through the 2003 NBC primetime series. Monty Hall would begin asking the day's traders, starting with the highest winner, if they wanted to trade in everything they had won to that point for a chance to choose one of three numbered doors on the stage. The process continued until two traders agreed to play; the bigger winner got first choice of the doors, and the other trader then chose from the remaining two. On the CBS version, only one trader plays for the Big Deal.
Each of the doors conceals either a prize package of some sort, or a cash award hidden inside a prop such a bank vault, piggy bank, or blank check. On occasion, a door containing an all-cash prize is opened before the traders make their choices, but the amount of the prize is not revealed. Most often, the value of the "Low" Door is less than the value of the player's original winnings, while the "Medium" Door's value is at least $1,000 more than the player's traded winnings.
When the Big Deal is not behind the selected door, one of the non-Big Deal doors is opened first, then the chosen door, with the Big Deal revealed last. If the Big Deal door is selected, the other two doors are usually revealed first, although on rare occasions, the Big Deal door has been revealed second, after one of the other two doors is revealed.
The Big Deal prize is usually the most extravagant on each episode, and is often a car, a vacation with first-class accommodations, or a collection of high-value furniture/appliances. On occasion, the Big Deal consists of one of the all-cash prizes mentioned above; at other times, a cash bonus is added to the prizes in the Big Deal to bring the total up to the announced value. On other occasions, the prize consists of "Everything in the Big Deal," which awards the cash/merchandise behind all three doors to the trader who chooses it.
Traders who have won zonks become eligible for the Big Deal only if not enough winners of actual cash/prizes volunteer to play. The Big Deal is the only time during the show in which participants are guaranteed to receive a genuine prize.

Super Deal

During the 1975–76 syndicated season, winners of the Big Deal were offered a chance to win the "Super Deal". At this point, Big Deals were limited to a range of $8,000 to $10,000. The trader could risk their Big Deal winnings on a shot at adding a $20,000 cash prize, which was hidden behind only one of three mini-doors onstage. The other two doors contained cash amounts of $1,000 or $2,000, however, the $1,000 value was later replaced with a "mystery" amount between $1,000 and $9,000. A trader who decided to play risked their Big Deal winnings and selected one of the mini-doors. If the $20,000 prize was behind the door, the trader kept the Big Deal and added the $20,000 prize, for a potential maximum total of $30,000. However, if a trader selected one of the other two doors, he or she forfeited the Big Deal prizes but kept the cash amount behind the door. The Super Deal was discontinued when the show permanently moved to Las Vegas for the final season, and Big Deal values returned to the previous range of $10,000 to $15,000.
From 2012 to 2016 of the Brady version, the Super Deal was offered as a limited event and was not played regularly. The show designated one or two weeks of episodes, typically airing during a special event. In this version, the top cash prize was $50,000 while the other two cash prizes were $1,000 and $2,000. In addition, instead of using mini-doors, the cash amounts were hidden in three large colored envelopes of red, green, and blue, respectively referred by Brady as ruby, emerald, and sapphire.

Trip-Tastic

In the 2019 premiere week, a variant called “Trip-Tastic” was played. At three random points in the game, Tiffany will show the dealer a golden ticket. This ticket allows them to play Trip-Tastic. This round is played like this: the three envelopes, ruby, emerald, and sapphire, are now attached to a map of the Earth. The first ticket holder makes a choice. Then, the second chooses between the remaining 2, leaving one envelope for the last ticket holder. After that, Wayne will reveal the envelope holding $500. Then he opens another envelope. The one that has the ticket, wins not one, not two but three trips. The others leave with $500 and $1,000, respectively.

Mega-Deal week

For season premiere weeks in 2015 and 2016 of the Brady version, Big Deal of the Day winners had an opportunity to win every non-zonk, non-cash prize from that day's episode as a "Mega-Deal". Prior to the start of the Big Deal, the contestant picked both a Big Deal curtain and one of seven Mega Deal cards. Unlike the Super Deal, the contestant does not risk their winnings in the Mega Deal. Only if the contestant won the Big Deal would the contestant's card be revealed. If the card was the Mega Deal, they won every non-zonk, non-cash prize on the show that day. Regardless, at the end of the Big Deal, whichever door was chosen was the contestant's to keep.

Mash-Up Week

The week of May 9, 2016 was designated Mash-Up Week. During each of the five broadcast days, Deal and The Price Is Right each featured one game from the other's lineup. The games were slightly modified to reflect the nature of the shows on which they were played; those on TPIR required contestants to price items, while those on Deal used random draws and the offer of cash/prize deals to stop a game early. Mash-Up Week returned to both shows the week of March 23, 2020.

Reception

Upon the original Let's Make a Deals debut, journalist Charles Witbeck was skeptical of the show's chances of success, noting that the previous four NBC programs to compete with CBS's Password had failed. Some critics described the show as "mindless" and "demeaning to traders and audiences alike".
By 1974, however, the show had spent more than a decade at or near the top of daytime ratings, and became the highest-rated syndicated primetime program. It was so popular that, when Hall moved the Let's Make a Deal to ABC because of a contract dispute, doing so greatly damaged NBC's daytime ratings and greatly improved ABC's. The show held the world's record for the longest waiting list for tickets in show-business history; there were 350 seats available for each show, and a wait time of two to three years after requesting a ticket.
In 2001, Let's Make a Deal was ranked as #18 on TV Guides list of "The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time". In 2006, GSN aired a series of specials counting down its own list of the "50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time", on which Let's Make a Deal was #7.
In 2014, the American series won a Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Song for "30,000 Reasons to Love Me", composed by Cat Gray and sung by Wayne Brady.

Episode status

holds international rights to the show, and has licensed the show to 22 countries.
Region or countryLocal nameHostNetworkDates
AustraliaLet's Make A DealMike Dyer
John Laws
Jimmy Hannan
Garry Meadows
Nine Network1968–69
1976–77
AustraliaLet's Make A DealVince SorrentiNetwork Ten1990–91
BrazilTopa um Acordo?Rodrigo FaroRede RecordApril 26, 2014 – December 2014
CanadaLet's Make A DealMonty HallSyndication1980–81*
Egyptلعبة الحياة – ليتس ميك آي ديل
Lebet el hayat
Moutaz Al-DemirdashAl Hayat 12013–present
France:fr:Le Bigdil|Le Bigdil:fr:Vincent Lagaf'|Vincent Lagaf' and :fr:Bill|BillTF11998–2004
Germany:de:Geh aufs Ganze!|Geh aufs Ganze!:de:Jörg Draeger|Jörg Draeger
:de:Elmar Hörig|Elmar Hörig
Sat.1
tm3
kabel eins
1992–2003
GreeceΤo Μεyάλo Παζάρi
To Megalo Pazari
Andreas MikroutsikosMega Channel1992–93
GreeceΠαρτα Ολα
Parta Ola
Andreas MikroutsikosMega Channel1997
GreeceΤα σουτιέν και ο Αντρέας – Το πιο Μεγάλο Παζάρι
Ta soutien kai o Antreas – To pio Megalo Pazari
Andreas MikroutsikosAlpha TV2006–07
GreeceΚανε Παζαρι
Kane Pazari
Doretta PapadimitriouSkai2017–present
HungaryZsákbamacska:hu:Rosza Gyorgy |Rozsa GyorgyMTV 11994–98
IndiaKhullja Sim SimAman Verma
Hussain Kuwajerwala
Star Plus
BIG Magic
2001–04
2012–13
Indonesia:id:Super Deal 2 Milyar|Super Deal 2 Milyar:id:Nico Siahaan|Nico Siahaan
:id:Aditya Herpavi Rachman|Aditya Herpavi Rachman
:id:Indra Bekti|Indra Bekti and :id:Indy Barends|Indy Barends
antv2006–07
April 29, 2010 – December 31, 2010
July 25, 2011 – November 21, 2011
Indonesia:id:Super Deal|Super Deal:id:Uya Kuya|Uya Kuyaantv2014–2015
Indonesia:id:Super Deal|Super DealRaffi Ahmad and :id:Ruben Onsu|Ruben Onsuantv2016
Indonesia:id:Super Deal|Super Deal IndonesiaAnanda Omesh, Andhika Pratama, :id: Edric Tjandra|Edric Tjandra, and PaphamGTV2018–20
Israelעשינו עסק
Asinu eseq
:he:Avri Gilad|Avri Gilad
:he:Zvika Hadar|Zvika Hadar
Channel 21994–95
1996
Italy:it:Facciamo un affare|Facciamo un affare:it:Iva Zanicchi|Iva ZanicchiCanale 51985–86
Lebanonقصة كبيرة
Ossa kbireh
Michel KaziFuture TV2002
MexicoTrato Hecho1999
Poland:pl:Idź na całość|Idź na całość:pl:Zygmunt Chajzer|Zygmunt Chajzer
:pl:Krzysztof Tyniec|Krzysztof Tyniec
Polsat1997–2001
PortugalNegócio FechadoHenrique MendesSIC1999–2000
RomaniaBatem palma!Dan NegruAntena 12002–03
SpainFem Un Pacte:es:Joan Monleón|Joan MonleónCanal Nou1996
SpainTrato Hecho:es:Bertín Osborne|Bertín OsborneAntena 31998–2000
2002
Spain¿Hay Trato?:es:Carlos Sobera|Carlos SoberaAntena 32004
TurkeySeç Bakalım:tr:Erhan Yazıcıoğlu|Erhan Yazıcıoğlu:tr:Kanal 6|Kanal 6
ATV
1992–95
1995–98
United KingdomTrick or TreatMike Smith and Julian ClaryITV1989
U.S.Let's Make a DealMonty HallNBC1963–67
U.S.Let's Make a DealMonty HallABCDaytime 1968–76
Primetime 1969–71
U.S.Let's Make a DealMonty HallSyndication1971–77
U.S.Let's Make a DealMonty HallSyndication1980–81*
U.S.The All-New Let's Make a DealMonty HallSyndication1984–86
U.S.Let's Make a DealBob HiltonNBC1990–91
U.S.Big DealMark DeCarloFOX1996
U.S.Let's Make a DealBilly BushNBC2003
U.S.Let's Make a DealWayne BradyCBS2009–present
U.S. Trato HechoGuillermo HuescaUnivisionJanuary 10, 2005 – December 9, 2005
VietnamÔ cửa bí mậtTrần NgọcVTV3January 6, 2008 – February 19, 2012

* The 1980–81 version aired in both the U.S. and Canada.

Merchandise

In 1964, Milton Bradley released a home version of Let's Make a Deal featuring gameplay somewhat different from the television show. In 1974, Ideal Toys released an updated version of the game featuring Hall on the box cover, which was also given to all traders on the syndicated version in the 1974–75 season. An electronic tabletop version by Tiger Electronics was released in 1998. In the late summer of 2006, an interactive DVD version of Let's Make a Deal was released by Imagination Games, which also features classic clips from the Monty Hall years of the show. In 2010, Pressman Toy Corporation released an updated version of the box game, with gameplay more similar to the 1974 version, featuring Brady on the box cover.
Various U.S. lotteries have included instant lottery tickets based on Let's Make a Deal.
In 1999, the website BuyBidWin.com licensed the rights to Let's Make a Deal as it launched a website featuring Monty Hall.
In 1999, Shuffle Master teamed up with Bally's to do a video slot machine game based on the show with the voice and likeness of Monty Hall.
In 2004, IGT did a new video slot game based on the show still featuring Monty Hall.
In 2004, the now defunct website GameShow24.com was going to release a beta game based on Let's Make a Deal.
In 2012, a Facebook game based on the Wayne Brady version was released by RealNetwork's GameHouse.
In 2013, Aristocrat Technology did an all-new video slot machine game based on the Wayne Brady version.

The Monty Hall Problem

The Monty Hall Problem, also called the Monty Hall paradox, is a veridical paradox because the result appears impossible but is demonstrably true. The Monty Hall problem, in its usual interpretation, is mathematically equivalent to the earlier Three Prisoners problem, and both bear some similarity to the much older Bertrand's box paradox. The problem examines the counterintuitive effect of switching one's choice of doors, one of which hides a "prize".
The problem has been analyzed many times, in books, articles and online. In an interview with The New York Times reporter John Tierney in 1991, Hall gave an explanation of the solution to that problem, stating that he played on the psychology of the trader, and why the solution did not apply to the case of the actual show.