Let’s Make A Deal is one of the most impactful game shows to ever hit our televisions. It’s gone through several amalgamations over the years, and is currently hosted by Wayne Brady. Now, original host and co-creator Monty Hall has spoken out about why he thinks Let’s Make A Deal’s format has been so successful. Apparently, it all has to do with the anticipation that is built, causing people to make unexpected decisions. Here’s what he had to say about his time on the show.
Something happens to you when you’re on the show. Under the lights and the excitement, you will do things you would never do before. This woman that would argue with the milkman over 2 cents would gamble away $1,000. That’s because it was the heat of the moment.
Most good game shows have the same bright lights and high stakes in the moment, but I would argue Let’s Make A Deal puts even more pressure on its contestants. Most game shows feature some sort of guessing game. If that game is beaten, a prize is then won. But on Let’s Make A Deal, there’s a host dangling a prize under the contestants nose while they have to decide whether or not to take the host’s prize or try for a larger one. Sometimes the host’s offer is larger than the one behind the curtain, and sometimes it’s not. As a result, there’s a lot of spur-of-the-moment gambling going on.
Hall also told Variety that the impact of Let’s Make A Deal is lasting. He’s had people walk up to him overseas and in the States, in places as varied as Rome and Jerusalem.
You do a show, and you have 10 contestants a day, each of them has a million relatives. The whole world knows about it.
Let’s Make A Deal recently hit its 1,001 episode, and threw an especially big episode for fans of the show, handing out $370,000 in cash and other prizes. Even though the hosts have changed over the years, the game has lived on. Here’s to 1,001 more episodes of the fun and sometimes outrageous Let’s Make A Deal.
You can catch new episodes of Let’s Make A Deal on weekdays over at CBS. Or catch recent episodes on the network’s site.
