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SHOW INFODecisions,
Decisions,
Decisions!
Do you want what’s in the Box or what’s behind the Curtain? One
of the most popular television game shows of the 1960’s and 70’s, Let's
Make A Deal is the show where contestants buy, sell, or trade anything and
everything from Aardvarks to Zithers. Lawyers,
doctors, plumbers, and even Beverly Hills housewives dressed as kumquats and
turnips hoping to trade a hard boiled egg for a Cadillac. What would be behind the Curtain?… A Car or a Zonk
(a
worthless, ridiculous prize)? Just
before taping, thirty-five or so contestants were selected for each show from
the studio audience to become the day’s possible Traders. Of those people seated on the Trading Floor, about eight people were
chosen by Monty Hall to participate in three or four deals plus the Big Deal
which involved major cash and/or merchandise. Sometimes
when a Trader had decided to “take the Curtain,” Monty offered to buy it
back again… $1,000… $2,000… $3,000 not to take the Curtain! Traders
never knew how high he would go. Prizes were disguised so that Traders
were never sure whether a garbage can, for instance, contained a mink coat or
just garbage, or which of three envelopes contained $1,000. The
decision-making was exciting and suspenseful. Would it be a Car or a
Camel? A First-Class Trip to Hawaii or a Live Cow dressed in sunglasses
and feather boa? Would Carol Merrill point out the features of a new
Refrigerator or would Jay Stewart be dressed as an old granny in a Giant Rocking
Chair? Part
of the time, contestants played various games relating to the price of small
items, pricing items of greater and greater value or matching the prices to
the items, for example. Contestants began playing those games on
Let's Make A Deal in the 1960’s. Near the end of the show, Monty asked those who had already played if they wanted to keep what they had, or trade it for a chance at the Big Deal of the Day. The first two Traders who decided to risk their cash and/or merchandise for a chance at a grand prize got to choose between Door #1, Door #2, or Door #3. There were no Zonks in the Big Deal, but it was possible to trade down. Whether their dreams came true or they got Zonked, the Traders had a good time…
And so
did the viewers.
Broadcast History The Music of LET'S MAKE A DEAL
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© 1999-2012 Let's Make A Deal (A Joint Venture)All rights
reserved.
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