Let's Make a Deal

Let's Make a Deal

Let's Make a Deal is a television game show which originated in the United States and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The show is based around deals offered to members of the audience by the host. The traders usually have to weigh the possibility of an offer being for a valuable prize, or an undesirable item, referred to as a "Zonk". Let's Make a Deal is also known for the various unusual and crazy costumes worn by audience members, who dressed up that way in order to increase their chances of being selected as a trader. The show was hosted for many years by Monty Hall, who co-created and co-produced the show with Stefan Hatos. The current version is hosted by Wayne Brady, with Jonathan Mangum, Tiffany Coyne, and Cat Gray assisting.

Seasons

1. Monday December 30, 1963 (Debut in Color on NBC)

Air Date: 1963-12-30

2. 1963-1964 season

Air Date:

The pilot episode (which was taped in late 1963), aired on Game Show Network on March 4, 2003 (and was repeated several times). Among the deals: • Monty deals with a woman who ends up with an inexpensive fur coat. Near the end of the show, when Monty announced the Big Deal and the coat's winner, Maggie Guth, opted for the Big Deal, Hall revealed one of the coat's pockets had something in them -- five shares of U.S. Steel stock worth $265 Note: The above mentioned deal often was a trick Monty used in the future when contestants won zonks, to tempt them into keeping them or passing it up for another unknown. Yup, there might be a valuable prize (or perhaps, another zonk, and so on) concealed inside. The U.S. Steel stock prize was fairly modest, even by 1963 standards, but many times, there were such things as car keys, plane tickets to exotic destinations and checks/wads of cash worth thousands of dollars hidden inside those cheap furs, dusty living room couches, broken TVs, etc. • A wom

3. Tuesday December 31, 1963

Air Date: 1963-12-31

4. Wednesday January 1, 1964 (Preempted for NCAA Football)

Air Date: 1964-01-01

5. Thursday January 2, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-02

6. Friday January 3, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-03

7. Monday January 6, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-06

8. Tuesday January 7, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-07

9. Wednesday January 8, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-08

10. Thursday January 9, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-09

11. Friday January 10, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-10

12. Monday January 13, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-13

13. Tuesday January 14, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-14

14. Wednesday January 15, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-15

15. Thursday January 16, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-16

16. Friday January 17, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-17

17. Monday January 20, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-20

18. Tuesday January 21, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-21

19. Wednesday January 22, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-22

20. Thursday January 23, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-23

21. Friday January 24, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-24

22. Monday January 27, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-27

23. Tuesday January 28, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-28

24. Wednesday January 29, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-29

25. Thursday January 30, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-30

26. Friday January 31, 1964

Air Date: 1964-01-31

27. Monday February 3, 1964

Air Date: 1964-02-03

28. Tuesday February 4, 1964

Air Date: 1964-02-04

29. Wednesday February 5, 1964

Air Date: 1964-02-05

30. Thursday February 6, 1964

Air Date: 1964-02-06

31. Friday February 7, 1964

Air Date: 1964-02-07

1. 1964-1965 season

Air Date: 1964-07-13

1. 1965-1966 season

Air Date: 1965-07-14

1. 1966-1967 season

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1. 1967-1968 season

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1. 1968-1969 season

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1. 1969-1970 season

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1. 1970-1971 season

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1. 1971-1972 season

Air Date:

The 1971-1972 saw the birth of a highly-successful syndicated edition of LMaD. Airing twice a week, the show went on to be a six-season hit in prime-time access markets. As typical with syndicated versions of game shows, the syndicated LMaD often offered higher-ticket items than the daytime entry and larger ""Big Deal of the Day"" prize packages. The following is an incomplete prize listing; if more than one price is listed, other models were offered and/or the price changed during the year. No ZONKS are listed (though some were legit prizes that were decidedly less than a perceived better prize and are listed here). CARS GENERAL MOTORS Cadillac Chevrolet * Vega -- 2 dr. coupe-----$2,090 -- 2 dr. hatchback-----$3,570 -- 2 dr. Kammback wagon-----$3,330 * Nova -- 2 dr. coupe-----$3,648 * Camaro 2 dr. coupe-----$3993, $4,051 $4,238 * Malibu -- 2 dr. convertible-----$4,537 * Monte Carlo 2 dr. HT-----$4,620 * Full-Sized -- Impala 2 dr. convertible-----$5,024 --

1. 1972-1973 season

Air Date:

1. 1973-1974 season

Air Date:

The 1973-1974 season employed minor set changes, including new carpeting on the stairs (a reddish-brown color with metal facings) and a new ""LMAD"" stone inscription. Also, there were new graphics on the stage and ""Jay Tray"" boxes. A prize listing follows. This is incomplete, and does NOT include ZONKS. If two prices are listed, it usually means the price fluctuated during the season. CARS (Note: All prices shown are for 1974 models) GENERAL MOTORS Buick * Apollo 2 dr.------------$4,641 * Regal 2 dr.-------------$5,486 * Electra 225 2 dr.-------$7,585 Cadillac * Coupe DeVille----------$10,123 Chevrolet * Vega -- Kammback wagon--------$4,169 * Laguna S3 2 dr.---------$5,393 * Monte Carlo 2 dr.-------$6,319 * Full-Sized series -- Impala 2 dr. HT-------$5,419 -- Caprice Estate wagon--$6,036 Pontiac * Ventura II 2 dr.--------$4,361 * Grand Am 2 dr.----------$5,636 * Firebird 2 dr.----------$4,807 * Grand Prix SJ 2 dr.-----$6,922 FOREIGN Opel * Manta

1. 1974-1975 season

Air Date:

1. 1975-1976 season

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The following is an incomplete prize listing. No zonks are listed. CARS GENERAL MOTORS Cadillac Chevrolet Pontiac CHRYSLER CORP. FORD MOTOR CO. AMERICAN MOTORS CO. FOREIGN OTHER TRANSPORTATION ROOMS TRIPS Domestic Foreign FURS JEWELRY OTHER PRIZES A B C D E F G H I-J K L M N O P Q-R S T U-V W X-Y-Z

1. 1976-1977 season

Air Date: 1976-04-16

The 1971-1972 saw the birth of a highly-successful syndicated edition of LMaD. Airing twice a week, the show went on to be a six-season hit in prime-time access markets. As typical with syndicated versions of game shows, the syndicated LMaD often offered higher-ticket items than the daytime entry and larger ""Big Deal of the Day"" prize packages. The following is an incomplete prize listing. No zonks are listed. CARS GENERAL MOTORS Cadillac Chevrolet Pontiac CHRYSLER CORP. FORD MOTOR CO. AMERICAN MOTORS CO. FOREIGN OTHER TRANSPORTATION ROOMS TRIPS Domestic Foreign FURS JEWELRY OTHER PRIZES A B C D E F G H I-J K L M N O P Q-R S T U-V W X-Y-Z

1. 1980-1981 season

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1. 1984-1985 season

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1. 1985-1986 season

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1. 1990-1991 NBC run

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1. 2003- Episode 1

Air Date: 2003-03-04

• Deal 1 -- Three female contestants were paired with one of three men, each wearing a different outfit (a Scottish kilt, a toga and a grass skirt). Host Bush asked offered each contestant, in turn, $500 in exchange for an unknown item (said to have something to do with the unannounced prize) concealed beneath each costume (i.e., below the waist). The contestant having to grope for said item. Two of the prizes -- beneath the kilt and toga -- were zonks, while the grass skirt led to a trip to Hawaii. • Deal 2 -- A blank check game, where the contestant was presented a $5 check and had four unrevealed spaces (containing either a zero, which could increase the value of the check up to $50,000). The contestant could quit at any time or risk their accumulated winnings that the next space uncovered was an X, which ends the deal and all winnings forfeited. At $5,000, Bush offered the contestant a chance to spend his winnings on a curtain. After the contestant quit with $5,000, he was shown th

2. 2003-Episode 2

Air Date: 2003-03-11

* Deal 1 -- In the opening deal, Bush chose a man named Steven (LNU), who had a hard-boiled egg in his possession. Steven was offered an eventual $1,500 for the egg, or he could take what was behind the curtain. Steven chose the curtain, which concealed a Honda personal watercraft worth $10,800. * Deal 2 -- Two unknowns (prize or cash). Bush chose Brian, David and Robin (a pretty blonde dressed as a housemaid). The deal went thusly: -- Brian could take either the curtain (which contained ""land transportation"") or an envelope containing an unannounced sum of cash. Brian took the envelope, which contained $2,500. Behind the curtain ... Vance (wearing a sombrero) riding a donkey! Vance: ""Does this hat make my ass look big?"" -- David was offered either sea transportation or an envelope containing an unannounces sum of cash. He passed up $150 for luggage and a Caribbean cruise worth $8,970. -- Robin was offered a curtain concealing either one of the two previous prizes or an envelo

3. 2003-Episode 3

Air Date: 2003-03-18

The original deal-maker himself, Monty Hall, make a cameo appearance for the third episode. He dealed with a contestant who, in 1976, lost a show-record three cars in one episode! More on that later. The recurring deal this time, played several times throughout the show, had current dealer Billy Bush asking contestants to choose from two envelopes, one which held either $100 and a prize or $500; the other one containing an amount that had either one less or one more zero in it. Whatever envelope the contestant chose, Billy first revealed the one having the $100 and prize or $500 and asked if they wanted to trade the ""sure thing"" for the unknown. Whatever the contestant chose, they got. The first time, Kimberly (dressed as a gypsy) chose the blue envelope, which had $500 in it. She traded for Billy's taupe envelope and won $5,000! * Deal 1 -- In this deal, Billy announced that he would pay a contestant a certain amount per pound for the item concealed behind the audience box; or they co

4. 2003-Episode 4

Air Date: 2003-03-25

5. 2003-Episode 5

Air Date: 2003-04-01

Select an episode to start watching

Rating

8.0/10

Release Date

1963-12-30

Episodes

53 (19 seasons)

Status

Ended

Cast

Production Companies

Ron Greenberg Productions

Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions

Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions

Catalena Productions

Renegade83

Renegade83

Dick Clark Productions

Dick Clark Productions

FremantleMedia

FremantleMedia

NBC

NBC