User:Daniel Benfield/Let's Make A Deal Video Archive

I could write an intro here, but I think I'll let Monty himself give one per the 1963 pilot's sales pitch (slightly edited, though; I'll explain why in a bit):

"This is television's only trading floor, where every day the individuals who control the finances of America come to make deals. And what's more exciting than trading or swapping or looking for a bargain? It's suspense every second as men and women bring in their old white elephants and try to deal me out of big cash or big gifts. Well, do you have a leaky umbrella you'd like to get rid of? You know, I may pay you $500 for it. Or if you're a clever trader and know when to stop, you could drive home in a brand-new automobile. On this trading floor we'll buy, sell, or trade everything and anything from Aardvarks to Zithers. There are millions of deals to be made, and we'll make them every day on Let's Make A Deal. Watch, we'll show you how it works!"

LEGAL STUFF SO I DON'T GET SUED: I'm only linking to these videos, none of which were uploaded by me, for the purposes of research and as a public record. Footage ©1963-2016 Hatos-Hall Productions/Ron Greenberg-Dick Clark Productions/Stone-Stanley Entertainment/FremantleMedia and associated entities.

NBC/ABC (1963-76)
NBC Daytime: December 30, 1963 - December 27, 1968

The original series started off pretty staid, but shortly into the run a young lady brought in a sign to get Monty's attention...which worked. Then people started bringing in signs, and then wearing crazy hats, and then eventually the wide variety of costumes Deal became most famous for.

Deal began as a 25-minute show, airing at 2:00 PM Eastern with an NBC News update at 2:25. On June 29, 1964 the show moved up to 1:30 PM (with a news update at 1:55), and finally expanded to 30 minutes on October 2, 1967.

The intro originally began with a tight shot of Door #2, panning back to reveal all three Doors, then cutting to Door #1 and panning right as a model (usually Carol Merrill) gestures to all three Doors. As this happens, the announcer says "Would you make a deal to trade up to [amount] in cash for one of these three Doors? Knowing that behind one of them is [Big Deal amount] worth of (cash or) valuable merchandise? Several people will have to make that decision in the next few minutes, as we bring you the Marketplace of America: Let's Make A Deal!"

On a side note: it's been said for many years that Wendell Niles was the announcer/sidekick until sometime in 1964, when Jay Stewart took over. While he does do the pilot, a Variety blurb published the day the show debuted lists Jay as announcer.


 * Taped 5/25/63 (Pilot: First trader is Maggie; first deal begins with her having "about 10 seconds" to get something with her name on it out of her purse {Big Deal: $2,005}; taped from GSN in 2003 {with the NBC Peacock and "Snake" IDs!}, somewhat-low audio)
 * [Runs a good 36 minutes (not including the sales pitch), has several deals that are unusual or normally seen in the end-of-show quick deals, and has something in the Big Deal that I've never seen in any other episode...and for good reason.]
 * [As for the sales pitch...it's actually pretty sexist: after "the finances of America", Monty says "the women, of course"; during the next line, he says "And what's more exciting to a woman than trading..."]


 * 1965? (Intro and first part of a deal involving Small Boxes labeled "Gold" and "Silver" plus a Curtain with an "Iron" sign next to it {Big Deal: $1,605}; video is sepia-tone, but otherwise good)
 * [By this point, the potential traders have signs, but (from what I can tell) no crazy hats or costumes. Also by this point, the show's logo has changed to the standard style, while the Doors have changed to a unique design that I've never seen in any other footage.]


 * 1966 (Brief clips of Norma, including her being offered $200 or a Curtain; no audio)
 * [By this point, the potential traders are wearing costumes.]

NBC Primetime: May 21 - September 3, 1967

Nighttime Deal did phenomenally well in the ratings, so much so that Monty approached NBC and suggested they put it on the regular schedule. Per Monty, the response pretty much amounted to "we don't want your kind of show on our precious schedule"...and so the daytime Deal moved to ABC fifteen months later.

ABC Daytime: December 30, 1968 - July 9, 1976

By February 7, 1969, the Doors have changed to their traditional style. I have no idea if the daytime show ever adopted the light-up Doors or animated intro the syndicated version eventually used, although they did use some variation of the "clip montage" intro from '76 (the finale exists in audio form and uses that intro's music).

As for airing history, ABC left Deal at 1:30 PM, allowing it to continue holding its own against As the World Turns and work together with it to knock down the five shows NBC plugged into the slot over the next several years. Three on a Match held on for three years before getting canned by Lin Bolen, who threw Jeopardy! to the wolves. Days of Our Lives, though, seemed to have promise.

For the week of December 1, 1975, the show expanded to an hour. While I don't know what was changed for this format, per Monty in later years the expansion was forced by ABC even though he was adamant that the show wouldn't work in an hour format (and he's right; look at the current CBS version!). Also forced by the network were various gimmicks that Monty also knew wouldn't work, although I don't know exactly what those were either.

On December 29, Deal was dumped off at Noon, where it was pretty much beaten up by The Young & The Restless. As a final insult to injury, ABC replaced the show with...Hot Seat, which lasted three months.


 * December 30, 1968 (Premiere: From the A&E Biography on Monty, a clip of the very first Zonk of the ABC run; B/W video)

Doors changed to standard appearance (began by 2/7/69)
 * 1969 (First trader is Janet; first deal involves four tiny treasure chests {Big Deal: $1,749}; has most commercials, B/W video, video is a bit blurry, audio is a bit hissy)
 * [Monty plugs the nighttime version at 22:36.]
 * April 25, 1969 (First traders are Turie, Jim, & Dottie; first deal starts with a can of bouillon {Big Deal: $1,620}; has commercials, B/W video)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 10:26 is the Spring/Summer 1969 one. Monty plugs the nighttime version at 17:26.]
 * 1969 (First traders are Louise, Dave, & Sharon; first deal involves $500 inside one of several products {Big Deal: $3,037}; B/W video)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 14:39 is the Spring/Summer 1969 one. Monty plugs the nighttime version at 19:25.]

® symbol added to logo (began 1973); wall in front of audience adds "LMAD TRADING FLOOR" signage, walls in front of trading area become "ribbed" (began 1974)
 * Early November-December 20, 1974 (#186 LMD 74: First traders are Betty, Darnella, & Janey {taped 10/30/74}; first deal is a series of money-or-Box/Curtain decisions {Big Deal: $3,960}; studio master with slate and commercials!)
 * [Has the blue curtains in the back. It's possible the blue curtains were later kept to denote which was the daytime show, unless it was really late '74 taping-wise that they switched to the wood paneling.]

ABC Primetime: February 7, 1969 - August 30, 1971

While ABC was way more willing than NBC to let a nighttime version be on the schedule pretty much year-round, the network moved Deal around the lineup a whole bunch during 1971. I suspect this was intentional, though: the upcoming syndicated run was to be distributed by ABC Films, so having a network primetime version may have been considered redundant.

By about mid-October 1970, the original intro (a copy of the daytime one) changes to the well-known style used until about 1975: a tight shot of a potential trader, panning back to reveal the rest of the potential traders and studio audience as Jay says "These people, dressed as they are, have come from all over the United States to make deals, here in the Marketplace of America: Let's Make A Deal!"


 * February 7, 1969 (Premiere: First trader is Judy; first deal involves a Western Union Valentine's CandyGram {Big Deal: $5,752}; Buzzr broadcast)
 * [While this version aired in color, this episode seems to have been preserved as a black-and-white kinescope.]


 * August? 1970 (Various still shots and brief clips from ABC's Fall Preview for the 1970-71 season, including several Big Deals {$8,402, $2,530, and $9,577})

Standard intro debuts (began by about mid-10/70)
 * Taped 9/23/70 (First traders are Ellen, Dick, & Linda; first deal involves choosing between a bankroll, some candy, or a treasure chest {Big Deal: $10,171}; taped from GSN)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 4:37 is the Fall/Winter 1970 one.]
 * December 26, 1970 (First traders are Mr. & Mrs. Lacey {taped 12/1/70}; first deal involves a $10,000 check! {Big Deal: $10,258}; Buzzr broadcast)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 8:32 is the Fall/Winter 1970 one.]

Syndicated (1971-77)
Syndicated, Weekly?: September 13, 1971 - May 28 [September], 1977 (281 episodes)

Pretty much the same as the ABC primetime run, really. Three early episodes were actually repeats from said version, which are placed in the above section.

Probably the major distinctive factor for shows from this era is the backdrop: originally, it was a set of blue curtains, which changed in late 1974 to some wood paneling.

Hollywood, Blue Curtains (1971-74)
When this run began taping, the sponsor list had white words on a background of blue and black stripes. Sometime in 1972, this was redone to have the words in blue with a white background, all in the Curtain/Door #2 border; this remained through the end of the run, modified slightly after the Curtains and Doors were redone in '75.

Also sometime in 1972, and definitely by #63/S (taped 12/14/72), the trading floor steps changed from a solid, kinda-pale yellow/tan color to a more reddish style with silver/gray "edges" on top, which remained until the move to Las Vegas for the final season.

Originally, the show's distributor was ABC Films. In 1973 (likely when Season 3 began taping), as the FCC at the time barred networks from syndicating their own shows, Deal began to be distributed by Worldvision Enterprises Inc. Funny thing about that: early adverts by Worldvision actually said "Worldvision: The new way to say ABC Films.", almost taunting the FCC.


 * 1971? (First trader is Betty; first deal is a choice between two items, beginning with "Ring or watch?" {Big Deal: $8,221}; Buzzr broadcast {alternate copy, slightly longer})
 * [May be #14/S, per GSN's advance schedule PDFs from 2008-09, which would explain why the sponsor list has yellow and brown stripes rather than the standard blue-and-black.]
 * 1971 (Brief clip of the Big Deal {$8,062}; Buzzr broadcast, "shaky-cam" upload)
 * [May be #8/S, per GSN's advance schedules.]


 * Taped 7/29/71 (First traders are Ida, Bernard, & Mercedes; first deal is a hilarious "Follow the Leader" game {Big Deal: $8,582}; taped from GSN in June 2008)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 6:10 is the Fall/Winter 1971 one.]
 * Taped 9/23/71 (First trader is Helen; first deal starts with Monty buying her potted plant in exchange for a packet of money {Big Deal: $10,425}; taped from GSN's Let's Make A Deal-A-Thon, with pop-up info)


 * 1971 (First traders are Connie, Jocelyn, & Mary; first deal is a stack of nine bills, three per person {Big Deal: $9,064}; Buzzr broadcast)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 17:14 is the Fall/Winter 1971 one. May be #24/S, per GSN's advance schedules.]
 * 1971 (Big Deal segment {$8,909}; Buzzr broadcast)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 0:46 is the Fall/Winter 1971 one. May be #22/S, per GSN's advance schedules.]


 * 1971-72 (Big Deal segment {$8,140}; Buzzr broadcast)
 * [May be #23/S, per GSN's advance schedules.]
 * 1971-72 (Big Deal segment {$9,119}; Buzzr broadcast)
 * [May be #25/S, per GSN's advance schedules.]
 * 1971-72 (Clip of a trader being offered various things in exchange for a box of Mars Almond candy bars; Buzzr broadcast, "shaky-cam" upload)
 * 1971-72 (Clip of a standard "Cash or the Small Box?" deal; Buzzr broadcast, "shaky-cam" upload)


 * 1972 (First trader is Marcia; first deal starts with a $1,000 bill that might be fake {Big Deal: $9,350}; Buzzr broadcast)
 * [May be #40/S, per GSN's advance schedules.]
 * 1972 (First traders are Kay & Olivia; first deal is Olivia making decisions for Kay {Big Deal: $8,444}; Buzzr broadcast {alternate copy of Big Deal segment})
 * [May be #21/S, per GSN's advance schedules (which would probably make this '71).]
 * 1972 (First traders are Jeanie, Wes, & Doris; first deal is Monty paying $500 for the traders' items {Big Deal: $10,301}; Buzzr broadcast)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 15:38 is the Fall/Winter 1972 one. May be #46/S, per GSN's advance schedules.]


 * 1972 (First trader is Naomi; first deal is the debut of Monty's Instant Cash Machine {Big Deal: $14,313}; taped from GSN in late July-early August 2007)
 * [Taped at NBC Studios. May be #45/S, per GSN's advance schedules.]
 * 1972 (Pre-intro and pre-Big Deal clips involving a Claim Check {Big Deal: $9,599}; Buzzr broadcast, "shaky-cam" upload)
 * [Taped at NBC Studios. May be #26/S, per GSN's advance schedules.]


 * 1972 (First traders are Donna & Kris; first deal involves a stack of nine bills with $50 on top {Big Deal: $9,260}; Buzzr promos!)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 3:00 is the Fall/Winter 1972 one. May be #44/S, per GSN's advance schedules. Still has the "solid-color" trading floor steps and white/blue/black sponsor list.]
 * [At one point, Monty talks to an audience member who said his golf was terrible. "You watched me on a television show? You're not supposed to watch me on a television show playing golf! I'm a pretty rotten golfer. ...Anyhow, I beat Lee Trevino, didn't I?" The namedrop of Trevino makes me think he's referring to Golf For Swingers, a short-lived syndicated entry from '72.]

'Reddish/"silver-edged" trading floor steps, sponsor list becomes blue with white background and Curtain/Door #2 border (began 1972)
 * Taped 11?/72 (First traders are Roger, Joyce, & Pat; first deal involves three eggs, at least one of which is raw and hence worth $1,000 {Big Deal: $9,143}; Buzzr broadcast, "shaky-cam" upload, video is a bit blurry, ends as ABC Films credit scrolls onscreen)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 17:03 is the Fall/Winter 1972 one. May be #60/S, per GSN's advance schedules.]
 * [Monty notes that an audience member, who introduces herself as Sue Coleman, won the Senior California Beauty Contest for 1972 (per this article from 10/30/72, Sue became the first Miss Senior California Beauty the previous Sunday, specifically October 29), and that the lady sitting next to her is Jay Stewart's mother!]
 * Taped 12/14/72 (#63/S: First traders are Gloria, Darlene, & Jim; first deal involves several $500 bills! {Big Deal: $8,949}; studio master with slate, montage including intro and Big Deal)


 * 1972 (First traders are Darlene, Nancy, & Kay; first deal starts with $100 for each player {Big Deal: $8,912}, with one Box having a set of ducks that quack so loudly they give themselves away well before Monty has a chance to sell them!; Buzzr broadcast, "shaky-cam" upload, really loud cough at around the 10:50 mark, some relatively-loud talking during second part of Big Deal)
 * [May be #57/S, per GSN's advance schedules.]
 * 1972 (First traders are Pat & Jewel; first deal involves teamwork when making decisions, beginning with "Paint kit or $500?" {Big Deal: $10,786}; Buzzr broadcast)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 4:15 is the Fall/Winter 1972 one. May be #64/S, per GSN's advance schedules.]
 * 1972 (First trader is Dorothy; first deal involves a huge tube of Blistik {Big Deal: $10,648}; Buzzr broadcast)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 20:12 is the Fall/Winter 1972 one. May be #61/S, per GSN's advance schedules.]


 * 1972-73 (First trader is Diana; first deal involves the Money Dispenser {Big Deal: $9,479}; taped from GSN, begins just into intro, several small bits missing)
 * [An audience member wishes Monty a happy birthday (I think), to which he says "Well, thank you. Thank you. That's very sweet. Of course, that happened months ago!"]
 * 1972-73 (Post-Big Deal clip of a trader who had been holding onto an envelope; Buzzr broadcast, "shaky-cam" upload)
 * 1972-73 (Deal involving a Mallory/Duracell tape player/recorder; Buzzr broadcast, "shaky-cam" upload)
 * 1972-73 (Clip of a pricing deal for cash; Buzzr broadcast, "shaky-cam" upload)
 * 1972-73 (Clip of a deal involving two suitcases; Buzzr broadcast, "shaky-cam" upload, low audio)
 * 1972-73 (Clip of a deal involving a gift certificate; Buzzr broadcast, "shaky-cam" upload, low audio)


 * 1973 (Pre-Big Deal clip and Big Deal segment, with someone who traded in 59 cents for a shot at an $8,757 Big Deal; first clip from Buzzr {"shaky-cam" upload}, second clip taped from GSN in November 2008-May 2009)
 * [Aldens "book of Big Ideas" catalog shown at 3:11 in second clip has a listing of "1973 SPRING AND SUMMER". May be #59/S, per GSN's advance schedules.]
 * 1973 (First traders are Art & Candi; first deal involves four wallets, one of which contains $1 and hence worth a car {Big Deal: $9,045}; taped from GSN with commercials, including a Without Prejudice? debut promo {yay?})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 5:46 is the Spring/Summer 1973 one. Also, two traders have the exact same name! Still has the ABC Films credit and no ® symbols in the logo.]

® symbol added to logo, distribution credit changed to Worldvision Enterprises (began 9/73)
 * 1973 (First traders are Jeff & Kathy; first deal starts with $3,000 in jewelry! {Big Deal: $9,247}; Buzzr broadcast)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 17:32 is the Fall/Winter 1973 one. One deal involves oversized fortune cookies, and Monty's comments suggest this is an early appearance by them (if not their debut).]

'Wall in front of audience adds "LMAD TRADING FLOOR" signage, walls in front of trading area become "ribbed", intro truncated to "It's time for Let's Make A Deal''!" (began 1974)'''
 * 1974 (First traders are Linda {who brought the home game!}, Earl, & Darlene {Parts 2, 3, and 4}; first deal is Monty's Instant Cash Machine {Big Deal: $9,057}; taped from GSN, two prize reveals and part of one description missing)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 3:43 of Part 3 is the Fall/Winter 1974 one.]


 * 1974? (First traders are Andrea, Mark, & Sandy; first deal involves Monty's Safe, containing a trip to Puerto Rico; taped from GSN, first segment and brief pre-Big Deal clip only)
 * [Uses the animated version of the logo that would later be used with the animated and clip-montage intros.]

Hollywood, Wood Paneling (1974-76)
Not much different, though around 1975 (it's a bit hard to tell with these sometimes), the intro changed to an animated one, the Curtains had numbers added, and the Doors had flashing lights added.

Animated intro (Moog-esque theme), Curtains add numbers, Doors add lights (debuted 1975)
 * Early 1975 (#187/S: First trader is Mardita; first deal involves a box of Chuckles candy {Big Deal: $10,684}, and Milton Berle is a guest trader!; taped from GSN on 1/1/09)
 * 1975 (First trader is Bonnie {Part 3}; first deal is a choice between $500, Monty's pocket, and a Curtain {Big Deal: $12,242}, and Red Buttons is a guest trader!; taped from GSN)
 * [Intro has a different Moog-esque theme.]
 * 1975 (First trader is Nanette Fabray!; first deal is a choice between a numbered envelope and something else {Big Deal: $11,640}; taped from GSN's Let's Make A Deal-A-Thon with pop-up info, lots of small edits here and there {not sure if that's the show or GSN})
 * [GSN claims this was taped 11/75, but I doubt it since the Super Deal is never mentioned.]

Super Deal era (1975-76 season)

If the Big Deal (which was always between $8,000-$10,000 in this season) was won, the trader/couple saw three mini-Doors, each containing an amount of cash: one $1,000 (later changed to a random amount), one $2,000, and one $20,000. They could give back the Big Deal to pick a mini-Door; finding the $20,000 awarded it and the Big Deal, a total of close to (and at least once, exactly) $30,000. If one of the other two amounts were found, the player got just that. It's been said that Monty hated the Super Deal, as it took focus away from the Big Deal and (from what I can tell) was pushed onto the show by ABC.

Sometime in 1976, the intro changed to a clip montage which included a $29,795 Super Deal win.


 * Taped 10/1/75 (First traders are Shirley & Beverly; first deal is pricing a product for $500 {Big Deal: $10,000}; taped from GSN's Let's Make A Deal-A-Thon, with pop-up info {alternate copy of most of Big Deal segment, from a later GSN airing})
 * [Montgomery Ward "Early Christmas Shopper's Book of Values" shown at 16:40 (4:50 of alternate video). By this point, the animated intro now has a seemingly orchestrated theme.]


 * Taped 11/29/75 (First traders are Ruth, Irma, & Troy; first deal involves a gift certificate, York peppermint patties, and $500 {Big Deal: $9,923}; taped from GSN in March-April 2002, with two debut promos for Whammy!)
 * [Second deal involves large checks dated "Nov. 29 1975", meaning the Spiegel catalog shown at 10:13 is the Fall/Winter 1975 one. This said, a Box is decorated for "the Spirit of '76".]


 * 1975? (First traders are Kathy & Larry; first deal is a choice between a wallet/purse and something else {Big Deal: $9,211}; taped from GSN)
 * 1975-76 (Most of Big Deal segment {$9,834}; taped from GSN)
 * 1976 (First traders are Teresa, John, & Frances {who puts a hat on Monty!}; first deal involves Monty buying several items for $500 {Big Deal: $9,509}; taped from GSN)
 * [Teresa and the first Box are decorated for "the Spirit of '76".]

Intro changes to clip montage (began 1976)
 * 1976 (First traders are Al, Marlene, & Ann {Part 3}; first deal involves an item for each player {Big Deal: $9,410}, plus there's some very fun quick deals; taped from GSN)
 * 1976 (First traders are Carol, Chimo, & Pat; first deal involves a set of nine bills {Big Deal: $9,613}; taped from GSN)


 * Taped 5/4/76 (First traders are Dave & Jay; first deal involves two wallets, both containing money {Big Deal: $9,665}; taped from GSN's Let's Make A Deal-A-Thon, with pop-up info)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 18:00 is the Spring/Summer 1976 one.]
 * Taped 5/76 (Season/Hollywood Finale: First traders are Stuart & Nancy; first deal is "Safe or Speculate?", beginning with a choice between $1,000 or a Small Box {Big Deal: $10,000}; taped from GSN in November 2001, with three commercials)

Las Vegas (1976-77)
Season 6 saw the show move to the Hilton in Las Vegas. The Super Deal was dropped (I vaguely recall reading that there were Vegas episodes with it, though I've never seen any), Big Deals increased to a range of near $16,000, and more deals based around gambling were used (featuring cards, dice, chuck-a-lucks, and so on). Also, the potential traders were placed at tables near the stage (as the show taped in the Hilton's showroom), and Ivan Ditmars and his orchestra were dropped (all music was now prerecorded by Stan Worth).

Based on tape collections, the season began taping by August 9 and wrapped on December 21. The last episode of the season, which turned out to be the Finale, had a cameo by Monty's daughter Joanna Gleason and (perhaps more notably) a rare – if not unique – instance of a show that offered no Zonks at all.

During 1977, Worldvision put out adverts noting the show's long run and adding that the 1977-78 season would be Deal's first as a "strip" (daily) syndicated entry. For better or worse, this didn't happen (given the timeframe, it seems stations wanted The Joker's Wild instead), and it took another three years for a daily syndicated Deal to be greenlit...but that's for later. Instead, the final season was rerun in some markets for at least the next two years.


 * Taped 1976 (First traders are Shirley, Dustin, & Margie {Part 3}; first deal involves a chuck-a-luck {Big Deal: $12,432}; taped from GSN)
 * Taped 1976 (First traders are Carol, Jo Anne, & Lanna; first deal starts with three wallets {Big Deal: $15,795}; taped from GSN circa 2007, intro, first deal, and Big Deal only)
 * [Per the uploader, "I recorded this from a GSN New Year's Day LMAD marathon, and I believe this was the final episode of the marathon."]


 * Taped 1976 (First traders are Janice, Lucreesha, & Brenda; first deal involves choosing between two things, beginning with $500 or a Small Box {Big Deal: $11,234}, and Jay takes a pie to the face!; WPIX repeat from 11/10/78, with commercials)
 * Taped 1976 (First traders are Cassandra, Becky, & Bernice; first deal is a "Follow the Leader" game {Big Deal: $11,816}; CBN repeat from about 1984, with commercials)


 * Taped 12/16/76 (First traders are Sherri & Michelene?; first deal involves Monty's Jackpot {Big Deal: $12,264}; taped from GSN's Let's Make A Deal-A-Thon, with pop-up info)
 * April-May 1977 (#274/S: First traders are Erni & Diane {taped 1976}; first deal involves a deck of nine cards, one of which is an Ace {Big Deal: $11,227}; taped from GSN)

Canada (1980-81)
Global/Syndicated, Daily: September 22, 1980 - May 22 [September 11], 1981 (taped in Toronto, Canada)

The first revival was low-budget (Big Deals apparently ranged from $2,000-$5,000), but still fun. Notably, the money awarded had Monty's picture on them, since players could choose whether they wanted their cash winnings in Canadian or American dollars. Repeats aired in Canada around 1985-86.

Originally, the intro montage was partly recycled from the early-'76 montage one, including a $29,795 Super Deal win (which looks really out-of-place here). Later in the run, this was replaced by a montage of clips solely from this version, although they appear to have had at least two of these.

This version was replaced by Pitfall, backed by the same company, Catalina Productions, and hosted by another Canadian who had made a name for himself in the States. Both shows were syndicated in the US by Rhodes Productions, best known for syndicating both The Hollywood Squares and High Rollers in the 1970s, who at this point had split off from parent company Filmways and went independent.


 * 1980 (WANX promo)

Original opening montage
 * Taped 1980 (First traders are Rose, Terri, & Lorraine {Parts 2, 3, and 4}; first deal involves a different item for each lady {Big Deal: $4,235}; Global airing, begins shortly before logo animation, video is kinda pixelated/blurry, audio is a bit muffled)

Second opening montage
 * 1981 (First traders are Chris & Patricia; first deal is a stack of nine bills that starts and ends with $50 {Big Deal: unknown}; taped from CKVU, first segment only)
 * 1981 (First trader is Liza; first deal involves three mini-treasure chests {Big Deal: unknown}; clips including intro and parts of first deal)
 * [Has a different opening sequence from the above, but they're still all clips from this version.]

The All-New Era (1984-86)
Syndicated, Daily: September 17, 1984 - May 23 [June 6?], 1986 (taped at NBC Studios in Burbank; 170 episodes in at least Season 1)

Apparently, Monty wanted to do a talk show, but when syndicator Telepictures realized they had Monty Hall on their payroll, the talk show idea was scrapped and Deal was revived instead. Not that Monty seemed to mind, from what I can tell.

Anyway, this version: it's a fan favorite, probably due to its bouncy atmosphere, and I can't disagree. Especially Door #4, which was introduced early on and went through several changes during Season 1.

Originally, Monty gave the value of the Big Deal just before going around to ask who wanted to participate; beginning sometime between #037 and #052, he had the announcer do it instead.

GSN has aired nearly all of Season 1 at least a few times, including the 2008-09 rotation (thanks, advance schedule PDFs!). Season 2, to my knowledge, hasn't been seen since the Family Channel stopped airing the show in 1995. This was also the last version produced by Hatos-Hall; all subsequent versions had other production companies behind it.


 * September 1984 (WCBS promo for this and Anything For Money)
 * Late 1984 (Ticket Plug, using the 1980 theme!)
 * 1985 (KIRO promo)

Door #4 Formats
 * Original: The player was offered the choice of a displayed prize or a mystery amount (between $100-$5,000) behind Door #4.
 * Dealer Wheel #1: Values ranging from $100-$5,000. The player spun and could keep the amount won, or spin again in hopes of winning a higher amount...but if said spin was a lower amount than the first, no money was won. Hitting Double Deal doubled the winnings up to $10,000, which was also awarded for hitting said space on both spins.
 * Dealer Wheel #2: The player was now given $750 and could spend it on a spin, with the wheel now having DOUBLE, TRIPLE, two CAR spaces, various amounts from $100-$500, one each of $1,000 and $3,000, and ZONK. In this format, the car was always a Chevy Chevette and, rather than being displayed behind a Curtain, a film clip was shown.
 * After a few playings, the $400 and $3,000 next to CAR were swapped. As such, the best way to distinguish between the two layouts of this format is whether $3,000 is next to or two spaces away from CAR.
 * Dealer Wheel #3: Introduced around the start of 1985, the player was now given $1,000 to keep or risk, with the money amounts now limited to $100, $200, and a single $4,000.
 * After a few playings, a $100 and a $200 became two more DOUBLE spaces. As such, the best way to distinguish between the two layouts of this format is whether the wheel has two or four DOUBLE spaces.

Season 1 (1984-85; Brian Cummings announces)

Big thanks to Ryan Rinkerman's Season 1 episode guide for helping me place some of the episodes that are (or used to be) listed here. Note that the below airdates are based solely on the episode numbers; any out-of-order airings I'm aware of are noted.

Original Door #4 (debuted on #010)

First Dealer Wheel format (debuted by #034)

Second Dealer Wheel format, first layout ($3,000 next to a CAR; debuted by #052); Brian announces the Big Deal value before Monty goes looking for participants (began by #052)


 * December 4, 1984 (#057: First trader is Kelly; first deal starts with a beauty kit {Big Deal: $9,603}; taped from GSN)

Second Dealer Wheel format, second and final layout ($3,000 two spaces from a CAR; debuted by #061)

Third and final Dealer Wheel format, first layout (with two DOUBLE spaces; began by #079)
 * February 11, 1985 (#106: First traders are Cathy, Bob, & Emma; first deal involves three $1 bills and a "wringer" that turns them into something larger {Big Deal: $9,518}; taped from GSN)

Third and final Dealer Wheel format, second and final layout (with four DOUBLE spaces; began on #119)


 * April 10, 1985 (#148: First trader is Toby; first deal involves a Large Box containing six items {Big Deal: $9,216}, and Door #4 is played; taped from GSN)

Season 2 (1985-86; Dean Goss becomes announcer)

The second season made two other changes: some fee plugs were done before the third segment (edited out of Family Channel repeats), and Door #4's People Picker display is a bit different.


 * September 1985 (KXAS "Winstakes" promo)
 * Taped 1985 (First traders are Marie & Trudy; first deal involves a set of nine bills that starts with $20 and ends with $50 {Big Deal: $9,395}; 12/21/94 Family Channel repeat, Monty's picking of Big Deal traders missing {Fam's doing, it seems})


 * 1986? (Dean Goss hosts a deal!: Traders are Barbara, Craig, & Cindy; deal involves the first two choosing between $300 or something else, giving Cindy whatever isn't picked; video gradually dims to black after last decision)
 * 1986? (Dean Goss hosts another deal!: Traders are Ken, Nancy, & Yvonne; deal involves Ken making decisions for the ladies)
 * [Per Dean himself, who uploaded these two segments, these were tests of his abilities – had this version gotten a third season, the Season Premiere would've opened with Monty passing the torch to Dean permanently. (Dean later hosted pilots of I Predict and The Home Shopping Game, and has at least the former.)]


 * 1986 (Coca-Cola "Hot Tops" Sweepstakes advert with Monty, some of the set, and Jay Stewart! {alternate copy})

Return To NBC (1990-91)
NBC Daytime: July 9, 1990 - January 4 [11], 1991 (taped at Disney/MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida)

I thought it was pretty good, even with Bob Hilton hosting, although in October (sometime between the 8th and 29th) he was replaced by "special guest host" Monty, who in turn had planned to hand the reins off to a succession of on-air tryout emcees before choosing one to take on the show permanently. NBC had other plans, though, and canned Deal to bring Wheel of Fortune back to the schedule.

If nothing else, Monty still had it, and this was a good way to bring his regular dealing career to a close.

One feature unique to this version was the addition of a video wall above Curtain/Door #2, which essentially served as another Curtain or Box.

This was the first iteration of the franchise not produced by Hatos-Hall, which had pretty much closed down in 1987 with Split Second ending and I Predict going unsold. Instead, production was handled by Ron Greenberg and Dick Clark (resulting in a temporary overlap with their syndicated series The Challengers), with Monty as Executive Producer.

I vaguely recall that the last first-run week had a 1991 copyright date. The Finale was online at one point, uploaded by HYHYBT (who had a lot of self-recorded game show stuff from around that time, including a bunch of John Davidson-era $100,000 Pyramid masters from the satellite feed plus the entire runs of Super Jeopardy! and Monopoly), although said YouTube channel is long since gone.


 * 1990 (Compilation of clips and behind-the-scenes footage from the Disney/MGM Studios Live!-esque version, an attraction done for park guests when the regular show wasn't taping)
 * [Has a lower budget, limited prize rotation, and a wheel-spinning game with a top prize of a Disney cruise, but seems to be the same otherwise (no idea if the Big Deal was used, though) and aeems like a lot of fun. :) Per the uploader, "The hosts of these "shows" were made up of Disney cast members as well as local, regional, and national talent. At the end of the year, the editors on the show cut together this video and screened it at the 1990 Disney/MGM Studios, Studio West Christmas party. This transfer and upload is from my VHS dub of the original VHS."]

Bob Hilton
 * July 9, 1990 (Premiere: First traders are Sherry, Lance, & Robin; first deal is one trader making decisions for the other two {Big Deal: $17,395})
 * [Has a cold open where Bob does a quick deal outdoors with someone.]
 * July 10, 1990 (#2: First traders are Leeann & Carla; first deal involves 10 mystery bills, at least one of which is a $1,000 bill {Big Deal: $13,269}; has most commercials)


 * July-October 1990 (First trader is Paula; first deal involves the "Deal City Yellow Pages" {Big Deal: $12,850}; first segment and parts of Big Deal only)

Monty Hall becomes "special guest host" (began 10/90)
 * December 1990 (First traders are Blondie, Edna, & Glenn; first deal is a follow-the-leader game {Big Deal: $10,103}; taped from WTVJ, with commercials {alternate copy of intro})


 * December 20, 1990 (First trader is Becky; first deal involves a tissue box full of money...which doesn't work! {Big Deal: $12,288}; has a few commercials, weather crawl onscreen from about 3:15-4:23)

Let's Make A 1-900 Call (1990-92?)
Syndicated: 1990 - 1992?

An oddity that had issues with paying out its winners, and from what I can tell was pretty much a scam (although that's definitely not Monty's fault). Originally offered a variety of prizes, which became cash by the end of '91; still didn't help matters, though.

At least two half-hour infomercials were done in 1992, both starring Monty.

Prizes offered
 * 1990 (Promo with Monty and clips of the 1984-86 series)
 * [Apparently, these were airing while Bob Hilton was hosting the NBC revival.]

Cash offered
 * 1991 (Brief promo with Monty and some female, bookended by some loud-by-comparison clips of a 1970s blooper from TV's Funniest Game Show Moments {link is timecoded to skip the first section})
 * 1992 (Promo with Monty and clips of the 1970s and mid-1980s versions)
 * December 1992 (Christmas-themed advert with Monty, as well as somebody playing Santa Claus {and pretty frickin' poorly, at that})

Post-Monty Hall
The 1990-91 series was the last one on which Monty served as regular host. For the most part, he's been pretty much retired since then, although he's made appearances on a couple of the revivals.

In May 1995, Stone-Stanley acquired the rights to the show from Hatos-Hall.

FOX (1996)
FOX Primetime: September 1 - October 6, 1996 (6 episodes)

Big Deal, hosted by Mark DeCarlo. The Big Deal itself is still present (now using much smaller video screens), as are the Curtains and Boxes, but the focus now seems to be on Truth or Consequences-esque stunts for prizes – dressing in drag, destroying your own car, throwing rocks to break your home's windows, undressing (based on the below promo, limited to guys who ladies wouldn't mind seeing naked), etc. The fact it's FOX (in their first attempt at having a game show on the schedule) really shouldn't be surprising at this point.

Thanks to NFL games, only three of the six episodes actually got shown in their entirety: the premiere, September 15, and the finale.

And this isn't really related to anything, but calling your Let's Make A Deal revival Big Deal (or, really, anything except Let's Make A Deal) probably wasn't the best idea. "The Big Deal", sure, but "Big Deal" evidently got just that response from viewers; despite low ratings (at one point, it was beaten by a Ross Perot infomercial), FOX ordered another eight half-hour episodes for Spring 1997, but these plans were shelved.


 * September-October 1996 (Promo focusing solely on the "What would you do for great prizes?" element)
 * September-October 1996 (Segment with Harris smashing up his car to win a much better one, uploaded by the insurance adjuster who assessed the damage to said car {yes, really!})
 * September-October 1996 (Segment with Emmy Collins and Jacque Lawson campaigning for – and I swear I'm not joking with this – the Presidential nomination for the Big Deal Party for the 1996 elections)
 * [As for the candidate? Wikipedia isn't exactly a 100% reliable source (although they've tried), but it doesn't list anything like this.]


 * September 22, 1996 (#4: Joins in progress with a couple getting married on the show! {Big Deal: $14,517}; has commercials, first half or so missing due in part to an NFL game running overtime)
 * September 29, 1996 (#5: Joins in progress with ?, choosing between a screen and money {Big Deal: unknown}; taped from KJLB with commercials, first segment or so missing due to an NFL game running overtime, ends just after returning from a commercial break)
 * [One deal in the available footage is...a pretty obvious grab for the lowest common denominator.]

Buena Vista's Attempt (1998)
Unsold Pilot: 1998

The result of a partnership between Stone-Stanley and Buena Vista Television, this attempt for daily syndication was to be hosted by Gordon Elliott and air for an hour each day.

Andrew Golder, then-head of Buena Vista's game show production, noted that "there will still be "three doors and trading between contestants" but there will be much more." Per him, Buena Vista approached game shows as if they were comedies, with Golder often responding to pitches with "that would have been a great idea 20 years ago, when there were a lot of game shows on the air and they were fairly straight ahead", but "I think now you have to have something that's a fairly sharp left turn out of the box." (Broadcasting 3/16/98, Page 53).

The show was to debut in Fall 1999 and was cleared in at least 65% of the country (Broadcasting 3/15/99, Page 15), but by mid-August the show was "put on the back burner"; I'm not sure why the show didn't sell.

Once More With...Feeling? (2003)
NBC Primetime: March 4 - 18, 2003 (5 episodes taped, 3 aired)

The show returned to its original network in an hour-long format and promptly got scorn from some fans for, to some extent, missing the point of the show about as much as Big Deal did. While Monty's name was attached to the end credits, he's since gone on the record as not liking it, and as a result I suspect many of the "zany" and "off-the-wall" stuff was NBC's doing.

Still, at least it made better use of the hour-long timeslot than the next two iterations...

The pilot was taped in 2002, and I know at least one trader (Chuck Donegan, to be precise) has it.


 * March 4, 2003 (Premiere/3rd taped: First traders are Stella, B.J., & Erica {Parts 3, 4, 5, and 6}; first deal involves three men in skirts, each hiding something underneath, which might be a record for "quickest grab for the lowest common denominator" {Big Deal: $56,739})
 * March 11, 2003 (First trader is Steven; first deal involves trading a hard-boiled egg for a door {Big Deal: $50,992})
 * March 18, 2003 (Unannounced Finale: First trader is Kimberly; first deal is a choice of $500 or a mystery envelope {Big Deal: $51,099}, and Monty comes back to make a deal with a lady who was Zonked in early '76!)

The Marathon One-Off (2006)
CBS Primetime: June 1, 2006

The second episode of Gameshow Marathon (Fremantle had global rights at this point, and would gain domestic rights in 2009), hosted by Ricki Lake. The set recreation (based on the early-1970s version, I think) and logo are very nice, and Gilbert Gottfried as the Zonk is a welcome sight, but...

Much like the British Marathon, celebs play the games for charity...but could CBS/Fremantle have at least found celebs that were still relevant and actually fun to watch like, oh I don't know, the ones they had on the Match Game panel? (Then again, Paige Davis seemed to be enjoying herself quite a bit, unlike most of the other five; poor Leslie Nielsen...)

One major problem with this episode is that Ricki starts each deal by looking for a specific costume, rather than picking out the celebs at (pseudo-)random. Another is that Kathy Najimy's deal is missing entirely, which from what I've read was because she ended up with $200 and never factored into Big Deal player selection.

Oh, and some guy named "Rusty" brings out the trays, probably because (and this is per Randy West) Rich Fields wasn't even in the studio for this episode! Randy's wording suggests that he was announcing instead, and frankly that would've been far better.

Speaking of "things that would've been better", Ricki wasn't exactly "relevant" at this point, either. They had Todd Newton, a several-time game show host, right there...and he's relegated to delivering the prizes to the viewers who won the at-home questions. Not surprisingly, Todd tends to be more genuine and less stiff than Ricki (although to be fair, having to learn seven very different formats pretty much all at once is gonna be daunting for anybody), probably because his portions don't have noticeable edits.

Still, this was the last time the American Deal franchise used a price-based game and the standard two-player Big Deal, so it's kinda bittersweet in that respect. The current series uses neither, the latter for budgetary reasons and the former under a "we don't want people thinking we're stealing from Price" reasoning...even though both have Fremantle and Mike Richards in charge, plus the current Price swiped the "various ways to have prices involved" thing from Deal after the latter had swiped the general "price stuff" idea from the Cullen version.


 * June 1, 2006 (First deal is the Money Machine; Big Deal: $87,044 {Parts 2, 3, 4, and 5})

The Current Series (2009-)
CBS Daytime: October 5, 2009 - Present

Also runs an hour, now with Wayne Brady hosting and Jonathan Mangum as announcer/sidekick and Alison Fiori (from the primetime Deal or No Deal) as the original model, replaced by Tiffany Coyne shortly into the run. Season 1 taped at the Tropicana in Las Vegas, moving to its current home afterward.

The revival replaced Guiding Light, which had been running pretty constantly in one form or another since 1937. As a result of the soap opera having two different timeslots (10:00 AM and 3:00 PM, both Eastern) depending on which part of the country you lived in, Deal does as well.

To be honest, I don't like this version for several reasons: for one, aside from the aforementioned "no price-based games" and "one-person Big Deal", Wayne doesn't really have Monty's hosting style. By that I mean where Monty would say "And let's show you what's behind Curtain #2, something for the big kid in all of us!" (Curtain parts to reveal a humongous wooden three-wheeled bike), Wayne would say "Open. Curtain. Number Two." followed by several seconds of silence and reaction shots before it opens and Jonathan says "It's a Zonk-cycle!"

(Oh, yeah, that's another thing: the Zonks have a giant "ZONK" sign next to them, mainly because they're not actual prizes. From what I've read, Zonked traders get between $100-$300 depending on how much effort it took to put together said Zonk, but aren't considered in Big Deal selection. Viewers can submit Zonk ideas here and get $2,500 at the end of the season if their idea was used, but still...)

Speaking of Zonks, this version sometimes does "Zonk redemption" shows that allow those who were previously Zonked a chance to get something that isn't a Zonk; it's only "a chance" because there's Zonks in the Zonk redemption show, probably the one place you'd deliberately exclude them.

Originally, the "Quickie Deals" were done at the end of the show, but thanks to CBS' longtime practice of truncating the show early to air ads for other shows these got little to no airtime (not even on the versions posted to CBS' website). Eventually, they got their own segment post-Big Deal with Wayne, Jonathan, and Tiffany; later, one audience member would be asked for an item mentioned by the show's Twitter account, and if s/he had it they got something like $500. As far as I can tell, they no longer ask for random/goofy stuff or do the kind of escalation like "If you have a hairpin I'll give you $20. If you have a bobby pin I'll give you $50. If you have a safety pin I'll give you $100. If you have a bowling pin I'll give you $500!"

Did I mention this version brings out the Super Deal for special weeks? Yeah. Works the same as before, only this time with numbered envelopes instead of the cool mini-Doors: one contains $50,000, the others...contain $2,000 and $1,000? What is this, 1976?!

Regardless, as the years have gone on, Deal seems to have become more about what Wayne, Jonathan, Tiffany, and (more recently) Cat Gray, the on-set DJ, can do. There's also been instances where traders seemingly chosen at random can launch into an apparently-impromptu song-and-dance with Wayne, which has raised more than a few eyebrows.

Monty, who's credited as executive consultant, has said that he'd give his ideas to showrunner Mike Richards, who would thank him but subsequently file such ideas in the garbage, leading to Hall basically washing his hands of this version. There was a Randumb Show (Richards' now-defunct podcast) shortly after the 2013 Daytime Emmy Awards where he talked to Monty about Deal; Monty notes that price-based deals can work, then gives an example of "Here's three products, which two cost [price]?", which Mike says is like Double Prices. Um...how?

Still, when Monty shows up it's generally a good time for all involved, as can be seen in the below clips. As such, along with the fact this version's been on for a really long time and I don't really care for much of what this series does, any listings here will probably be limited to Monty's appearances.

Also, for whatever reason, it was the very last show on the CBS lineup to start taping and broadcasting in high-definition; it didn't switch until 2014.


 * March 22, 2010 (Monty hosts a deal!: Traders are Marjorie, James, & Colene; deal involves four wallets, at least one of which contains $1 {and hence worth a trip to New Zealand} {alternate copy})
 * March 23, 2010 (Monty hosts a deal!: Traders are Thomas & Mary Jane; deal begins with a billfold that has $50 on the outside {alternate copy})
 * March 24, 2010 (Monty hosts a deal!: Traders are Randy & Shanele; deal is a card-based version of the Cash Register game {accumulate $1,000 or more to get a car})

Australia (1968-69/1976-77/1991)
Nine Network: 1968 - 1969/1976 - 1977

The original series began with Mike Dyer as host, with John Laws replacing him in '69. The revival was hosted by Jimmy Hannah and later Garry Meadows, the latter having previously helmed the 1973-74 version of The Price Is Right.

Given how Aussie games tend to copy America's pretty closely, it's a shame these two runs appear to be gone.

Network Ten: Early 1991 (about a month)

Hosted by Vince Sorrenti, this one's a pretty close copy of the 1990s NBC revival...although I didn't expect Vince's entrance to be through Door #2. :P Not sure why this version ran so briefly, though.


 * Early 1991 (Debut promo, with a few clips of the American version!)
 * February 1991 (Intro)


 * Early 1991 (First trader is Carolyn; first deal involves a Wizard of Oz parody {Big Deal: $4,564}; begins during intro, two small portions missing, ends after first deal)

Univision (2005)
Univision, Twice-Daily: January 10 - December 9, 2005

Trato Hecho, hosted by Guillermo Huesca, which seems to keep closer to the pre-1996 versions. (This section will probably be slower-going, as I know only a bit of Spanish.)