Let's Make a Deal/LMAD in Popular Culture

Let's Make a Deal and its host Monty Hall paid homage on an episode of Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home which aired on November 20, 1973. In this episode called "Mama Loves Monty", Irma appeared on The Monty Hall Show as a contestant; she was hoping for a big prize but got zonked with a bowling ball. Here's where everything goes north: Irma & Monty got their fingers stuck in the holes of the ball, causing her husband Harry Boyle (voiced by the late Tom Bosley) into thinking that Irma is leaving him for Monty; it was when Harry spotted them in a restaurant that he discovered the truth. Irma eventually got her fingers out of the bowling ball and reconciled with Harry, but when the episode ended, it was Harry's next door neighbor Ralph Kane whose fingers got stuck with Monty.

A song that references the show called Behind Door Number Three sung by Jimmy Buffett from his A-1-A album in 1974. Additionally, this was also heard in the 1977 documentary film Deal.
 * Oh I took a wrong turn, it was the right turn
 * My turn to have me a ball
 * Boys at the shop told me just where to stop
 * If I wanted to play for it all
 * I didn't know I'd find her on daytime TV
 * My whole world lies waiting behind door number three


 * I chose my apparel, wore a beer barrel
 * And the rolled me to the very first row
 * I held a big sign that said "Kiss Me I'm a baker,
 * and Monty I sure need the dough!"
 * Then I grabbed that s*cker by the throat
 * Until he called on me
 * Cause my whole world lies waiting behind door number three


 * And I don't want what Jay's got on his table
 * Or the box Carol Merrill points to on the floor
 * No, I'll hold out just as long as I am able
 * Until I can unlock that lucky door
 * Well, she's no big deal to most folks
 * But she's everything to me
 * Cause my whole world lies waiting behind door number three


 * Oh Monty, Monty, Monty I am walking down your hall
 * Got beat, I lost my seat but I'm not a man to crawl
 * Though I didn't get rich, you son of a *****
 * I'll be back just wait and see
 * Cause my whole world lies waiting behind door number three
 * Cause my whole world lies waiting behind door number three

In a season two episode of The Real Ghostbusters, the Ghostbusters were trapped in an underworld game show. The second round was a LMAD-like round where Ray Stantz & Winston Zeddmore were faced with three doors. Host Dib Devlin says "They all contain abject, TERROR & DANGER," though in reality, doors 2 & 3 contain door #1. That was learned when Winston picked door #2 and Dib tricked them into seeing what's behind door #3. So they were forced to pick door #1 and behind door #1 was Samhain (a villain the guys faced in season one and later in season three). But Ray remembered that Samhain was still in the Containment Unit, making him think that this Samhain was just an illusion to scare the Ghostbusters into losing. So Ray stood up and allowed Samhain to attack him, but disappear to prove his theory.

Let's Make a Deal was mentioned in the next to last episode of Darren McGavin's Kolchak: The Night Stalker. The title character of Carl Kolchak promised a city coroner a used black & white TV in the hopes of watching the show in his morgue.

A 1973 episode of The Odd Couple appropriately titled "Let's Make a Deal" where after accidentally burning Felix's bed, Oscar is convinced by Felix to go on the show to try and win a new bed.

Let's Make a Deal appeared on an episode of The Flip Wilson Show.

A 1975 episode of Sanford and Son titled "The Masquerade Party" (which the title itself is a semi-reference to the 1950s and 1970s game show of the same name) has a spoof of Let's Make a Deal called Wheel and Deal where Fred, Grady and Bubba appear on the show as contestants in the hopes of winning a brand new car as a birthday present for Lamont. In addition, the host for this spoof was John Barbour who would incidentally go on to host the original 1976 pilot of The Gong Show.

The short-lived 1975 cartoon series Wacky and Packy aired as part of the series Uncle Croc's Block has a spoof of LMAD called Let's Make a Bundle hosted by Monty Tall (spoof of Monty Hall) where both Wacky and Packy end up on a game show in order to win some food.

Let's Make a Deal was referenced in the classic 1986 Eddie Murphy film The Golden Child.

Monty Hall appeared in a commercial for Dentu-Creme toothpaste where he tried to make a deal for the man using that toothpaste into trading for something else, but the man continually refused. This bore similarities to Chuck McCann's Right Guard commercials. Monty Hall also appeared in the "Science of the Rich and Famous" segment of an episode of the PBS science show Newton's Apple, where he talked about the science of probability. Towards the end of the segment, he does the usual "keep the prize or go for what's behind any one of the doors" spiel, but the doors all lead to one thing only: the exit.

In August 2003, The show was mentioned as a topic on VH1's Nostalgic miniseries I Love The 70s 1974 episode.

In 2001, Let's Make A Deal was ranked #18 as one of The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All-Time by TV Guide.

In 2006, Let's Make a Deal was ranked #7 as one of The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All-Time by GSN. This special mini-series was hosted by Bil Dwyer.

In the 1979 Flintstones Halloween special The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone, Deal is parodied as Make A Deal or Don't! Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty all went on the show. The host was Monty Marble, a play on words for Monty Hall. Fred was dressed a chicken, Wilma was dressed as a bunny rabbit, Barney was dressed as a daisy, and Betty was dressed as a bumblebee. Barney was picked by Monty and got very nervous on stage at the start. Barney then decides whether to keep the $1000 or see what is behind the curtain. He finally decides to keep the $1000. Fred is then picked to come up on stage. He decides to go for the curtain and sees a painting of a haunted house. But the painting is not the real prize. The real prize is a trip to Rocksylvania (parody of Transylvania), home of Rockula (parody of Dracula) with Wilma. But then Barney gives back the $1000 to Monty because the deal was a trip for 4.

Let's Make a Deal was referenced and spoofed in a 1992 episode of The Wonder Years called "The Test", Where Kevin Arnold (played by Fred Savage) watches the show on TV and then later appears on the show in his dreams.

A few spoofs of Let's Make a Deal appeared on The Simpsons, In the Season 5 episode "Homer Goes to College," Mr. Burns (owner and operator of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant) -- when the facility is visited by a Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection team -- offers one of the members a washer and dryer or the contents of a mystery box if they agreed to drop pending major sanctions against the facility, while Mayor Quimby walks in modeling a fur coat worth $5,000. (During the inspection, the inspection team had learned that series protagonist and SNPP employee Homer, a safety inspector at the plant, was grossly unqualified for his position and that his performance was far below acceptable standards.) One of the inspectors nearly plays along before the lead inspector verbally reprimands him and gets the discussion back on track. In an episode aired a few years later, Principal Skinner reveals his mother was once a contestant on the show, winning some dinnerware.

The show's title was referenced as a conversation piece with Bob Barker in the classic 1996 Adam Sandler comedy flick Happy Gilmore for which the actual dialogue goes something like this (HG: Happy Gilmore/BB: Bob Barker):    
 * ''HG: "I'd like to punch that guy in the face right now, but I can't, you know, because I'd get in trouble. I bet you get a lot of that on "Let's Make a Deal".
 * BB: "It's "The Price is Right"'', Happy."
 * ''HG: "Oh, yeah, sorry."
 * ''BB: "It happens. Let's play some golf."
 * HG: "Okay."

An R&B supergroup called LSG (Gerald Levert, Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill respectively) references LMAD's three doors in their chorus of the 1997 song appropriately titled Door #1 from the album Levert.Sweat.Gill.
 * What's behind door number one
 * Could probably get the job done


 * What's behind door number two
 * Something special for you


 * What's behind door number three
 * Could fulfill your fantasies


 * All you got to do is choose
 * Either way you don't lose

The show's title was referenced once in the 1998 Adam Rifkin film Welcome to Hollywood.

Let's Make a Deal was briefly spoofed in a 2015 episode of Family Guy called "This Little Piggy" where Stewie and Brian (dressed as a bottle of ketchup and mustard respectively) appears on the show after Stewie brags about being able to make a deal. Monty asks for mascara and rubber bands, for which Stewie just happens to have in his purse to Brian's amazement that he has those items, in particularly the purse. In addition, the set itself mostly resembles the 1984-86 syndicated version.

In 2015 the title of the Henry Danger episode called Let's Make a Steal was a spoof of Let's Make a Deal.

Let's Make a Deal was spoofed in a 2017 episode of the Showtime dramedy series "I'm Dying Up Here" called "Midnight Special" features a c-plot involving two of the characters going on the 70s version of LMAD along with an actor (Chris Regan) playing as Monty Hall.