Let's Make a Deal

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

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 --

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

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

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

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

* 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

• 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