Plot

Audience contestants picked at random, dressed in ridiculous costumes, try to win cash or prizes by choosing curtain number 1, 2 or 3. Hilarious situations occur, from winning a rotten prize to jackpot.

Monty Hall hosts this hilarious half-hour gameshow in which audience contestants picked at random, dressed in ridiculous costumes, try to win cash or prizes by choosing curtain number 1, 2 or 3. Before the contestant could decide, Monty would tempt them with something from within a small box, or flash cash in front of them. It was the contestant's chance to win something big, but deep down, they knew they might get "zonked" by choosing the wrong curtain. Some contestants actually ended up with a donkey or pig, or other rotten prize, and some actually came out with cars, cash or jewelry. Near the end of every show, Monty would give out cash prizes to anyone carrying whatever it was he asked for. You should see some of the strange things people carry!—Dan Smith <danbo@scorpius-inc.com>

One of the most popular game shows of the 1960s and early 1970s, contestants on "Let's Make a Deal" won prizes or, as was often the case, zonks based on their intuition, luck and skill. Host Hall picked contestants always dressed in outrageous costumes seated in the 33-seat gallery; depending on the game being played, Hall would "deal" with a couple or two or three contestants at a time. In most of the games, contestants had to decide whether to keep a cash amount for what was behind doors No. 1, 2, or 3, or concealed beneath a box. Sometimes, the prize would be great (such as a car or furniture), or it could be a zonk, a worthless nonsense prize and there were lots of them, including animals, junked cars and televisions and even announcer Stewart dressed as a baby or jail sucking on a bottle! A few games involved skill (such as ordering merchandise in order from least to most expensive) while others required intuition (such as choosing which of seven envelopes might contain a $1,000 bill or the keys to a new car). Toward the end of the show, Hall would ask the contestants or couples he had just dealt with, one at a time, who wanted to trade their winnings for a chance to win the "Big Deal" of the day. Once two contestants were chosen, Hall had them choose, in turn, either door No. 1, 2 or 3; behind only one was the "Big Deal," a prize worth anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 or more, the others worth significantly less. Hall always revealed all three deals, in ascending order of price, regardless of whether the Big Deal was won. With whatever time was remaining, Hall always asked contestants to trade odd items in their possession for cash ("I'll give you $10 for every penny in your pocketbook!")—Brian Rathjen <briguy_52732@yahoo.com>