Let's Make a Deal/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.



  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: In mid-March 2010, Hall returned to guest-host with Wayne Brady...and proved that he's still got it despite being close to 90.
  • Growing the Beard: The show was initially a very serious affair until people started showing up carrying signs, and later wearing silly hats, on a whim. Soon, everyone started showing up in crazy costumes and acting more excited.
    • In the Wayne Brady revival, things seem to be turning the other way — the costumes seem to be less and less gaudy, but the excitement remains.
  • Harsher in Hindsight: Most of Monty's behavior during the 1963 Pilot, especially his sales pitch.
  • Ink Stain Adaptation: Outright averted with not only the 1990 revival, but also FOX's Big Deal (1996) and the 2003 revival for NBC. The former was hosted by the inexperienced Bob Hilton, and failed so badly that Hall returned to host the tail end of it in an attempt at an Author's Saving Throw. The latter two lasted six and three episodes, respectively, these revivals had obviously transparent attempts at being "hip" and "edgy". The fact that the Brady version began Season 4 in 2012 shows that the three revivals before it were not detrimental.
  • Moment of Awesome: Anybody who won the Super Deal in either era.
    • During the week that Monty guest-hosted, a couple played a game with two Zonk cards. They got a Zonk on their first pick, technically losing, but Monty let the couple pick one more card for some consolation money...oh, and he'd give them the car if they found the other Zonk card. To his and Wayne's utter astonishment, they found the other Zonk card. [1]
  • Replacement Scrappy: Many die-hard fans hated Bob Hilton as host — so much so that Monty, who was then retired, was brought back as a last-ditch effort to increase ratings on that version. Didn't work.
    • The less said about Billy Bush, the better. Or Ricki Lake.
    • Wayne Brady has his detractors as well, mostly because he lacks the authoritarian hosting style of Hall and as a result comes off as not knowing where anything is.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks:
    • The Super Deal, a Bonus-Bonus Round used for the 1975-76 season where the contestant could risk the Big Deal for a 1-in-3 chance of winning the Big Deal and $20,000 cash. Although a few people did win the big money, the Super Deal was removed by the final season (1976-77).
    • The current version knocked the Big Deal from two players to one, which was derided from all corners. Some have suggested it was done for budgetary reasons, but it really just kills a lot of the excitement factor.
    • The current version has never used games where pricing products was a key factor, which was a staple of every previous version. Although it's most likely because Deal shares the schedule with The Price Is Right, the pricing games have been replaced by such out-of-place things as spelling, latitude/longitude, and trivia; you know, there's a reason why the "guess the car part" deal from the '63 pilot didn't stick around...
      • Despite this, grocery products do show up, and that's where It Gets Worse. If they show up, expect Wayne to ask the player something like "Which of these was introduced to the mass market first?" No, seriously.
  • They Just Didn't Care: The Gameshow Marathon episode in 2006 cut out Kathy Najimy's deal before airing.
  • This Is Your Premise on Drugs: The Price Is Right on LSD?
    • Alternately, if TPIR is HTML, then LMAD is XML; the latter is an "improvised" version of the former, but Deal had run for almost nine years before Price returned in 1972, so which show is which on drugs?!
  1. (If this sounds familiar, it should — it's an update of the Cash Register Game used in the 1963-77 and 1984-86 eras, including the alternate way of winning the car.)