During the heyday of NBC’s hit daytime game show “Let’s Make a Deal” in the early 1970s, the network had the show running at night during the summer.
The broadcasts netted NBC huge ratings, prompting host Monty Hall to ask the powers-that-be what “Deal’s” slot would be for the fall.
“They say, `Oh, no, we don’t put shows like yours on in prime time in the regular season. It’s beneath our dignity,'” Hall remembered.
“So I didn’t end up No. 1 in prime time, and sign a contract for my shirts and ties,” Hall added with a laugh, a reference to another host who has a No. 1 game show in prime time–and a resultant deal for a line of men’s wear based on the duds he sports on that show.
Hall has watched the recent explosion of the game show genre thanks in no small part to Regis Philbin and ABC’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” As someone who has been in television since 1952, with most of that time spent hosting game shows, Hall finds the resurgence fascinating.
Hall, 78, believes “Millionaire” represents nothing more than the “buying of an audience.”
The charm of “Deal,” he said, was that the prizes and cash given away weren’t as extravagant as they are on “Millionaire.” The most a contestant ever won on his show were his-and-hers Cadillacs valued at $20,000 each.
“You give away a million dollars, and make the questions so easy, that everyone at home says, `I could play that game and I could win a million,’ especially when they ask these questions and four answers come up on the board,” Hall said. “If they were going for $8,000, I don’t think [audiences would] be watching it. They might watch a little bit because they can play the game.
“Along comes `Twenty One’ [on NBC] and `Greed’ [on Fox] and the others, and they’re going for more than a million bucks. Two million, three million. The next step is to give away the network . . . where does entertainment stop and the buying of an audience begin?”
Hall, who was in town in support of a “Let’s Make a Deal” rub-off game in conjunction with the Illinois State Lottery, hasn’t watched “Millionaire” beyond the first episodes that aired when the show premiered last August.
Actually, Hall is a “Jeopardy” man, because he respects how hard players work for their money.
“On a show like `Jeopardy,’ where there are contestants who are there because they passed an examination, they get on the show, they have to be smart, they come on the show and they show their brilliance, then you say, `I’m glad that guy won $8,000 or $10,000. It’s not going to make him retire, but I admire him and I like to see that.’ He got rewarded for his brilliance.”
Hall equates the new wave of game shows — CBS’ “Survivor” and the upcoming “Big Brother” — as the networks’ way of fighting for viewers.
“Shows like this, with the voyeurism involved, it’s a completely different genre,” Hall said. “They [the networks] have to come up with something new, and it’s not putting on better dramas.
“If there were no competition for ratings, then you wouldn’t see shows like this. You wouldn’t see it, because no network official with any decency about him would propose such a show.”
Hall finds “Survivor’s” premise troubling — 16 people trying to win $1 million by being the last person to leave a deserted island. He’s really not fond of people voting their members off the island each week.
“Isn’t it the ultimate one where they kill each other? Isn’t that the ultimate game show?” he asked. “I mean, if with `Survivor’ right now, because they vote you off the island or whatever it is, the easiest way later on is to kill you.”
Hall owns the rights to “Deal” and is working to bring the show back to television. He doesn’t know whether it will be in syndication or through a network, but the deal hinges on who will host the show. (Hall has no interest to “live in a studio” again after stints on “Deal” from 1964 to ’86, with a revival in 1990.)
Hall, whose daughter Joanna Gleason is Bette Midler’s co-star on the singer’s new CBS series, says versions of “Deal” are running in countries such as Germany, France, Poland and Spain.
The Game Show Network wanted to air reruns, but Hall wouldn’t accept the money that was offered. “I couldn’t make a deal,” he laughed. “To use another man’s phrase, the price wasn’t right.”
Cut this: Published reports say the WB is banning its stars from trimming their hair, still thinking that “Felicity” star Keri Russell’s going with a short ‘do last season — thus altering her look and maybe turning some fans off — hurt the series.
Wouldn’t it be easier to trim some of the crummy storylines and tighten up plots, elements that also put off viewers?
“Freak” out: NBC targets July 8 for the special three-hour marathon of “Freaks and Geeks,” the canceled series about teens in the 1980s. Five unseen episodes will be used in the three-hour block.
“NYPD” Two: ABC airs two episodes of “NYPD Blue” a week, adding Saturday to the Tuesday broadcasts starting June 24 at 9 p.m. on WLS-Ch. 7. The Saturday presentations run through August.
What about Rocky? CBS has asked for 13 episodes of “Ladies Man,” Alfred Molina’s Monday night comedy that the network originally left off its schedule, to air in midseason. CBS also plans for midseason “Kiss Me, Guido,” a comedy based on the 1997 film about a gay and straight roommate (Danny Nucci, Jason Bateman).
Still no word on our personal favorite, “The Rocky LaPorte Show,” the comedy pilot starring the Chicago-born standup of the same name.
