The Bottom De La Creme: Let’s Make A Deal
Oh the sweet sorrow of “Let’s Make a Deal”: one of the shows that along side “Wheel of Fortune” chugged along in the decades post-Quiz show scandals, but one that we really wish hadn’t.
Cast of its fans, like the low-rent “Price Is Right” that it is, “Let’s Make a Deal” brings nothing to the table that “Price Is Right” doesn’t do better (interacting with fans, host on the move with a microphone, rowdy cheering encouraged), and that which it is novel for, it stumbles on.
Clumsy costumes, cynical ploys that play on people’s lesser tendencies (risk all you’ve won on a mystery box), and just, really, an obnoxious amount of pep make “Let’s Make a Deal” unable to rise above moments like this:
My besmirching of “Let’s Make a Deal” is in no way a rag on Wayne Brady, National Treasure.
And I’m certainly not going to write that hosting “Let’s Make a Deal” caused Brady’s depression.
“Having a bad day is one thing, having a bad week is another, having a bad life … You don’t want to move, you can’t move in the darkness,” he explains. “You’re like, ‘I am just going to sit right here and I want to wallow in this. As much as it hurts, I am going to sit right here because this is what I deserve. This is what I deserve, so I am going to sit here because I am that horrible of a person.'”
ETOnline
I will just say that Brady’s speaking on the subject of his own depression was something I really appreciated… and it just so happened to occur while he was hosting “Let’s Make a Deal”.
Brady reveals he hit rock bottom last June on his 42nd birthday, recalling, “I was there by myself, in my bedroom and I had a complete breakdown … Just go ahead and imagine for yourself a brother in his underwear, in his room, you got snot … and that birthday was the beginning of, ‘OK, I’ve got to make a change.'”
ETOnline
Oh, and Thursday Boots, you might need to check on the placement of some of your ads.
This one showed up in the middle of a tweet that Wayne Brady published in response to Robin William’s suicide:
Nothing says honest conversation about mental health like Thursday Boots, “Handcrafted with Integrity”.
Mid-Tier Serious: Wheel of Fortune, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
On both “Wheel of Fortune” and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” a competitor needs intellect and skill to win, and it seems like those competitors, in both instances, are the same as their fan bases: college kids, middle-aged white collar types, and grandmas, which, in this case, describes the fan/contestant base of both shows.
“Wheel of Fortune” was one of the only game shows to keep right on trucking during the low-years of game shows in the 80s and 90s (when “game shows lost their permanent place in the daytime lineup“) and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” was the show that brought game shows back when it debuted in 1999.
“Wheel of Fortune” even has its own Ken Jenning-type in Robert Santoli and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” just got its own Rudy, so, you know, that’s kind of fun?
But not as fun as our next group.
Mid-Tier Fun: Price Is Right, Family Feud
Both “Price Is Right” and “Family Feud” have a history of charismatic hosts, and both, like 7up and chicken noodle soup, kept you company when you were home sick from school.
The shows both hit that sweet-spot of smarts: those watching from home are able to make relatively educated guests (price of bleach, amount of woman who say their husbands don’t…) for each question, almost regardless of education, keeping us invested through rounds (multiple rounds) of ramen noodles.
Both groups of contestants are the best Middle America (it’s a mindset, not a geographic locale) has to offer.
The amount that “Price Is Right” fans really want to be there isn’t lost for a minute as every one of them is thrilled to get called up, and often, even more thrilled when they can stand next to Bob.
The families on “Feud” are diverse enough to keep everyone comfortable, and Steve Harvey is there to make everyone feel uncomfortable.
Or, at least, to make us sit in the discomfort of pointing out that one guy (“there’s always one”) in every family. That “one” clearly being Kyle for the Mikulski family.
Top Tier: Jeopardy!
Jeopardy is the creme de la creme of Game Show Contestants.
They’re smarter than us and let’s face it, probably better people. Or at least, better at studying and retaining trivia than us and probably didn’t take 5-and-a-half years to graduate college.
They wear collared shirts and we expect so much of them we write articles when they don’t answer questions correctly.
And if these geniuses just happen to not know much about sports Alex Trebek talks down to them, the audience laughs at them, and “Jeopardy!” posts a featured clip of it on their Youtube channel.
It’s such rarefied air that when the winning contestants are “not the lawyer, doctor and surgeon that you usually get on ‘Jeopardy!’” they become viral sensations and even then, when they bartend by night and run trivia…by night, they still dress up in a suit and tie to go on Jeopardy.
God Tier: Monoploy Millionaires’ Club
As you probably guessed by now, this entire article was an excuse to write about the wild, wild west of game shows that was, “Monopoly Millionaires’ Club”.
Running only a little over a year (March 2015 – April 2016) and hosted by Mike & Molly co-star Billy Gardell, “Monopoly Millionaires’ Club” – gem that it was – got cut down before its prime could even be reached, a Freaks and Geeks of game shows, if you will (no one should).
“Monopoly Millionaires’ Club” achieved what no other game show has even attempted: contestants with zero vetting. To get on the show, you had to win a “second chance” drawing online (which, from what I can tell, is that “second chance” they tell you about on the back of the scratch-off but you have to go online to do it so you’re just like, fuck it, except not these people. These are the people who play the back of the scratch-off.)
There was no elaborate Wall-esque backstory section to the show, just lottery addicts from all walks of life showing up to play on a game show inside an active casino in Vegas.
Sure, the “Price Is Right” wants you to think they’re picking from a random group of humans, but not just anyone can get into that room. And even then, once in the room, they have rules. The rules of “Monopoly Millionaires’ Club” seemed to be made up minutes prior to air.
They would also interrupt the show to show someone else playing the lottery: they had whole cutaway segments with mini-games made up of people who seemed to be just passing by at the casino (but who actually had to win the lottery just to be there).
Ah, “Monopoly Millionaires’ Club”, what a show.
Anyways, that’s it.
That’s the article about the game show contestants. Thanks!