Saturday, September 30, 2017

Door Number Three

Today we found out that the great Monty Hall, the host of Let's Make A Deal, passed away at 96.


No, that's Monty Python.


No, that's Monty Burns, although we're getting closer.


There we go, THAT'S Monty Hall. Weird, I'm the only person writing this blog, I don't know why this didn't get it right the first time.

Anyway, you might have read this entry I wrote about a Let's Make A Deal episode I saw some time ago. If you didn't, you're more than welcome to catch up. I'll wait.

With all the ninety-plus year old celebrities that died recently, like June Foray, Jerry Lewis, and most recently Hugh Hefner, I wondered, dark as it was, who would be next. Monty Hall was the last person I expected it to be. I'm gonna be honest with you folks, I thought Monty Hall died over a decade ago. Seriously, I could've sworn I read an obit for him and everything. I'm pleasantly surprised that he remained among the living for as long as he did. Maybe it was some other game show host that died?

Monty Hall was always a guy you pictured when you thought "Game Show Host." Square face, a head of jet black hair that looked like it belonged on a Lego man, and lots and lots of plaid suits. A show like Let's Make A Deal needed a host that could sweet talk you into trading away thousands of dollars for a chance of something better behind a door, even when that something was a donkey pulling a sleigh or some weirdo on a giant rocking horse.


Monty Hall was the perfect man for the job. If Top Cat wasn't based on Phil Silvers, he would've been based on Monty. The show seriously wouldn't work without him, and pretty much doesn't when you account for all the reboots over the years. Seriously, TV execs think you could just let anyone loose in a room filled with people dressed in ridiculous costumes and play games with them and that would equal ratings gold. Nobody remembers those other versions, just Monty's.

We already have The Price is Right, and most of the pricing games they played on that show were really similar to Let's Make A Deal, right down to the final game. The Big Deal and The Showcase were pretty much the same, save for a giant wheel on one of the shows. But just imagine TPIR if Bob Barker shamed people when they made a wrong decision, and you'd have this show in a nutshell.

I'd say that game show hosts are a weird breed of people, but if they weren't, they wouldn't host game shows for a living. Monty Hall was one of the best, and I hope that wherever he is, Door Number Three leads to a better place. You will be missed, buddy.

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