How Costumes Began On ‘Let’s Make A Deal’ [Video]

As long as I can remember, Let's Make A Deal has been on television.  It debuted on NBC on December 30, 1963.  As a little kid, I watched it during the afternoons with my grandmother.

We watched because of all the crazy costumes and to see who would win the grand prize and who would be zonked by picking the wrong door.  It was great entertainment.  It still is, although it's hard to watch it without Monty Hall.

Monty Hall was the creator and original host of the popular show and he still owns the rights to it. Hall said in 1963, there were no costumes that the contestants wore on the show.  The contestants were picked at random from the audience and still are today.

One day, a lady showed up on the set with a sign that read, "Roses are red, violets are blue, why can't I make a deal with you?"  Hall said after she was picked from the audience, everybody showed up with a sign the next week.

Shortly after that, the costumes began to appear.  The producer asked Hall what he was going to do about it.  "Absolutely nothing." Hall replied. "It added an additional flavor to the show."

Current host Wayne Brady succeeded Hall after Hall's daughter suggested he would make a great successor to her father.  Monty called Brady for lunch and Brady flew out to Hall's home. They talked, made a pilot and Brady was in as the new and current host.

When Hall was asked by the producers of the show why he decided on Brady, he said, "I saw him on Who's Line Is It Anyway and he could ad-lib. Plus he looked like me!"

Monty Hall will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award June 6th on the Daytime Emmy Awards Show.