GSN-LMaD

[1978-Jeopardy]

I've heard a little about a short lived revival of LMaD taped in Canada, which ran from 1980-1981. Does GSN have the rights to air this season? Was it really as bad as people say it was?

Any information, as usual, will be appreciated. Thank you.

[TV Favorites]

GSN doesn't have this version.  They have the 70's syndicated episodes and some episodes from 1980's "All New" version.

[zachhoran]

THe 1980-81 version was the same old game, with cheaper prizes and big Deals averaging $4k-$5K(due to it being taped in Canada). Chuck Chandler was the new announcer, there were also a new bit of eye candy to succeed Carol Merrill. The theme song was a disco-inspired Stan Worth(IIRC) piece, the beginning to which was used for the between commercial ticket spiel of the mid 80s revival. It was done in association with Catalena Productions, which was in decent financial shape that year and they(along with Hatos-Hall) could pay the contestants their winnings and staff their salary. This was not the case with Catalena's cult classic Pitfall the next year, as Alex Trebek and some staff and contestants were not paid their salary or winnings.

[tommycharles]

[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Jan 18 2004, 08:10 PM\'] Big Deals averaging $4k-$5K(due to it being taped in Canada [/quote]
 Just out of curiousity (because it's mentioned a lot), why does taping in Canada = lower prize budget??

[adamjk]

Anerican money, translates to less in canadian dollars.

[TV Favorites]

Also, was this version daily or weekly?  If it was daily, that could be the reason for a lower budget.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'TV Favorites\' date=\'Jan 18 2004, 11:12 PM\'] Also, was this version daily or weekly?  If it was daily, that could be the reason for a lower budget. [/quote]
It was daily, but so was the mid-80s version, and they were at least able to get Big Deals around $10K.

Also, does anyone have any screengrabs from this show? I've always wanted to see something from LMaD80.

[dheine1971]

The 1980 LMAD from Vancouver used Let's Make a Deal play money with Monty Hall's face on it!

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'dheine1971\' date=\'Jan 20 2004, 07:00 AM\'] The 1980 LMAD from Vancouver used Let's Make a Deal play money with Monty Hall's face on it! [/quote]
 Actually, that was real Canadian money at the time.

[clarkh]

Vancouver LMAD was the first semi-big-time (non-local) TV show I got to attend. Catalena Productions hired Grey Line Tours to bus audience members/potential contestants from Seattle. Its budget was predicated on being officially a Canadian production for tax/subsidy purposes. This meant only a limited number of key employees could be non-Canadians. That, apparently, was why Jay and Carol weren't invited to reprise their original roles.

Anyhoo: Half the bus passengers wore LMAD-contestant costumes; the rest of us were content to be mere spectators. It took three hours each way on the road to see a single half-hour episode. As soon as we were herded off the bus at the suburban studio (which I believe later housed the "X-Files"' two or three standing sets), the show's writers met us and had us all scream our best "Pick Me, Monty" scream. The screamiest and/or best-costumed screamers got to sit in the "Trading Floor" section. The rest of us were herded into the upper-tier bleachers. A brief warmup speech by one of the producers, and the show promptly began. Hall read everything off of cue cards. The "doors," except during the Big Deal finale, used vertical curtain-slats. They opened promptly on cue; but they took forever to fully close. Stagehands had to periodically run onstage and turn the slats to fully opaque mode before the next prize could be installed behind them. Despite this, the show was taped in "real time" with no stopdowns other than the two-minute commercial breaks.

Someone on our bus won a small prize; so we all had to wait while she was in the production office filling out eligibility documents.

It was a pleasant day.

Yrs.,
Clark H.
http://www.miscmedia.com

[GSWitch]

I remember seeing that version on KHTV-39.

Anyway, two of the Big Deal cues on that version had..

1).  It's Anybody's Guess theme song

2).  Sexy; a disco song recorded in 1975 by the famous instrumental group, MFSB.  The same band that recorded TSOP (Soul Train).

[Robair]

Yes, they cherrypicked from the "It's Anybody's Guess", "3 For the Money" and "Split Second" libraries for that version as well as the classic LMAD Sheldon Allman collection. This version also originated the cues that the '84 version used for the Big Deal reveals.

And as far as MFSB goes, they also used the group's "TLC (Tender Lovin' Care)" as a prize cue. More hip than cheap, I reckon.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'Robair\' date=\'Feb 17 2004, 07:36 AM\'] Yes, they cherrypicked from the "It's Anybody's Guess", "3 For the Money" and "Split Second" libraries for that version as well as the classic LMAD Sheldon Allman collection. This version also originated the cues that the '84 version used for the Big Deal reveals.

And as far as MFSB goes, they also used the group's "TLC (Tender Lovin' Care)" as a prize cue. More hip than cheap, I reckon. [/quote]
 The one thing the 1980 version improved on from the original runs was the closing theme. Arguably the best of the show's closing themes.

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'Robair\' date=\'Feb 17 2004, 07:36 AM\']Yes, they cherrypicked from the "It's Anybody's Guess", "3 For the Money" and "Split Second" libraries for that version as well as the classic LMAD Sheldon Allman collection. This version also originated the cues that the '84 version used for the Big Deal reveals.

And as far as MFSB goes, they also used the group's "TLC (Tender Lovin' Care)" as a prize cue. More hip than cheap, I reckon.[/quote]
Didn't they also use MFSB's version of "Philadelphia Freedom,"  too?  And it seems to me that the cues were all off the same album.

[ChuckNet]

The one thing the 1980 version improved on from the original runs was the closing theme. Arguably the best of the show's closing themes.

And also one of Stan Worth's last GS compositions.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")