Book: Emcee Monty Hall

[whewfan]

On a recently posted classic LMAD, Monty plugged his book, called Emcee Monty Hall, which was part of one of the deals for the show. Anyone ever read the book?

[narzo]

I bought a copy on eBay years ago, and it's an excellent read.  I had no idea how much his faith had played into his life, and all the charitable work he had done.  His upbringing in Winnipeg, definitely shaped the man he became.  If you're expecting it to be a book strictly about tv and his emceeing, you'll be disappointed.  It's a full biography, which is very well written.

[Matt Ottinger]

If you're expecting it to be a book strictly about tv and his emceeing, you'll be disappointed.  It's a full biography, which is very well written.

As has been mentioned here before, our own Adam Nedeff, who's already tackled Bill Cullen, Allen Ludden, Gene Rayburn and Dennis James in previous biographies, is working with Monty's estate on a greatly expanded version of this book.  It will feature new interviews and new research by Adam, so you can assume there will be a lot more about game shows in there.  Keep in mind that Monty wrote his original book in 1973.  There's another 44 years of his life and career that simply hadn't happened yet!

[whewfan]

There is also another book out, Remembering Monty, which came out a year ago. Assumingly this will detail game shows more.

[Mike Tennant]

I just finished reading it on the Internet Archive. I found it quite interesting and informative. I think you'd enjoy it. Here's the link: https://archive.org/details/emceemontyhall0000hall

[mmb5]

I thought he was a bit bitter in the book, especially when it came to mentioning his paychecks.  One person's opinion, though.

[Mike Tennant]

I thought he was a bit bitter in the book, especially when it came to mentioning his paychecks.  One person's opinion, though.

I'll agree with that, though I thought most of the bitterness came through in his discussion of his childhood. (Some of that is understandable if distasteful.) Still, it wasn't enough to ruin my enjoyment of the book.

[whewfan]

I think that while hosting LMAD was a positive experience for Monty, I always got the impression he felt that his hosting typecasted him and he had problems finding roles where he could act and sing. In the documentary, Deal!, The Making of Let's Make a Deal, Monty talks about how some have described LMAD as being "about greed." This description obviously upset him, as he tersely explained that he felt LMAD was never about greed. Watching the show, some contestants were perfectly happy being offered no more than $500 for an unknown box or curtain. It would be highly unlikely they would play for the Big Deal, but that didn't matter to some.

In terms of Monty guest starring on TV shows, at least a few times he played a character, or "himself", but not as a game show host. He did The Odd Couple, once as the LMAD host, and another time as himself, but in that one he got to sing. He also played a dentist that used hypnosis to numb pain in That Girl!, and on The Love Boat, he played a character.

[BrandonFG]

A few weeks ago, I read or saw a piece on Monty where he mentioned he was ready to move on from LMAD and try other projects like singing and acting. IIRC, he also tried his hand at a summer variety show. But it always came back to game shows.

It was either the article that interviewed Adam Nedeff, or the Canadian game shows documentary.

[Jeremy Nelson]

I thought he was a bit bitter in the book, especially when it came to mentioning his paychecks.  One person's opinion, though.

Even when discussing LMAD's move from NBC to ABC in an interview some years ago, it seemed that despite a getting better deal at ABC, he never got over the fact that he felt wronged by NBC.

[Mike Tennant]

A few weeks ago, I read or saw a piece on Monty where he mentioned he was ready to move on from LMAD and try other projects like singing and acting.

He makes that pretty clear in the book, but he's also honest about how his other endeavors (Vegas, a TV special) flopped, blaming himself for letting others control the process instead of trusting his own instincts.

[danderson]

I've always felt that NBC cleaning out their schedule in 69 was because of losing LMAD. If that doesn't happen, ABC doesn't become the no.1 network in daytime, NBC does.

[narzo]

I've always felt that NBC cleaning out their schedule in 69 was because of losing LMAD. If that doesn't happen, ABC doesn't become the no.1 network in daytime, NBC does.

In the 1960's, ABC seemed to be the "counter culture" to daytime with all the Chuck Barris shows and "Dark Shadows".  Acquiring LMAD made it "legit" and probably paved the way for the traditional shows like "Password" to fit comfortably in the schedule.  It was as though they stopped programming for the college crowd and more for the homemaker.  Was ABC number one?  I thought CBS had that title.

[jimlangefan]

I've always felt that NBC cleaning out their schedule in 69 was because of losing LMAD. If that doesn't happen, ABC doesn't become the no.1 network in daytime, NBC does.

In the 1960's, ABC seemed to be the "counter culture" to daytime with all the Chuck Barris shows and "Dark Shadows".  Acquiring LMAD made it "legit" and probably paved the way for the traditional shows like "Password" to fit comfortably in the schedule.  It was as though they stopped programming for the college crowd and more for the homemaker.  Was ABC number one?  I thought CBS had that title.

ABC wasn't #1.  They became a STRONG #2 when LMAD moved over.

[danderson]

I've always felt that NBC cleaning out their schedule in 69 was because of losing LMAD. If that doesn't happen, ABC doesn't become the no.1 network in daytime, NBC does.

In the 1960's, ABC seemed to be the "counter culture" to daytime with all the Chuck Barris shows and "Dark Shadows".  Acquiring LMAD made it "legit" and probably paved the way for the traditional shows like "Password" to fit comfortably in the schedule.  It was as though they stopped programming for the college crowd and more for the homemaker.  Was ABC number one?  I thought CBS had that title.

To be fair, ABC got "One Life to Live"(soap) before they acquired LMAD. Didn't OLTL have some controversy at first, because some southern stations refused to air it over some storyline? Maybe they went a bit too far on that.

But getting LMAD was the best move that ABC could have made, as OLTL began gaining ground on You Don't Say, causing NBC to clean out their schedule soon after.