Today I learned that Monty Hall passed away. He was ninety-six.
Apparently, he was supposed to die five years ago, but made a trade with the Grim Reaper. Five more years in return for a hard-boiled egg bearing the autograph of Kyle McLachlan.
This happened back on September 30, ten days ago at the time of this writing. I try to stay informed, but this one flew right past me. I guess with all the really important stuff going on, the Las Vegas massacre, North Korea’s nukes and Melania’s sunglasses, the death of a game show host nobody under fifty has heard of didn’t make the cut.
Early on in the series, people started wearing wacky hats and costumes to draw Monty’s attention. Credit ABC Photo Archives, via Getty Images
I find that sad. Let’s Make a Deal is on of my earliest memories, right up there with Truth and Consequences. (Bob Barker’s still alive, right? I should probably check.) Anyway, for those of you in the young whippersnappers category, LMaD was a game show where Monty would roam the outlandishly- costumed audience, making deals for trivial items. Fifty bucks for a coat hanger, ten bucks for a ball-point pen, stuff like that. If the mark had the item, they’d get a chance to trade the money for whatever was behind a door or a mystery box. It might be a trip to Hawaii, A New Car!, or it might just be a goat. Monty, as good a showman as you could ever hope for, kept the show moving at a fast clip, and kept things fun. It was good, wholesome television and I’m just now realizing how much I miss it.