This past Friday a friend and I went to Let’s Make a Deal (LMAD). I honestly hadn’t watched the show all the much (ok, I had never watched it) until the week or so before we went. I apologize to any of you who are super fans of the show. So after watching a couple of episodes online, reading several other blog posts, and following LMAD on Twitter to get hints for the “quickie deals,” I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what to expect that day. I was right about a few things, but learned quite a bit more.
The taping we were a part of was their 1500th episode and they celebrated with lots of big deals and prizes! Now, first off I must say neither my friend nor I were selected to be on the show (sad face). So this is not going to be a “how to get on the show” post. I did however, read several of those posts, and I really don’t think there’s any proven method to getting on the show. Although I do have some ideas about how to make that happen I’ll share later at the end…
We were told to arrive by 1:00pm and we did, in full costume with my bag packed full with water, snacks, protein bars and Spark® (as I was warned it was a long wait). We filled out some paperwork and waited to be interviewed. The interview, probably the most critical part of the whole pre taping, waiting period experience. The interviews happen in small groups, where they simply ask who you are, where you’re from and what you do. You then enter a waiting room where there are costumes available for rent, take your picture on a green screen for purchase and you simply wait until they are ready to bus you over to the studio ten minutes away. It was about 3 hours from the time we arrived to getting on the bus.
The studio was well, just like as seen on tv. Phones are absolutely not allowed inside so clearly no pics of that. Plus, people seemed to put their phones away the whole time which I very much so appreciated as it was like the good-old-days of talking to your neighbors. Once you arrive at the studio, you wait outside for a few mins before you can enter. There are several LMAD staff members that tell you where to sit based on the colors of your costume to make the audience more visually appealing (so they say). They also say over and over that it does not matter where you sit whether you are selected or not, it all depends on your energy and answers both during the interview and on breaks during taping. This proved to be true as they did chose people from all over the studio, but mainly from the first few rows on our show.
Ok, so from my experience, here’s a few tips I came up with on getting selected:
- Be in costume. It’s a must…anything. I can’t believe they pick pajamas and onesies as costumes, but they do. So as long as you’re wearing something it can work.
- Be upbeat! Especially during the interview, be excited (but not overly crazy).
- Have a cool job! If you’re job isn’t cool, find a way to make it sound exciting.
- Be celebrating something. Birthdays, engagements/upcoming wedding and anniversaries seem to get recognized.
- Have fun!
And some personal tips of things you’ll want to bring:
- A small bag or purse with water & easy snacks. They do have food, coffee, etc available for sale so if you don’t bring your own there are options.
- Hand sanitizer! For all the people you meet and most importantly for the bathroom trips. The bathrooms are porta potties, and they can be quite difficult to maneuver in costume I must add.
- Follow LMAD on Twitter for hints the night before your show for hints on what to bring for the “quick deals.” Make sure these items are in your possession and not in one bag for your group.
Although the day was very long, 5 hours alone at the LMAD facilities (not including the total 3 hours of drive time), we definitely plan to go back (at least one more time). They have tapings into the Fall for 2018 episodes. You can go here to request free tickets. Or just let me know and I can give you the email addresses directly of whom to contact. Also, please contact me with any questions and if you end up going, please let me know how it goes!
Win Big!
-Serina