Classic TV gameshow format in which members of the studio audience, named “traders”, try to win fantastic prize by making “deals” with the host.

Adapted in more than 20 countries, Let’s Make a Deal is one of the rare format which has aired on all 4 US networks (NBC, ABC, Fox & CBS) since its creation in 1963. It has been airing daily on CBS since 2009, for a total of 2000+ episodes. Its 14th season currently ranks as the #2 daily gameshow in America.

Each episode consists of several “deals” between the host and the “traders” who are selected by the host as the show moves along. To increase their chances of being selected as a trader,  the contestants dress in crazy costumes.

The deals are mini-games within the show that can take multiple formats. In the simplest format, a trader is given a prize or cash amount of medium value and the host offers them the opportunity to trade for an unknown prize. This latter item may be concealed on the stage behind one of three curtains, within a large box onstage, inside a smaller box carried on a tray, etc.

However trading deals often turn to be more complicated, divided in increasingly nerve-wracking substages. They can take the form of games of chance or pricing games.

The show ends with the final Big Deal which offers a chance at a much bigger prize. One of the day’s traders gets the opportunity to trade in everything they had won to that point for a chance to choose one of three numbered doors on the stage and win whatever stands behind… Will they win the big prize or leave empty-handed?