A few things I noticed about Wayne Brady LMAD

There doesn't seem to be a division between the "non traders" and "potential traders". Seems anyone and everyone has a shot.

Wayne actually appears to be choosing traders on the spot, instead of the traders being pre-chosen, and Monty was just directed where the next trader(s) he was to deal with were seated. Either that or Wayne is just creating the illusion that he's picking the traders without any influence from the producers.

It seems none of the traders are carrying signs, at least, not "picket style" signs. Perhaps after all these years, they felt it was a safety issue.

Wayne has picked "non costumed" contestants. Monty had said on LMAD that nobody HAS TO be in costume, and they don't provide the costumes themselves. As the intro says "these people come DRESSED AS THEY ARE" I also noticed that the non costumed contestants are seated in a different section, for obvious reasons. On a recent show, Wayne picked a lady that was in a regular red shirt and pants, and offered her a hat so she would have a costume, and the hat had money wrapped around the brim.

I've seen a few contestants with signs.


Well, in all fairness, the show hasn't even been on the air for a month, and how many people are really going to Vegas JUST to see a game show where most contestants dress up in goofy costumes. It is a little odd, but I can understand...

The costumes have gotten better in recent weeks, although I've seen a hot dog costume two days in a row. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say these episodes air out of order?

It's possible, and I wouldn't be surprised either way, but then again, hot dog costumes are readily available.

One costume I thought was really good was a husband wearing his firefighter outfit and his wife, who was holding a plush cat while dressed as a tree.

Have they still been censoring costumes?

I believe said lady was also in a wheel chair.

The contestants are absolutely picked by contestant coordinators before the show.

Either that or they're just lining every audience member up and having someone ask "Where ya from? Whad'ya do?" for the hell of it.


Outside the studio they have a setup they call the "Let's Make a Deal Costume Shop" where they sell old Halloween costumes. Some came dressed, while some purchased them at the show (the cheapest I saw, I believe was $25).

The costumes didn't appear to be of more value than a conversation piece with the contestant coordinators. Looked as if they were going for personality instead. Several people at the show I attended were out of costume, and before the taping started, a stagehand walked around with a box of props like big glasses, Mardi Gras beads, and funny hats, and handed them out to those that were in normal clothing.

I suppose that would be why I've seen at least 3 different couples dressed as the exact same bottles of ketchup and mustard in the past couple weeks.

Considering Monty carped at everyone to hold their signs down for, oh, 20 or 30 years, maybe they finally decided to throw them away at the door.

Jay Stewart's old spiel was "these people, dressed as they are," no "come." And now Jonathan says "these people are dressed up to win." There's nothing that says the contestants did it of their own volition. I would think some vacationers would start bringing costumes to Vegas now that the show has started airing. It's the same as bringing a suit because you're going to a nice restaurant. The economic conditions in Vegas would prompt residents to show up in anything that might get them money.

I noticed the return of ketchup and mustard, too.

Anyone notice how Jonathan pronounces "-ing" words? "Promotional fees paid for by the followink"? "It's a sapphire and diamond rink"?

Based on this page, they seem to be airing fairly close to in order right now, although they still haven't run 11 of the first 15 shows.

I wonder if they're providing costumes for the time being because some people may not realize that LMAD is traditionally a costumed show. Once the show catches on, perhaps they won't have to provide them.

If anyone has seen the LMAD documentary that was available on VHS years ago, the contestants do indeed come to the studio IN COSTUME, and I know Monty had said on LMAD that they have never provided costumes for the contestants.

The way Wayne just files through the audience, it does APPEAR that he is just picking people . Another thing I noticed about Wayne's LMAD is that EVERYONE jumps to their feet when Wayne is about to pick a trader, but that NEVER happened on any of Monty's versions.

Really? I mean, really?

And again, the show hasn't been on the air for a month yet, which means most of the episodes were taped before the show even premiered. Even if people were aware of the new LMaD, I don't think too many people are going out of their way to make an elaborate costume. And like I said earlier in the thread, people aren't flocking to Vegas JUST to see a costume-based game show.


People in the know already mentioned that the traders are picked beforehand.


Okay...and? I'm not trying to be snarky, but I don't see how that makes any difference whatsoever.

I haven't watched an entire episode yet just ten minutes or so from the network web site. So far, I'm not impressed with Brady's patter. A woman contestant is dressed as a carrot and he made no comment! I was thinking he could have introduced her as Mrs. Carrot Top or something.

Why? That's not amusing at all. I wasn't aware that Jason Wuthrich published his book of "jokes".

Jokes? I didn’t write anything about jokes. I wrote about “patter.” Monty Hall has the ability to maintain a lively monologue. He invoked the image of the eighteen-century snake oil salesman, in a good way, to draw a crowd and make that audience part of the spectacle. Mere hosts such as Hilton, DeCarlo, and Bush couldn’t hold a candle. The fact that Hall also owned the show added to the mystique. I hope that when I to see an entire episode that Brady can carry on Hall’s legacy.

Aside to Modor: Get a dictionary. Get a grip.

Uhh, it could be that it all happened a little before my time, but how many people do you think actually knew this?

I agree. People too often say "he's not Monty" when it comes to other hosts of LMAD, but I gotta imagine most TV viewers aren't familiar enough with the format to even care. Its last run of any length was nearly 20 years ago. And the show was in its real heyday in the pre-cable days. I just don't think LMAD's engaging enough for today's audience. Or at the very least, the version we have NOW isn't engaging enough. Nothing to sink your teeth into.

-Jason

Right on! Where's the "price this can of oyster stew within 4 bits?" Give me a game with some meat on it!

You don't think the almost constant cable reruns over the past 20 years haven't familiarized people with Monty's style?

I doubt Monty Hall would be using that line. That line seems like the very type of quip that some of the hosts you are complaining about would use. Furthermore, show me where I said you wrote anything about jokes. I was questioning the line; excuse me; "patter"; that you yourself posted. Apparently, my dislike of that line hit a sore spot. Excuse me? I have both, thank you. Moving on...

Two years on The Family Channel, plus approx. five years on GSN really isn't constant. GSN's viewing audience, was smaller when the reruns were heavily aired in in 2001-02. Additionally, GSN has a much smaller overall viewing audience than larger cable stations AND is a niche operation at best. I'm afraid that your argument really doesn't hold up.

It was also on USA, which has traditionally been one of the most-viewed cable networks. I think a lot of young people watched USA, otherwise how would they remember PYL? Older folks also watch network daytime tv and they would remember Monty.

I know that they're deliberately avoiding any games that have a pricing element to them, but they could do it without it being explicitly about guessing the price. The only two games I can think of off the top of my head where this would work are essentially "Trader Bob Wayne" and two-player "Give or Keep", but both haven't been seen on TPIR in a long time.

Please refresh my memory: when did the last episode air on USA? Once you've done that...

...explain to me how that's remotely "constant?"

'Cuz, I mean, maybe I'm missing some kind of very basic temporal understanding, but when I'm sitting here wondering if those repeats even fall within your 20-year window, I don't see how anyone can apply the word "constant" unless they're in their mid-90s.

Time is getting away from me. I just realized that we're getting close to 1990 being 20 years ago. Change "almost constant" to "sporadic." With Monty, it's been on NBC and FAM in the 90's and GSN in this decade. USA was late '80s.

Tell me about it. In 1990 I was a teaching assistant. Now I'm a professor with students born that year!

Oh, just hang on. That'll be coming up in the next hour...

I think the biggest weakness at this point is the one-hour format. Barker and the TPiR crew had a few years to solidify the format and build a repertoire of games to support 42 minutes of show.

And this is going to come across especially mean, petty and immature, and it's not intended to -- but Jonathan's crows feet really bother me. He's awesome and a great second banana to Brady.