TVSquad

So now we have a shiny new, 21st century edition of Let's Make A Deal. How does it stack up to the Monty Hall classic?

For the most part, the show hasn't changed a bit. Sure, some of the prizes are different now: satellite televisions and HDTVs. But there are still three doors and small boxes and big boxes and trading cash or prizes for what's behind or under those doors and boxes (and most of the prizes are the same: furniture and appliances and trips). We still have people dressed as cowboys and bananas and clowns and chefs so that hasn't changed.

But what about the hour-long format? The old show was 30 minutes. Does expanding it to an hour ruin things?

Wayne Brady is a good host, using his improv comedy training well and interacting well with the players and announcer Jonathan Mangum, who has a bigger role than Jay Stewart used to (but, oddly, isn't on the show's web site as far as I can tell). He's likable, and you have to be in a show like this.

Now, about that hour-long format. Most game shows are better as a half hour, but this hour works out well. The old show was a half-hour, but as it turns out, Let's Make A Deal works out as an hour too. There's more banter between Wayne and Jonathan so that fills in the gaps, and they've added a couple of "free gift" sections where the audience votes on which box to choose. Whatever is in the box they choose the entire audience gets. Luckily in the first episode, the audience got DVDs instead of zonks (or maybe they make it happen so everyone goes away with something - the counting of the audience members isn't really scientific).

I don't like that they cut off Brady's talk to the audience at the end, where he goes around and quickly asks people in the audience if they have a rubber band or whatever and if they do he'll give them money. The first episode's ending was actually cut off so they can fit more damn CBS promos and credits. Gah, stop doing that.

As I've said before, I would have chosen other game shows for CBS to remake, but so far this was is fun.