“Let’s Make A Deal” Makes Game Show History with Twitter Special Taping January 25th
CBS’s popular daytime game show Let’s Make A Deal will make genre history by having the first ever Twitter special. This episode will tape January 25th and air January 30th. Fans will be allowed to choose elements of the episode by communicating with @letsmakedealcbs starting at 4:00PM ET/1:00PM PT. Even if you don’t have a Twitter account you can follow the action at CBS.com/deal.
Each act will have elements that you can vote for on Friday, January 25th…from prizes to elements affecting the Big Deal of the Day. Votes will be tallied instantly and the most popular choices will be incorporated into the episode live as it tapes at 4:00PM ET/1:00PM PT. This special edition of Let’s Make A Deal will then air on Wednesday, January 30th (check your local listings).
“We are very Twitter-friendly at Let’s Make a Deal,” said executive producer Mike Richards. “Every day, we let potential contestants know how to cash in on Quickie Deals and share news about new games and upcoming shows. We are really excited about incorporating this new voting element into the show, and hope our loyal viewers, as well as some new ones, will have as much fun with this as we are.”
“I’m excited about this landmark show because we’re doing things no other game show is doing,” said Brady. “Our Twitter followers will be part of the action and help us give away thousands in cash and prizes. It’ll be a win-win!”
Great idea, but “making game show history” is a bit extravagent, I think. A few gameshows have offered interactivity at the time of taping – such as when Millionaire was partnered with AOL for Ask The Audience.
Game Show interactivity has been around for a long time. I know in the ’70′s Bill Cullen hosted “How Do You Like Your Eggs?” and people at home could participate with surveys if they had
a special cable box. It’s neat that Let’s make a Deal is doing the Twitter thing but I wouldn’t call it ground breaking or revolutionary.
It seems to be a different sort of change to normal, as well as being the first use of Twitter on a US game show. (Not a game show first worldwide; the live UK DoND made use of live tweets, including at least one game where a fan tweeted an offer and @OfficialBanker retweeted it and used it.)