County Employee and Family Almost Win it All

 

The Grudmans wore sports-themed costumes to an October taping of "Let's Make a Deal, Family Edition." They were the first family picked from the audience and are pictured here taking the stage.

Rich Grudman, an IT program manager with Purchasing and Contracting, had always wanted to go on a TV game show— just one of those things he wanted to experience once in his life. It would be a silly story to tell, a novelty, and, who knows, he might just win big.

And then when he wasn’t even thinking about it, it happened. His wife Tina surprised him in October with tickets to first ever family edition of the classic show Let’s Make a Deal.

It wasn’t exactly the game he’d seen himself on, but the decision was made.

“I was thinking ‘The Price is Right,’ but she was like, ‘It’s family day, we’re going,’” Grudman said.

Family day turned out be perfect, because it meant Tina and Rich could take their kids, Alex, 10, and Maya, 8. Children aren’t normally allowed on game shows, you’ve probably noticed.

They needed themed costumes—that’s part of the show’s wacky energy. So Rich was a referee; Tina, a coach; Maya, a cheerleader, and Alex, a football player.

“They were easy,” Grudman explained of the costumes, because Maya and Alex already had the outfits.

They drove to Los Angeles and queued with the rest of the studio audience. Like everyone in line, the Grudmans had a screening interview with producers who were picking contestants. No one knew ahead of time who would be called to stage to play. Only a handful people in the audience are picked each episode.

So when host Wayne Brady called the Grudmans as the show’s very first contestants of the day, they were insensible with excitement. They bounded to the stage, screaming and pumping their fists.

How did they get picked?

“I think it’s because my daughter was so stinking cute,” Rich said.

Now Rich, his pharmacy technician spouse and his lively children are a bright bunch, but Let’s Make a Deal is decidedly not a game of strategy or knowledge. You chose a box or an envelope or a door without knowing what’s inside. You’re tempted with chances to trade your known prize for the possibility of something grander.

In the first round, the Grudmans freaked out with enthusiasm when their blind choice netted them, it was revealed, a large screen TV and an Xbox.

Alex, particularly, looked thrilled.

But that wasn’t the end of it. At the end of the show, the contestants who have won the most are offered a chance to trade their prize for a chance at a really big prize, The first and second place winners, with a car and a $20,000 vacation package, declined. But the Grudmans, with the third most valuable prize, were game. After all, behind either Door Number One, Door Number Two or Door Number Three was a $28,000 automobile.

Not that Alex was happy to give up that Xbox...

This last segment turned out to be a feat of editing. If you caught the show when it aired Dec. 21, you didn’t see the family’s painful confusion and disappointment at what happened next.

The Grudmans picked Door Number 2.  In the show’s tension-building convention, the other doors opened first. Door Number One slid away to reveal a family trip to Orlando. Rich said he felt slight pang...that would have been a good prize for the family. But, then again, they were still in the contest for the car.

Then, Door Number Three slid open. BICYCLES! That meant the car had to be behind Door  Number Two, the door they had picked!

“What really happened is we thought we won the big deal of the day. We couldn’t see the car was hidden behind the bicycles,” Rich said.  “We started screaming like maniacs.”

The Grudmans had not won the car at all, so their over-the-top reaction had to be chopped from the show’s final version.

“They did a fantastic job editing it,” Rich said.

Still mentally readjusting to the idea that they hadn’t won the car, Rich said he couldn’t help being disappointed when the $3,000 cash prize behind Door Number Two was revealed.  Oh, and a year’s supply of cookies.

“It’s quite funny we won a year’s supply of cookies; it makes the story that much more ridiculous,” Rich said.

 (Though Alex wasn’t too consoled by the absurdity, or the sweets. His parents later bought him an Xbox.)

It’s unclear when the cash and treats are coming or what quantity constitutes a “year’s supply” of WhoNus, which are like Oreos but infused with nutrients.

“I’m hoping the cookies show up as a crate at my door so I can bring some in to share,” Rich said.