Jayne Meadows, Bill Bixby, Brenda Benet, Jack Cassidy
Florence LaRue of The 5th Dimension is in a hot air balloon basket along with Marc Gordon: “I married her in this balloon,” Bob Webb: “I performed the ceremony,” and Jay Fiondella: “I piloted the balloon”
The 5th Dimension exploded onto the music scene in 1967 with their top-ten hit “Up, Up and Away.” It would become a classic, paving the way for many later hits by the group. Gordon is the manager of The 5th Dimension, and married LaRue in a 1969 ceremony above the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Webb is a Baptist minister and the father of songwriter Jimmy Webb who wrote “Up, Up and Away.” Fiondella, in addition to being a hot air balloon pilot, is the founder and owner of Chez Jay, a steakhouse restaurant which remains a popular Santa Monica dining destination today.
Wendy Anderson of St Paul, Minnesota: “I’m the governor of Minnesota”
Wendell R Anderson was an ice hockey standout in the fifties
for the University of Minnesota and played on the 1956 Olympic team that won
silver for the USA. After his Olympic
success he pivoted to politics, eventually winning the governor’s office in
1970. An ascending political star, he
would appear on the cover of Time magazine in 1973. When Walter Mondale was elected vice
president in 1976, Anderson got himself appointed to the vacant senate seat in
a deal wherein he resigned as governor, and his own lieutenant governor then handed
him the senate position. This scheme
didn’t sit well with Minnesota voters, and the whole ticket was voted out of
office in 1978, ending Anderson’s political career. Anderson never played hockey professionally,
but in 1972, long after his playing days were behind him, the Minnesota
Fighting Saints of the emerging World Hockey Association drafted him as a
publicity stunt.
Special guest Monty Hall joins Steve in the studio audience to play Let’s Make a Deal with audience members: “I’m going to trade items belonging to the panel”
In a long and complicated bit, announcer Johnny Olsen flashes signs to the audience indicating what they’re playing for (“Jayne Meadows’ Earrings” or “All the Cash in Bill Bixby’s Pocket”) and Monty deals while the clueless panel asks their questions. Hall’s enduring series debuted on NBC in late 1963. By 1972 the series aired on the ABC daytime schedule five days a week, and once a week at night in syndication. Hall himself hosted various incarnations of the series for more than 30 years. Since 2009, Wayne Brady has been hosting a version on the CBS daytime schedule.
