'Deal's' Jonathan Mangum is quite the gamer
HOLLYWOOD – Jonathan Mangum's life is all about the game.
As the co-host of CBS's Let's Make a Deal, he whoops it up with Wayne Brady as ordinary folks in crazy costumes try to guess what's behind door 1, 2 or 3.
When the camera's not rolling, however, he usually can be found in his dressing room, engrossed in Clash of Clans on his iPhone 5s, competing against his kids at home, or hitting up that old standby, Candy Crush Saga. (He's currently on level 492.)
Mobile games are "great when you have only a few seconds to play," he told us on a recent visit to the show.
GAMING
At home, Mangum owns all three gaming consoles from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo and spends hours with his wife playing World of Warcraft. They've been playing the game for 11 years. "It's hard to stop once you've put so much time into a character. I can't stop now!" That he found a fellow geek to share his passion shows "I got lucky." Before they married, "I knew she played, but didn't know she would go full force and play with me all the time." At home, he also plays the Rise of Nations strategy game with the entire family. He also likes to rock out with the musical game Rocksmith. "You plug a real guitar into a PS4 or whatever and it's like Guitar Hero but you're playing real notes, and by the end of it you can play a whole song by yourself. It's ingenious."
TESLA
His high-tech $80,000 (but leased) roadster has a huge display screen on the dash which shows navigation, headlines and full Web pages.
"I have the same feeling about the Tesla as when I first got an iPhone. It's just a total game changer. Like oh my gosh this is the future. This is what all cars will look like. It's amazing." He had a Porsche previously "and you know when you accelerate it it goes through the gears — but the Tesla has no gears. Just accelerate and you're there. It's like a roller coaster when you floor it."
DEVICES
Gadgets of choice also include the iMac and Macbook Pro retina with Bootcamp software so he can run Windows — for games that are Windows-only. He also has a Canon 5D Mark III camera for shooting videos at home, and a Rode video mic for sound. He uses the iPhone for videos with the kids.
HOLIDAY WISH LIST
"I'd love to have the automated house thing. I don't have the heating and lights that can all be controlled on various devices. That's the next upgrade."
Follow Jefferson Graham on Twitter