Deal or No Deal: How the Mighty Have Fallen

I’ve just been going through a few old game show tapes, and on a couple of them they contain a few episodes of a current prime time game show I once loved, Deal or No Deal. Ugh, where do I begin?

First of all, NBC chose to make the mistake of airing this show 2 and 3 times a week, starting around the time the show premiered. And if they know from ABC’s experience with the first American version of Millionaire, choosing to air a first-run show in prime time more than once a week usually doesn’t work out too well. People got sick of it. I know I did. For me, first it was like “ooh, Deal or No Deal, gotta watch. Can’t forget to tape Monday, Wednesday and Friday!” Then it just became harder to keep up with the episodes, since other stuff comes on prime time too that I’d like to watch, and it started to become more of a chore to handle instead of appointment television that’s supposed to be fun.

And then there's the biggest reason of all for me to become tired of the show. How it’s become a caricature of itself by having every episode go above and beyond by having something special on it. And you know, it’s funny. I am someone who almost never gets annoyed and has the attitude of "forget all this mess and special episode crap" or "stop talking and just get to the game already!" I have a very high patience level when it comes to stuff like this. I’m often known to defend, say, Bert Convy, who a number of people seemed to have thought he treated Super Password much too relaxed, or when things happen on that version of the show that may eat up the game time a little. I love the concept of special weeks. Say for example, “teachers week” or “Christmas Week.” I love the concept when said weeks aren’t misused and done frequently. But on Deal they've heavily abused the idea of the special concept episode. I can understand having a special theme or holiday show every now and then, but Deal or No Deal can just go way too far. Nine times out of ten on this show when something “special” or “memorable” take place, it just winds up being cheesy and melodramatic and the show will wind up looking like something Ringling Bros. produced. They’ve done just about everything under the sun. They’ve even played the game on someone’s front lawn. Now I just cringe slightly when I see a promo, because if NBC’s not spoiling the outcome of the episode, eight times out of ten we’ll see what kooky theme they’ll have cooked up for the next show. When the show becomes more about “What bizarre theme are we gonna do next?” instead of playing and watching the game, you know you’ve got a problem.

Also let's not forget that you’ve got contestants who for the most part fit every stereotype imaginable. It’s like they pick them for that reason alone. Screaming at the top of their lungs over every little thing. Them, and their family members and/or best friends, or whoever. I mean, for half of season two I was just waiting for normal acting people to be on, not folks who acted like they had about eighteen cups of coffee before the taping of their episode. I was begging for good ol’ Joe Schmoe from Boise, Idaho, just to be DULL. That’s how bad it had gotten for me. You know it's not good if you're wanting a contestant to be boring. Eventually I just gave up watching the show entirely.

I can just imagine it now. If I were ever a contestant on this show, they’d probably find out I am a soap opera fan. So when the going gets tough, instead of being normal and offering me cash, instead they’ll offer me $100,000 worth of body wash personally delivered to me by All My Children veteran actress Susan Lucci. Not that I’m trying to trash Ms. Lucci, but please NBC, enough is enough! Just give me the game already! It’s why I prefer the British version miles over ours. For them, the emotion and the tension can stay in the game without them being over-the-top and out of control. And it’s perfect for me, because I love emotion and tension-filled moments on game shows, and their version is a perfect example of them showing how both elements can be brought out in a game show for us to see, and in a normal fashion.

Yeah, there's a reason I haven't watched a full episode in over a year. When DVD conversion time comes, I’ve got nearly 30 episodes on tape that I’ll just give away because I won’t care to look at them ever again. The Power of 10 and 1 vs. 100 have been the appointment game shows I’ve been watching in prime time.