Deal or No Deal? NO DEAL!

I just watched what must be one of the more ill-conceived game shows ever. It's called Deal or No Deal, and it's on NBC, hosted by Howie Mandel, who used to be one of our more annoying comedians, but now is a pirate or something, from the looks of him.

DOND works on the premise of 26 briefcases, each with a monetary amount in them, ranging from 1 cent to 1 million dollars. Over the course of an hour, the single contestant picks a case, then chooses to stick with it or sell it back to "the bank" while going through all the other cases to see what he or she did NOT pick. The object, of course, is to pick the million dollar suitcase.

But here's the problem: It's ONE contestant over ONE hour. Of course, it could be more if the contestant decides to take the deal and run, but regardless, it's tedious and boring. All suspense is let out of this big old gassy game show bag the minute the million dollar case is discovered, and tonight it was fairly early on, so the rest of the show becomes an ordeal better called "Name That Suitcase." I know why networks love the thought of a high concept game show being a giant hit, like Who Wants to be a Millionaire was with "national treasure" Regis Philbin (seriously, let's get this guy knighted or bronzed or something), a few years back (at least that show asked some tough questions). It's a cheap show to do, even if the contestant wins a million (which is usually a 20-year annuity type of thing anyway). But this ain't high-concept. Maybe if Howie actually completed his look with a pirate suit, a peg-leg and a parrot. But maybe not. NO DEAL!

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[Barbara Hearne]

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