Deal Or No Deal (U.S. Game Show)
Deal or No Deal is the American version of the international game show of Dutch origin of the same name. The show was hosted by Howie Mandel, and premiered on December 19, 2005, on National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The hour-long show typically aired at least twice a week during its run, and included special extended or theme episodes. The show started its fourth season on August 25, 2008, after NBC's coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. A daily syndicated half-hour version of the show debuted on September 8, 2008 and continued for two seasons.
The game was primarily unchanged from the international format where a contestant chooses one briefcase from a selection of 26. Each briefcase contained a cash value from $.01 to $1,000,000. Over the course of the game, the contestant eliminated the other cases, periodically being presented with a "deal" from The Banker to take a cash amount to quit the game. Should the contestant refuse every deal, they were given the chance to trade the original case for the only other one left in play, and won whatever money was in the chosen case. Special variations of the game, including a "Million Dollar Mission" introduced in the third season, were also used, as well as a tie-in with a viewer "Lucky Case Game".
The show was a success for NBC, typically averaging from 10-16 million viewers each episode in the first season, although the subsequent seasons only averaged about 5-9 million viewers each episode. It led to the creation of tie-in board, card, and video games, as well as a syndicated series played for smaller dollar amounts.
The show went on hiatus in early 2009, and its Friday night time slot was replaced with Mandel's other series Howie Do It. It was announced on the show's official site that Deal or No Deal would return with new episodes on Monday, May 4. These remaining four were taped from April to May 2009, and aired on three consecutive Mondays, May 4, May 11, and the final two on May 18.
Reruns of Deal or No Deal from all four seasons are shown on GSN weekday at 4PM ET.
Read more about Deal Or No Deal (U.S. Game Show): Format, Payout Structure, Game Formats, Scheduling and Ratings, Production Notes
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