Note: Don't miss my reviews of the Deal or No Deal board game, card game, and DVD game.
As it is, watching the one-hour verison is an exercise in patience the likes of which hasn't been experienced on prime-time network television since the Regis-hosted Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. (Man, that show moved slowly...)
At its heart, however, Deal or No Deal is a fun, simple, press-your-luck game. Contestants are shown 26 identical briefcases (except for the numbers on them). Each briefcase has a dollar value hidden inside, ranging from $0.01 up to $1 million. Players first choose one of the 26 briefcases to be set aside, then they start choosing other briefcases to be opened; their dollar values are revealed, so players can calculate the odds that their briefcase houses a good number.
At certain intervals, they're offered a buyout from "The Banker," a character hidden in shadows. If they sell their briefcase ("Deal!"), they win the buyout amount and the game ends. If they refuse ("No deal!"), they continue to open briefcases.
If a player continues long enough, eventually he'll be down to two briefcases: the one he chose to set aside at the start, and one of the other 25. If he again refuses the buyout, the briefcase he chose is opened and he wins whatever amount of money is found inside.
I love press-your-luck games like Diamant and Can't Stop. And although I find watching Deal or No Deal to be excruciating because the pace is so sluggish, I've already wasted too much time playing NBC's online version.
The game show, originally from the Netherlands, is now aired in more than three dozen countries, including Australia, Germany, Spain, Russia and the U.K. Critics in the U.S., where it's hosted by Howie Mandel, have not been kind to the show's concept.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said Deal or No Deal "may be the dumbest TV game show ever, or, quite possibly, it is brilliant in its simplicity." The Boston Globe was less charitable: "It's only a few shades more adult than, say, playing with blocks."
And The Hollywood Reporter just can't understand why it has been successful in so many countries: "That it has been a hit in 35 nations... reveals that there are more international threats than terrorism and global warming."
