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Deal or No Deal (2008)

Deal or No Deal poster
Elsewhere
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How it feels

A contestant picks one briefcase from 26 that holds a random cash prize from one cent to one million dollars. They must eliminate other briefcases while a mysterious figure called the Banker offers them money to quit. The contestant decides whether to take the deal or keep playing for the highest possible prize.

suspensefultensehigh-stakesfast-paceddramaticmoodyanticipatoryglitzy

What happens

Deal or No Deal is an American version of the international game show of Dutch origin of the same name. The show is hosted by Howie Mandel, and premiered on December 19, 2005, on NBC. The hour-long show typically aired at least twice a week during its run, and included special extended or theme episodes. The main series ran for four seasons (2005 to 2010), and was revived in 2018 for a fifth season. A daily syndicated half-hour version of the show debuted on September 8, 2008, and continued for two seasons. The game is primarily unchanged from the international format: a contestant chooses one briefcase from a selection of 26. Each briefcase contains a cash value from $0.01 to $1,000,000. Over the course of the game, the contestant eliminates cases from the game, periodically being presented with a "deal" from The Banker to take a cash amount to exit the game based on amounts left on the game board. Should the contestant refuse every deal, they then win the amount in their originally selected case. The show was a success for NBC, typically averaging from 10 to 16 million viewers each episode in the first season, although the subsequent seasons only averaged about 5–9 million viewers each episode. It has led to the creation of tie-in board, card, arcade, 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. The network later announced that Deal or No Deal would return on May 4, 2009, to air its remaining episodes. These remaining four were taped in September 2008, and aired on three consecutive Mondays, May 4, 2009, May 11, 2009, and the final two on May 18, 2009. On December 3, 2018, the show returned to NBC as a holiday special with original host Howie Mandel. New episodes of the program began airing on CNBC on December 5, 2018. The show aired its final episode on August 7, 2019. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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