BuzzerBlog

So we can get word out about our “Deal or No Deal”, and so people can find out about other versions, we are, for the final time, republishing our giant look at “Deal or No Deal” around the world. Endemol’s Deal or No Deal is quite possibly the world’s most braindead game show, but there is not a show that is more exciting. Sexy models holding suitcases containing life changing sums of money. Incredibly tense decisions with people risking hundreds of thousands of dollars on just intuition, guts, and luck. From over 30 countries, Deal or No Deal puts people to extreme circumstances of fortune to win. Let’s take a look at 3 of the versions: The Dutch Version, the British version, and the US version.

The Dutch Deal or No Deal, entitled “Miljoenenjacht”, is hosted by the, in my opinion, incredibly sexy Linda DeMol. 500 different people sit into sections divided into 10 blocks of 50. There is a small trivia competition to determine which group of the audience, the red 250 or the blue 250, will move on. They keep winding down people until we end up with a round of 6 players. Each question lists a series of clues about a person, place, or thing. First person to buzz in and guess correctly is safe and gets to elect to eliminate anyone. However, Linda offers to let anyone quit the game right then, in fear that they are eliminated, by taking one of the colored briefcases. If no one takes it and leaves the game, the person who answered correctly gets to show who he/she wants eliminated. The final remaining player plays for 5,000,000 Euro. There, the game runs the same as in any country. 26 cases containing cash values 1 cent to 5,000,000 euro. They start by eliminating 6 cases, and each round makes them eliminate one less. After the round ends, they receive a “Bank Offer”: something to tempt them to quit the game. Bank offers have been seen to get as high as 1.495 million euro. The game ends when all the cases are open or the bank offer is taken. Also, a lottery is held, with a live camera feed going to someone’s house to award them whatever the in-studio player wins.

The British version, just titled Deal or No Deal, takes more of a warehousey look to the show. Noel Edmonds hosts the UK version. This version has 22 boxes each held by a player. The person selected to try to win the money is chosen at random. The cash ranges from 1p to £250,000. The gameplay goes the same, except no models. It’s all opened by the players. Also, as you may have picked up, there are no suitcases. This version goes even more different and lets people open boxes. After 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 20 boxes are opened, the banker makes an offer. In this version, the banker talks in a private phone conversation to the host and discloses what he will give away. Bank offers have been seen to go over £100,000. The £250,000, once it’s given away, will be the biggest prize ever offered in daytime British game show history. This show also airs with one of the most intelligent game shows in game show history: Countdown. So you go from the master brain game, Countdown, and one of the dumbest game shows, but easily the most exciting, Deal or No Deal. Quite a mix for our British friends.

Let’s use the retro picture. There are 2 versions. One was on ABC, which basically followed the rules of the Dutch version. The top prize for ABC was $2,500,000, which was one of the biggest top prizes in game show history. A clip of it can be seen here. Go to Multimedia and click the Deal or No Deal box. However, Super Millionaire was announced and Deal or No Deal was on the back of everyone’s minds until NBC announced they picked it up. The NBC version has a chain from 1 cent to $1,000,000. The set has a center stage for host Howie Mandel and the player, a stair case, the money monitor to the right of the staircase, and the bank to the left of the staircase. 26 cases are opened by different models. There are THREE former The Price is Right models. They are: Lisa Gleave (Suitcase 3), Kristal Marshall (Suitcase 5), and Claudia Jordan (Suitcase 9). Cases are eliminated just like the Dutch version with bank offers thrown in. The case values are dealt randomly also. No one, not even the producers know what is in each case. The bank offer is phoned in to Mr. Mandel as well.

NOTE: BUZZER WILL HAVE AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DEAL OR NO DEAL EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SCOTT ST. JOHN ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH.

Deal or No Deal has had an incredible run, and you can see each version somewhere. The US version will be on February 27th through the rest of the week, and then starting WEEKLY on that next Monday at 8PM ET on NBC. You can view the Dutch version Sundays at around 3:45PM ET at Talpa TV live or watch it in this link. We don’t know when Miljoenenjacht will start back up, but we’ll be sure to tell you when. We really can’t see the British version, but you can read a live chatcast of it at a terrific British game show website: Bother’s Bar. I encourage you to watch this show and support it. There are not many game shows more tense than this. Here are a few more pictures of the UK and British version.