“Deal or No Deal” Commentary For 9/1/08
If you watch NBC at all, you know what happened. Last night, Jessica Robinson* became the first person in US Deal or No Deal history to win the $1,000,000 top prize. I want to specify this post is not in any response to her at all. She played great. She’s one of the few to go all the way and it paid off. She got lucky and got to be on a show where Endemol begged for a million dollar winner. The Banker gave a great final offer, she didn’t fall for it, and ended up winning the big prize. Congratulations to her and her family.
And a big wag of my finger to NBC and Endemol who mismanaged every single thing they possibly could about the situation. I understand spoilers, that’s fine. Again, spoilers like this happened often during Who Wants to be a Millionaire? too. Some of them were directly from ABC. Some were because the show was so huge that there was no chance of anything remaining secret. This is not the case for Deal or No Deal. NBC and Endemol spoiled because the incredible dumbass that runs NBC, Ben Silverman, put what will arguably be NBC’s most interesting and special moment of the broadcast year on Labor Day. They were afraid no one would watch. They spoiled. It’s going to be fun to see the ratings tomorrow to see if the spoilers had any effect.
NBC sent the clip of the win to the press on Thursday. That far in advance. That’s how far in advance they wanted the press to publish it. And thankfully we didn’t. This moment just didn’t feel that incredibly unbelievable to begin with. It was a great win with a great production run by the staff. The last six or so minutes of the show were some of the best they’ve ever done and some of the best Deal or No Deal I’ve seen, period. However, the Million Dollar Mission, where they keep adding $1,000,000 cases until someone wins, spoils it a bit. Yeah, she had only one $1,000,000 case for the final few rounds. But you don’t know if she would have removed the actual big case. And that’s why sadly Jessica Robinson* will always have an asterisk the size of some of the model’s implants by her name.
It’s a shame too, because, again, she played great. I’m overjoyed she won. But NBC and Endemol did everything wrong they could. They will continue to as the Million Dollar Mission continues next week apparently. And why? Because they know no one is going to win the million dollars in a regular game. If someone does, I’ll gladly (insert what you want me to do here). But with the money chain so top heavy, the money becomes too much to carry on in a regular game. So NBC and Endemol will continue pumping out Missions until people finally are sick of the show and the primetime version gets canceled. It’s why I’m looking forward to the syndicated version so much. There’s basically no time for a ton of gimmicks or anything beyond a couples edition here or there, or a Double Deal game or something, so it’s going to be straight game play.
So, again, congratulations to Jessica Robinson*. It’s a shame you have to have the asterisk by your name, but blame NBC and Endemol for it. It was a great game show moment for what it was at face value. When you start digging deeper, which is sadly what we have to do, it gets a bit shady.
Is it the “big moment”?
Why the hell would they pick Labor Day to air it, when not many people will be watching? I mean, people are still barbecuing, swimming, and such, even at 8pm.
If it is, I can guarantee a reload ‘cuz they would want to milk it up.
ahem ahem (nbc.com) ahem!
And how do you think they feel in Cleveland? The Indians game is on right now!
Watched DoND last week and this week for the first time in over the year…
I liked last week’s contestant more, she wasn’t as annoying, IMHO. I wish it happened to her instead. This woman tonight…. gawd…
I literally got a headache watching. I took two Tylenol, TV should not do this to a viewer. I am done with DoND…
If we can stop the hating for a moment…
Congratulations on the million, Jess,
and have a good, healthy baby boy down in Texas like you wanted!
Well it finally happened. The first American to win the million dollar prize on Deal or No Deal, and the lady played an extraordinary game.
It was really cool to see the models run down the stairs and congratulate the contestant. And i think the banker was on his knee’s. LOL
I hope she keeps the case as a souvenir.
This is, to me, what a game show is all about. Despite NBC’s irritating tendency to spoil the hell out of it, I was jsut thrilled for the family. It is truly a life changing moment. I’m actually in awe…the odds of her doing it how she did it are astronomical.
Great television.
What, twenty past nine and there’s NOTHING on youtube yet? :P
I don’t have access to a TV for a while, so I really didn’t stand a chance of seeing it, not that I would have been too surprised. Am I correct in assuming anyway that the lady was wearing green and holding case 4?
Edit: Duh, there’s a photo above. Brilliant!
Wait till midnight, Steve, haha. NBC sent me this clip on Thursday. I couldn’t believe it. That early. Great network politics over there.
Ben Silverman needs to get his ass fired. Soon.
Like said in the article, I really wish NBC would stop with spoiling the results. Although I understand every network basically does that, it really would have made the show tonight more exciting. NBC could have just said “someone this season will win the $1 Million” instead of saying “tonight, someone will win $1 Million”. I ended up DVR’ing past the first 30 minutes since I already knew what was going on. Tonight’s show was still fun but if anyone with NBC or Deal or No Deal reads this, please stop giving away the results of your show a week (or month) before it airs… It really takes away from the suspense. That is cool that she won the prize. Congrads to her and her family.
The thing that bothers me about this whole spoiling thing is, it’s like NBC and Endemol are saying you as the public can’t handle surprise or suspense.
Jess Congratulations on winning on $1,000,000. If you see this my question is what are your plans for the money?
I really enjoyed that episode. I do get tired of NBC spoiling a show. Imagine if that happened on 21 in 2000. if you read this NBC please stop telling us what’s coming up next. I want to be surprised. i wouldn’t have mind if you said this season someone will win the million on deal or no deal.
Honestly, this is the only complete episode of DOND that I’ve watched since, like, February. All the rest were either YouTube clips or little segments I saw while channel surfing during Primetime TPiR.
I don’t like the MDM at all, it makes it FAR too easy to win big. I’ll compare it to the $64,000 Question ripoffs from the 50′s… or the Maury Pauvich Twenty-One. (Come on, a guaranteed $75,000 just for winning two games?)
But still, congratulations to Jess Robinson and her big $1M win!
It was a good moment and I’m glad someone finally won the million after the show’s been on what nearly three years? My biggest complaint was yeah NBC ruined it by spoiling it. If they didn’t then it would be even better. The excitement for me lasted only a few seconds then faded thanks mostly by NBC.
Y’know, I have a feeling Jessica Robinson will not care that there’s an asterisk by her name in DonD history. I think the ($1,000,000 – whatever Uncle Sam is taking) check is the only thing she’s remotely interested in.
Congrats, Jess, you played a great game.
Although this episode was spoiled beyond any sort of control, there’s something we have to realize. There was a contestant that had 13 $1M cases, and they couldn’t even pick one of those. There were several players that picked the single $1M case out of 26, but didn’t have the chutzpah to go all the way. There were a good bunch of players that were offered top prizes well over $1M, but they didn’t even come close. Jessica, no matter how she did it, she just did it. She did what nobody else could do in DoND history, and she only had 5 $1M cases. She deserves a lot of credit for taking that $800,000 risk in that final round. I just wished that NBC didn’t have to tell us that there will be a second one coming. I wanted to be shocked when it comes.
Actually, I agree with everyone here, marketing the show as “Someone wins the $1,000,000″ ruins the feel of watching the show (as well as the tension in the show)
It seems FOX is guilty (See – “He Goes for the Million Dollar Question/Song”) I am waiting for them to tell us “Someone goes for $500,000 on Moment of Truth”) so we could pretend to care
ABC is guilty (See – “And Next Week, Someone Plays One Final Duel”), but due to the lack of actually good game shows (Show me the money, set for life, My Kind of Town), I’m glad they keep it to a minimum
and NBC is the most evil with it (they flat out just say it two weeks in advance of an episode) Which ruined 1 vs 100 for me, and DOND.
I am glad they did not spoil “Identity” for me, which makes me like that show alot more now.
CBS at least gives us surprise, when Power of 10 premiered, it was a surprise to see Jamie win $1,000,000 (especially on the first episode!). Or whenever there is a Price is Right million dollar spectacular, they never spoil the “Big Win”. CBS really is amazing when it comes to Game Shows. They only need to work on Reality TV (I could tell the winners of Big Brother, Survivor, and The Amazing Race after three episodes)
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I am indeed waiting for DOND Syndie, because 30 minutes is JUST enough time to actually have a full episode. I just pray they don’t have that many “2 parter” episodes. Where we find out if the contestant could win $500,000 ; $100,000 ; or $50. with two cases left.
I just hope to the game show gods that we don’t see any spoilers on “Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune”, because the best Million Dollar Winners on game shows, are the ones that come as a surprise!
I wouldn’t worry about spoiled $1m wins on Wheel of Fortune. There won’t be any $1m winners on Wheel of Fortune from what I understand of the new bonus round :D
Glad to see that the $1m was won with not that many $1m cases, and with an interesting final two that wasn’t an out-and-out ridiculous risk (last week) or a $1m/$1m finish.
And Alex, I’d say it’s actually the offer pattern that prevents $1m wins. The top-heavy prize tree provides more possible final pairs where risking it for $1m seems reasonable. Jessica had the sixth highest amount on the board as backup here, $200,000. On the Belgian €1m prize tree, their sixth highest amount is €50,000. Would Jessica have turned down a final offer with only $50,000 guaranteed? Possibly not. (Depends what it is, of course. This offer was at least below the mean, and IMO perfectly judged. We’ve seen AMOs at the end of games before – and last week’s was the only one turned down, and that in the most bizarre of extenuating circumstances.)
What makes this $1,000,000 win exciting, was even though Jessica began the game with 5 Million-Dollar Cases, she got rid of 4 of them by the time the game was 1/2 done. From there on, it became almost like a regular game of DoND with the one $1,000,000 case remaining.
She didn’t win with multiple cases left on the board, she went all the way through the one-case round with just one $1,000,000 amount left in play!
I thought part of the premise of DoND was the element of surprise. I slept through half the show and my hubby had to wake me when Jessica’s case was opened. The spoilers did their job. Ho-hum. Yes, someone at NBC needs to be demoted to pooper scooper.
Speaking of which, the idiot that came up with putting dung (real or not) in front of a pregnant women, should lose his or her job outright. Endermol must only hire boneheads that flunked Bio 101. Didn’t they hear the millions of gasps from the viewers? Didn’t they see the horrified look on Jessica’s face? Gee, and how did this escapade go over with Mr. Sanitized Howie? Shameful.
There is one positive outcome. The family got to have a counseling session aired. Does NBC have the rights to the storyline? …
…Join us next time when we find out if Jessica’s mom can talk softer, “Your not my real dad” will go into cattle ranching in Texas, little daughter Brooklyn is permanently dizzy from being bounced consistently during taping, and if the new baby boy’s name is “Whoop!”
Please hurry with the syndicated version.
I wanted to make sure I wasn’t in the extreme minority before I posted the following:
To paraphrase Stephen Colbert, “Deal or No Deal is now ‘Dead to Me.’”
Yes, I watched the show. Yes, it was the first time in months that I watched. However, I watched it for all the wrong reasons. I didn’t want to miss out on the history of the first American DonD millionaire, to be sure. However, the fact that I knew it was coming took all the suspense and excitement out of the episode. It’s kind of like watching a football game that ends with a last-second field goal: sure, the lead-up might be exciting, but since you know how the game ends, all that really matters is the last play.
To me, a large part of Deal or No Deal is playing along with the contestant, and wondering what I would do in that situation. That element of the game was completely gone for me last night, because I went in knowing I had the $1,000,000 case. Granted, Jessica didn’t know that, of course (and it was incredibly ballsy to turn down $561,000 as a final offer), but it was a very deflating feeling. Comparatively, when someone would win the $100,000 in the Pyramid Winners’ Circle, or spin for $10,000 on The Price is Right, these are far smaller amounts of money, but you get more into it because you don’t know it’s coming.
Deal or No Deal has ruined itself. Now that they have given this result away far early, we can assume that (a) they will do it most every time, including already teasing that “lightning strikes twice this season,” and that (b) if they DON’T mention a winner, the person on the show doesn’t win the big money.
Looking at the ratings, even on a slow Labor Day, NBC won’t give a damn about whether we’re spoiled, as long as we watch. I skipped the first 50 minutes of the show, but watched the end, not so much to see her win the $1M, but to see if NBC had the balls to lie to us by her NOT winning it. Now that they’ve breeched the $1M wall, I’m done with Deal. I’ll likely check out the syndie, just to see what it’s like, but in Primetime…just waiting for more Password. At least CBS won’t give away the ending!
Well According to NBC on the Previews Jessica Robinson isn’t the only one who won the Million.
NBC kept advertising that it was going to happen, so i figure why watch? Its spoiled a nice surprise for me, same thing about the show no longer strataling, you can tell at ten to the top of the hour whats going to happen. The show has become very boring.
Even though I knew that the million was going to be won last night… I was still exciting to watch… Also, on the promo at the end they said that the million will be won again sometime this season… I stopped watch last season but came back last week… and I will keep watching DoND as long as NBC doesn’t spoil the next million dollar win if they do I’m sticking with daytime…
Ugh, I love watching DOND, but I could barely watch it last night. They ruined the show by telling eyeryone she was going to win. Now they had the trailer for the next ep and it said “Lighting may strike twice.” I ain’t watching now cause they basically keep ruining it for everyone.
Here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson. The first pregnant woman to ever win $1,000,000 on a game show.
I stopped watching “Deal or No Deal” ages ago, and I don’t plan on going back (at least until the Syndicated version drops anchor). Thank goodness for online footage. Now the real question remains: will we see an African-American or Latino-American contestant break the bank as the next Million-Dollar winner? (I sure hope so, because, with the lone exception of TPiR’s Million-Dollar spectacular, all the million-dollar winners were white, aside from Dr. Tim Hsieh of “It’s Your Chance of A Lifetime” fame.)
That’s true. NBC did ruin the fun. On the bright side, the Million was given to a contestant who was not one of those crazy lunatics who have to do some gay ass dance everytime they open a low case or one of those high-on-pot deals like that NASCAR lady (who can forget her?). Of course every contestant has to get excited, but at least she wasn’t over the top. Not only that, her final 2 cases were part of the SUPER 7, so even if she had the 200K case, that’s still big money. She deserved it, just as much as Laura from DEAL UK. Now if only a guy can win a top prize here or in the UK. Heh heh.
great for you Jess on winning the million. NBC, Did spoil the fun by giving away that there was gonna be a $1,000,000. However, I see people who normally wouldn’t have watched did so in that sense it did its job. Would those people have watched if it was the 1st person to win a penny, ? Probably not. Actually after some of the articles about DoND some time ago wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t decide to air that game.