Friday, March 12, 2010

Decade of Games: Biggest “Deal or No Deal” Win

Posted by Alex Davis On December - 1 - 2009

I can’t believe it’s December already.  What’s more staggering is that this decade is almost up.  So much happened and it’s tough to compile it all.  So for this month (in addition to everything else) we’re just going to be looking through our archives and other places to find some of our favorite and most memorable moments and events of the past ten years and show them off.  The game show that, out of no where, took the world by surprise was Deal or No Deal.  I’m a big fan of just about every version but the American one which we have managed to get so wrong so often.  But as a whole around the world it’s a really remarkable format.  It’s almost crazy that no one has tried this exact format before, because it’s something that basically anyone could have thought of.

My favorite version of the show to this day remains the Dutch version called Miljoenenjacht.  The show is a hybrid of the briefcase game of Deal or No Deal with a quiz show thrown in.  A 500 person audience is narrowed down to one remaining player through various quiz rounds, and that person has a chance to win a gigantic five million euro top prize.  The show works so well over there because it’s a big deal.  They only air around five or six episodes at a time before taking a long break and coming back in six or so months.  You watch this and wonder why we can’t seem to get some giant event style show like this.  The clip that stands out in my mind is of the biggest winner in the show’s history.  Take a look below.  It’s probably my favorite game show win of the decade.  The response from her, the standing ovation and chanting from the crowd, the phone calls, and the mammoth celebration is just amazing to watch.

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You have to think NBC could really bring back Deal or No Deal in a big way like this.  Make a huge deal about it, pump up the money, do a very limited series, and there you go.  But frankly any event style program like this would be great.

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28 Responses

  1. TheKid965 Said,

    Only thing I'm not clear on – what's with the middle section? Home player game?

    Posted on December 1st, 2009 at 6:05 pm

  2. TheKid965 Said,

    Only thing I'm not clear on – what's with the middle section? Home player game?

    Posted on December 1st, 2009 at 6:05 pm

  3. Myke25 Said,

    Then watch NBC say, "Wow! Look at the numbers! That's better than any other show we have on the air! Let's strip it 5 nights a week!" It's the circle of prime time game show life, Simba!

    Posted on December 1st, 2009 at 10:14 pm

  4. 1MillionDollars Said,

    As far as I know, it's not the biggest one. According to Dutch Wikipedia, someone called Arno Woesthoff won the Fl. 10 Million top prize back in September 2001, and even got on the show before that and won Fl. 1 Million, making him one of the biggest game show history winner, if not THE biggest. Once converted, that's a total of €4,991,582.

    Posted on December 1st, 2009 at 6:18 pm

  5. 1MillionDollars Said,

    As far as I know, it's not the biggest one. According to Dutch Wikipedia, someone called Arno Woesthoff won the Fl. 10 Million top prize back in September 2001, and even got on the show before that and won Fl. 1 Million, making him one of the biggest game show history winner, if not THE biggest. Once converted, that's a total of €4,991,582.

    Posted on December 1st, 2009 at 6:18 pm

  6. Marc Said,

    Sort of. In each episode, one lucky lottery player who chose the same case number as the contestant (in this case, 14) is randomly chosen to win whatever the contestant wins.

    Posted on December 1st, 2009 at 6:24 pm

  7. Alex Davis Said,

    Yeah, whatever the player wins one lucky lottery winner also gets.

    Posted on December 1st, 2009 at 7:25 pm

  8. Alex Davis Said,

    Apparently this show existed under a different title, and was an all quiz format, back then. They added the briefcase game later and changed the name of the show.

    Posted on December 1st, 2009 at 7:26 pm

  9. 1MillionDollars Said,

    Well… that's intresting. And I didn't knew that. Thanks for the information :)

    Posted on December 1st, 2009 at 7:58 pm

  10. Steve Said,

    Yes, NBC should bring DoND back as a special event (say, 4-6 nights) with a $5 million, or even a $10 million top prize. Do this twice a year. Watch the ratings flow in.

    Posted on December 1st, 2009 at 8:11 pm

  11. Myke25 Said,

    Then watch NBC say, "Wow! Look at the numbers! That's better than any other show we have on the air! Let's strip it 5 nights a week!" It's the circle of prime time game show life, Simba!

    Posted on December 1st, 2009 at 10:14 pm

  12. Myke25 Said,

    Then watch NBC say, "Wow! Look at the numbers! That's better than any other show we have on the air! Let's strip it 5 nights a week!" It's the circle of prime time game show life, Simba!

    Posted on December 1st, 2009 at 10:14 pm

  13. Tataki Inu Said,

    Can you guys post a full episode of this? It looks really interesting. ^_^

    Posted on December 1st, 2009 at 10:17 pm

  14. Setsunael Said,

    http://www.rtl.nl/components/shows/miljoenenjacht...

    RTL.nl 's website offer free catch-up of Miljoenenjacht when it runs – check it , there's also generally other shows available , check out Succes Verzekerd for an interesting quiz gameplay.

    Posted on December 2nd, 2009 at 1:34 am

  15. Nik Said,

    NBC would never do this. They have a long history of making bad programming decisions. You'd think they would have learned from what happened with ABC and "Millionaire".

    Posted on December 2nd, 2009 at 2:09 am

  16. Tataki Inu Said,

    I don't understand Dutch, but I still love it. ^_^ Thanks!

    Posted on December 2nd, 2009 at 2:18 am

  17. Tataki Inu Said,

    I don't understand Dutch, but I still love it. ^_^ Thanks!

    Posted on December 2nd, 2009 at 2:18 am

  18. Craig Said,

    Not to mention the promo machine would be working overtine whenever there's a possibility of a "big win". Look at the summer of 2008, NBC "killed" the excitement of our first millionaire there even during the Olympics. I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop on the syndie version so it can be over & done with.

    Posted on December 2nd, 2009 at 8:56 am

  19. Craig Said,

    Not to mention the promo machine would be working overtine whenever there's a possibility of a "big win". Look at the summer of 2008, NBC "killed" the excitement of our first millionaire there even during the Olympics. I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop on the syndie version so it can be over & done with.

    Posted on December 2nd, 2009 at 8:56 am

  20. Brig Bother Said,

    Are you sure? I think it's always been called Miljoenenjacht, case game or not, but certainly the German version of the format was called Des Chances Deines Lebens (Your Chance of a Lifetime) but was the same show. I'm surprised no-one's pointed out that someone won the top prize on it before.

    Posted on December 2nd, 2009 at 7:59 pm

  21. Brig Bother Said,

    Are you sure? I think it's always been called Miljoenenjacht, case game or not, but certainly the German version of the format was called Des Chances Deines Lebens (Your Chance of a Lifetime) but was the same show. I'm surprised no-one's pointed out that someone won the top prize on it before.

    Posted on December 2nd, 2009 at 7:59 pm

  22. Brig Bother Said,

    Are you sure? I think it's always been called Miljoenenjacht, case game or not, but certainly the German version of the format was called Des Chances Deines Lebens (Your Chance of a Lifetime) but was the same show. I'm surprised no-one's pointed out that someone won the top prize on it before.

    Posted on December 2nd, 2009 at 7:59 pm

  23. David Howell Said,

    I couldn't believe it when I read about it.

    It is still, by a long LONG way, the biggest game show win anywhere in the world ever. Still. About 30% clear of KJ and Rutter, if I've got my calculations correct, and Dutch game show prizes are taxed at a lower rate than US winnings (a flat 25% – they're treated as capital gains, which to be honest makes an awful lot of intuitive sense).

    Posted on December 2nd, 2009 at 11:06 pm

  24. David Howell Said,

    I couldn't believe it when I read about it.

    It is still, by a long LONG way, the biggest game show win anywhere in the world ever. Still. About 30% clear of KJ and Rutter, if I've got my calculations correct, and Dutch game show prizes are taxed at a lower rate than US winnings (a flat 25% – they're treated as capital gains, which to be honest makes an awful lot of intuitive sense).

    Posted on December 2nd, 2009 at 11:06 pm

  25. Metal Briefcase Said,

    Yes it is amazing how quickly this game show has taken off. I don't recall any other game shows expanding to so many countries to quickly. It is interesting that the US version is not as good as others. I guess they dumbed it down a bit too much.

    Posted on December 11th, 2009 at 10:43 pm

  26. Metal Briefcase Said,

    Yes it is amazing how quickly this game show has taken off. I don't recall any other game shows expanding to so many countries to quickly. It is interesting that the US version is not as good as others. I guess they dumbed it down a bit too much.

    Posted on December 11th, 2009 at 10:43 pm

  27. Eddie Mac Said,

    This is my favorite version of Deal or No Deal too. For the record, 1,495,000 euros today would be worth more than $2.15 million. I think that would make her the biggest single-game winner in the world ever.

    Posted on December 25th, 2009 at 3:38 pm

  28. Eddie Mac Said,

    Thank you!!!!!!!!!!

    Posted on December 25th, 2009 at 3:39 pm

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