NBC’s (semi-) new primetime game show Deal or No Deal premiered tonight. Alex is writing a more in-depth and coherent review, so I’ll give my pros and cons of the show.

Pros.
!. Paced surprisingly well
@. Howie Mandel channels the British WWTBAM host, Chris Tarrant, in his hosting– a very good thing
#. The money tree is well-arranged, creating excellent drama during the show
$. The audience was damn good, adding to the atmosphere exactly as they should
%. The audience game was interesting, but not overly intrusive

Cons.
!. No trivia game to determine contestants at the start of the game; this is probably for time concerns, at least
@. There was an obsessive amount of editing, and some audio edits made it obvious that they were edits
#. The banker remains silent to us

The cons, however, are minor, and it’s difficult to ruin this show. Overall, I was impressed. So for the first night, at least, of Deal or No Deal, I’ll give this show a 4.5 out of 5.