08Nov2006
Quebec Gets Own Version of “Deal or No Deal”
TVA announced about a day or two ago that they will be getting their own version of “Deal or No Deal”, called “The Banker”. As far as we can tell, it’s going to be basically the same game as every country on earth and, as it’s looking now, taking on the US look. Early reports are that the top prize will be $250,000, but that of course can change at any moment. Stay tuned for more information. You can try out by reading the info from the TVA website.
Yay! I’m from Quebec. I live in Montreal, where the USA Network’s version of Chain Reaction was taped. The top prize is indeed $250,000 CDN, as per the website. TVA was the same network that produced a revival of Twenty-One called Vingt-et-Un, where the series’ top winner won somehthing like $48,000. They also produced a revival of Lingo as well several years back. I think that they could have come up with a better title, though. ‘Le Banquier’ doesn’t seem like a very good title, IMO. They should have gone for the French equivalent of Deal or No Deal. If the title is ‘The Banker’, is the question going to be ‘Banker or No Banker?’ Even though the show will be on a French channel, I will watch it and post a review, if possible. E-mail me if you guys want me to review Le Banquier for BuzzerBlog.
-Mark.
Sorry to nitpick, Mark, but TVA didn’t produce (the excellent!) version of Lingo. It was Radio-Canada.
I actually like the title; the title in France, “Ŕ prendre ou ŕ laisser” (“Take it or Leave it”), doesn’t fit Québec speech patterns that well, and articles had mentioned that they were struggling to find the perfect title for the French version. Sometimes, the best translation is not a literal one, but one that shows lateral thinking. If you think about it, it’s just as valid to pick a title that puts the emphasis on that sinister silhouette of a character, the Banquer.
An important note: there are 3 promising Canadian game shows (Le banquier [TVA], Deal or no Deal [Global], Les rois de la pop [TQS]), set for this winter. It’s important to apply for Le banquier *first*, so you can honestly answer their question which asks whether you are currently applying for another game show… *then* head on over to Global and TQS’ Web sites to apply for the other two if you wish.
That’s actually quite interesting. I like the lateral thinking behind that title and it makes sense looking at what Charles has said.
I wonder what the game board will look like, as that’s always the important thing. Will they be going for something similar to the Spanish-American version, or will it be like the UK tree? Or something totally different? And will they stick to 6-5-4-3-2-1-1-1-1?