Tuesday, April 04, 2006

"Now Lean Back in Your Chair"

Saw some of the new NBC game show Deal or No Deal last night and was kind of horrified. The way they drag this game out makes an elimination episode of American Idol seem action-packed. And the game itself is so simple, so formulaic, that it seems like watching the same thing over and over and over. Ugh.

Of course, it WAS addictive. I happened to catch part of one game at 8:20 and ended up watching the whole thing, until 10PM. So who's the idiot?

Biggest question for me, though, is how they cast "the banker." Did they have auditions? Did they hold the auditions in silhouette? Did they ask the auditionees to act like a banker without talking? I'm completely fascinated by this question.

Also--isn't it expensive to pay 25 models for every show? Not that they're getting rich, but still--with union minimums and all, I'd imagine they don't come cheap either.

Until Whenever

3 comments:

Roger Owen Green said...

I watched the show for the first time that night too, only because my DVR went out so that I had only a handful of stations. Flicking to see what I did have, before watching a little of the basketball game, I came across this strange show. So, when I leeft, the woman hand her #18 in front of her, had 3 or 4 low scores plus the $750K on the board. SO WHAT HAPPENED?

Tosy And Cosh said...

She held off at about $200k, showed one more small amount, and took the next deal at around $400k. The case she had picked only had $400 or something, so she chose well in the end.

Tom the Dog said...

It is strangely addictive, isn't it? I don't seek it out, but if I happen across while channel-surfing, I can sit and watch the whole hour. It does drag things out excruciatingly, but still highly watchable. As far as paying the models, that (and the rest of the show's budget, even including prize money) has got to be fairly cheap in relation to scripted hour-long programs. One set, one host, no writers -- they're reeling in the dough from advertising with not a lot of overhead to pay out.