Happy birthday to Deal or No Deal, six years old today.
Yes it is a game of luck, but no it’s not a game about luck. That is why it has been successful.
They’re doing Bankenstein’s monsters this week, but forget the fact they are dressing up, Noel puts on a silly voice occasionally.
Also: we’ve now watched Million Dollar Mind Game. I liked it.
Best daytime game show on TV, period. Forget about Chasers, Eggheads or Pointless members of the public. Deal or No Deal is and will always be the best. It’ll be the one daytime gameshow people will remember in decades to come.
You don’t like The Chase? I hadn’t noticed from your ten million other comments attempting to trash it.
I don’t dislike it. I like Deal or No Deal better.
Come on, Joe – tell the truth and shame the devil… 😉
We won’t make fun of you for it, we promise. 😉
The same goes for The Cube. 😉
And remember – don’t use your hands before you use your brain… 😉
I suppose Million Dollar Mind Game counts as a daytime game show, even if not a daily one. Really liked the question material, bonus for the variety, and bonus for nice people (Aaron Solomon, who’s been in the game show fandom since Brig was -3) getting work. (Could some of the UK usual suspects come up with even better question material still? Well, probably.)
Every correct answer is a lovely achievement, and there’s just a bit more “you can figure it out” than “either you know it or you don’t”, though I have no doubt at all that the players who do know it right from the start have been briefed to flail for a good half-minute before they blurt the answer out – cf Wheel of Fortune for the “viewers at home can solve before the contestants do” factor. Additionally, I love, love, love the aesthetic: distinctive – exotic, even! – and yet appropriate.
Vernon is decent – perhaps not the most gravitas and authority possible, but I like his authority (not something we’ve really seen from him before) and someone old-school would possibly not have fit for a big money show unless they could have somehow got the Reege. Format is derivative but easily good enough and there’s some fun scope for internal team dynamics. (It does make me admire Only Connect’s reward for early answers, and in-built clue scheme, even more.) I’m rooting for every team really hard. Fun to watch, as well as – I’m sure! – to play.
Negative criticism? Well, the ratio of question material to time is very low (probably about a quarter of that of the OC)and the ratio of “interesting decisions” to time is only a little better.
Link.
8/10 at least, quite possibly a nine. Has cult hit written all over it. I intend to apply to compete on a British version, should one be made, even if the channel airing it is the very mighty RU:ON and the top prize is £6; this is the first show I’ve felt that way about since, er, Treasure Hunt.
Yes I love the questions, and very pleased I was able to get some straight off the bat (also like the potted versions of the questions with the relevant clues that come up on screen) – it’s great that as soon as someone mentions what could be the correct answer you instinctively sort of know it’s correct.
Top prize should be $1.2m really. Would love to have a go myself.
I’m a fan as well – I’ll bear it in mind….! I’m sure I’ve got a spare 60p somewhere.
Just watched it now. Liked it more thank I thought I would.
They haven’t quite got the feel *quite* right. By making the set a little smaller it would make it sound and look more ‘full’. At the minute it looks like 8.30pm in a typical nightclub.
Questions were very good indeed. It did seem that there were some retakes, so if someone knew the answer off the bat (even I got the Fruit of the Loom one straight away!) then they’ve gone back in afterwards and asked them to pad it out for 30 seconds more.
Watching it with adverts taken out, they get through a lot more questions than I thought they would, though the Russian show touches on more brainy material rather than these riddle-type questions.
I felt the game format was better than it could have been, but probably had one or two more rules than it needed to. As CMD says, the number of interesting decisions wasn’t as high as it could have been, and the “Any help?” pause was often a waste of time. Given that you stick on a money value until you get one right, I’d have made the money ladder one step shorter, at least.
Because of the US failure and the way the rights have been packaged up, I doubt there’d be a UK version – for shame.
I do wonder what DOND nowadays has that The Chase and Pointless don’t… 😕
Also, how does it compare against daytime shows of the past – like Blockbusters, Going for Gold and Supermarket Sweep? 😉
(Children’s game shows like Knightmare and Fun House obviously don’t count because they don’t have the same target audience. ;))
In my humble opinion, Deal or No Deal is the great gameshow in British daytime TV in history. This is a view which I believe is shared with millions of other people in the country. If a poll was done, what is your favourite daytime TV show ever? I would be £300 that Deal or No Deal would be top 🙂
* I would bet…
I’d say that DoND almost works better as soap opera than as game show now. It is basically a soap opera in which a rotating and diverse group of people are trapped in an economics experiment for a month, except that sounds like a hilarious Charlie Brooker pastiche of reality TV and the actual show works in its own right.
I have my criticisms of the show, goodness knows I’ve been forward enough in putting them in the past, but it does get an awful lot right. I can’t think of another studio game show that has ever placed such emphasis on its contestants, and when the show is “bigging up” their personalities rather than their risk appetites, the show thrives. When the reverse happens, then the show starts looking like a 2006-7 bubble-era anachronism.
Agree with David. The show has its faults sometimes but it’s still enjoyable to watch after 6 years both on TV and to watch recorded live.
Plus you have to credit the production staff in embracing Twitter and taking the time to reply to Tweets.
I often wonder if I would have become such a big DOND fan if it wasn’t for this website. I might have been discovered it eventually I presume.
I cannot bring myself to watch any incarnation of “Deal Or No Deal” for the same reason I dislike any incarnation of our “Let’s Make A Deal”. Maybe the UK version has something that our version lacks here in the States, but I don’t care much for shows that are entirely luck-based, with no skill, either physical, mental or both, involved.
I don’t begrudge Joe his affinity for this show. If he’s the chap who used to appear in these pages as “Endemol Joe”, then it’s clear that he likes anything with Endemol’s shingle, good bad or indifferent. If he works or has worked for Endemol, he’s what we in the States would call a “shill”. But there is some honor in being a “shill” if you are good at it.
As for me, I’ll take “The Cube” and “The Chase” and I may even take a gander at “Pointless”. I’ve also liked what I’ve seen of “Eggheads”, although the team of Eggheads strike me at first blush as being the smartest blokes from the old folks’ home.
As for “Million Dollar Mind Game”, that show would appear to be a perfect fit for the BBC. Much more so than for ABC here.
Best daytime game show? , obviously.
Yes, has raised Noel Edmonds’ profile again, but launched Richard Whiteley and Carol Vorderman. And Susie Dent. And the clock music. And the huge clock. And the clubs, and gatherings of fans and players across the country.
Twenty-nine years of age tomorrow. Here’s to many more.
Got that, Joe? 😉
Do-do, do-do, do-do-do-do, boom…
And before you start typing up again about how great DOND is, don’t forget that of the “millions of other people in the country” who you think share that view, not all of them are old enough to fully remember the glory days of Blockbusters or GFG – which skews things somewhat.
And remember how many people don’t get it and condescendingly think it’s “just opening boxes”.
Speaking of Countdown, today was the Movember special. False moustaches and bemusement abound.
Another for the ‘Countdown is the best daytime game show in history’ bandwagon here. Just as fun and watchable as its always been, which I’m not sure you can really say about DOND, or indeed many other game shows. But of course well done to the team for reaching six years and for maintaining impressive ratings even with the various ‘tweaks’.
I look forward to the announcement of the new CD host, which can’t be that far off now if they’re filming for January (which I assume they are). It will be hard to replace Jeff but they’ve picked well enough in the past, and with all the press buzz about HIGH PROFILE names gunning for the job, I wait with interest.
I also await the rumoured arrival of Dictionary Corner’s ‘pic-cam’ for 2012 with huge excitement (basically an on-screen image of a LEOTARD, TANGELO or whatever to accompany the senior pen-cam’s definition). It will be a nice addition to the programme if true.
Can someone from the UK explain why Countryfile is so popular? It apparently got 8.17 million viewers Sunday… The Cube got 4.26 million (when you figure in the +1)- I know it was up against Strictly as well (10.42 million viewers), but that seems shockingly low (though it was a 16.7% share)…
It was on for years and years on Sunday morning/early afternoon and I can’t remember the reasoning to moving it to the evenings, but it does astonishingly well, probably because it’s on Sunday and quite “nice”.
I don’t know what it’s like in the US, but Sundays here are quite relaxed, most shops open on reduced hours or not at all, for example.
Being on around the Strictly results show probably helps also.
There is a reason why the major US television shows do not air over the weekend. It could be that everybody is going out and watching nothing but NFL.
Imagine if Premier League games were owned/shown on either the BBC or ITV on an afternoon/evening.
20-30 years ago, Saturday night was the most watched TV night overall, with some of the top shows in terms of viewers. Now it’s the least (to the point where it’s basically all reruns or sporting events). I think it’s partially the expansion of TV channels, as well as other options (movies, Internet, etc.)
The most valuable night now is Thursdays- a lot of movie companies want to air commercials that night since most movies start showing in theaters on Fridays.
It’s easy for the Young Telly Watchers who gather here to forget just how sizable the older audiences are – we do have an aging population in the UK as a whole after all, and for that huge 50+ group, Countryfile appeals greatly. (See also: Midsomer Murders, Downton Abbey – their audiences may skew old, but they’re huge audiences.)
Quite why it gets such high ratings is beyond me, though. Perhaps Sunday teatimes are when children and teenagers are least likely to command the family television from their parents? 😉
I’ve explained why Countryfile is so popular, it’s just a great show. And I don’t think you can use the “old viewers” excuse because other shows like Countryfile don’t do well, such as Countrywise which is a similar but low quality show. Quality shines through for Countryfile thats why its very popular.
I don’t doubt it’s also well-executed. I just think that demographics and time slot are key reasons why it’s such an “under-the-radar” ratings smash hit.
I keep watching Countryfile in the hope that the lovely Ellie Harrison has a ‘wardrobe malfunction’.
Difficult, I know under at least 3 layers of zipped up waterproof clothing, but at least the scenery is nice to watch whilst I’m waiting….
Countryfile is a wonderful show, showcasing the best of the British isles. Fabulous scenery, stunning coast line shots, exceptional presenting, exciting new information given about our wonderful country, sensational direction, it’s a lovely warm show. It is a splendid programmes which deserves all the viewers and praise it gets. The Cube got a couple more million than last week’s game show but it was quite a disappointing return for the show. In its 4th series, yet it still doesn’t play many new games, it’s the same old stuff we’ve seen over and over again.