Deal or no Deal thoughts ???

Probably this show has been discussed already and I missed it but I just
had to ask what others think of it. I find it a fascinating example of
a combination of simplcity, player greed over ruling logic, and
manipulation by the show's producers.

PastaLover...

I just don't get it. But then I never got into game shows, period.

SoHillsGuy...

I've actually been watching the UK version every night via torrents,
and I find that more enjoyable, despite the fact that the pace of the
game is actually much slower. The simpler UK version has no Vegas
showgirls, no overly-excited family members (does every family on here
have somekind of spastic relative?), no pointless "deal" button prop or
exaggerated graphics. The tension comes directly from the decisions
left to the players.

I also think the UK version is harder to win. Its rounds of selected
boxes goes 5-3-3-3-3-3, which makes the decision to play out to the end
a bit harder. The American version, with several rounds of just one
box selection towards the end, makes it easier to nibble your way to a
higher offer providing you have a handful of good amounts left.

Arthur Lipscomb...

At first I watched every episode but now I've been watching on and off.
They changed it around a bit from the premier. But overall player greed
overruling logic sums up the show nicely. I haven't noticed any overt
manipulation by the producers. However, I do wonder if the deals the

ron.bauerle...

How about when they flew that Marine's kids in
from the other side of the country?

Arthur Lipscomb...

I didn't see that episode. How did this manipulate the Marine to the
benefit of the producers?

I think that was the last straw for me - I missed Friday's and didn't
bother to set my VCR for it; I could live with the greed/poor knowledge
of statistics, but to see people's dreams dashed because they went
too far has gotten a bit old for me :^(

Arthur Lipscomb...

But it's their own fault...
I'm not recording it either although I'm tempted at times. Whenever I watch
it I like it. But since the shows are so repetitive, I don't really feel
like I'm missing anything if I watch infrequently.

And how is that Howie's OCD won't let him shake hands with
people, yet he has no problems handling things they've handled
(the magic 8-ball, a (new) handkerchief, and especially that
megaphone)???

Arthur Lipscomb...

I thought he was just phobic about germs and requests that the contestants
not shake his hands. Even so, there's no reason to be rude when handed a
gift. If he was so incapacitated by Bacteriophobic he couldn't even touch
an inanimate object he probably wouldn't have the job.

players are offered are fixed by a computer or if there's any discretion

Barbara Bailey...

I suspect that the offers are set by a computer, since once someone
takes the deal, Howie plays out the remaining cases: "If you'd chosen
this one next, it would have shown this amount and the offer would
have been -this-..." and so on, without pausing. That means that
there's some sort of predetermined pattern to the cases-remaining :
offer-made.

involved.