Deal or No Deal

Last night, I put in one of my multitude of tapes I've recorded my soaps on, and I was flipping through channels to see what was on TV before I pushed play. I hadn't gotten very far before I came upon Deal or No Deal, the new game show with Howie Mandel hosting it. This isn't the first time I've watched it, but I'll get more into that later.

When I first heard about this game show where people pick cases and potential win a lot of money, I thought it was a stupid idea, because it took no skill whatsoever. When I watch a game show, I like some sort of thought that goes into winning money. Even Wheel of Fortune contestants need to know, well, the alphabet for starters, as well as filling in the blanks with words that make sense.

However, when I first saw Deal or No Deal a couple of weeks ago, I kept watching it for really no apparent reason. And this last time, I watched an entire episode. There's something strangely addicting about this particular game show. I haven't quite put my finger on it, though. I think part of it is just watching the adrenalin rush of the contestants. You wouldn't think that a show like this would be all that difficult, but it certainly seems like it is. Another part of the addicting nature of the show is that some people lose out on making a lot of money because they still have a chance to make even more, like the contestant last night. At one point she could have walked away with $299,000. But she got greedy and by the end, she only took home $25,000. I realize that $25,000 sounds like a lot, especially to a grad student on a stipend, but the fact that she could have walked away with ten times that amount and she turned it down is mind-boggling.

I think the show has an element of the "horrible car wreck" scenario to it. You know how you see a bad accident, cars totaled, windows broken, and maybe some blood, and as you're passing it, you don't want to look at it, but you still end up slowing down just to take a quick peek. This game show is kind of like that. Watching the woman on it last night was very similar. OK, not similar life-or-death-wise, but similar in that it's the same kind of feeling. You don't want to see her lose a lot of money, but you keep watching to see if she actually does.

Anyway, my point is that a game show with what sounds like a silly concept which needs no skill (beyond knowing numbers) seems like it shouldn't be all that exciting to watch. At least in theory, that is. I actually find it very fascinating, although I'd never want to be on the show myself. I don't think I could handle that type of pressure. (Sadly, it seems just as (or more) nerve-wracking as my masters defense.)

Has anyone out there watched it at all? If you have, do you find it as addicting as I do? I'm just putting out questions here to see if one of the few people that read my blog has any comments on this particular subject. Feel free to let me know. I always like seeing comments!