Shut up! I need a mindless activity at the end of a very long Monday!
Anyway, almost all of those contestants need to be smacked liberally. Not only are they far too melodramatic, but they are just so stupid! They choose a few cases, get their offer of $135,000 and turn it down. Their family or friends are cheering them on saying, "You came here with nothing, so you can't lose!"
Uh, you may have come there with nothing, but you now have $135,000. That's yours to take - OR you could throw it down for a chance, a slim chance mind you, of winning more. So, yeah, you can lose - $135,000!
And even though they keep declining the offers and chanting the mantra "came here with nothing, can't lose"; they always are obviously crushed when they find out that they had the $1 case and played it all the way. That is always such a gleeful moment for me.
The other inevitability that tickles me, cause I just love seeing idiots screw themselves, is the friend or family member insisting that $180,000 just isn't enough money because the million is still in play, convincing the contestant to keep playing. And then three no-deals later, when everything goes in the crapper, that same person will say, "I think you should take the $15,000. That's a lot of money. Think of all you could do with that." I'm not a gambler, but I would bet that they are not going to be on friendly speaking terms after the show.
And I really am not a gambler. If I were on that show, I'd pretty much take the first offer.
I have only watched this show maybe three times and it is the only game show where I root for the people to lose. They are a bunch of greedy bastards and I know you can say that about any game show guest, but this one flaunts the greediness.
The only part that impresses me is that Howie knows all the girls' names that hold the cases. I mean, they all look the same and he can name them.
Of course, he may have an earpiece in and some guy backstage is saying "Case number 26 is Susan."
Why have gameshows been so dumbed down?!? Give me Jeopardy, at least those Einsteins earn their money.
Tayster, SSB and I root for them to lose to. How could you not?
Evil Spock, I KNOW!! The only skill you need to play Deal or No Deal is to be able to say a number and push a button or be able to say Deal or No Deal (there was at least one person who couldn't even figure how the button thing worked!). If you want to play it intelligently, you have to be able to calculate odds in your head - but I can guarantee that almost none of them do that. They base their decisions on adrenaline and fear.
Personally, I would take my first 6-digit offer. $100,000 is a good chunk of change and though it ain't a million bucks, I would always prefer to play it safe. Then again, someone like me wouldn't be much fun to watch, now would I? Of course they are going to choose the stupidest, greediest contestants to play. That's what makes the game watch-worthy.
Mrs. Loquacious, I actually told my husband that I would try to hold out for the first offer that would pay off our mortgage, which would be just over $100,000 for us (to cover prize taxes too). Think of what you could do with all that extra money every month!
I love Deal or No Deal! I've been watching almost every episode with my dad. We get so mad at those people who turn down anything higher than 100,000 when the probability of them getting anything higher is low. I wish I were old enough to go on the show. I'd definitely play a little bit smarter than most of the contestants I see up there.
TheThinker, welcome to my blog! My husband sits in the other room laughing at me yelling at the TV.
Now that my free cable is gone, I don't have the opportunity to watch this show. I did watch it a few times, though: the only show more frustrating to watch than this one is "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?" With shows like these, I fear for the future.
The Doc, I can't even watch "Fifth Grader". It makes me lose hope for this country. I mean, building on the hope lost to the last two elections - what were people thinking?
You will appreciate this. Honest you will!
Lyvvie, I DID appreciate that!
Well, I *am* a gambler, and a key part of that is knowing the odds and when to cut and run. (As the esteemed Kenneth Rogers has noted, you have to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. You apparently don't have to know when to get plastic surgery though. Yikes.)
Anyway, I generally only catch the last two minutes of DOND, as I'm tuning in to Heroes after it, but from what I've seen, these idiots hang in there way too long. Syl's right -- if you've got a shot to walk away with more than twice your annual salary, do it.
Otto Man, I love the Mad TV skits of Kenny Rogers and his fried chicken joints.