[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'124564\' date=\'Jul 20 2006, 12:19 AM\']
(Dave, Matt, or Chris: If you feel there is too much info here or it should be moved to a different section, please do that. I apologize if I goofed.)
Tim Connolly, Jason Hernandez, one of Jason's friends, and yours truly were at the season premiere of Deal or No Deal today. The rumored higher board values were simply that--rumors. Two games were played during the marathon 8 hour taping session (and no air conditioning made those 8 hours that much more fun). The first game had the usual values while the second game's top two prizes were $1M and $2M. It was never explained why player 1 didn't have the same $2M board.
Set-wise, there are a few cosmetic changes but nothing radically different. There are a few (3 or fewer) new models, as well as models at new case numbers. For example, Alike was at case 18 and is now case 20's model. An in-studio audience vote tally has been added for this season but apparently wasn't functioning properly when the studio was polled during a game. The models also do their march down the steps in new outfits after every game. Other than that, it's the same old same old.
Rant time: Audience service was a weakness at today's tapings. Besides the 3 hour taping running over by 5 hours, the staff and crew were incredibly rude towards audience members when it came to simple requests like water in a studio with no A/C and access to the restrooms. It was such a bad experience that if I was invited to a Deal taping in the future, I would decline. The powers that be said they'd get those of us who were in the studio for 8 hours a Deal hat and some food. Nobody got food while under half the people in attendance got a hat. At the end of the taping as everybody was leaving Culver Studios, a diabetic told a staffer she needed food ASAP. (EDIT: This happened after the taping, on Culver Studios property.) I don't think anything became of that. The gratis Deal hat is nice, but the whole Deal taping experience was one which left a bitter taste in the mouths of each of the four of us.
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Standing out in line for three hours wasn't much more fun. They did give us a small bag of snacks to eat while waiting, and while the second taping was supposed to start at 3 PM and last until about 6:30 PM, we didn't get into the building until around 5:30 PM and the taping lasted until about 8 PM.
The show itself however was quite exciting: for the third game, the top prize was booted up to $3,000,000. I won't tell you any more than that though...you'll have to watch it yourself.