[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' post=\'185248\' date=\'May 2 2008, 03:38 PM\']
Ratings are still high, and I don't think someone winning the $1M will change that...case in point:
- Norma Brown on CS
- Michael Larsen on PYL
- Thom McKee on TTD
- John Carpenter on WWtBaM
- All "shopping" era winners on $otC
...none of whom caused their respective shows' ratings to fall after their appearances.
[/quote]
Yes, because the above were all engaging, interesting programs with solid gameplay (or in Press Your Luck's instance, a clever cartoon character) that kept bringing viewers back after their big moments. They each had a considerably greater play-along-at-home factor than DoND (again, with the exception of PYL, but then again, just how long did it stay on the air anyway?). DoND lacks something the aforementioned five all had: a compelling game that kept bringing viewers back on its own merits.
DoND has two hooks that keep eyes glued to the set: the "OMG $1,000,000 BIG MUNNY" factor, and the delicious schadenfreude that comes with watching squealing housewives pass up hundreds of thousands of dollars, only to wind up with a comparative pittance. I have serious doubts that the latter attraction alone will be able to prop up the ratings once they give away their ONE... MEEELLION DOLLARS! /*
People are only going to be able to absorb so much of "Uhh... ahh... ahll take case 14, Howie!" ad infinitum before it becomes unbearably tiresome. The producers obviously realized that early on in the run; witness all of the insipid gimmickry we've been treated to almost from the beginning, gimmickry that will likely continue until the inevitable day NBC drops the axe. Without the aura of the contestant you're watching possibly becoming The First to win the million, I see the show losing a lot of viewers, and the eventuality of cancellation accelerating greatly.