D/ND proposal

[BrandonFG]

I proposed this in the main thread, but it prolly got lost in all the other replies. (Yeah, I know the real answer is nobody cares, but I'm trying to stay positive :-P )

I have an idea for those who keep whining that they're not watching b/c there's no game or skill required. After each round, after the bank offer (when a contestant says "No Deal!"), they get a question. Maybe even additional questions based on what level, i.e. round 1=1 question, round 2=2 questions, etc. You can even ask for help from your rooting section, but only one person. Get it right, and the game goes on. Get it wrong, the game ends right there.

Don't know if a consolation amount should be offered, maybe give a higher amount based on what round it is, i.e. round one is only $1,000 or so, but round four could be $5,000 or something.

Better yet, don't offer any consolation money. You had your chance to take the "deal". You get it wrong, you lose the money. Now, there are some minor kinks, such as how much was in the contestant's briefcase, and where's the $1 million one, but that can be worked out.

Game or No Game?

[davidbod]

Why is it that every time a European game comes to the US, there's this big hoo-ha and everyone tries to "fix it" - i.e. mould it into the shape of every other US game show? For example, I lost count of the number of times it was suggested that the Weakest Link should offer consolation prizes!!!

The whole point of Deal or No Deal is the purity of the game. Your background, education, intelligence etc. have little or bearing on how well you can do. Different skills are being tested here. Yes, there is a much larger luck factor involved here than most shows, but equally you could say the same about some of the world's most popular games such as Snakes and Ladders.

The important thing is this: is it an exciting game to watch and play? I say "yes". You get a surpise after each box opening, after the announcement of each deal, at the Deal or No deal moment, and the final "your box contained..." reveal. That's over 30 good moments of entertainment for your game, and carries a lot more jeopardy than, er, Jeopardy!

For the record, I don't really care about what the game exactly is. I'm just pleased that a really original idea has been made to work successfully in 30 different countries and it's brought a new dimension to UK daytime TV. I'd much rather format devisors try something new than knock out another quizzer or pricing game.

My 2p.

David

[chris319]

I proposed this in the main thread, but it prolly got lost in all the other replies. (Yeah, I know the real answer is nobody cares, but I'm trying to stay positive :-P )

We were being polite.

Adding a quiz question would in no way fix the many fundamental deficiencies of DOND. If anything it would make one of the deficiencies worse: it would make the game stretch out even longer.

As proof that adding a quiz question wouldn't work I offer the following:

http://gscentral.net/prof.htm

[Neumms]

I'm not wild about the general knowledge questions either. But it does seem like the contestants should come from somewhere--even on "Treasure Hunt," they had qualification rounds, and to my mind, Millionaire really misses something without the fastest finger question.

So let's dredge up what was a lousy idea on another NBC game and try it here, where it's not screwing up a hard quiz. Remember the first weeks of "Twenty One" when the audience voted among two or three potential challengers to choose who'd play? Here, it's less out of place. It's a game about intuition, so the player may as well be chosen that way.

This way, they could get rid of a few suitcases and make the hour more interesting without increasing the budget.

[Lemonjello]

[quote name=\'davidbod\' date=\'Dec 21 2005, 11:13 AM\']The important thing is this: is it an exciting game to watch and play? I say "yes". You get a surpise after each box opening, after the announcement of each deal, at the Deal or No deal moment, and the final "your box contained..." reveal. That's over 30 good moments of entertainment for your game, and carries a lot more jeopardy than, er, Jeopardy!

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[/quote]

You say "over 30 good moments of entertainment", I say more like 4 or 5. I think it's mostly a bore until the offer is ~$100,000+. Opening the cases isn't much of a surprise considering that there's basically only 2 different things in them (big amounts and small amounts).

[mmb5]

[quote name=\'Neumms\' date=\'Dec 21 2005, 10:58 AM\']I'm not wild about the general knowledge questions either. But it does seem like the contestants should come from somewhere--even on "Treasure Hunt," they had qualification rounds...

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[/quote]
So do you prefer the flowers or the jack-in-the-box?


--Mike

[DrJWJustice]

[quote name=\'davidbod\' date=\'Dec 21 2005, 10:13 AM\']The whole point of Deal or No Deal is the purity of the game. Your background, education, intelligence etc. have little or bearing on how well you can do. Different skills are being tested here. Yes, there is a much larger luck factor involved here than most shows, but equally you could say the same about some of the world's most popular games such as Snakes and Ladders.

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[/quote]

Let me chime in here with this -- all DoND amounts to is a much higher stakes version of Treasure Hunt.  You picked a prize package not knowing what was inside.  Geoff Edwards offered you an envelope with a cash amount you could take instead of the box.   This show just keeps that pattern going and adds an increased element of risk, huge wins, and even more crushing defeats.  

Just look at the contestant reactions and tell me there's not some kind of brain power at work there.

[Brig Bother]

[quote name=\'DrJWJustice\' date=\'Dec 22 2005, 06:55 PM\']Let me chime in here with this -- all DoND amounts to is a much higher stakes version of Treasure Hunt.  You picked a prize package not knowing what was inside.  Geoff Edwards offered you an envelope with a cash amount you could take instead of the box.   [/quote]

Excellent! Treasure Hunt, a cheap knock off of Take Your Pick, then.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'DrJWJustice\' date=\'Dec 22 2005, 02:55 PM\']Just look at the contestant reactions and tell me there's not some kind of brain power at work there.[/quote]
Well, there's some kind of brain power at work there, only to the degree that a vegetable would be unable to play the game.  My impression is that they choose contestants who have a hard time deciding what they want to eat off the McDonald's menu for lunch, and that's how they get those agonized reactions.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Dec 22 2005, 11:54 AM\']My impression is that they choose contestants who have a hard time deciding what they want to eat off the McDonald's menu for lunch, and that's how they get those agonized reactions.

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[/quote]
"Nuggets! No! Ummm.........a Big Mac! Wait! No! Maybe I'll just have a salad......yeah! No! Wait! Why did you have to get rid of the McRib, anyhow? Hmmm...Definitely in the mood for chicken. Okay. One of those grilled chicken sammiches.

"Do I want bacon on it? Hmmmmm........"

[DrJWJustice]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Dec 22 2005, 02:54 PM\']Well, there's some kind of brain power at work there, only to the degree that a vegetable would be unable to play the game.  My impression is that they choose contestants who have a hard time deciding what they want to eat off the McDonald's menu for lunch, and that's how they get those agonized reactions.

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[/quote]

Easy for you say when you're not playing for your own money.  

I didn't say that we had to have the brain power of the Constitutional Convention in the studio, but there is some thought that has to be present -- figuring the odds of certain outcomes, weighing in the bank's bribe, among other things.  

On the other hand, though, the suggestion has been made that contestants have been chosen in a casting-style manner.  You could well be right about who has been chosen to play.

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'Brig Bother\' date=\'Dec 22 2005, 01:53 PM\'][quote name=\'DrJWJustice\' date=\'Dec 22 2005, 06:55 PM\']Let me chime in here with this -- all DoND amounts to is a much higher stakes version of Treasure Hunt.  You picked a prize package not knowing what was inside.  Geoff Edwards offered you an envelope with a cash amount you could take instead of the box.   [/quote]

Excellent! Treasure Hunt, a cheap knock off of Take Your Pick, then.

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[/quote]

I'm guessing independent minds, since the two shows started at about the same time.

Some other differences:  The original "Treasure Hunt"'s only elimination process was the quiz, not the whole "Yes/No Interlude" charade.  And in the 70s version, the prizes were of much greater allure than Michael Miles' cheese graters--one luxury car after another, trips, mink coats and the $25,000 star prize.  And in the whole process of revealing what the contestant won, Chuck Barris also came up with a form of humiliation that made the Yes/No Interlude look like child's play.

So from the view of you guys, perhaps "DOND" is just "Take Your Pick" on a grander scale and with synth chords instead of Harold Smart at the organ.  To us, it's "Treasure Hunt" without Geoff Edwards and the silly sketches.

[DrJWJustice]

[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Dec 22 2005, 04:03 PM\']Some other differences:  The original "Treasure Hunt"'s only elimination process was the quiz, not the whole "Yes/No Interlude" charade.  And in the 70s version, the prizes were of much greater allure than Michael Miles' cheese graters--one luxury car after another, trips, mink coats and the $25,000 star prize.  And in the whole process of revealing what the contestant won, Chuck Barris also came up with a form of humiliation that made the Yes/No Interlude look like child's play.

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[/quote]
(snip)

Um, did they use the jack-in-the-box method to narrow down the players to the one who would actually go on the treasure hunt on both versions?  I don't remember any trivia questions being asked.

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'DrJWJustice\' date=\'Dec 22 2005, 03:31 PM\'][quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Dec 22 2005, 04:03 PM\']Some other differences:  The original "Treasure Hunt"'s only elimination process was the quiz, not the whole "Yes/No Interlude" charade.  And in the 70s version, the prizes were of much greater allure than Michael Miles' cheese graters--one luxury car after another, trips, mink coats and the $25,000 star prize.  And in the whole process of revealing what the contestant won, Chuck Barris also came up with a form of humiliation that made the Yes/No Interlude look like child's play.

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[/quote]
(snip)

Um, did they use the jack-in-the-box method to narrow down the players to the one who would actually go on the treasure hunt on both versions?  I don't remember any trivia questions being asked.

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[/quote]

In the Jan Murray days, I believe that two players played a quiz.  The high score got to choose the treasure chest.  (This is strictly from reading about it, since I was an infant when that version was on.)  Maxene Fabe's book said that a quiz segment was in the pilot for the Barris version, but got dropped before it went to series.

[DrJWJustice]

[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Dec 22 2005, 04:34 PM\']In the Jan Murray days, I believe that two players played a quiz.  The high score got to choose the treasure chest.  (This is strictly from reading about it, since I was an infant when that version was on.)  Maxene Fabe's book said that a quiz segment was in the pilot for the Barris version, but got dropped before it went to series.

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[/quote]
I never saw that version.  I was thinking Geoff Edwards' two versions, both of which I have seen.