I watched some of this today and kinda enjoyed it. It was funny seeing Trump on the show. Is he there every week, or was today just special because The Apprentice was premiering next?

Yep. At least according to IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1560216/

Lists both DOND and Get Out.

Oh, and for Scott27, the Australian version is equally as dumb. The questions are there initially, but that's just to choose which out of the 26 contestants gets to play. The other 25 contestants in that block then take the briefcases from the girls in wigs and then "play along" with the main contestant.

For instance, if the main guy picks case #20, the other 25 cases get taken by the other 25 people in the block that was selected. They then have to guess what the amount is in the cases as the main guy chooses them.

If the main guy picks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 in his initial 6 cases, the guy holding case number 1 (first pick) gets to say "I think this has $50,000 in it". If he's right, then he wins $1000 (for his 1/26 chance of getting it right).

Being the last case chosen is pretty good (from the losing contestants point of view as they get down to a 50/50 chance of winning $1000).

The only other twist with the Australian one is that at the end of the show - once the guy makes his deal (or picks the case) - he gets to play for double or nothing. If, for example, he wins $35,000, he can then choose to risk all, part, or none of that amount for an effective coin toss.

It's better than the American version seems to be, but it's still pretty mind numbing stuff.

I thought NBC was being shameless for this publicity stunt... I do have to admit I am addicted to this game show.

Does Howie shave his head on purpose or is he losing his hair?

Maybe I was hypnotized by the advertising in the Olympics, but I watched this show for the first time yesterday. I'm a sucker for game shows, but man, this was awful. It's like "Let's Make a Deal", with a big downgrade in host, much slower pace, and devoid of all color and humor. What's the point in the "banker phone calls? Can't the host just make the offers (like Chuck Woolrey in Greed) to speed this up? They could even have his do Wooley's thing of actually waving the money in the people's faces (and letting them hold it) for added temptation and drama. There is some anticipation about how germaphobe Mandel will react if a contestant gets over excited and gives him a big hug and kiss -- but sadly, they'd probably just edit it out.

I watched part of this show once. Its terrible. Why are people spending so much time watching this?
If this does good they are going to start scheduling game shows all week like they did a few years ago. I was hoping that trend was over.

I also caught it last night for the first time. It was kinda fun at first but by the time the first contestant was done and they brought in #2 I was already bored with the premise. It needs to move faster.

did the first contestant take the $359,000 offer? or did he go on? I had to leave during the last few minutes and my DVR was full. i came back and the 2nd contestant was just starting.
if he DID take the offer, did they show how much his case was worth? this was my first time watching.

Yeah, the guy took the $359,000 offer.

So, did anyone else catch tonight's show?

The first contestant got down to the very end with three total cases left (two on stage, and the one she had picked). She had previously turned down a deal for around $175,000, and then opened a case with $750,000 insisde. The remaining amounts were $1, $5, and $300,000. She turned down that deal, which was around $20,000 or $30,000, and then proceeded to open up the $300,000 case.

The banker offered her $2 () which she turned down, and then she opened her case, which contained $5.

Tonight's show! Wow. The first time a person got totally screwed.

She was too greedy at the end. Didn't she turned down $80K offer when there is only $1, $5, and $300K left?

Yeah, I think her greedy family was a major factor in that. A few times it looked like she wanted to quit but they wouldn't let her.

Some of these people are so stupid, it's sad. I read an interview with Mandell somewhere and he was saying how he gets really annoyed when people don't take a couple hundred thousand when it's offered and the odds are against them. This show is just another glaring example of how idiotic Americans are when it comes to making simple money decisions.

Screwed herself, more like it. I can't fathom how someone who isn't wealthy would turn down $172,000 when there are only 4 cases left and a 50/50 chance of losing it all. Of course, watching their reactions, it's likely they would have blown it all on stupid shit anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter.

das

That 'choir' or whatever the group from her church didn't help matters either. They all kept going singing No Deal. What the hell did they care, it's not their money to lose.

Well, 10% of it would've went towards more choir books and robes.

man, only reason to watch it is for the models.

They have several new ones too, some with Bios, pics, and video on the web site.

So far I am enjoying the game but I can see this getting old after awhile.

Gotta love Howie and the hot chicks though!

Ouch! I've never seen a bigger letdown on a game show than that preacher woman last night. You think God was trying to tell her something?

That was the first episode of the game show I've seen and I was getting bored very quickly until they brought the Donald out. I got a pretty big kick out of that, but then my enthusiasm disappeared again as the next contestant showed up. It seems like the interest in the show is hinged upon how quirky the contestants are. I kept smiling every time that SWAT guy's voiced raised a couple of octaves as he went, "NO DEAL!"

I have been DVRing this all week. We go through an episode in about 15 minutes. I don't think we miss much. Plus, since the consistent low-ball offers for the first half of the contestant's stint make it very predictable, it forestalls the boredom.

Just based on probabilities and expected returns, the odds seem to never be against the contestant. Based on the expected return alone, it's just about always better to say no deal. Of course, when the offers get up to 6-figures even if the expected return of going on is better than the offer, I'd still be taking the deal since I'm a fairly risk averse person. It's a fun show, I loved seeing the lady get so excited that her case had $5 and not the $1. Haha

Anybody watching tonight?

A 28 year old woman, with 7 kids.

28 years old, 7 kids. She wants to buy a van than can fit all her kids...I'd look for one that can fit snugly in her garage...since that would be a pretty good indication...

Also, for WWE fans out there, 2005 RAW Diva Search runner up Leyla (The gal who popped out during one of the competitions last year) is the #13 Briefcase holder, and in this last game she was holding the $2.5 million case. And the gal with 7 kids was doing so well up to that point.

Yeah, good luck to her. A van that can fit seven kids is called a BUS . Buses don't fit in garages.