'DEAL, OR NO DEAL?' Great show, anyone watching? (1 Viewer)

[Inspector Hammer!]

I watched last nights and tonights and had a lot of fun, hopefully it will return at some point after it's run this week.

I know that in a world of reality shows, comedies about karma and gritty street dramas, there maybe isn't room for a new traditional game show, but this one is great fun and fairly suspensful to watch.

 

[Linda Thompson]

I haven't seen the show, John, but here's a nice little Zap2it article about it which you might enjoy:

http://tinyurl.com/97re4

BTW...I had no idea that Howie has OCD issues. Not to trivialize the condition, but I must admit that my first thought upon reading that was how great he could be as a guest on Monk.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Thanks, Linda!

IMO he wasn't exaggerating, the show is pretty exciting to watch and his comparing it to how people react in a casino are spot on.

As for Howie's OCD, he's been dealing with it for a long time, even when he did his talk show he would tell the audience of how he "had" to live in the guest house for a few days because his wife had a cold and he wanted no contact until she was better.

Tough disorder. And yes, an appearance on Monk would be great I think.

 

[Chris_Morris]

We love this show. If they don't burn it out like WWTBAM, I wouldn't mind seeing it once or twice a week.

 

[David Williams]

It's like televised crack... I'm at home for the holidays and my family can't get enough and the ratings have been red hot so you know NBC will be bringing it back some time after the holidays. Hopefully NBC has learned from ABC's mistakes and they won't run it into the ground.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I'm also home for the holidays, and I caught my mother screaming at the television to this show. "No you idiot, take it!"

 

[Jon Martin]

It is a fun show.

However, is anyone else a little skeptical on the contestants? Seem a little bit too actory and scripted to be believed.

I mean, one guy bring his bartender? And all the family comments feel rehearsed.

Plus, some of Howie's overdubs are terrible. Just like THE APPRENTICE, they record some of his voiceovers in a soundbooth, then edit it in without even making it try to sound like he is in the same room. Really poorly done and distracting.

 

[Malcolm R]

Have they? It must have picked up as I'd read that the Monday numbers were only marginally better than the usual programming (actually deemed somewhat disappointing considering the "event" hyped status of the program).

I watched a little, but don't really see the point. Isn't it just all based on luck/chance? There's not really any skill or knowledge involved (unless I missed part of the game).

 

[Mitch G]

This show is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine.
It's completely mindless, but for some reason fun to watch. Furthermore, you can easily watch it without sound - which lets you listen to some music or NPR or something to at least excite a few brain cells during the course of the hour.


Mitch

 

[Diallo B]

i feel the same way. there really is not point to the show. it is like watching someone play slots.

but my girlfriend loves it. (figures....) so i watch it with her and enjoy her excitement. she really gets riled up over it. :rolleyes

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Well, there's always the ultra hot honey's who open the cases.

One thing i'd like to know is, what is the identity of the mysterious banker? Seeing just his silouette behind the glass, he reminds me a little of Doctor Claw from 'Inspector Gadget'.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

What's the concept? Just choose door A or B?

Now, the 3-door game from Let's Make A Deal is an interesting probability problem. If you select door A, then are shown that door B doesn't hide the prize, then you should ALWAYS choose door C!

 

[David Williams]

Yes, indeed they have. I don't know who was saying that, but NBC had the best ratings in the Monday timeslot in over a year, with almost 12 million viewers (quite a bit of them in the coveted 18-49 age range). In fact, Zap2it did a special article just about the show's ratings.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Why? Your previous probability was 33%, and now it's 50%. There is no benefit to changing. Of course, there's no benefit to not changing, either.

I imagine, from what I've read, that if you know the values of what's in the suitcases in Deal or No Deal and can do the math in your head, you can figure out when the value being offered by the banker is greater than the likely value of what's in the case (I haven't read the show). But that's a lot of math to do in a short amount of time and an environment specifically designed to be tense.

 

[Joe:C]

Yeah, I noticed this too. His voice sounds completely different.


It's been a pretty fun show to watch, but I feel like it's something that could get boring if shown too much.

 

[Hanson]

Oddly enough, that is not correct. The previous poster was correct -- you should go for the new deal. The odds are 66.7% for switching and 33.3% for not switching.

Bascially, you probably picked the wrong door, since one has a prize and the other two do not. This means the prize is probably one of the remaining 2 doors. When they tell you which door does not have the prize, the last door has a 2 in 3 chance of being the big prize. So you should switch.

Here's an illustrative explaination:

Let's Make a Deal paradox

I checked out DOND the show due to the enthusiastic responses in this thread, and my wife and I loved it. It is definitely a guilty pleasure, but I suspect the public will figure out the best gaming strategy and then the games will become quite predictable (well, the game strategy at least). It still has the too talky nature of Millionaire that made it unwatchable for me, but hey -- that's why they made Tivo's.

 

[BrianWoerndle]

That is incorrect.

You have to look at it this way:
Your original pick had a 66% chance of being one of the wrong doors. Monty showed you the other wrong door, leaving a 66% chance that when you switch you will win.

Or try this:

The prize is in door C

Opt1: You pick A. He has to show you B. You switch to C and WIN
Opt2: You pick B. He has to show you A. You switch to C and WIN
Opt2: You pick C. He shows your A (or B). You switch and LOSE

The key is that the game is rigged (in your favor). Monty shows you a wrong door, not just any door.

 

[Randy Tennison]

I enjoyed it quite a bit last night. Well played by the young lady. I'm glad she took the money.

It is a show that makes you think statistics.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

It took me a bit of thought to originally wrap my head around the problem as well.

Another way to look at it is this -- imagine that there are 100 doors. You pick one of them. Howie (or Monty) shows you 98 empty rooms. Do you switch to the last door?

 

[Hanson]

Thank you Aaron, that's a perfect application/illustration of the logic. I'll trot that one out the next time I explain the "paradox".