Deal or No Deal

Deal or No Deal was a game show with a unique format. No knowledge or reflexes needed, just pure luck and good decision-making skills based on a Dutch format called Miljoenenjacht (Hunt for Millions).

The Models (NBC primetime version only)
Megan Abrigo
 * Addition Note: Some of the models from the show have been former models from The Price is Right.

A.J. Almasi

Angel Archer

Kendhal Beal

Aliké Boggan

Kelly Brannigan

Kristen Brockman

Krisi Ballentine

Enya Flack

Jamie Everett

Nicole Gray

Jacquelynn King

Heather Lacombe

Ingrid Raines

Tamara Witmer

Sara Bronson

Krissy Carlson

Katie Cleary

Lindsay Clubine

Lanisha Cole

Kim Estrada

Donna Feldman

Alison Fiori

Stacey Gardner

Lisa Gleave

Lianna Grethel

Kasie Head

Tameka Jacobs

Claudia Jordan

Patricia Kara

Joni Kempner

Bonnie-Jill Laflin

Lisa Lakatos

Pilar Lastra

Aubrie Lemon

Brooke Long

Jasmine Dustin

Jenilee Reyes

Jill Manas

Meghan Markle

Kristal Marshall

Keltie Martin

Ursula Mayes

Leyla Milani

Crystal Monte

Anya Monzikova

Jenelle Moreno

Hayley Marie Norman

Dawn Olivieri

Amie Peterson

Marisa Petroro

Lindsay Schoneweis

April Scott

Laura Shields

Lauren Shiohama

Amanza Smith

Nancy Stelmaszczyk

Yoi Tanabe

Mylinda Tov

Sonia Vera

Nighttime
26 cases held by 26 gorgeous models are presented with money amounts ranging from 1 cent to $1,000,000. The player is instructed to pick one of the cases for them to keep and has to eliminate the others.

Each round progressively removes fewer cases from the game; in the first round the contestant selected six cases to be removed, the second round with five, diminishing subsequently by one until the final rounds requiring the removal of one case at a time.

After eliminating a certain number of cases and models, the mysterious "Banker" calls offering a money amount based on which amounts are still on the board. Howie opens a clear Plexiglas flip-top box on the contestant's podium exposing a large flashing-red electronic button; if the player accepts the deal, he/she presses the button to end the game and win the amount of the deal, otherwise, the player declares "No deal!" The player closes the flip-top box, requiring the player to continue into the next round of the game.

If the player takes a "Deal", they go ahead and play out the remainder of their game just for fun to see what would've happened had they said "No Deal" and played on for real.

When two cases are left, the player has the choice of switching their case for the one remaining on the stage.

Daytime
The game is the same except that the number of cases (and the people who hold them) was reduced to 22 with money amounts ranging from 1 cent to $500,000, plus instead of models, contestants whom are playing for the entire week (minus the ones whom have already played and replaced with new ones) now hold the cases. The cases they hold were randomly selected at the start of the week before the show. While the contestants from the nighttime shows were chosen from the studio audience, the daytime contestants were now chosen via the "Deal Wheel" spun by models Patricia Kara and Tameka Jacobs.

In the development stages, the top prize was originally going to be $250,000.

The first round begins with five cases to be removed, the second round with five more, then four, two, two, and subsequently down to removing one case at a time.

The option of switching their case for another was now given at the start of the game instead of the end.

Special Variations
During both runs, special side games, themes, or other elements were put into play. Most involved prize packages with the offers, offering prizes for removing certain cases, or regular cash prizes replaced with vehicles. Some even remove values and replace them with joke prizes; occasionally the banker will offer joke deals. In addition, for the 2007 Christmas show, the $25 was removed from the board, thus the player only had to pick five cases for the first round.

NBC Primetime Version
Progressive Prize: Utilized during the first five episodes of the first season (not counting the five episode "Premiere Week"), the top prize increased by $500,000 per game, from $1M to $3M. This was also used during the first three and a half episodes of the second season, this time increasing by $1M up to $6M. In addition, the other large amounts were increased as well.

Double or Nothing: On two occasions in Season 2, once a deal was made, the player was presented with two large cases. In one was the word "DOUBLE", the other "NOTHING". The player could risk their winnings by picking the case with the word "DOUBLE".

Deal Wheel: On three occasions in Season 3, the player faced a combination pachinko machine and giant wheel. The player was given a ball, spun the wheel, ran up the steps on the side of the wheel, and dropped it through a slot, bouncing through pegs until it landed in a slot on the wheel, doubling, tripling, or halving their deal. Should the deal include a prize, doubling or tripling the deal would award an additional cash prize worth the value of the prize package, doubling it if possible.

Million Dollar Mission: The primary gimmick of Seasons 3 & 4, one $1M case would be added to the board per game, up to a maximum of 13 (half the board). This produced the show's two $1M winners. A variation was used, where the player stood in a booth. Gold balls would fly around, and the player would grab one to establish the number of $1M cases.

Winner Take All: Two or three players would play, the others placed backstage so they couldn't see the other's progress. The one with the highest total won the combined total of all three players. A variation was once used where a wife played the regular game, while the husband played the online game backstage. The wife had to choose which deal to take.

Speed Deal: Played on the show's 200th Episode, four players competed. The cases would be announced all at once, and the player had :20 to decide once the offer was shown.

Syndicated Version
The primary gimmick was on occasion, one case would be decorated by one of the show's sponsors. Whoever in the gallery had the case would win a prize, usually worth the value of the case, unless a deal was made and the player had that case.

Evian Spring Water: $1,000 and a year's supply of Evian water.

Visine-A Eye Drops: $7,500 an outdoor package (e.g. season baseball tickets to favorite team).

Listerine Mouthwash: A vacation.

Sears Department Store: A $10,000 Sears gift card.

Hewlett-Packard: HP equipment valued at $10,000.

Splenda Sweetner: When the Splenda case is opened, the next offer after that would be "sweetened" by $10,000, thus automatically giving the contestant that money plus the offer if all cases $25,000 or higher have been removed from play. If the player went home with the Splenda case, they would win $20,000; the only way that the contestant would receive neither situation is if the Splenda was the last case in the gallery.

Deal or No Deal...on a cruise ship?
In 2012, Norwegian Cruise Lines teamed up with TimePlay to introduced a live interactive version of DOND to its fleet of Freestyle Cruising ships. the on-board rendition uses content from the show allowing everyone in the audience to participate in real time to beat the banker and win prizes, playing along with the randomly selected contestant who has the chance to win cash. guests participate as a randomly selected contestant or play along as an audience member for $19.95 per person. audience prizes may range from a seven-day cruise to cash and on-board prizes. guests should consult the ship's Freestyle Daily once on board for exact times and locations. (NOTE: the live interactive version of DOND is currently offered twice per cruise on all Norweigan Ships, except for Pride of America. also, unlike the NBC and Syndicated version's number of cases of 26 and 22 with a chance to win $1,000,000 (NBC) and $500,000 (SYN.) respectively, the live interactive cruise version only has 20 cases with the chance at a $1,000 top prize to win.)

Music
The Groove Addicts

Inventor
Based on the Dutch show Miljoenenjacht by Richard Del Rijk (Miljoenenjacht loosely translates to Hunt for Millions.)

Trivia
A Spanish language variant of this show entitled Vas o No Vas was made, it lasted only a year.

This is the second American game show to be recorded in studios in other countries for special occasions. It got recorded and shown in the Philippines, Estonia and South Africa on their respective sets as part of a special "Around the World" themed batch of shows.

The U.S. edition of the hour-long series of the show aired almost 200 episodes for 4 years.

On the syndicated edition of the show, there were over 300 episodes that aired for about 2 years.

International versions
The following are a list of countries that did their versions of DOND:

Afghanistan

Albania

Arab Maghreb

Arab World

Argentina

Armenia

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Belgium

Belize

Brazil

Bulgaria

Cambodia

Canada (both in English and French languages)

Chile

China

Colombia

Costa Rica

Croatia

Czech Republic

Denmark

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Estonia

Finland

France

Georgia

Germany

Greece

Hong Kong

Hungary

India

Indonesia

Iran

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Lebanon

Lithuania

Macedonia

Malaysia

Malta

Mexico

Moldova

Netherlands (country that originated the program) It was named Miljoenenjacht.

New Zealand

Nigeria

Norway

Panama

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Russia

Serbia

Singapore

Slovakia

Slovenia

South Africa

South Korea

Spain

Sri Lanka

Sweden

Switzerland

Taiwan

Thailand

Tunisia

Turkey

Ukraine

United Kingdom

Vietnam

In Popular Culture

 * Deal or No Deal was parodied on Sesame Street as "Meal or No Meal" hosted by "Howie Eatswell", a parody portrayal of Howie Mandel. Instead of cash inside the cases, food is inside to make a meal.
 * Deal was also parodied on MAD TV a couple of times.
 * DOND was parodied in the 2008 Flop "Meet The Spartans".
 * In the hour-long 2007 episode of Family Guy called "Blue Harvest" DOND was parodied where Vadar (played by Stewie Griffin) board's Leia's ship looking for the plans, while Leia (played by Lois Griffin) has hidden it in one of the 26 briefcases. in the end Vadar/Stewie wins very little money but nevertheless is just happy to be on TV.

Catchphrases
"Ladies...Please!" - Howie Mandel 2005-2010

"Howie M: Hello Ladies!, Models: Hi Howie!" - Howie/Models 2005-2010

"[insert name], Open the case!" - Howie Mandel 2005-2010

"Deal...or No Deal?" - Howie Mandel 2005-2010

Additional Page
Deal or No Deal/Merchandise

Other Version
Vas o No Vas

Links
Official Site

Official Site (NBC)

Deal or No Deal Club play-along site

My Deal Mania

Rules for Deal or No Deal

Josh Rebich's Deal or No Deal Rule Sheet

YouTube Videos
1st $1,000,000 Winner

2nd and final $1,000,000 Winner