Aussie 'Deal' is Worth More than a Million Bucks

We gushed a lot in our episode playing the app-enabled home version of the reboot of Australian Deal or No Deal — but unfortunately, most of our praise had to be cut out from the overview package we made due to Fremantle's copyright claim/YouTube's auto-flagging process.

So, we'll just turn to the blog to go over why we think the new version of Aussie Deal is the superior take on the "pick a number, any number" game.

It Starts with Grant Denyer

Most of the praise is due to the reboot's host, Grant Denyer. He's been a mainstay in Australian game shows for ages, hosting their version of Family Feud, Dancing with the Stars, and many others. He later became a contestant on — and won — DWTS and even competed on Aussie versions of Amazing Race and I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!

Denyer has an energy, an enthusiasm for the game and its players — he relates to everybody who comes center stage to play Deal or No Deal, and he doesn't mind poking fun at himself and his diminutive stature or anything else that happens to crop up in conversation.

The Format Gets It Right

The format has also been tweaked to fit in a daily 30-minute strip. Players pick from 22 cases ranging from a penny to $100,000. It's not the million dollar jackpot Americans are used to, but it fits the show perfectly and it's been hit a few times over the reboot's two and a half years on the air. The half-hour pace really helps the game fly quickly. You can blink, and we're hitting the endgame with just a few cases left to get through.

Compare that to our hour-long Deal or No Deal stateside, with five or six commercial breaks and frequent gimmicks to pad the time out. My opinion is, if the game can't stand on its own merits without having to throw so much padding on it, it's not worth watching.

How NBC Got It Wrong

I also think NBC made the mistake they've often made with primetime games and burned the audience out on it. The show was off after two seasons, and most of that was due to having it on two, three times a week instead of making it appointment television. Then, when the show was sold into syndication — ironically taking on the 22-case format and lower jackpot — no one cared anymore.

After giving the show a rest, a reboot did eventually come… but on CNBC. Again, no one really cared anymore, and for those who might have, why would they want to go to CNBC for it? Meanwhile, the network decided to jury-rig Survivor into the game and it became Deal or No Deal Island. Ugh. That's a whole other can of worms — why restrict the "life changing money game" further by casting celebrities and reality personalities over the course of an entire season? That's part of why I never really bothered with the new format, and was more interested in the Aussie reboot of the classic game.

What I'm Hoping For

My ultimate hope is that someone Stateside takes an interest in bringing Deal or No Deal back to basics, and can maybe persuade Grant Denyer to bring his talents and charisma to a new, untapped audience.

Then me and Tyler can apply to be on the game we love with a host we love even more.