Deal Or No Deal (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Deal or No Deal (commonly abbreviated as DoND) is the American version of the international game show Deal or No Deal. The show is hosted by Canadian actor-comedian Howie Mandel, and premiered on December 19, 2005 on NBC. The hour-long show typically airs at least twice a week during its run, and includes special longer or theme episodes, and is currently in its third season.

The game is primarily unchanged from the international format, and is based on a contestant selecting one briefcase out of 26, each containing a cash value from $0.01 to $1,000,000. Over the course of the game, the contestant eliminates the other cases in the game, periodically being presented with a "deal" from The Banker to take a cash amount to quit the game. Should the contestant refuse every deal, they win the value of the case selected at the start. Special variations of the game, including a "Million Dollar Mission" introduced in the third season, have also been used, as well as a tie-in with a viewer "Lucky Case Game".

The show has been a success for NBC, typically averaging from 10 to 16 million viewers each episode, and has lead to the creation of tie-in board, card, and video games, as well as plans for a syndicated series, played for smaller dollar amounts.

Format

Deal or No Deal is played by one contestant at a time. Prior to each game, 26 dollar amounts ranging from $0.01 to $1,000,000 are distributed by a third-party among 26 briefcases, the values unknown by the host or the Banker. The cases are presented to the contestant by the Deal or No Deal models. The contestant selects one case which is then placed on a podium.

Through a series of rounds, the contestant is asked to select a number of the other cases still in play; each case is opened and the value revealed before it is taken out of play, and a large electronic board is used to track which dollar amounts still remain in the game. After completing the selection of cases for that round, the Banker, a figure lit only from behind in a skybox overlooking the stage, will call down to the host using a phone on the podium. The host will then tell the player of the Banker's "deal": a cash value that is typically around the average of the values of the cases remaining in play, in exchange for leaving the game. The host opens a plexiglass case on the podium containing a button; if the player accepts the deal, he or she hits the button to end the game, otherwise, he or she closes the case and declares "No Deal", requiring the player to continue into the next round.

Each round progressively removes fewer cases from the game; the first round begins with six cases to be removed, the second round with five, and subsequently until the final rounds requiring removing one case at a time. Should the player make it to the final round, with the selected case and one other case left in play, the player is given the opportunity to swap cases, value unseen, and they win whatever case they end up keeping at that point. If the player takes a deal prior to the final round, the host usually encourages the player to play through to the end to see what would have happened.

After the first or second round, family and friends of the contestant are usually introduced and are allowed to offer advice and encouragement to the contestant, including which case to pick next and whether to accept a deal or not. Often, special guest stars are present in the audience, typically related to the contestant's interests or background; for example Celine Dion appeared and supported a player who was a big fan, while another show featured Big Bird assisting a player who had a childhood fear of the character.

An hour-long show typically only features the play of one contestant, but for longer specials and other versions, contestants that do not finish their game continue into the next show. Several shows have been themed based on the contestant's background, a holiday, or other situation; for example, all the cases were replaced by trash cans when the contestant was a garbage man, and one episode was considered "Ladies' Night", as the regular models were replaced with male firefighters from the Los Angeles and San Diego Fire Departments. In some cases, the Banker will also offer an additional prize, including both valuable prizes such as vehicles or "dream packages" customized for the contestant as well as gag gifts such as a supply of cotton swabs or donuts, with the offer, and may require an additional stipulation for the deal; in one instance, an additional cash prize was attached to the deal if the contestant would cut off his beard (which he ultimately accepted).

Special Variations

The show has used several variations on the gameplay through the seasons.

There have been several variations in the distribution of cash values in the cases. During the first week of season two, the top value progressively increased from $1,000,000 to $6,000,000 for each game. Some games have doubled all the cash values in play. Another game featured the replacement of a cash value ($50,000) with a 2008 Ford F-250 Super Duty truck (even though other versions may have a car as a regular prize). Certain holiday-themes shows have replaced the lowest value cases with low-value gifts, which also occurred in an '80s-themed game.

The "Million Dollar Mission" was used twice the third season of the show. With each successive contestant failing to win the $1,000,000 prize, the highest non-$1,000,000 value is replaced with an additional $1,000,000 value, effectively making the chance of selecting the $1,000,000 higher. In the first Mission, seven "$1,000,000" cases were added to the board, while during the second Mission, as many as 13 such cases were added. No player successfully won this prize, though several had selected a $1,000,000 case but took a deal.

The show has used a "winner take all" tournament approach with two or more contestants. Each contestant plays a normal game, with the other contestants in a sound-isolation booth and unaware of the result. The player that ends their game with the most money won the sum of the money earned by all of the players.

For the May 2008 sweeps, the U.S. version of Deal will take a visit to three international versions whose sets all look exactly similar to that version-- South Africa, the Philippines, and Estonia. U.S. contestants will play the game according to their rules, plus Howie will be joined by their versions' hosts (Ed Jordan, Kris Aquino, and Alari Kivisaar, respectively). During the tour, Howie will show some landmarks and places commonly associated with that country that will be shown in commercial break bumpers. However, there is no word as to whether or not the U.S. version's board or the host country's board will be used. (BTW, locally, those versions can be seen on M-Net in South Africa, ABS-CBN in the Philippines, and TV3 in Estonia.)

Lucky Case Game

The "Lucky Case Game" is a tie-in for the viewing audience to attempt to win a smaller cash prize during the airing of the episode. The initial use of the game used a full 26-case game, but this was eventually reduced down to 6 cases, and fewer cases have been used at other times. The home viewer would select one of the shown cases and either text message or use the show's website to submit their entry during the show's airing; separate games were run for East/Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zone viewer. Those that selected the winning case were then entered into a random drawing, and the winner along with the winning case was announced at the end of the show. The minimum prize value for this game has been $10,000, but starting in the second season, some games featured increased prize amounts up to $100,000 (there was also a one-time $1,000,000 prize at the start of the third season).

The Lucky Case Game has since been suspended due to lawsuits in Georgia and California that assert that the game is a form of illegal gambling.

Merchandise

Other than novelty items like coffee mugs, key chains, or T-shirts, there are also different game variations of the show that makes Deal or No Deal fans keep on coming back for more.

Game Formats

When Deal or No Deal took America by storm in late 2005, many toy manufacturers and software developers capitalized on its success of by creating a wide variety of formats of the popular game show. This list of formats is as followed:

Format	Manufacturer / Developer	Additional Notes
Arcade Game	Innovative Concepts in Entertainment, Inc. (ICE)
Board Game	Pressman Toy Corporation
Card Game	Cardinal Industries, Inc.
DVD Game	Imagination Games
Game Boy Advance	DSI Games
Handheld Electronic Game	i-Toys
Nintendo DS	DSI Games
PC Game	Cat Daddy Games
PC Game	Cat Daddy Games	The second PC Game is entitled "Deal or No Deal - Secret Vault Games".
Plug & Play TV Game	Toymax
Tabletop Electronic Game	i-Toys
Talking Pass'n Play Game	i-Toys
Video Slot Machine	Atronic

Scratch-Off Lottery Tickets

At least twenty-nine states have or had some kind of Deal or No Deal scratch-off ticket (with the top prize determined by each lottery) to the grand prize winner. Non-winning tickets may be used to enter a sweepstakes for a variety of prizes, including a chance to be on the game show. These states include Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin

Scheduling and ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Deal or No Deal on NBC.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. All times mentioned are in the Eastern and Pacific time zones.

Season One (2005-2006)

TV Season	Timeslot	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
2005-2006	Monday 8:00 p.m.	#13	15.8
	Wednesday 8:00 p.m.	#21	14.4
	Friday 8:00 p.m.	#32	11.6

Early ratings for the show were extremely encouraging. According to Zap2it, "all five shows [during the week beginning 12/19/05 and ending 12/25/05 finished in the top 15 among total viewers, peaking with 14.1 million people watching the Wednesday, 12/21/05 installment. For the week, Deal or No Deal averaged about 12.7 million viewers and a solid 4.3 rating in the adults 18-49."

The show appeared again on NBC each night 2/27/06 through 3/3/06 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT with the top prize (and some of the higher-valued cases other than the top prize) escalating until the prize reached $3 million (and the lowest-valued case going up to $.03). As of 3/6/06, the show settled into regular time slots at 8:00 p.m. Mondays and Fridays, with the top prize returning to its original $1 million. Wednesday episodes were added at 8:00 p.m. due to the show's consistent ratings success. In something of a ratings coup, the 4/3/06 episode of the show, a two-hour special, out performed the NCAA basketball tournament final in a head-to-head competition. During both of the two-hour shows, the second hour scored even higher ratings than the first.

Since it became a regular series, Deal or No Deal consistently placed within the 20 most popular programs on television, at times attaining the top 10. The 6/5/06 two-hour season finale, which featured Celine Dion via satellite, marked a series-high rating for the program, bringing in over 18 million viewers and a strong 5.5 share in the 18-49 demographic. The episode was easily the highest-rated show on any network for the week of 6/5/06 through 6/11/06, outdistancing the number-two show, a repeat episode of CSI, by almost six million viewers. The finale experienced similar success in Canada, with 1.5 million viewers tuning in. (However, it should be noted that CSI and virtually all other fall TV series had completed their seasons two weeks earlier and were either in reruns or pre-empted by this point.)

Season Two (2006-2007)

TV Season	Timeslot	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
2006-2007	Monday 8:00 p.m.	#14	14.9
	Friday 8:00 p.m.	#33	11.4
	Wed/Thu/Sun 8:00 p.m.	#41	10.3

The show returned with new episodes in September 2006, airing on Mondays and Fridays at 8:00 and Thursdays at 9:00 "? the latter time slot being perhaps the most competitive in U.S. television, as Deal or No Deal faced a pair of big hit series in CBS's CSI and ABC Grey's Anatomy.

Deal 's Thursday time slot had initially been intended for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip when NBC announced its fall schedule. However, the need to protect the new series against stiff ratings competition caused repercussions throughout the network's primetime grid, including a move on May 25 of Deal from its announced Friday time slot to Thursdays. The drama Crossing Jordan, which had been planned for a mid-season run, was to be brought into the Friday lineup in what would have been Deal 's second weekly time slot. However, after Deal or No Deal completed airing special episodes in that time slot to success, NBC moved Crossing Jordan back to midseason and used Deal on Fridays as well to help launch a sister series, 1 vs. 100.

The show premiered with a two-hour edition on 9/18/06, and one-hour episodes that each aired on 9/19/06, 9/21/06 and 9/22/06. The show used a $21 million prize pot over the first week to kick off Season Two of the game, coupled with the at-home Lucky Case Game for $1 million. During the season premiere week in 2006, the main game had maximum amounts start at $1 million, and increased $1 million for each game, up to $6 million.

According to final Nielsen ratings for the week of 9/18/06 to 9/24/06, the second-season premiere episode of Deal or No Deal on Monday, 9/18/06 with Matty Sollena was the 11th most-watched network prime time show in total audience and NBC's most-watched program in total audience. The Friday episode of the show also did well in the ratings and won its time slot against the other networks. The Tuesday and Thursday episodes suffered from tough competition: Dancing with the Stars, Grey's Anatomy and CSI.

The success of Deal or No Deal was a factor in NBC's decision to program another Endemol game, 1 vs. 100, which premiered on 10/13/06 and assumed Deal's Friday night time slot on 10/27/06. Meanwhile, NBC announced the Thursday episodes would end with the 11/8/06 episode, to be replaced by sitcoms Scrubs and 30 Rock. Through all these changes, the Monday night edition of Deal continued to win its timeslot by a large margin. On Monday, 10/30/06, for instance, Deal won its time slot with a 10.3 household rating and 16 percent share, easily outdistancing second-place Prison Break at 5.6/8. Interestingly, during the November sweeps period, the ratings for Deal or No Deal on Thursday grew slightly despite heavy competition in the timeslot. NBC moved the second weekly episode of Deal or No Deal to Wednesday at 9 p.m. as of January 2007, and also added a few episodes at 7:00 p.m. Sundays in hopes of giving a boost to its new post-football lineup. NBC announced on 2/16/07 that the second airing would move from Wednesdays to Sundays at 9 p.m. (Eastern/Pacific) starting 3/4/07.

In March, the Monday Deal fell to second place in the time slot, behind the debuting fourth edition of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, the first edition of that show to include a Monday episode.

Season Three (2007-2008)

Following a season-premiere episode on Monday, Deal vacated its stable Monday night home in a last-second decision by NBC to give the timeslot to a drama series, Chuck, for which it had high hopes. (This move contradicted earlier statements from the network that it planned to exclusively use unscripted programming in the 8 PM hour.) Deal moved to a Wednesday/Friday schedule, pushing 1 vs. 100 to midseason. Both airings tended to win their timeslot in total viewers, with the Friday edition also winning in Adults 18-49 and the Wednesday edition placing second in that demographic behind ABC's Pushing Daisies. In another surprising move, NBC replaced the Wednesday airings for five weeks with a short-run reality series, Phenomenon, starting in late October. The new series' initial ratings were lower than what Deal was delivering.

Due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike, Deal's Friday edition moved back to Monday in January 2008, at least temporarily replacing Chuck. The Friday time slot was filled by the returning 1 vs.100 for seven episodes. 1 vs. 100 has taken another hiatus as of February 22, 2008, and has been replaced in the same time slot by the game show Amnesia, which premiered after 1 vs. 100 on February 22, 2008.

Cable

NBC's sister business network, CNBC, aired episodes of the premiere week of Deal or No Deal starting on 12/26/05, scoring above-average ratings for the network. The show has been blacked out in Canada on that station due to programming rights issues in that country, and Canadian viewers were shown CNBC World programming instead. The show began to rerun again on CNBC during the week of 2/6/06 until 6/9/06. CNBC also programmed the second week-long series of the show but the sequence started two shows behind the airings on NBC.

For Season Two, following a marathon of its premiere week, CNBC announced that Deal or No Deal re-airings would be back on Saturday nights starting 10/14/06, at 8 p.m., 11 p.m., and 3 a.m. ET. In addition, Deal reruns aired on CNBC every Tuesday and Wednesday at 8 p.m., 11 p.m., and 1 a.m. ET. Currently, the reruns air Tuesday and Thursday nights at 9:00 p.m. ET and Saturday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET and 11:00 p.m. ET. The reruns are not necessarily repeats of the most-recent episodes -- many of these episodes are selected at random, and may have been previously seen several months after its initial broadcast.

In Canada, TVtropolis also airs the series, starting with the February 2006 premiere week of episodes. The five-episode run of Canadian shows were also aired on TVtropolis in August 2007.

Production notes

The original pilot was produced for ABC in early 2004 with British TV personality Patrick Kielty as host and a $2.5 million top prize. It was announced that the show would premiere in March 2004, but ABC decided against airing the series.

Season One was taped at Sunset-Gower Studios in Los Angeles; however, early episodes were taped at CBS Television City in Hollywood. The show is currently being taped at The Culver Studios.

Future syndicated version

A future syndicated version is currently being planned. Originally, Howie planned not to host the syndicated version, as his asking price to host it, in addition to the primetime NBC version, was considered to be out of the producers' league. Arsenio Hall was first considered to be the host, and even taped a pilot for the syndicated version, but was later rejected. According to rumors, comedian Mark Curry and Street Smarts host Frank Nicotero were also among the candidates. NBC also had concerns that the show would burn out prematurely, just like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Ultimately, NBC pegged a fall 2008 debut for the syndicated Deal or No Deal, with Howie as host.

The syndicated version will only be a half-hour long each episode, with a top prize of $250,000. Also, the syndicated version will have fewer models and cases; a total of 3 models will appear on the syndicated version, with 22 cases being carried by audience members in exchange for the shot at becoming a contestant. This format would be similar to the UK version of the show.

Special versions derived from the US version

• NBC and Endemol had produced a Spanish-language version of Deal or No Deal, which debuted 10/8/06, on their Telemundo Spanish language channel. Titled Vas o No Vas (Go or No Go), it is hosted by Héctor Sandarti, who hosted the Mexican version of the same name for Televisa. The top prize is $250,000. The episodes that aired on 11/5/06 and 12/17/06, saw contestants win $180,500 and a Ford F-150 for a total of over $200,000, an all-time record for an American-based Spanish-language game show. However, it is apparent that this version is not as successful as the English version -- in May 2007, Telemundo announced its cancellation.

• After the conclusion of Super Bowl XLI on 2/4/07, Global in Canada debuted Deal or No Deal Canada, a special Canadian version of Deal or No Deal. This version of the show, taped 1/23/07 to 1/25/07 in Toronto, features Howie, a Toronto native, as host. The series ran for five hour-long episodes. Applications for auditioning were very similar to the NBC version, except that no videos are required.

• Also in Canada, TVA has produced a French-Canadian version of Deal or No Deal called Le Banquier, named after the mysterious figure that contestants must make deals with to obtain as much money as possible. The show, which is practically the same as the US version, has 26 cases with a $500,000 top prize. (There was one game with a $750,000 top prize) The only difference is that the models on the top row (cases 21 to 26) are men.

• All US and Canadian editions are produced by Endemol USA, with the US and Canadian English versions both using Scott St. John as Executive Producer and R. Brian DiPirro as Director.

Episodes

Season Three (2007-2008)

Date	Theme	Brief Description
1/23/08	Beauty Pageant	The models came out wearing beauty pageant sashes with their names and respective case numbers on them as a way to celebrate contestant Britney Lewzader, a former beauty pageant contestant.
1/21/08	Sanitation Appreciation	To make contestant John Buonviaggio, a retired sanitation worker, feel right in his element, the cases were replaced with conventional aluminum trash cans, with the dollars amounts placed underneath their respective lids. A memorable blooper occurred in this game when the lid of can #10 was lifted to reveal a missing dollar amount, which had fallen off the lid and into the can.
1/9/08	Hawaiian	To make contestant Brad Falcon, a native of Hawaii, feel right at home, the models wore traditional Hawaiian leis around their necks.
1/7/08	Motocross	Contestant Guy Goudeau is a big fan of Motocross racing. For his introduction, Guy came on stage riding his bike. Video clips of Guy racing were shown. And midway through the game, Motocross champion Bubba Stewart came on the show also on his bike to provide Guy with extra moral support.
1/6/08	Groovy 70's & Radical 80's	This was a two-part theme episode. The first part was dedicated to the 70's where the entire set was transformed to look like a disco club, the models were dressed in "groovy" disco suits, and Howie bared his chest. Contestant Nick Abdullah, who is a big disco fan himself, also dressed in his formal disco suit. The second part was dedicated to the 80's. Again, the set was transformed to look like a retro club, and the models were dressed in "totally cool" retro outfits. In addition, 80's superstars Deborah Gibson & Corey Feldman appeared as supporters for contestant Teresa Troglio, a self-proclaimed child of the 80's.
1/3/08	Pigs	Contestant Heather McKee, a pig farmer from Oklahoma, is all about pigs. She brought along her personal piggy bank with the anticipation of filling it with a million dollars. When the Banker asked to see her piggy bank, he cruelly smashed it to pieces. Feeling down about what just happened, the show wanted to cheer Heather up and make her feel as if she was back on the farm. So they empty out the audience sitting in one of the pit areas, and transformed it into a pig stable. In keeping with the theme, the models had their hair in pigtails. And as a joke, Howie also had some fake pigtails that he put on for a second before giving them to one of Heather's supporters. It should be noted that after her game, and on the official Deal or No Deal website, Heather's piggy bank, which was thought to be broken by the Banker, was not broken after all, and was returned to Heather at the very end.
12/25/07	Christmas	The set was filled with decorations associated with the holiday season. The models wore fashionable Christmas attire, and held Christmas wrapped cases. And Howie surprised the audience by giving out 12 gifts in his Twelve Days of Christmas' Gift Giving.
12/11/07	Broadway Musicals	This theme was part of a bigger theme on Deal or No Deal called What's the Deal? week. Contestant Mary Banford is a huge fan of Broadway Musicals. So to make her feel comfortable, the audience in both sides of the pit area was replaced by a Broadway orchestra which played short numbers depending on how her game progressed. Also the stage lights were fixed to give a dramatic Broadway feel to the game. It should be noted that Mary said "Deal" to the ultimate fan experience of her favorite musical Wicked.
12/10/07	Boxing	This theme was part of a bigger theme on Deal or No Deal called What's the Deal? week. Contestant Eric Serpico is a huge fan of boxing. So as a treat, famed boxing announcer Michael Buffer was introduced to get Eric's game off to a great start. Midway through the game, boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard appeared on the show to provide moral support for Eric.
12/7/07	Summer in December	The set was transformed to look like a beach. The models were clad in fashionable beachwear while Howie was in a black shirt and swim trunks.
11/21/07	Thanksgiving	The set was filled with decorations associated with Thanksgiving. In addition, a giant pumpkin pie was placed in the pit area where the audiences normally sit, right in-front of the large visual display board. And throughout the episode, Deal or No Deal presented its Top Ten Greatest Moments in show history.
11/9/07	Green Week and Boy Bands	The Green Week episode was part of NBC's week long Green is Universal campaign. The models wore green dresses made from recycled parachutes. Green information & tips were given out periodically throughout the show. Also the ultimate green celebrity, Kermit the Frog, appeared as one of contestant Danny Pecoraro's supporters. Danny, who used to be part of a boy band, had videos of his boy-band days exposed to by the Banker, with no success of bringing him down. Midway through the game, the Banker then assembled a boy band that he appropriately called The Banker Boyz to hopefully get Danny to accept one of his offers.
10/19/07	Breast Cancer Awareness	October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. To celebrate, the models wore pink dresses, and held pink cases. Howie did his part by slipping on a pair of pink socks. And breast cancer survivor Ashlee Mundy was the contestant on this special episode. Besides her supporters, joining Ashlee in her fight against breast cancer, and the quest for a million dollars were Sharon Osbourne, Alec Baldwin, and Elizabeth Edwards (the wife of 2008 Presidential candidate John Edwards).
9/28/07	Family Night	In the first part of the Family Night episode, contestant Charlene Miranda's son Ayden was introduced, and assisted Howie with hosting duties. In the second part, the Drew Family became the first family to play for a million dollars at the same time.
9/19/07	NFL	Contestant George Barnes is the ultimate NFL fan. So as a surprise, the entire Deal or No Deal set was decorated with logos and decals of NFL teams, while the models sported team jerseys. Besides his supporters, joining him in his quest for a million dollars were NFL greats Jerry Rice, Marcus Allen, Eric Dickerson, Kordell Stewart, Wayne Chrebet, Terrell Davis, Rod Woodson and Marshall Faulk.

Season Two (2006-2007)

Date	Theme	Brief Description
6/18/07	Laurel Martin	To tie a particular theme to contestant Laurel Martin was not possible. Therefore, the contestant herself was the theme in the Season-Two Finale of Deal or No Deal. Laurel Martin, a preschool teacher, has three important loves in her life. Number one is family. Number two is action movies. And number three is the color red. For the family part, Laurel brought every family member of hers to her game. In the middle of her game, personal family portraits were blown up and displayed all through the stage area. For the action movie part, actor Danny Glover made a personal guest appearance on the show since teachers are near-and-dear to Danny's heart. Finally for the color red, the remaining models changed into red dresses.
6/13/07	Miami Heat & Calypso	Two themes were incorporated for contestant Arthur Joseph, a proud native of Trinidad and Tobago who is a super fan of the Miami Heat basketball team. So to make him feel comfortable, the models came out sporting Heat jerseys. And in his introduction, a steelpan Calypso group led Arthur and his supporters out to the stage. The group would continue to play during commercial breaks and at the end when Arthur's game was finished. It should be noted that Arthur said "Deal" to the ultimate Miami Heat experience, which among its many perks included the Heat organization going to his native country of Trinidad and Tobago and refurbishing one basketball court with the Heat logo on it in his honor.
6/5/07	Deal or No Deal at Home	The first round of this particular game was played at the home of contestant Mary Mirolla before returning to the regular stage for the remainder of the game.
5/21/07	Heroes	This theme was part of a bigger theme that night on NBC as the hit drama itself, Heroes, followed Deal or No Deal that night as it has been every Monday night during the 06-07 season. In this episode, the contestant was Wesley Autrey, a real life hero from New York who saved a man from being run over by a subway train. Service officers who were awarded for their act bravery also took part in Wesley's game as supporters and briefcase holders along side the models.
5/7/07	The 100th Episode	The stage was set, and past contestants (including some of the biggest winners ever) came back for the 100th episode of Deal or No Deal. Jay Leno, Regis Philbin and Ozzy Osbourne made cameo appearances via satellite to congratulate Howie and the show. The lucky contestant for this special occasion was Brooks Leach, who became the first contestant to play the game twice, and was one of the most entertaining contestants in show history. Previously, Brooks appeared on the 11/27/06 episode going all the way in his game, but went home with only $10 despite being offered numerous six-figure amounts from the Banker. For the record, Brooks again went all the way in his second game, but has only $400 to show for his effort.
5/6/07	Mardi Gras	Contestant Julie Lonero is a native of New Orleans. So to make her feel right at home, the set was filled with decorations associated with the Mardi Gras. Among the decorations was a giant parade float of Howie's head which stood at the very top of the models' temple.
3/19/07	Ladies Night	For this episode, everybody in the audience was female. Even the models took the night off and sat with the audience, as firefighters from the Los Angeles and San Diego Fire Departments guest star as briefcase models in this special Ladies Night edition of Deal or No Deal.
3/12/07	High School Prom Night	Contestant Jessica Howard made it known on the show that she never went to her high school prom. So as a consolation, Deal or No Deal set up a prom-like atmosphere early on in the game, and rushed her backstage during commercial break to prep her for a night she will never forget. Her prom date for this special occasion was her husband.
3/12/07	Military Night	A festive military atmosphere was the theme for this game as members from each branch of the military came to Deal or No Deal to cheer on and salute contestant General Hugh Neisler.
3/5/07	Afros	To honor contestant Anteia Greer, who is "all about the fro," the models wore pink afro wigs to go with their pink dresses midway through the game. Hayley Marie Norman was the only model not wearing a wig for obvious reasons. (It should be noted that models on other international versions of the show do wear wigs regularly, such as Australia's version or the Netherlands' Miljoenenjacht.)
3/4/07	WWE	Contestant Rick Achberger is a huge fan of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He is best known in that community as the Sign Guy for his signature clothing attire (blue working man's shirt & red cap) and the numerous poster-board signs that he brings to every WWE event he attends. In typical Sign Guy fashion, Rick came on Deal or No Deal as if it was another WWE event wearing the same clothing and bringing numerous signs that he made personally for the show. And if that wasn't enough, wrestling superstars Randy Orton and Edge came on the show as the Banker's henchmen aiming to take down Rick, while John Cena and Bobby Lashley came on to support Rick in his quest for the million dollars.
2/21/07	Greek Celebration	Contestant Dimitra Apostolopoulos is a Greek woman who is proud of her heritage. So as a way of celebrating the Greeks, stacks of dishes were setup by the supporters' area. And every time Dimitra opened a small amount, in typical Greek fashion, she and her supporters broke dishes in celebration. OPA!!! Even Howie joined in on the fun on one occasion. It should be noted that Howie continuously had trouble saying Dimitra's last name. So as a way to compensate, he asked model Patricia Kara, who is also Greek, to stick around for the whole game to help him with the pronunciation.
2/12/07	America and "Go Red for Women" Movement	Two themes were incorporated in this episode. The first theme was for contestant Donato DeMarinis, an epitome of a true American, who came on the show wearing an American flag looking jacket and glittery red, white & blue shoes. To honor Donato, a large American flag was hung from the rafters above the models' temple. The second theme was the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women Movement, which was sponsor by the Campbell Soup Company and their Healthy Request Soups. Their goal was to fight heart disease among women. The models wore Campbell-Soup red dresses. And for one week after the episode aired, these dresses were auctioned off online, and all the proceeds went to American Heart Association for this particular cause.
1/31/07	Bass Fishing	One of contestant Will Edmond, Jr. favorite hobbies is bass fishing. The next time he appeared on Deal or No Deal, he brought along a fresh bass for Howie, which he hesitantly held, then brought it towards the models to show off before putting it on the floor where the models to were standing. One of the Banker's offers to Will was a bass boat and an all expense paid trip to fish with Bassmaster Legend Roland Martin.
1/24/07	Live Music	Contestant Jackie Monroe is a huge fan of live music. So as a surprise, part of the set was transformed to look like a live concert venue with musical instruments and everything. As an even bigger surprise, Jackie's favorite band, Hanson, came on the show to support her in her quest for a million dollars.
1/22/07	NASCAR	Contestant Charlyn Speth is a big fan of NASCAR. Therefore, the regular silver cases were replaced with checkered flag ones in her honor.
1/07/07	Grease	This episode was a precursor to NBC's newest reality TV competition Grease: You're the One that I Want!. Besides that, Grease was also contestant Kathy Beck's favorite movie, claiming to have seen it over 300 times. Throughout the game, the models wore two different outfits from the movie. First one was a poodle skirt, and the second was a tight black T-Bird outfit. Grease star Olivia Newton-John even made a call-in appearance to the show.
1/3/07	The Color Orange	Contestant Tommy Terpening is a huge fan of the color orange. Therefore the models wore orange dresses in his honor.
12/25/06	Christmas	The set was filled with decorations associated with the holiday season. The models wore red holiday dresses, and held Christmas wrapped cases. Even Santa stopped by to give gifts to members of the audience.
12/18/06	Chuck Taylor All-Stars Shoes	Contestant Brian Miller is a big fan of the Converse's Chuck Taylor All-Stars shoes, even got married in them. Therefore Howie and the models all wore the Chuck Taylor All-Stars in his honor.
11/23/06	Thanksgiving	The set was filled with decorations associated with Thanksgiving, and the models had on shimmering autumn-colored dresses.
11/20/06	Lime Green	Anything on Deal or No Deal that could turn lime green was turn into lime green. From the models' dresses, their cases, Howie's dress shirt, his shoes, the whole stage lights, the visual displays, and even the "Deal" button. They were done for contestant Zanny Henseler, the self-proclaimed "Lime-Green Queen." It should be noted that Zanny said "Deal" after the Banker offered her a 2007 lime green Cadillac Escalade, her dream car.
10/19/06	Animals	Contestant Jed Dodds, a zookeeper by trade, brought along some of his four-legged, feathery and furry friends to Deal or No Deal, much to the discomfort of Howie. In one of the Banker's offers, he got somebody who he said could "speak Jed's language," and hopefully convince him to take one of his deal. That somebody was a chimp all dressed up in a suit and tie.
10/13/06	USPS	Halfway through the game the remaining models changed into United States Postal Service (USPS) uniforms for contestant Jim Maida, a postal employee.
10/5/06	The Deal or No Deal Models	Contestant Latoshia Odom admired the models, and wished she could be one of them. So the next time she appeared on the show, she got her wish. She came out wearing the same dress that her model counterparts were wearing for her game. One of the Banker's offers to Latoshia was a souvenir case # 27 along with a cash offer of $83,000.

Season One (2005-2006)

Date	Theme	Brief Description
4/12/06	Miss USA	26 delegates from the Miss USA 2006 appeared as models for this special episode.

Top Ten Greatest Moments (11/21/07)

The Thanksgiving 2007 episode featured a list of the top ten greatest moments in the show's history dating from the series first episode up until this particular point. The moments are as followed:

Rank	Moment
10.	Contestant Zanny Henseler is offered her dream car from the Banker, a 2007 lime green Cadillac Escalade, an offer Zanny enthusiastically accepts.
9.	Contestant Anteia Greer anxiously awaits the offer of $189,000, to which she then stumbles to the floor in disbelief.
8.	Deal or No Deal is on location at the house of contestant Mary Mirolla.
7.	Contestant Lauren Potter and her family are in for a big surprise family reunion as one of the models is actually Lauren's sister holding case #21.
6.	Contestant Michele Falco becomes the biggest winner to date on Deal or No Deal winning $750,000.
5.	Contestant Charlene Miranda's son Ayden helps Howie out with hosting duties.
4.	Contestant Malaika Merrick gets proposed to on Deal or No Deal.
3.	Contestant Nondumiso Sainsbury gets a surprised family reunion from her brothers and most importantly her mother all the way from South Africa.
2.	Deal or No Deal goes to The Oprah Winfrey Show.
1.	Contestant Casey Bell is surprised by her favorite singer, Celine Dion.

Howie's Twelve Days of Christmas (12/25/07)

A new spin was put on the classic Christmas carol The Twelve Days of Christmas for the Christmas 2007 episode, as Howie presented twelve different gifts to each member of the audience, while the models pass them out. The list of gifts is as followed:

Gift #	Item
1	Deal or No Deal Howie Talking Bobblehead Doll.
2	$200 and tickets to Nickelodeon Movies' The Spiderwick Chronicles.
3	Nintendo DS System featuring Brain Age 2 and DSI Games' Deal or No Deal.
4	Digital Photo Frame courtesy of Aluratek.
5	Roomba Robotic Vacuum Cleaner courtesy of iRobot.
6	A $100 gift card to BP service stations.
7	Archos 605 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player.
8	Ultreo Ultrasound Toothbrush.
9	Backstage Pass to Universal Studios Hollywood.
10	Palm Treo 750 Windows Mobile Phone with 30 days of unlimited service from AT&T.
11	Plantronics Discovery 665 Bluetooth Headset.
12	Round-Trip Airplane ticket courtesy of JetBlue Airways.

Gifts of Christmas 2006 (12/25/06)

Not to be outdone, the Christmas 2006 episode also featured gifts for the audience members. The list of these gifts is as followed:

Gift #	Item
Grand Prize 1	A 50-inch Plasma-Screen TV, Laptop Computer, and an Apple iPod Video courtesy of PriceGrabber.com.^
Grand Prize 2	A trip for 4 for a five-night stay at the Radisson Resort Spa & Casino in Aruba courtesy of JetBlue Airways.^
3	A PENNY!!! Courtesy of everybody's favorite Banker.
4	A digital camera courtesy of MyPoints.com.
5	Hasbro's Itsy-Bitsy Spider-Man Dancing Plush Doll, plus a $100 gift card to HasbroToyShop.com.
6	A year-long subscription to Netflix.
7	A year-long membership to Bally Total Fitness.
8	A Gift Bag featuring a Round-Trip Certificate courtesy of JetBlue Airways.
9	A $100 gift card to Albertsons.

^ For each grand prize, only two members of the studio audience went home with these gifts as the winners were determined by small gift boxes placed underneath each audience members' respective seats. The audience members whose boxes had a piece of paper with the word "Deal" inside went home with the Grand Prize.

Special offers by the Banker

The Banker sometimes encourages contestants to sell their cases by offering prizes, sometimes worth tens of thousands of dollars, in addition to or in lieu of a cash offer.

Season Three (2007-2008)

Date	Contestant	Prize(s)	Value	Additional Cash Offer	Grand Total	Deal or No Deal
3/10/08	Carla Antonina	Being moved out of her (parents') house (her belongings were being packed up)	no value mentioned	$53,000	$53,000	No Deal^
1/23/08	Britney Lewzader	A life supply of cotton swabs	$3,000	$365,000	$368,000	No Deal
1/14/08	Margarita Montijo	Flying lessons	$15,000	$40,000	$55,000	Deal
1/9/08	Brad Falcon	Additional cash for cutting his beard (Three different occasions)	$5,000; $10,000; $25,000	$172,000; $153,000; $235,000 respectively	$177,000; $163,000; $260,000	Deal (on $260,000)
12/11/07	Mary Banford	A dream package to the Tony Award winning musical Wicked	$12,000	$50,000	$62,000	Deal
9/19/07	George Barnes	An Indianapolis Colts dream package, plus a 2008 GMC Denali	$66,900	$50,000	$116,900	No Deal+

^After Carla rejected the offer, her belongings were dumped onto the floor.

+After George rejected the offer, the GMC Denali was awarded to a random person in the audience.

Season Two (2006-2007)

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