Deal or No Deal (USA)

Deal or No Deal (USA)
Host	Howie Mandel
Seasons	7
No. of episodes	199 (primetime) 300 (syndication) 31 (2018 revival)
Original release	Original series (NBC): December 19, 2005 – May 18, 2009 Syndication: September 8, 2008 – May 28, 2010 Revival series (CNBC): December 5, 2018 - August 7, 2019
Location	Los Angeles, California (2005-2009) Waterford, Connecticut (2009-2010) Orlando, Florida (2018-2019)
Production	Endemol (2005-09) Universal (2018-19)

Deal or No Deal is a game show presented by Howie Mandel.

History

Deal or No Deal began airing on December 19, 2005. The show was originally broadcast for ABC but they opted for a different show to fill in the gap. NBC then grabbed up the rights and broadcasted their first show. USA had followed many countries in producing its version notably the UK. Starting on September 8, 2008, a syndicated daytime variation of the show premiered. The final episode of the NBC primetime version aired on May 18, 2009. In February 2010, it was officially announced that the daytime version would be canceled in May due to low ratings. The final daytime episode aired on May 28, 2010.

The show got a revival on CNBC, premiering on December 5, 2018. Taping of the show began in July 2018 and concluded on August 11, 2018.

Rules

The 26 Models of DOND, during Season 4 (Jessica Robinson's episode).

This 2005 excerpt of DOND USA (Season 1) shows model Dawn Olivieri placing case #14 on the podium.

The show always began with 26 models walking down steps, with 26 briefcases in their hands and with Howie always saying his famous line to them, "Hello, ladies," and they would reply with "Hi, Howie." Host Mandel calls the name of a random studio audience member, who comes up to the contestant's podium to start the game. This has been occasionally different. Whenever a special guest is playing, a higher top prize is being offered, or the Million Dollar Mission or Multi-Million Dollar Madness is going on, the contestants will come out of the Deal or No Deal vault instead, like crossover contestants (see below). On two occasions, Howie even went backstage to take a person thinking they would be in the audience to be the contestant. As Howie states at the beginning of a game, "There are 26 cases held by 26 lovely ladies. Each of them is holding a random amount of money. We don't know what's in any case, because they were placed there by a third party. We do know that one of those cases is holding/The amounts go from... $1,000,000, all the way down to a penny." The contestant must choose the case that they think has the million. Then the model of the case picked brings the case down and hands it to Howie, who places it on the podium (although the first five episodes in 2005 saw the models place the case in the podium).

As shown, the models have suitcases. (In the photo, the models Aubrie Lemon (Case #23) and Kelly Brannigan (Case #24), during the Season 3)

The game has nine rounds, with the number of cases that need to be opened decreasing by 1 for each round. Howie tells each player, before round 1 starts, that "Whatever amounts we find in those cases is not in your case/Whatever's in those is not in yours."

Here is the order of the cases opened per round:

Round	# of Cases to
Round 1	6 cases to open
Round 2	5 cases to open
Round 3	4 cases to open
Round 4	3 cases to open
Round 5	2 cases to open
Round 6	1 case to open
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9

At the end of each round, contestants receive an offer from the Banker, who, as stated above, "calculates the odds of having a lot of money in one's case and tries to get the contestant out of here with as little money as possible." The contestant then must decide whether to say "Deal" or "No Deal," if they say "Deal," they must press a flashing red button in a small case, if they say "No Deal" they must close the case and continue the game. If a contestant takes an offer, the rest of the game is played out to see what would have happened, except if time is running short, the player was not going to win much, or if only two cases are remaining at the time of the final offer. If a contestant turns down all nine offers from the Banker, Howie offers a swap between the final two cases. Only one contestant accepted the swap, which was young princess Hannah Whittaker, who was playing for the Make a Wish Foundation and won all her prizes, although this was an unaired episode but the final part is on YouTube. Three other contestants claimed they would have taken it had they gone all the way. All three of them would have ended up with one of the top two amounts. These rules were adjusted sometimes. The board was occasionally modified (see below) and on the show's 200th episode celebration, contestants played Speed Deal or No Deal, where they chose all cases for a round at once, they were all opened right away, and they only had 20 seconds to decide to say "Deal" or "No Deal." If time ran out, it was an automatic "No Deal." The rest of the game also was not played out in that episode after a deal was taken and just showed what was in their case (although this did rarely happen on regular games). Unlike other versions of the show, like the UK and Australia for example, the US version features crossover contestants, whose names are called again after the models are introduced and they come out of the Deal or No Deal vault, an offstage set where Howie usually introduces the episodes. However, in the first five episodes in 2005, the crossover contestants simply come out of the audience, sitting in the front row for obvious reasons.

Set

The set has been changed a few times. The first set, used from December 19, 2005 to December 23, 2005, was used in CBS Television City in Hollywood, where other famous American game shows like "The $25,000 Pyramid" were taped. On February 27, 2006, a brand new set was built in the Sunset-Gower Studios and was used for the rest of the first season until June 5, 2006. On September 18, 2006, another new set was introduced, this time being in The Culver Studios, and was used for the rest of the primetime show and the first season of the daytime show. In July 2009, the Culver Studios set was shipped to Waterford, Connecticut in the Sonalysts Studio to reduce production costs. The set had to be scaled down to fit the studio and was filmed there until the show's end on May 28, 2010.

For the show's 2018 revival (which aired on CNBC), its first season was taped at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, Florida.

Game Board

This is the game board at the start of the game

The board is quite simple. The money amounts range from $1,000,000 all the way down to $0.01. The background is black and orange with the money on gold bars.

The board has been different occasionally. The show's second week from February 28, 2006 to March 3, 2006 saw the top prize increase by $500,000 for each show the top prize was not won, which eventually reached $3,000,000. As a joke, the $3,000,000 board also had the lowest amount possible being $.03. During the Season 2 premiere week in September 2006, a very similar variant was done. The top prize grew by $1,000,000 for each contestant rather than $500,000 for each day. And the top prize reached $6,000,000 there. To make room for more seven-figure prizes on these boards, $300,000 and $400,000 were removed and $200,000 was replaced by $250,000. On four occasions in Season 2, the amounts of the board were doubled (Double Deal). September 26, 2007 saw the debut of the Million Dollar Mission, where every time the million was not won, the next highest amount would be replaced with a million (I.E., for 2 million-dollar cases, $750K gets replaced by a million, 3 MDC's, $500K gets replaced, and so on). The M$M was done four times from September 2007 to October 2008, which produced the show's first two millionaires, Jessica Robinson and Tomorrow Rodriguez. From May 2008 to June 2008, the M$M came back under the name, "Multi-Million Dollar Madness." During these shows, the contestant would be placed in a chamber where golden balls would float around. Each ball had a number from 2 to 13. A contestant had to grab one of these balls and whatever number it has will be the number of million-dollar cases in their game. Five contestants from November 2008 to December 2008 played with the same $2,000,000 board used in 2006 (The $2,000,000 had a whitish-yellow outline in Season 4). Sometimes, amounts are replaced with prizes, although these are usually gag prizes on the left side of the board. Thanksgiving 2006 saw $10 being replaced by a pumpkin pie and $25 by a turkey. Thanksgiving 2007 saw these prizes return, as well as gravy, which replaced $.01, cranberry sauce, which replaced $1, and stuffing, which replaced $5. In Christmas 2007, gag prizes were used again. $1 was replaced by coal, $5 was replaced by eggnog, and $10 was replaced by fruitcake. Gag prizes were also used in the Rockin' '80's special in January 2008, $1 was replaced by a scrunchy, $5 was replaced by hairspray, $10 was replaced by leg warmers, and $25 was replaced by a boom box. The only time a real prize was in play was on January 14, 2008, where a truck replaced the $50,000 spot. In the teacher’s week of the daytime version, the background look like a chalkboard. On April 14, 2008 and April 16, 2008, the background has a shadow of a pine tree and some people both putting their hands up. On the Star Wars themed episode, the background look like in the dark side. On June 12, 2019, the background was black with colors from a Monopoly board.

If an amount take out of play, the amount will flip and changed from gold to brown bars. In the syndicated version, they added some effects for the theme weeks. In the police week, the amount is locked in bars like people locked up. In the firefighter week, the amount is on flames. In the teacher’s week, the eraser will come out and erase the amount like erase on the chalkboard. In the premiere week through out the first season, they don’t have a sound effect yet. They added a sound effect until later episodes from Seasons 1-4.

September 17, 2007 and August 25, 2008 changes

On the Season 3 premiere on September 17, 2007, the show saw a few major changes. The first and most noticeable change is that the interior of the cases was changed from blue to red. The original music used when cases were being opened were scrapped for three new pieces replacing it: One was used for rounds 1-3, one was used for rounds 4-5, and one was used for rounds 6-9. The set was also slightly modified, with three lights being added to the left of the gallery. These changes remained on the primetime and daytime shows until Deal or No Deal USA ended on May 28, 2010.

Also, at the beginning of Season 4 on August 25, 2008, the Banker's Office was changed. Lights were added to the back and there was more room for the Banker to stand up and walk around. Also, Host Howie Mandel started wearing a tie, stating before the season premiere that, "I am so excited about giving away $1,000,000, I am wearing a tie." But these changes were not seen on the daytime version as the season 3 set was used.

2018 changes

In 2018, coinciding with new episodes airing on CNBC, the Banker's gender has been changed to female, and she now contacts the host via a smartphone. The contestant is given only one opportunity during the game to present a counter-offer after receiving an offer from the Banker. If the Banker accepts the counter-offer, the contestant receives that amount of money and the game ends. If she rejects the counter-offer, the game must continue into the next round and the option is gone. Howie often told the contestants about this opportunity by stating that "this is Deal or No Deal: 2.0."

Similar to the syndicated series, there is no option to swap cases after the final round, when only the contestant's case and one other are still in play. If the contestant rejects the Banker's final offer, he/she receives the amount in the originally chosen case, plus any applicable bonuses.

Unlike the case interior of Season 3, the interior of the cases changed again from the red to grey squares with lines.

Sidegames

Occasionally, Deal or No Deal or the Banker offers (or assigns) a side game during or after their regular game. Here are the side games the show has seen.

The Green Case

On the Thanksgiving 2006 special, a special GREEN case was brought out for Terra Walker's game. What would happen is that if Terra could go through eleven cases without opening up the million, she would win what was in the green case which was held by Keltie Martin. Unfortunately, she picked #15 and knocked off the million on her third pick.

Double or Nothing

On January 7, 2007 and January 21, 2007, Double or Nothing was offered to the contestant that night. Throughout the two shows, Howie claimed he would ask a question at the end of the show, but it was not deal or no deal, yet it could make them win $2,000,000. After the contestant finished their game, two giant cases were brought out on stage held by five of the Deal or No Deal models. Howie would explain that one case holds DOUBLE, and the other holds NOTHING and asks if they want to play. The two contestants decided not to play the game, but they played it out to see what would happen. When it was played, they would have to choose the left case or the right case (due to the fact that the cases were not numbered and had the Deal or No Deal logo printed on them). The five models then open the case (Howie does say all of their names) and then their winnings will double or go down to $0. The first contestant, Kathy Beck, won $99,000 but would have doubled it to $198,000 had she played. The second contestant, Angela Teta, won $1,000 and would have lost it had she played.

NOTE: The Australian version of the show, also had this special game, but it is different than this version.

Hershey's Kisses 100th Anniversary $100,000,000 Spectacular

On November 16, 2007, in honor of Hershey's Kisses celebrating its 100th anniversary, Howie claimed that a special game with a top prize of $100,000,000 will be played later in the show. Erin Kraft had her game interrupted in the sixth round so the special game could be played. There were three teams of two chosen by a sweepstakes. Their colors were Gold, Red, and Blue, and they each had their own set of 150 cases. To win the $100,000,000, they had to pick two cases, and both of them must hold both halves of the Hershey's Kiss for the $100,000,000 to be won. The 148 other cases will hold a "Not a Winner" sign. If the $100,000,000 was won by more than one team, it would have to be split. The three teams did not win the $100,000,000, as all the cases they chose held "Not a Winner," but each team got a $100,000 consolation prize for showing up.

Two Games at Once

On December 5, 2007, contestant Summer Andrew claimed her husband was horrible at the Deal or No Deal Flash game on nbc.com before beginning her game. The Banker called almost immediately and he said that because of mentioning her husband's horrible skills at the game, he sent out a model to take him backstage and he would play the online game while Summer played the real game. At the end of the game, Summer would have to decide whether to take her winnings or her husband's winnings. She, of course, won't know what her husband wins. During her game, her husband's board was displayed three times. Summer took the deal of $59,000. She then decided to take her husband's winnings, and the model opened the case to reveal that her husband won $74,000, that's what she left with.

Winner Take All

On December 10, 2007, February 7, 2008, and April 28, 2008, the games of the night were played under special Winner Take All rules. What would occur is that the contestants playing the special side game would come out of the vault (3 contestants on December 10, 2007 and 2 on February 7, 2008 and April 28, 2008) and Howie would explain the rules specifically that each will play a game and the other(s) will go backstage in separate rooms, not knowing what the contestant wins. The audience is also swapped out for each contestant so nobody knows what each player has won. At the end of the show, all the contestants reveal what they won, and the person that won the most won it all (I.E., that person won the total winnings of all the players (Their winnings + what the other player(s) won)). This made it possible to win up to almost $2 or $3 million (depending on the number of players). The first edition saw contestants Eric Serpino, Shalanda London, and David Vincent play the special competition. Eric won $50,000, Shalanda won $10,000, and David won $1, so Eric took home a total of $60,001. The second edition saw Jay Hughes and Kristine LeMieux play the game. Jay won $117,000, while Kristine won $121,000, so she took home a total of $238,000. On the final edition, which was also a Star Wars special, Star Wars fans Elyse McCrillis and Brad Flinchum played. Elyse won $13,000, while Brad won $196,000, so he took home a total of $209,000.

The Deal Wheel

On December 12, 2007, April 21, 2008, and April 23, 2008, contestants were forced to play a side game at the end of their game called the Deal Wheel, where they could double or triple their winnings, or lose half of it, allowing for a maximum prize of $3,000,000 (theoretically $36,000,000 because of the Premiere Week and Winner Take all, all three combined). The wheel had thirty spaces: 10 spaces had 1/2, 15 spaces had x2, and 5 spaces had x3. What would happen is that the contestant would spin the wheel, grab the golden ball from a nearby model, climb the stairs to the top of the wheel, and drop the ball to see what it lands in. During the ball drop, sound effects from the case openings are used. The ding used when a small amount is opened is used when the ball lands in x2 or x3, and the disasterous sound used when a big amount is opened is played when the ball lands in 1/2. The first contestant, Efren Afonte, halved his $296,000 to $148,000. The second, Anthony Moreira, doubled his $40,000 to $80,000. LeTia Soney doubled $15,000 and the value of her $5,100 Billy Blanks fan package to $40,200. Joseph Kobes tripled his $26,000 to $78,000. Tony Canastrano halved his $66,000 to $33,000. Finally, Jenna Steinhoff halved her $119,000 to $59,500. The Deal Wheel was reused in the daytime version, except it had numbers from 1-22 in random places. The two ladies, Tameka and Patricia dropped the ball in the wheel, and whoever's number it lands on will be the contestant who plays for $500,000.

The Banker's Challenge

In Seasons 3-5, the Banker's Challenge was usually offered (and sometimes forced) to play. These challenges would usually give contestants bonus money that is theirs to keep no matter what, although this did not always happen. The first Banker's Challenge appeared on January 9, 2008 (Million Dollar Mission game, he had 5 MDC's), the Banker offered a $5,000 addition to the offer, if contestant Brad Falcon cut his beard when he received it. He declined, the Banker then offered the $10,000 addition to the offer, and he declined it and then the banker then offered $25,000 when he receive it. He accepted it, making his total winnings $260,000. On February 11, 2008 (Million Dollar Mission game, she had 11 MDC's). Contestant Tamika Kendall claimed she was like a princess, so the Banker said he would double the size of her $266,000 offer if she kissed a frog, a reference to the famous fairytale The Frog Prince. She declined, however, and said no deal to continue her game. Three days later, a contestant named Edward Tommasi claimed he would always use to take $5 bets on just about anything, so The Banker offered two of these bets. The first was to wear the same shoes as the Deal or No Deal models for the rest of the show. He did so and received $5 in bonus money. The Banker then offered another bet, which was to wear the same dress as the Deal or No Deal models, so he did so and won another bonus $5. He would take the deal of $131,000, bringing his total winnings to $131,010. (And ironically, his case had $5!) On February 18, 2008, The Banker offered a challenge to Katie Henslin. After stating that her husband was afraid of heights, the Banker called before the game to give a challenge to get his husband down. All she had to do was keep the million cases in play for the whole game. Each round she open up a one million dollar case, her husband will go a level one at a time. On April 7, 2008, The Banker offered a challenge to contestant Uchenna Emenaha. After stating that her brother wanted a new car, the Banker called before the game to give a challenge to win up to five new cars. All she had to do was keep the $1,000,000 case in play for the first five rounds to win all five. Each round she completed without hitting the million would guarantee her a new car, hers to keep no matter what. Unfortunately, she eliminated that on the VERY first case (#15). Two days later, The Banker offered Josh Akuna a chance to add up to $10,000 to his $143,000 offer. Because Josh said he was afraid of squirrels, as a squirrel attacked him while he was working on a telephone pole, The Banker placed three cards, respectively containing $1, $5,000, and $10,000, into a cage with the same squirrel that attacked him. Josh declined, and said no deal to continue his game. On April 16, 2008, The Banker offered a chance for contestants Trey Milburn, Ray Abboushi, Eric Cox, and Drew Hoffmann, who are fraternity brothers of Sigma Chi, a chance to add $30,000 to their $98,000 offer. What they had to do was pick up one of three placards from a pool of oatmeal. One had $10,000, one had $20,000, and one had $30,000. A fraternity brother from the audience did the job and picked up the $30,000 placard, increasing the offer to $128,000, which they took. On April 30, 2007, the Banker offered contestant Kate Albarelli would match the Banker’s "champion" move-to-move. She successfully did so and went all the way to win $100. On May 5, 2008, the Banker offered contestant Patrick Hook the chance to add the offer by choosing one of three delicacies worth $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000, sent to the model, if he ate something. He passed on chicken feet because he did not choose the $1,000 delicacy and fish heads for $5,000, he ate duck eggs, which he absolutely despised. He did so, chose the $10,000 delicacy, increasing the offer to $139,000. On May 7, 2008, the Banker offered contestant Elaine Primeaux the chance to double the size of her $91,000 offer, sent out on a sign by a model, if she ate blood sausage, which she absolutely despised. She did so, but another model came out with a $91,000 sign double the size of the original one. On May 14, 2008, the Banker offered Allison Doheny a $10,000 bonus if she ate five Mopani worms. She did so and was guaranteed at least $10,000. She eventually dealt at $22,000 and a $3,200 Martha Stewart package, bringing her total winnings to $35,200. Season four saw the Banker's Challenge become more common. It was offered to Koshka Blackburn on August 25, 2008, where if she turned down every offer, she would receive a $7,000 Broadway package. She did so and won that, as well as the $5,000 in her case, bringing her total winnings to $12,000. On October 3, 2008, contestant Tommy Knowlton said that he needed a new car. So the Banker offered a challenge where he could win a 2008 Smart Fortwo Passion, valued at $15,300. All he had to do to win it was open the door, sit in it, and close it. He easily did so and won the car. He took the deal of $448,000 later in the show, making his total winnings add up to $463,300. On October 22, 2008, the Banker offered a $10,000 bonus if contestant Richie Bell could keep his heart rate under 140 when he received, thought about, and decided what to do with his $261,000 offer. He successfully did so and won a bonus of $10,000. He also won $1 at the end of his game, bringing his total winnings to $10,001. On January 2, 2009, Mandy Quigley was offered a Banker's Challenge for claiming she was afraid of heights, where she would be raised up on a harness where three cases holding $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 would be attached to ropes. Because of this, she could win up to a $16,000 bonus. She accepted, and successfully retrieved all three cases and won the whole $16,000 bonus. She took the deal for $35,000, making her total winnings $51,000. On May 4, 2009, David Lee was offered a bonus where he had to wear a styrofoam suit and retrieve two placards that read "BONUS" and "PRIZE," where if he did so, he would win a bonus of $10,000. He accepted, and successfully got both to win the $10,000. He eventually took the deal of $14,000, making his total winnings $24,000. On December 5, 2018, Casey Heath was offered a bonus where she eliminated each member one at a time, where if she did so, she would win $5,000. She eventually took the deal of $103,000, making her total winnings $133,000. On December 19, 2018, the Banker offered a $10,000 addition to the offer, if contestant David Leeman cut his beard when he received it. He used his counteroffer for $100,000 and the Banker accepted it, making his total winnings $110,000. On January 16, 2019, contestant Bryce Gage said that he buy a new TV. So the Banker offered a challenge where he could win a 55" HD-TV, valued at $699. All he had to do to win it was beat Jonathan Isaac of the Orlando Magic and got the most baskets in thirty seconds. After the time is expired, he and Jonathan played to a 1-1 tie, and they both won the TV. He took the deal of $69,000 later in the show, making his total winnings add up to $69,699. On February 13, 2019, Sony Avalos claimed to take two $5 bets like her favorite contestant was Edward Tommasi did, but this time her $5 bets are different than his. The first was she has to stick her hand inside a box and touch what’s inside. She agrees, and pockets the money after touching a toy T-Rex. The banker then offered another bet, but this time, she must touch what’s inside the box from before. This time, there’s a man’s head inside the box. Specifically, it’s the head of Ed Tommasi himself. He licks Sony’s hand, she screams, and he then reveals himself. She would take the deal for $39,000, making her total winnings to $39,010. On June 12, 2019, the Banker offered a Planet Fitness Black Card to everyone in the audience if contestant Jorge Montero could pedal on an exercise bike and maintained a speed of 100 RPM or more when he received and took the deal for $119,000. On June 19, 2019, Michael Chandler offered a Banker's Challenge where he would match the Banker’s “champion” move-for-move. He successfully did so and used his counteroffer for $77,000.

The Reindeer Game

On the Christmas 2008 special, a special side game was played where the nine lowest amounts (from $0.01 to $200), had the names of Santa's nine reindeer. If the contestant can find all the names, they win a bonus of $25,000. The names are tracked on a board placed above the supporter's bench. The first contestants, the Calhoun family, took the deal of $107,000 when Rudolph and Vixen were still on the board. Their case held $5, which was the Vixen case (meaning it was impossible to get the $25,000 bonus). The next contestant, Matt Zedwick, had the reindeers in his game randomized into different cases, but they were still in the lowest nine. After the sixth round, he opened up all the reindeer cases and won the $25,000 bonus. A round later, he also took the deal of $202,000, bringing his total winnings to $227,000.

Happy New Year!

Very similar to the Reindeer Game, the Happy New Year! game, played on January 1, 2009, is the same thing, except the bonus is worth $10,000, and 9 amounts on the left side have a "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" placard on them. The first contestant, Brian Crowder, shockingly made an early deal at $234,000 leaving in two remaining HAPPY NEW YEAR! cases. He had $500,000 in his case. The next contestant, Tunde Oyene, had all the HAPPY NEW YEAR! amounts randomized for her game. She opened all of them by the fifth round and won the $10,000 bonus. She also went all the way and case #2009 was opened, revealing "CAR," which was a 2009 Ford Flex, worth $45,190, bringing her winnings to $55,190. She also won $100,000 in her case, bringing her total winnings to $155,190.

Surprise Case

The Surprise Case game is a special side game played on February 6, 2019 and August 7, 2019. where you could win a $25,000 bonus. To do so, you'd have to find the prize before dealing. The first contestant to play the special side game was Missy Silverman, who found the prize in case #26 and made a deal for $165,000, bringing her winnings to $190,000. The second contestant to play the special side game was Andrew Shelton, who used his counteroffer for $310,000, which she accepted. The prize was in case #20.

Daytime version

In 2006, a pilot for a daytime version of Deal or No Deal was shot, which was hosted by Arsenio Hall, as Howie Mandel did not want to host the daytime version. Despite this, the daytime version debuted on September 8, 2008 with Howie Mandel as host. The daytime version was syndicated, meaning it was broadcast on various different channels throughout the country. It was also only 20 minutes long, while the primetime was 40 minutes long. The format of the daytime show was different than the primetime version and more like the UK's. There were 22 cases held by the 22 contestants that week with amounts ranging from $.01 to $500,000. The contestants were chosen by two of the primetime show's models, Patricia Kara and Tameka Jacobs, through the Deal Wheel. Patricia spun the wheel, and Tameka dropped a golden ball into the wheel where numbers from 1 to 22 were in the slots. Whatever slot matched the contestant's case number were to be that day's contestant. The contestant brings down that case and hands it to Howie, who places it on the podium. They do have the option to swap out their assigned case before the game begins, but because of this, they cannot swap it out at the end like on the primetime show. The contestants onstage then open up the remaining 21 cases. Here is the game board:

$.01	$1,000
$1	$2,500
$5	$5,000
$10	$7,500
$25	$10,000
$50	$25,000
$100	$50,000
$200	$75,000
$300	$100,000
$400	$250,000
$500	$500,000

A week of shows is taped in one night as five contestants play the game but is edited so there will be one contestant per day, completely abandoning the crossover contestants that the primetime show had. Due to a smaller number of cases, the number of cases that have to be opened per round is different than in the primetime show. Because of this, there are only seven rounds rather than the primetime's nine. Here are the number of cases opened per round:

Round 1	5 cases to open
Round 2
Round 3	4 cases to open
Round 4	2 cases to open
Round 5
Round 6	1 case to open
Round 7

For one week in October 2008, round 4 had 3 cases to open rather than 2, so there were only six rounds for the five games of that week.

The daytime version occasionally had sponsored weeks where contestants opening the cases onstage could win money and a prize. During Evian week, a contestant with the Evian case would win $1,000 and a year's supply of Evian water. Another example is Listerine week, where the contestant with the Listerine case would win $7,500 and a trip. There was also Splenda week, where if that day's contestant opened the case, the next offer would have an additional $10,000 added to it (which made contestants immediately say deal if their board had less than $10,000 available). There were also holiday-themed weeks like Halloween Week and Holiday Wishes Week, the latter featuring a Sears case where an onstage contestant with that case would win a $10,000 Sears gift card. Afterward, Howie would ask what they would "wish" for with the gift card. From the show's start on September 8, 2008 to its end on May 28, 2010, nobody won the $500,000 top prize. The biggest winner was Chelsea Drakes, who won $275,000 on the Friday episode of Baby on Board week on September 26, 2008.

Reruns

Starting on December 26, 2005, NBC's sister channel, CNBC, began airing reruns of Deal or No Deal USA. They were successful for the network, giving them above-average ratings. After CNBC dropped reruns of the show on August 28, 2009 due to its NBC cancellation, Game Show Network (known as GSN until September 30, 2018) became the home for reruns of the first three seasons, although it already began airing them starting on June 1, 2009. In April 2010, they picked up the rights to air the fourth and final season and began airing it on April 16, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. ET, when season two reruns were still occupying that timeslot. In the fall of 2009, MyNetworkTV picked up the rights to air reruns of the daytime version. They also occasionally aired new episodes seen in syndication at a later time (e.g. Monday and Tuesday episodes of WWE week aired in November 2009, but weren't seen in syndication until February 2010). Due to the daytime version's cancellation, MyNetworkTV dropped its reruns in September 2010, and reruns of the new syndicated "Don't Forget the Lyrics!" hosted by Mark McGrath of the rock band Sugar Ray took its place. In October 2010, GSN picked up the rights to air reruns of the syndicated version of the show and began airing four episodes a day on October 18, 2010, two from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET and two more from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, when season three primetime reruns were still occupying the timeslot.

Despite having its own version. In the United Kingdom, the American game show premiered on Channel 4 (or Channel Four) on July 24, 2006.

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Deal or No Deal Island

On May 12, 2023, it was announced that a spinoff of the show called Deal or No Deal Islandwill be produced for NBC due to a writer's strike. Set on the Banker's private island where he makes the rules as their are twists behind every palm tree. Described as a mix between the original series with elements of the long-running reality competition series Survivor, hidden on the island are over 100 cases with millions of dollars split between them which teams must retrieve so that they can play the game against the Banker. Only one team will survive until the very last episode where they'll compete against the Banker for the biggest prize in Deal or No Deal history. Additionally, it was also announced that Howie Mandel will be the executive producer, however, he is not returning as host. On September 27, 2023, it was announced that former True Blood and Magic Mike star, Joe Manganiello, will be the new host of the upcoming spinoff. On November 20, 2023, it was announced that the series will premiere on February 26, 2024.

Trivia

• ABC originally piloted this show in 2004 with Patrick Kielty as host. Those who have seen the pilot have suggested the models danced more, (á la Show Me the Money, another Endemol produced game show hosted by William Shatner on ABC in 2006), the cases were gold instead of silver and the top prize was $2,500,000 instead of $1,000,000 in both the NBC and CNBC versions or $500,000 in the syndicated version respectively and the banker's offers (or "BANK") were announced by a female voiceover. Wink Martindale's YouTube channel has the pilot, but he needs 18,000 subscribers before he shows it to the public. The pilot officially debuted on his channel on July 19, 2021.
• Some of the models from the pilot have been models on the actual series of the original NBC primetime version which were: Brooke Long, Claudia Jordan, Chrissy Teigen & Mylinda Tov. However, in the pilot, Tov never held a briefcase at all as she only intended to the tray instead.
• Some of the models from DOND (NBC Primetime version) have formerly been models on The Price is Right (1972 version) like Claudia Jordan, Lanisha Cole, Lisa Gleave, Kristal Marshall, Mylinda Tov & Sonia Vera.
• Along with the original NBC version, both Patricia Kara and Tameka Jacobs were the only two models to appear on the syndicated version of DOND from September 8, 2008 to May 28, 2010. Additionally, Patricia Kara is the only model to ever appear on the NBC, Syndicated and CNBC versions on DOND, while Megan Abrigo and Amanza Smith are the other two models to appear on the NBC and CNBC versions of the show.
• Alison Fiori became a model on the CBS daytime revival of Let's Make a Deal hosted by Wayne Brady from 2009 to 2010. Fiori has been replaced by Tiffany Coyne since 2010.
• Before Jessica Robinson became the first $1,000,000 winner on September 1, 2008, the record-holder for the biggest winner for nearly two years was Michele Falco on September 22, 2006. She was the sixth contestant on the season two jackpot shows, so she played for a $6,000,000 top prize. She got down to the final two cases of $750,000 and $1,000,000. She turned down the highest offer ever of $880,000 and won what was in her case (#8), $750,000.
• The highest offer ever taken was $701,000 by Kimberly Chastang on September 19, 2006. She was the fourth contestant in the season two jackpot shows mentioned above, so she played for a $4,000,000 top prize. Her case held $1,000,000.
• The biggest winner on the regular $1,000,000 board was Thorpe Schoenle on April 24, 2006. He took the deal of $464,000 with $1,000,000 and $500,000 being the only higher amounts. He would have opened the $500,000 next, which would have dropped the offer to $430,000, then he would've chosen #7 which was the $1,000,000 case. His case held $400,000. (UPDATE: This record has been beaten by Courtney Schlaud's $500,000 win on December 12, 2018, thanks to an accepted counteroffer).
• The lowest offer ever was $.50, offered by a guest banker to Michael Levine on February 5, 2010. This record was held for nearly four years by Cheryl Jackson, when she received a $2 offer from the real banker on February 28, 2006.
• The lowest offer ever taken was $8 by Brett Kurtz on March 24, 2006. The remaining cases held $5 (which he had) and $10.
• The first $.01 winner was Heather McKee on January 3, 2008. She played the second game in the second run of the M$M, so she played with three $1,000,000 cases. Her highest offer was $207,000.
• The first contestant to select the $1,000,000 case was LaKissa Bright on April 26, 2006. She took the deal of $215,000 but received a $357,000 offer earlier in the show. Before Mandel opened her case #17 to reveal $1,000,000, he said that it was "a Deal or No Deal first".
• The first contestant to select the $.01 case was Eric Paulson on March 10, 2006. He took the deal of $19,000 but received a $126,000 offer earlier in the show.
• The first contestant to open the $1,000,000 case on the first pick was Rebecca Van de Ven on May 3, 2006. She later won $9,000.
• The show aired its 100th episode celebration on May 7, 2007, when it was actually the 104th episode. Similarly, they also aired their 200th episode celebration on November 3, 2008, when it was actually the 186th episode. Perhaps the 100th episode taped was pushed back by mistake, and the producers counted the daytime version as well as the primetime version when finding out the total number of episodes taped.
• While the primetime version did have annual Thanksgiving and Christmas specials, the daytime version featured much more themed shows. In September 2008, there was Baby on Board week, where all of the contestants were pregnant women. In October 2008 and October 2009, they had Halloween week, where the set was decorated and all of the contestants were in costumes, as were the models that handed out candy. In December 2008, there was Holiday Wishes Week, where the set used the same decorations like the Christmas 2008 primetime special, but the $10,000 space was replaced by a Sears space, where the contestant with that case would receive a $10,000 gift certificate to Sears. In July 2009, there was Lottery Winners Week, where all the contestants have won the lottery before. In November 2009, there was the Hamilton Family Reunion, where everybody in the studio was a Hamilton, so Howie called out one of them from the audience, like in the primetime show. In November 2008 and in February 2010, there was Military Week, where every contestant worked in the military and was in military uniform. Also in February 2010, there was WWE Week, where two WWE Divas spun the Deal Wheel, wrestler Dolph Ziggler was The Banker, and the contestants were WWE fans. In May 2010, there was Police Week, where all of the contestants worked for the police. There were also various Teacher and Firefighter's Weeks. Also, several sponsored weeks have been seen on the show, where the contestants opening the cases can receive a special prize.
• Although this has never been won, the short-lived CNBC version was the first cable network game show to offer the top prize of $1,000,000.
• The only two six figure amounts hasn’t won by went all the way in the U.S. were $200,000 and $300,000.
  • On the first season, the $300,000 case has spaces between the second zero and the comma. They put the second zero and comma back in place in the second season through the series.
• When Mandel goes to the supporters, the contestant's supporters continuously sitting in the whole episode until they took the deal or not. Starting in twelfth episode of the season to the end of the series, the supporters were standing up because they did not sit for whole episode.

See also

• Deal or No Deal (USA 2004 Pilot)
• InFANity: Deal or No Deal
• Deal or No Deal: Back in Business
• Deal or No Deal: Casting Call
• List of Deal or No Deal USA records
• The USA Models
• List of Contestants
• Parodies and Appearances/Deal or no Deal USA

Casting sites

Casting site for the 2018 edition
Casting site for the 2018 edition

Links

NBC Version
Syndicated Version
CNBC Version