Episodes for Deal or No Deal (U.S. game show)

The American version of Deal or No Deal was hosted by Howie Mandel, and premiered on December 19, 2005 on NBC. The hour-long show typically aired at least twice a week during its run, and included special longer or theme episodes. The show started its fourth season on August 25, 2008 after NBC's coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. A daily syndicated half-hour version of the show debuted on September 8, 2008.

The game is primarily unchanged from the international format, and is based on a contestant selecting one briefcase of 26, each containing a cash value from $.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 Season Three, have also been used, as well as a tie-in with a viewer "Lucky Case Game".

Throughout the run, games had a tendency to be themed around the contestant depending on the info the show had on them. Mandel stated that they did this "to make the contestant feel comfortable" (and has happened since early in Season Two), however critics cited an over-reliance by the show on contestant-based "theme" shows.

Episodes

Season Four (2008-2009)

Date

Theme

Brief Description

1/1/09

New Year's Day

Two-hour special with two side-games to go along with the main game. One side-game had a $10,000 bonus. Nine of the 13 smallest-amount cases had a plaque reading "Happy New Year!" The player would win the bonus by opening all nine "Happy New Year!" cases before the game was over for a chance to walk out of the game with $1,010,000. The other side-game involved a surprise 2009 case, which was a 2009 Ford Flex (valued at $45,190), for the contestant who said "No Deal" until the end. Only the second player of the show Tunde Oyeneyin, a makeup artist originally from Houston, won both the $10,000 bonus and the car, along with her case's amount of $100,000. Also, singer Kimberly Caldwell was a supporter, as both were born in the same town. The other contestant Brien Crowder of Antioch (Tenn) won $234,000 and quit with 8 cases left.

12/25/08

Christmas

The 2-hour special had snow all across the set, and the set had different color changes during a game except for the bank offer segment. A father of 13 from the Calhoun family rotated rounds with 2 of his children, Gina and Joshua. SSG Matthew Zedwick, a veteran from Oregon, who had received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star, played the game for the second hour.

The models came down to the tune of "Deck the Halls", carried 26 gift boxes in place of the cases (opened in the form of the UK version, but from the side) and gave out 11 gifts at intervals throughout the games, typically between rounds or before breaks, to the lucky audience. For the contestant, a special "reindeer game" was played. Nine of the smallest-amount boxes each contained the name of one of Santa's reindeer (including Rudolph); finding all of them awarded the player $25,000 in addition to whatever he/she won in the main game for a chance to walk out of the game with $1,025,000. Only the second player received this prize, adding it to the $202,000 deal he accepted; the first player took a deal of $107,000 when Vixen ($5, which ended up being in his gift box) and Rudolph ($.01) remained alongside the $400,000 case.

11/21 & 26/08

Thanksgiving

The shows were Thanksgiving themed shows that aired just before the Thanksgiving holiday, and the cases were replaced with trays, with a live turkey movie replacing the skyline. On the money board, the bars displaying the money amounts looked like ears of corn. On the second show, contestant Ashley Otte proved that she didn't like turkeys, so the Banker challenged her to live turkeys. That live turkey thing stopped when she sold her $2,000,000 tray; becoming the 20th player to miss the top prize, as well as the second player ever to call to the podium an amount greater than $1,000,000 (The first player, Matthew Sollena picked out $3,000,000 and sold his case for $675,000; that happened on the second episode of the second season. Sollena would have been the biggest winner in game show history off of a single day total.).

Season Three (2007-2008)

Date

Theme

Brief Description

5/14/08

Around The World #3

The show is moved to South Africa for the third (and final, for unexplained reasons) stop on the "Around The World" special.

5/07/08

Around The World #2

The show is moved to Estonia for the second stop on the "Around The World" special.

5/05/08

Around The World #1

The show is moved to the Philippines for the first stop on the "Around The World" special.

4/28/08

Star Wars

Two fans of the Star Wars franchise played for up to $1,000,000 in a winner-take-all episode. The player who had won more money in his/her game took both players' winnings. The models dressed as Stormtroopers and Princess Leia, and Darth Vader filled in as the banker. Carrie Fisher, R2-D2 and Chewbacca all made guest appearances. (Matt Sloan reprised his role Darth Vader from Soulcalibur IV and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Matt Sloan is also from the Chad Vader series, but, he did not appear as Chad Vader himself.)

4/16/08

Spring Break Special #2

Four college students from the Sigma Chi fraternity of USC played together in another Spring Break episode. The models were once again clad in bikinis. The banker was up to his devious tricks again, as he brought out Sigma Chi's rival fraternity midway through the game and made one of the Sigma Chi members swim in oatmeal for an additional $30,000.

4/14/08

Spring Break Special #1

The models wore bikinis and two college students played for the million dollar prize in a special Spring Break episode of Deal or No Deal.

4/9/08

Superheroes

Contestant Josh Akuna's love of superhero comics became the focal point of this episode in a number of ways. Midway through the game, the models still holding ACTIVE cases all changed into matching hero costumes. The Banker was seen in full light for the first time as well, a variant on a hero revealing his secret identity, but he had put on a clown mask to hide his face (and because of Akuna's fear of clowns). Finally, Josh accepted a deal that included a guest appearance in an upcoming issue of the Uncanny X-Men comic series.

3/17/08

Eyeglasses

Contestant Linda Gerard, who once sang with Barbra Streisand, has a [...] for bizarre eyeglasses. As an average viewer would expect, Howie and the models all wore glasses similar to hers in her honor, though Howie quickly took his off.

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 (a similar incident happened on a 2006 episode of the UK version, except the amount fell onto the floor rather than in the box).

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, reigning AMA Monster Energy Supercross champion James "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. 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. 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, boxer 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, and he is most well-known as Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon series of action films, of which Laurel loves. 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. 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 2006-2007 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 except Hayley Marie Norman, whose hair was already in one. (On the other hand, models on other international versions of the show do wear wigs regularly, such as Australia's version or the Netherlands' Miljoenenjacht.)

3/4/07

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

Contestant Rick Achberger is a huge fan of the WWE. He is best known in that community as the Sign Guy for his signature clothing attire (blue working man’s shirt and 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

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 too were standing. One of the Banker’s offers to Will was a bass boat and an all expense paid trip to fish with Bassmaster 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 Claus 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, the banker's phone, and even the "Deal" button. They were done for contestant Zanny Henseler, the self-proclaimed "Lime-Green Queen". 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.

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 Mandel 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 the 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.