Watched the return of Deal or No Deal (out of synch) last night. For reasons I can't explain — it may just be the expertise of Howie Mandel at hitting all the right notes — I liked the show during its brief run a few weeks ago. This time though, I could already feel myself losing interest in the game, especially in the first half hour where you know the contestant ain't gonna take no deal.
The producers seem to have solved one problem. During the first week, it was way too obvious that much of Mandel's dialogue was dubbed in after the fact. I think they did it a few times last night but it was a lot less noticeable. Still, the show still had some awkward edits, especially during the entrance of their pointless cameo guest, Donald Trump. The Donald came on to "advise" the contestant about whether or not to take the deals being offered him…but of course, Trump really couldn't add anything. It's the contestant's bank account on the line, not his, and there's no decision involved of the kind about which Donald Trump might be considered an expert. I wish Trump had just said, "I have no clue what you should do. I'm just here to plug The Apprentice and let everyone stare at my hair."
It was also kind of funny to see television's two biggest germophobes — Mandel and Trump — on the same stage, grudgingly hugging the contestant.
Two other points: The player last night walked away with $359,000. If you were paying attention, you might have expected he'd get to that amount because it was flashed during the opening montage of scenes from the show. Also, it struck me as odd that they seem to have replaced several of the models on the show. Just what is it that a beautiful woman could do that would cause the producers to say, "We've got to get rid of her. She doesn't know how to stand there and open a briefcase"?
A friend on the inside tells me the producers are well aware that the show can get repetitive and that they have a lot of plans on how to add new elements and surprises, so I'm not giving up on it yet. I just may be carressing the Fast Forward button while watching.