Deal or No Deal: Money and Spectacle

The popular game show "Deal or No Deal" stands out among other shows like "Jeopardy", and "Who Wants to be a Millionaire", for thriving on an over-the-top energy and spectacle. Whereas contestants on the other game shows don't often have to indicate why they wanted to be on it, "Deal or No Deal" attempts to construct a rags-to-riches type narrative for each contestant, some more far-fetched than others. The host, Howie Mandel, is there in part to affirm that for the contestant their winnings will be "life changing. " The show interestingly, requires no real skill, as it is based on simply picking cases and having an instinct for when to take the money. In addition to the regular gameplay, the show will introduce other random elements to heighten the spectacle and excitement level in order to offset the actual simplicity and potential monotony of the gameplay. This includes such things as side bets, (betting a male contestant to put on a dress for five dollars, which he did), friends of the contestant showing up unannounced, models dressing up in themed clothes and celebrity guests, (on one show the banker was dressed as Darth Vader, the models as robots, and Carrie Fisher showed up; on another show WWF wrestlers came on). Over all this hoopla, the audience is applauding everything. Tears of emotion are usually shown when a contestant is under the stress of picking a case, but never when they cry from messing up. All these elements are adding to the shows discourse, and are thus encoded, as Hall would see it, as part of the identity that is constructed for the contestants, and for the audience to see. The contestants are in an interesting position of being simulataneously exploited while also given the chance to win large amounts of money and are thus occupying a place in the cultural circuit. This system works very well from a broadcasting perspective and is calculated, despite the fact that the show tries to seems surprising and random.