Tuesday, March 06, 2007
How to ruin a hit show
7 years ago I might be writing about ABC's show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? -- and how they weakened it by overexposing it, and then killed it by changing the type of contestant to celebrities.
Today I write about Deal or No Deal which is very compelling TV and not quite as overexposed (but getting there). What happened to the average Joe contestant? Lately there has been a parade of strange participants, not entirely unlike the old studio audience for Let's Make a Deal.
I like DOND but I don't like the casting. Howie Mandel is unexpectedly perfect and the briefcase girls are fun to watch, usually. But the contestants are getting weirder by the day.
P.S. I wish the briefcase girls (oops, briefcase women) would open the case and react, without peeking first and then opening. Because it spoils the suspense to see their expression first, especially when they occasionally try to fool us.
Today I write about Deal or No Deal which is very compelling TV and not quite as overexposed (but getting there). What happened to the average Joe contestant? Lately there has been a parade of strange participants, not entirely unlike the old studio audience for Let's Make a Deal.
I like DOND but I don't like the casting. Howie Mandel is unexpectedly perfect and the briefcase girls are fun to watch, usually. But the contestants are getting weirder by the day.
P.S. I wish the briefcase girls (oops, briefcase women) would open the case and react, without peeking first and then opening. Because it spoils the suspense to see their expression first, especially when they occasionally try to fool us.
