The "Millionaire Mistake"

So, what's on the tube tonight?

Deal Or No Deal, huh?

Yes, NBC (Numbskulls Broadcasting Crap) is now airing this pitiful excuse for a so-called "game show" three times a week. Well, I suppose if it's that or another lame-ass sitcom like Four Kings, well then---actually I'd even prefer that sad exercise in unfunniness to Deal.

Anyway, this is actually good news to people with the common sense to despise this show. Basically, NBC is making the mistake that they vowed not to when the show first aired in December. It's what I'll call "The Millionaire Mistake." Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, you might remember, grabbed big ratings at first, when it aired as a week-long special event, just as Deal first did. But when ABC put the show on the schedule regularly, airing it three or four times a week, people quickly lost interest and the show was soon cancelled. (Though it lives on in a syndicated version.) Well, NBC stated many times that they had learned from ABC's mistakes and weren't going to overexpose Deal. I guess "overexposure" means four times a week.

Frankly, I think people will get sick of Deal even quicker than they did Millionaire. Basically, once you've seen one episode of Deal you've seen them all. Sure, all game shows follow the same formula every episode, but at least most of them have the element of skill in the questions asked or puzzles to solve, which also gives the viewers the opportunity to play along at home. No such chance with Deal, though. You just sit there and watch people point at women holding briefcases for hour after hour. (My friend Joe has observed that the woman, who all look alike, are sort of like the girls from the 1980's videos of Robert Palmer.)

Frankly, I'll be surprised if the show makes it to May.