Welcome to donduk. A refuge for those who enjoy Deal or No Deal, the hit Channel 4 gameshow hosted by Noel Edmonds. The award winning gameshow Deal or No Deal has become a big hit for Channel 4 and marks a sensational return to our screens of Noel Edmonds.

Deal or No Deal is enjoyed my millions of viewers daily, where the contestants battle with The Banker to try and win a jackpot of £250,000. Here at donduk you will find full daily reports of each show, as well Deal or No Deal news and specials. Deal or No Deal although initially appearing very simple in format of just opening a few boxes for the chance to win some big money prizes, actually has some potentially complex decisions to be made at points throughout the show, the contestants occasionally try complex or simple gameplay in an attempt to give them an edge in beating the Banker.

Friday, March 24, 2006

DOND should now be a live show

Currently DOND shows are recorded at the rate of three a day, two days per week, some two months before transmission. The contestants are carefully vetted before being selected and then the player chosen for a particular game seems to be fore-warned.

All of the above is effectively denied through the show's presentation - Noel talks about '...on this Friday we have...', '...as today is Valentine's Day..' etc - and the format suggests random selection of a player by flashing many names on to the screen before selecting one.

This obfuscation detracts from the show's ...honesty.

A significant reason for being so fanatical about DOND is the reality that the contestants bring to their play as they journey from box 1 to 22. Knowing that some of the contestants are game show veterans strikes at the very heart of this, a nagging question at the back of my mind when a large amount has been won is 'could this be staged, is this an actor?' Usually the performance of the player is such that I am persuaded in his/her validity but there would be no such doubt if the show was live.

Of course there is greater cost in broadcasting this show live, not least the fact that they could only produce one show per day instead of three, but DOND has become one of the highest rated shows on television - I am pretty sure the profit would still be there - and it would help to ensure continued following from people who simply want to watch people take REAL risks.

In fact it would be even more compelling (if that were possible) knowing that Endemol were taking risks too.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

DOND is filmed 3 shows a day 5 days a week over a period of 2 weeks then they take a weeks holiday. Endemol do know who the contestant is going to be for that particular show but the contestant themselves have no idea whatsoever.

Anonymous said...

I disagree. I have seen what's involved in making a TV quiz show behind the scenes as I work for a large broadcasting organisation and trust me, if they really did this live, it would look very amateurish since every fluff and error (and there are many in a show like this) would be apparent.

I've seen many quiz shows and I suspect they film it like Who Wants to be a Millionaire - "as live", where they film almost completely as if the programme is live but then have the option to edit and re-take should they need to. I've been in the audience for Millionaire where after the show they got all the contestants back in to re-shoot the "fastest finger first" as they didn't get the camera shots needed the first time.

Incidentally, I can thoroughly recommend being in the audience for Millionaire. It's run by a close-knit production team even down to the warm up commedian who is fantastic. (and no, I don't work for Channel 4 or have anything to do with Millionaire!)