Deal or No Deal (U.S. Syndicated Game Show) - History

History

Originally, Mandel planned not to host the syndicated version, as his asking price to host it, in addition to the prime time NBC version, was considered to be outside of the production budget. Arsenio Hall was first considered to be the host, and even taped a pilot for the syndicated version, but was later passed over. According to rumors, Mark Curry and Frank Nicotero were also among the candidates. NBC also had concerns that the syndicated show would harm the prime time show, as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire had suffered from overexposure. However, the syndicated version debuted September 8, 2008, with Mandel as host.

Initially, NBC planned to package this program with the Program Partners-produced Merv Griffin's Crosswords for its first season, as its owned and operated stations were already airing Crosswords and were picking up Deal or No Deal as well. However, this was later scrapped after Crosswords abruptly stopped production after its first season and most, if not all, of the NBC O&Os aired Deal or No Deal in a double-run format.

As Deal or No Deal became an exclusively syndicated show for the 2009–10 season, major changes were made to the show:

• The show moved from the Culver Studios in Culver City, California to the Sonalysts Studios in Waterford, Connecticut, as part of a corporate decision in which four NBC Universal Television Distribution shows moved to Connecticut. The entire set was shipped east, but scaled down to fit the studio.

• The show was also to be taped in high-definition, the fourth current game show to be taped in the format, joining Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, and The Price Is Right. However, for whatever reason, this did not occur.