Duel (U.S. Game Show) - Broadcast History

Broadcast History

Duel was created by the Francophone production house FrenchTV, with BermanBraun being the U.S. production firm. It is headed by Lloyd Braun and Gail Berman, both former network executives.

The series first aired from December 17 to December 23, 2007 on ABC at 8:00 PM (7:00 Central) from Monday through Friday and its finale on Sunday; for its first four nights, it was up against Clash of the Choirs on NBC.

Initial reviews were mixed; some praised the show for bringing something different and original to American television, while others derided Greenberg's hosting on the first night and the amount of "padding" the first episode (which was 90 minutes in length) seemed to have. Several critics derided the show for giving contestants "stereotypical" titles, such as "The Fire Captain" and "The Alligator Wrestler".

As the series progressed, however, critics began noticing how several contestants were chosen at random several times in a row, yet were never picked by the on-stage contestant; three contestants didn't play in the tournament at all.

The question of the final duel between Ashlee Register and Robert Elswick for $1.72 million was:

• "Which of these weighs more?"

(A) Gallon of water

(B) Gallon of crude oil

(C) Gallon of vegetable oil

(D) They all weigh the same

While Register covered all four answers on her side (later stating that she "didn't want to take a gamble on the first question"), Elswick covered all except the correct answer; when Greenberg asked him about his logic, Elswick eventually realized that oil floats on water and hence is lighter than water, so A was correct.