Deal or No Deal Island is a new reality competition show on NBC. What’s it about?
The good people at NBC heard you, and they’ve done something to right the injustice: the 234 episodes of Deal or No Deal that aired between 2005 and 2019 (there was a hiatus between 2009 and 2018 for some reason) were simply not enough.
It’s time to take this baby to an island… and thus, Deal or No Deal Island is upon us.
I enjoyed reading the official description of the original Deal or No Deal on IMDB by the way: “Contestants face 26 sums of money, 26 suitcases, and one question: Deal or no deal?”
Sums of money, indeed.
The new version of the long running reality-meets-competition/game show is called Deal or No Deal Island and… well, the rules are a little bit complicated:
In a new twist on the classic game show hosted by Joe Manganiello, 13 contestants travel to the banker’s private island, where they compete in daring challenges to find hidden briefcases worth over $200 million. Then, a player is selected to face the banker in a game of “Deal or No Deal,” where they bank some cash for the group pot, hoping to make a good deal and avoid being eliminated from the competition. In the end, only one contestant will outplay the others and finally beat the banker for a shot at winning the ultimate prize.
$200 million is a lot of money, even for a prime-time game show on a broadcast network. I’m gonna go ahead and suppose that “beating the banker” and winning even a small portion of that $200M is going to be pretty, pretty hard, as Larry David of Curb Your Enthusiasm might say, but who knows?
The “sneak peak” video reveals that “the banker is back.”
I should add that one of the most interesting things about Deal or No Deal Island to me is the participation of Boston Rob as a contestant.
If you don’t know who Boston Rob is, he’s a legendary player of Survivor, the godfather of all tropics-based competition shows.
Boston Rob says in the clip: “This might be some of my best work to date.”
Deal or No Deal Island: when and where is it on?
Deal or No Deal Island premieres on NBC on Monday, February 26th, 2024 at 9:30p. The premiere episode is called “Are You A Gambler?”
Deal or No Deal Island: on islands and buried treasure
I started thinking about islands and buried treasure, which naturally leads to pirate-related fare. Pirate Latitudes, Michael Crichton’s final novel, is quite fun and exciting on that score. For more a modern tale – this one takes place out east in the Hamptons of Long Island, New York – check out Plum Island by Nelson DeMille.
DeMille is one of my favorite novelists, and Plum Island kicks off the John Corey series, which includes about eight books thus far, and they’re all at least very good.