I like Deal or No Deal, but I know it's not something like Weakest Link or Greed. I think shows like this have a place in the game show world, but if you're watching to be challenged, Deal or No Deal will not satisfy you.
I'm sort of bothered by the "foreign countries haven't seen Wheel/Feud/etc." comment. UK's Family Fortunes has lasted about as long as Family Feud. Australia's Deal or No Deal is cutting into the ratings for its version of The Price Is Right. Hell, Reg Grundy did better with his version of $ale of the Century than the original producer - the show lasted 21 years in Australia, for one. These formats do get around.
If you need to blame a country for Deal or No Deal, blame Endemol Nederland. It came up with the show. Endemol comes up with a lot of formats, strangely.
The '"foreign countries haven't seen Wheel/Feud/etc." comment.' was in fact intended as a bit of sarcasm and nothing more. The game is depressingly unchallenging, and the fact that it is a hit in over 35 countries seems both vaguely depressing somehow and worthy of a bit of sarcasm. I want people to want something challenging both as a contestant and a viewer. And yet it seems to be doing well, so perhaps Mencken was right about the intelligence of the public.
That said, it was a Canadian - Monty Hall - who developed the basic concept of trading the bird in hand for what might be in the bush with his Let's Make A Deal, even if he had to go to the US to sell it. (Canadian sponsors and networks are capital "C" cheap, so it wasn't a matter of superior taste.) I do apologize for the unmarked sarcasm though.
I actually think that the reason that is is such a hit (and I do watch it) is watching how stupid some of the people can be.
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