Deal Or No Deal Island Deserted, Production Eyes Classic Revival

Earlier today, it was announced that NBC’s Deal Or No Deal Island was cancelled, and will not return for a third season. The reality competition show was hosted by Joe Manganiello, and it featured a combination of Deal or No Deal and Survivor-like elements. In each season, a group of contestants competed in a variety of challenges, in hopes of winning a jackpot of over $10 million.

But it appears that there’s hope for Deal or No Deal yet. The show’s production company, Endemol Shine North America, is looking for a network or streamer to pick up a reboot of the original format, which was revealed shortly after Deal or No Deal Island’s cancellation. Deal or No Deal originated in the Netherlands, as the bonus round of another game show called Miljoenenjacht. Since then, it’s been exported to over 80 countries, including the United States.

The first American version of Deal or No Deal premiered in 2005 on NBC. It was a primetime show that was hosted by Howie Mandel, and it ran for four seasons before ending in 2009. Mandel also hosted a syndicated version from 2008 to 2010, as well as a one-season revival on CNBC in 2018 and 2019. It’s unknown if he will return if Deal or No Deal does get picked up again. Aside from the English language adaptations, there have also been two Spanish versions in the United States. Vas o No Vas aired on Telemundo from 2006 to 2007, and Lo Tomas o Lo Dejas premiered on UniMas earlier this year.

Deal or No Deal has also seen a decent amount of success online in recent years. The Deal or No Deal Universe channel was launched on YouTube in 2020, and it features games from the NBC, CNBC, and syndicated versions of the show, as well as various episodes from elsewhere in the English-speaking world. Over the last five years, Deal or No Deal Universe has racked up nearly 85 million views.

The NBC and CNBC versions of Deal or No Deal typically had a top prize of $1 million, which was only won twice across over 300 episodes. Jessica Robinson and Tomorrow Rodriguez both accomplished the feat, but both of their games took place during special Million Dollar Mission episodes. Robinson’s board had 5 $1 million cases, and Rodriguez’s had 9. As of now, we’ve yet to see someone win the top prize in a standard game in the US.

As of now, we don’t know how much prize money would be up for grabs in a revival, but it could be a new opportunity for contestants to be sent home millionaires.