Big Deal (game show)

Big Deal
Format Game Show
Presented by Mark DeCarlo
Country of origin  United States
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 6
Production
Running time 60 Minutes
Broadcast
Original channel FOX
Original run September 1 – October 6, 1996
Chronology
Preceded by Let's Make a Deal (1963-1977, 1980-1981, 1984-1986, 1990-1991)
Followed by Let's Make a Deal (2003)

Big Deal is a television game show that aired in the United States for six weeks in 1996 on FOX. It was hosted by Mark DeCarlo and packaged by Stone-Stanley Productions, with swing group Big Bad Voodoo Daddy as the house band.

Due to low ratings, it only lasted six episodes (only three of which were seen in their entirety by East Coast viewers, due to NFL doubleheaders); the series was originally scheduled to return in the spring of 1997, shortened to a half-hour and with Heidi Mark joining DeCarlo as co-host, but these plans were ultimately scrapped.

Contents

Format

The show's format followed that of Let's Make a Deal; however, stunts similar to those featured on Truth or Consequences were also added to give the show its own personality. Some of these stunts were played in order to earn a smaller prize, which could then be gambled for an unknown behind a curtain or a box à la LMAD; other stunts awarded different prizes based on how well (or how poorly) the contestant performed.

In-Studio Stunts

Some of the games played involved the contestants participating in the studio itself:

Demolition Stunts

Notable to many of these stunts was the overt destruction by the contestant to his own property in an attempt to win a better prize. Examples of such stunts included:

  • Throwing baseballs at the windows of one's house in order to win new furnishings (and new windows) for the home;
  • Destroying one's own automobile with a sledgehammer - if the car was judged by an insurance agent to be totaled, the contestant won a brand new car;
  • Dropping one's own possessions (such as TV's, golf clubs, etc.) off of a crane onto a giant tic-tac-toe board; getting three in a row won a larger prize package.

While DeCarlo played up the fact that losing one of these games resulted in nothing more than a tragic loss, a disclaimer at the end of every episode stated that contestants who damaged their own possessions would be reimbursed money according to the value of their belongings before they were destroyed.

The Big Deal

The Big Deal of the evening was played exactly like that of Let's Make a Deal. DeCarlo would go back into the audience and invite contestants who had won something to trade their prize(s) in for a shot at the Big Deal, starting with the top winner and working downward. After two players were selected, they were presented with three large screens (the only variant from LMAD, as actual doors were used in that series). One of these screens contained the Big Deal, a prize package usually worth more than any other prize offered that day. The top winner got first selection, and the contents of each of the three screens were revealed, usually in ascending order. The contestants kept whatever was "behind" their screen.