Friday, May 21, 2010

I hate myself for watching this show

My taste in entertainment has gone to crap. I watched Deal or No Deal a few times and before you knew it, I was emotionally involved in the decisions of the contestants. "Take the money," I yelled at my TV screen when given the opportunity to take a deal. If you haven't watched the show, here is a summary. There is no skill invloved. You don't even need to talk. All you need to be able to convey is Yes or No. There are models that hold briefcases. Each case has a dollar amount. The goal is to eliminate the low amounts so that only the high amounts remain. After several eliminations, the contestant is given an option to get a guaranteed amount if they accept the "deal". By accepting, they waive the right to win potentially more money. But the risk is that if you reject the deal, you may eliminate the $1,000,000 briefcase. The higher the remaining amounts remain, the more you are offered. It's amazing to see people reject $100,000 + when statistics tell you that you are not likely to win the million.
Here is what happened today. Some hick that lives with his sister is offered something like $250,000. His "friends" tell him. "No deal". His sister, (who probably wants him the F--- out of there) begs him with her hands crossed under her chin, "Take the deal", she pleads. "No deal!" the hick responds to an erruption of applause. The next briefcase he eliminates is the $1,000,000. "That's ok", one friend tells him. "There is still the $5000,000.". He eliminates a couple of more and now he is offered like $120,000. His sister pleads with him again, This time she looks more desperate, "take the deal!" she urges him. He plunges his fat hand forward and tells Howie Mandel, "No deal". At this point, the sister covers her face with her hands. There are only 4 suitcases left. One has $500,000 the other 3 have less than $500. That's right he rejected $120,000 when there was only a 25% chance of chosing the $500,000. He has to eliminate one more case. You guessed right. He eliminates the $500,000. Bottom line: He ended up winning $10. He put on a front like he was a rebel and waved to the crowd doing the "heavy metal horn salute". I can just imagine the ride home; his sister telling him, "what the F--- were you thinking. Imagine the friend that was telling him to reject $200,000 + and later $100,000 +. But it happens all the time, contestants get offered really good money and they reject it when logic,math, and common sense dictates that you should take the money and run. I'll prob. see the show again and I will scream at the guy telling him to take the money and at the end of the show, I don't know what's a sadder sight- the contestant losing a chance at riches or my empty life getting so involved in the decisions of strangers.

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