I'm not a big game show watcher but I have to admit that one piqued my interest a number of years ago although I can't really tell you why! This is from April 3, 2006.
This wasn't what I planned to write about. I returned from our Monday Night For The Master meeting at our congregation with the intent of finishing a story I started this afternoon. A funny thing happened as I prepared to sit down at the computer. Flipping on the television, I caught the tail end of a section of Deal Or No Deal, the NBC game show. To play requires no knowledge or skill. Twenty-six gorgeous models are on stage holding twenty-six numbered briefcases. The briefcases contain written amounts of money ranging from 1 cent to one million dollars. A contestant picks one briefcase as their own and then the elimination process begins. As numbers are called, the briefcases are opened to show a dollar amount which will be taken off the board. As the numbers are canceled, an unidentified 'banker' phones host Howie Mandel and offers money to the player to exchange for their briefcase. It sounds very silly but I got caught up in it tonight. A young lady of Eastern descent was the one in the spotlight, advised by a committee of family members and friends. Coming out of college, she had a debt of about $200,000 in student loans. As the game progressed and she continually knocked the smallest totals out of the game, the suspense became overwhelming and I HAD to watch. Mandel, best known as a comic, plays his role masterfully and the drama is excruciatingly extended by cutting to commercials just as another briefcase is about to be opened. I have a confession to make. I found myself cheering and thrusting my fists in the air every time she made a successful choice and my body twisted in agony as I waited for the briefcase to be opened EVER SO SLOOOOOOOWLY. The offer reached $199,000, enough to pay off her debt... but she kept going, despite the wishes of her kin. Finally, there were just three cases left. The amounts remaining were 1 cent, $400,000 and $750,000. The banker's offer reached $375,000... and she accepted the deal. A sigh of relief escaped from her family; if she had continued, she might have ended up with only one penny. The crowd cheered but I was drained. I can't keep going like this!
Life can never be as consistently dramatic as Deal Or No Deal but I would guess it is that kind of rush that gamblers live for. Most of us desire a measure of calmness, a coating of serenity in our sixteen hours of waking time. We cherish hymns like Blessed Assurance, aching for some knowledge of what our future holds. According to NBC, no one at Deal Or No Deal is aware of the amounts in any briefcase- they are as much in the dark as the contestants. Our Father in heaven is never in the dark. He knows what is hidden in the briefcases of our lives. He wants us to gravitate to the ones which benefit our walk and shun the ones whose contents will damage us. He doesn't make us wait for commercials and we always know we will win in the end. The best deal, the only deal, is HIS deal.
Applicable quote of the day:
" NBC's Deal Or No Deal may be tv's dumbest game show ever, or, quite possibly, it is brilliant in its simplicity."
Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
This wasn't what I planned to write about. I returned from our Monday Night For The Master meeting at our congregation with the intent of finishing a story I started this afternoon. A funny thing happened as I prepared to sit down at the computer. Flipping on the television, I caught the tail end of a section of Deal Or No Deal, the NBC game show. To play requires no knowledge or skill. Twenty-six gorgeous models are on stage holding twenty-six numbered briefcases. The briefcases contain written amounts of money ranging from 1 cent to one million dollars. A contestant picks one briefcase as their own and then the elimination process begins. As numbers are called, the briefcases are opened to show a dollar amount which will be taken off the board. As the numbers are canceled, an unidentified 'banker' phones host Howie Mandel and offers money to the player to exchange for their briefcase. It sounds very silly but I got caught up in it tonight. A young lady of Eastern descent was the one in the spotlight, advised by a committee of family members and friends. Coming out of college, she had a debt of about $200,000 in student loans. As the game progressed and she continually knocked the smallest totals out of the game, the suspense became overwhelming and I HAD to watch. Mandel, best known as a comic, plays his role masterfully and the drama is excruciatingly extended by cutting to commercials just as another briefcase is about to be opened. I have a confession to make. I found myself cheering and thrusting my fists in the air every time she made a successful choice and my body twisted in agony as I waited for the briefcase to be opened EVER SO SLOOOOOOOWLY. The offer reached $199,000, enough to pay off her debt... but she kept going, despite the wishes of her kin. Finally, there were just three cases left. The amounts remaining were 1 cent, $400,000 and $750,000. The banker's offer reached $375,000... and she accepted the deal. A sigh of relief escaped from her family; if she had continued, she might have ended up with only one penny. The crowd cheered but I was drained. I can't keep going like this!
Life can never be as consistently dramatic as Deal Or No Deal but I would guess it is that kind of rush that gamblers live for. Most of us desire a measure of calmness, a coating of serenity in our sixteen hours of waking time. We cherish hymns like Blessed Assurance, aching for some knowledge of what our future holds. According to NBC, no one at Deal Or No Deal is aware of the amounts in any briefcase- they are as much in the dark as the contestants. Our Father in heaven is never in the dark. He knows what is hidden in the briefcases of our lives. He wants us to gravitate to the ones which benefit our walk and shun the ones whose contents will damage us. He doesn't make us wait for commercials and we always know we will win in the end. The best deal, the only deal, is HIS deal.
Applicable quote of the day:
" NBC's Deal Or No Deal may be tv's dumbest game show ever, or, quite possibly, it is brilliant in its simplicity."
Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
1 comment:
It is amazing how people take risks at the end(or maybe greed realy kicks in). Unless there are two big numbers, I think you should quit and take what the banker gives you.
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