"Deal or No Deal Island," is a show that took a chunk of different programs, shoved them into a blender, and it resulted in a weird but somehow tasty mix. It's got some, "Survivor," with the nature setting and challenges that incorporate the wilds. It gives me some, "Big Brother," vibes as everyone is making secret alliances and plotting against each other. There also is a game show element with folks literally playing a version of, "Deal or No Deal," to try and grow a prize pot and not get kicked off the island. This arguably should not work as an odd mix of genres, but it somehow does. I didn't watch the first season because I wasn't intrigued by the show at the time. However, the second season drew me in when I saw one of the best players of, "Big Brother," ever would appear, Dr. Will. I started watching for Will and liked the show enough that I'm now kind of hooked.
The cast is an interesting blend of regular folks and reality show celebs--a bit like the first season of, "The Traitors," before it started only using, "Known," individuals. This mix works quite well as television newbies and old vets conspire with or against each other. The extremely affable Joe Manganiello hosts and I enjoy his presence as the man is both a great actor and delightfully open about being a huge nerd even if he's all fit/muscular. Most episodes involve a challenge where suitcases with monetary amounts are gathered to be used later in the show (and the chance to be safe from any risk of going home usually is involved too). Then, contestants chat and make plans to help or hinder one another with the episode generally culminating in a mini-game of, "Deal or No Deal," where whoever is, "Facing the banker," hopes to have a suitcase worth the most money possible of leftover cases if they don't cut a deal (lest they go home), or a really bad suitcase if they do cut a deal so they get to stay on the island and send someone else home.
Honestly, the last part is probably the least interesting aspect of the show as I never cared much for, "Deal or No Deal," when it was simply a show as the whole thing is just a random numbers and odds game. However, putting all this intrigue and chaos around the mini-gameshow at the end manages to make the whole endeavor quite interesting overall--greater than the sum of its Frankensteined parts that created this show. Dr. Will wasn't even on this season of, "Deal or No Deal Island," for too long as everybody disliked him and was eager to vote the guy out. I like the show though so I'm going to be here watching this season to the end (a new episode is tonight) and if there are future ones I will probably check those out too!
5 out of 5 Stars.
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