*tumbleweed blows by*
Wow, looks like the USA section has been dormant for a long time. No one's bothered to post a recap in ages. Hang on a second while I tidy up around here a bit.

*blows away 20 lbs of dust*

That's better. Anyway, welcome to the first new DoND USA recap in months. By now I'm sure you all know that the US primetime version will not be on NBC's schedule come January. Whether that is a good thing or not is up fore debate. With only three primetime episodes remaining, I thought I'd recap the last three episodes for you, since it's not every day that we here at dond.co.uk experience the cancellation of one country's version of the show.

Anyway, as you can tell by the date at the top of the thread, this is the Christmas episode of DoND USA. They've gone all out this year, replacing part of the audience seating area with a skating rink, putting up the appropriate decorations, and even replacing the 26 briefcases with 26 gift boxes. Plus, there will be lots of cool gifts for the audience members as well. Even though I often rail on this version for one reason or another, these decorations and audience bonuses add a nice touch.

This is a two-hour episode, which means that two games were featured. Here's the first one.

The Calhoun Family are our first contestants of the the night. They're a fun-loving family with *13* children. For this game, the father and two of the 13 kids will be playing the game (the rest of the family is sitting in the audience). Each person will alternate playing, one round at a time. Because there are 13 kids in their family, they've very appropriately chosen gift box 13 as their own.

Now, in keeping with the Christmas spirit, the show has devised a side game for some bonus money. The nine boxes with the lowest amounts ($.01 through $200) each have the name of one of Santa's reindeer inside. If all nine reindeer names are found before an offer is accepted, a bonus of $25,000 is awarded. Not too shabby, if you ask me. Any amount with an asterisk next to it is one of the boxes that had a reindeer name in it.

Round 1 - 6 to open
Briefcases 17 ($10,000), 4 ($100*), 3 ($500,000), 23 ($750,000), 19 ($25*), and 22 ($500) eliminated. Banker offers $39,000; NO DEAL.

Round 2 - 5 to open
Briefcases 20 ($25,000), 9 ($50*), 5 ($5,000), 8 ($75,000), and 16 ($50,000) eliminated. Banker offers $52,000; NO DEAL.

Round 3 - 4 to open
Briefcases 10 ($1*), 18 ($1,000,000), 11 ($10*), and 2 ($75*) eliminated. Banker offers $29,000; NO DEAL.

Round 4 - 3 to open
Briefcases 15 ($300,000), 7 ($300), and 1 ($200,000) eliminated. Banker offers $21,000; NO DEAL.

Round 5 - 2 to open
Briefcases 25 ($400) and 12 ($750) eliminated. Banker offers $38,000; NO DEAL.\

Round 6 - 1 to open
Briefcase 6 ($200*) eliminated. Banker offers $72,000; NO DEAL.

Round 7 - 1 to open
Briefcase 21 ($100,000) eliminated. Banker offers $61,000; NO DEAL.

Round 8 - 1 to open
Briefcase 24 ($1,000) eliminated. Banker offers $107,000; DEAL.

Final Winnings: $107,000.

$107,000 is safe. But was there more in store for the Calhoun Family? We find out in the proveout rounds.

Proveouts
Round 9 - 1 to open
Briefcase 26 ($400,000) eliminated.

Contestant’s briefcase opened; briefcase contains $5*

Unopened Briefcase: 14 ($.01*).

Wow. Unless I'm misreading the recaps from heelsrule1988's site, that's an OPW. Here at our fine forum, we call that an



Okay, we're off to a great start. But will that trend continue with newlywed and US Army Purple Heart and Silver Star recipient Matt Zedwick? Let's find out as he chooses box 6 as his own to start the game.

Round 1 - 6 to open
Briefcases 11 ($1,000,000), 25 ($.01*), 19 ($25,000), 7 ($10*), 15 ($75,000), and 3 ($100,000) eliminated. Banker offers $43,000; NO DEAL.

Round 2 - 5 to open
Briefcases 16 ($1*), 21 ($5,000), 10 ($50*), 12 ($750), and 14 ($200*) eliminated. Banker offers $91,000; NO DEAL.

Round 3 - 4 to open
Briefcases 2 ($5*), 4 ($300), 23 ($1,000), and 26 ($100*) eliminated. Banker offers $145,000; NO DEAL.

Round 4 - 3 to open
Briefcases 22 ($750,000), 1 ($500), and 9 ($25*) eliminated. Banker offers $154,000; NO DEAL.

Round 5 - 2 to open
Briefcases 13 ($50,000) and 8 ($300,000) eliminated. Banker offers $132,000; NO DEAL.

Round 6 - 1 to open
Briefcase 17 ($75*) eliminated. Banker offers $188,000; NO DEAL.
Note: The $75 was the last remaining reindeer name on the board, so Matt wins a $25,000 bonus on top of whatever else he wins.

Round 7 - 1 to open
Briefcase 5 ($200,000) eliminated. Banker offers $202,000; DEAL.

Final Winnings: $202,000 Deal + $25,000 Bonus = $227,000.

So our US Army hero, who also has his own action figure, has secured himself a big win. But could he have done better? Only the proveouts hold the true answer to that question.

Proveouts
Round 8 - 1 to open
Briefcase 24 ($500,000) eliminated. Banker offers $102,000.

Round 9 - 1 to open
Briefcase 20 ($10,000) eliminated. Banker offers $187,000.

Contestant’s briefcase opened; briefcase contains $400.

Unopened Briefcase: 18 ($400,000).

Holy cow, that's amazing! Not one, but two OPWs in one show! I honestly cannot recall the last time that has happened on the US verison. Great stuff. Thus, it's another



A great end to a great episode. For once, the US version was actually fun to watch. Yes, I actually did just say that; you are not dreaming.

Until next time, this Mad Mark wishing you all a very happy holiday season !

Recap information courtesy of heelsrule1988's DoND USA recaps site, available at http://heelsrule1988.tripod.com/dealornodeal/index.htm .

Hey, anything is better than watching two Christmas Star players commit seppuku on the UK version.

Two OPWs and I think I may have done the same in each. It may take a recession to get sensible US contestants, but hey... we got them...

I'd have done the same in both too...some great games finally!

Also, to see the offer increase after the highest amount was found halfway through the second game (the $750,000), that was good too!