TVSquad

Maybe my home town should offer tax incentives to the networks. It's working for Connecticut. Not only did NBC announce that the half-hour syndicated version of Deal or No Deal is returning for a second season with host Howie Mandel, but it will be relocating and filming in Connecticut.

I guess with a game show it doesn't matter where you film since it's the same set all the time, but are there as many incredibly gorgeous chicks in Connecticut as there are in California? Isn't Cali where they all go to see their dreams of being an actress reduced to standing on a stage next to a briefcase?

As far as we can tell, here are the responsibilities for hosting Deal Or No Deal:

1. Repeat the painfully obvious rules of the game over and over and over.

2. Loudly announce the names of pretty ladies holding suitcases.

3. Pretend that a game requiring absolutely no skills whatsoever requires skills when choosing numbers in a logically devoid random order.

4. Convince fully-grown adults that you're not pretend-talking on the phone to a villainous, money-hungry banker.

5. Never ever touch the palm of another human being.

What the...? Deal or No Deal has 200 episodes under its belt? It seems like only two years, 10 months and 46 days since the show premiered on NBC. Never in the history of game shows has a simple concept like that of Deal been stretched and bent in order to keep the format fresh. There were two-hour episodes, audience participation episodes, episodes that focused around the contestant. and episodes featuring naked briefcase models. All right, the last one is a fantasy of mine. However, should the executives at Endemol be listening...

For the 200th episode, which preempts Chuck tonight at 8 p.m., Deal will be offering another variation of the game. Four lucky contestants will get the chance to take the Banker's challenge or find the million dollar briefcase in a series of speed rounds. Normally, contestants have a pretty big window to determine if they want to take the offer from the Banker -- the whole concept of the game. This episode they will only have a mere 20 seconds to make the decision.

Indeed she will, but she'll have some help. In a change born of trying to keep current with the state of television today, the Emmys will be hosted by the five nominees in the Reality TV Host category. Klum will share hosting duties with Ryan Seacrest, Jeff Probst, Howie Mandel, and (the man that should win it all) Tom Bergeron.

It's a great idea. The standard formula of these shows is something just asking to be shaken up. Klum is probably the biggest question mark here, for the simple fact that she has Tim Gunn to handle much of the unscripted action. I'll be curious to see how she handles the role, and I'm confident that the rest of the nominees will be just fine. The linked article also has a great stat. The average audience of the five nominated shows has been as high as 70 million. Jiminy. The broadcast takes place Sept. 21st, on ABC.

The daily Deal or No Deal finally has a start date. Now you'll be able to fantasize about Howie Mandell's glowing dome of flesh five days a week as Deal or No Deal begins it's syndication run September 8th. And whereas Regis Philbin was far too busy during the week being all over our televisions to host the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Howie's schedule isn't nearly as dense. In fact, now he can set up a cot right there in the studio. Get himself a mini-fridge and a germ-free bubble to unwind in and he'll be good to go.

Since syndication isn't worth as much as prime time (why do you think there's no million dollar prizes on the regular The Price is Right), the top prize is being reduced to $500,000. But, they're adding an interactive element so that home viewers can cash in on the fun, too. Now you can get paid for sitting at home in your soiled underbritches screaming "Number 7! Number 7!" just because that model has the nicest cans. But, hey! I agree with your logic on that. I want to see her fumble with the latches, too. I mean ... wait ... what were we talking about?

It's no secret that the country is in severe financial straits, especially people who are caught in the real estate merry-go-round where they find themselves unable to pay their monthly mortgage. Amazingly, someone as seemingly well-heeled and secure as Ed McMahon is one of those people struggling. Johnny Carson's sidekick on The Tonight Show is on the verge of losing his Beverly Hills home through foreclosure.

Published reports claim that Ed McMahon's home on Mulholland Drive, part of the gated hilltop development called The Summit, has been on the market for sale since 2006. Unfortunately, moving real estate in a depressed market is very tough. Complicating matters for McMahon is the neighborhood, in particular, one neighbor: Britney Spears.

As AOL Television continues their look at the 50 Best TV Comedies -- Ever with their Top 10, we here at TV Squad are also looking at television comedy, but with a slightly skewed difference. Last week, we took a look at the Saturday Night Live cast members from 1996 to 2006 that made it to the big time. This week, we get a bit more serious.

There are those in the industry who say that it is easier to go from acting in a drama to acting in a comedy than it is the other way around. Yet, as you will see from the list we've compiled after the jump, there are plenty of comedic actors who have jumped from the world of comedy films, stand-up comedy, and television sitcoms into the more serious world of drama. In many cases they have had even greater success than they did on the other side of the tracks. There have even been instances where they stayed in the drama genre and never went back to being funny.

Just when you thought awards shows couldn't get any longer, The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced that reality show hosts are eligible to receive Emmys. This year's 60th Annual Emmy Awards will include a category called Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program.

The academy named popular hosts like Ryan Seacrest, Tom Bergeron, Samantha Harris, and Howie Mandel as possible nominees. Ty Pennington, Tyra Banks, and Jeff Foxworthy are also eligible. I'm not surprised that reality hosts are getting this opportunity. The Emmys have had categories for Outstanding Reality Program and Reality-Competition Program since 2001 and 2003, respectively.

This is probably the weirdest video you'll watch today. And no, don't worry, the Deal Or No Deal models aren't going to make a guest appearance on The Office. That would be too much to take.

No, the models appear in a promotional video on NBC's web site, re-enacting a scene from the sitcom. You'll see model...um...what's her name, the hot one, in a cast, talking to another model...um...can't remember her name...sitting behind the desk, playing Pam. The scene is even done in the style of the show, with hand-held cameras, sweeping shots to get reactions of characters, and confessionals. The woman playing the Dwight part only has one line but she's actually rather effective.

Deal or No Deal, the stupid NBC game show that airs a couple of times a week, is being sued by a former "paid audience extra" on the show.

Judy Ann Myers was taping a segment of the show last February, and during a commercial break she was told to hurry up to get into the audience so she could take part in a dance contest that was being held. Well, Myers tripped on the way down (I guess there were no handrails on the stairs and the lighting was bad) and hurt herself, and now she wants $25,000.

Now that is a Superbowl commercial. I fully suspect someone to ask tomorrow, "Did you see that Bud Light ad, with the guys slapping each other?" It's an interesting premise, and does call to mind the How I Met Your Mother episode "Slapbet", which is a good thing.

I really like the editing here. Just having slap after slap after slap once we learn that the face-slap is the new fist-bump was great. Bonus points for the two girls at the wedding. We have to include everyone in the fun. And a nice payoff at the end when Larson slaps his boss across the face after saving the account. This is another contender for ad of the night I think. The only thing that could have been better would have been seeing a dejected Howie Mandel learning that the fist-bump is now out.

Okay, here's the deal. NBC Universal, known in the industry as NBC U (sounds like a university) is interested in producing a five-day-a-week, 30-minute version of their hit nighttime game show Deal or no Deal for syndication. They had originally wanted Arsenio Hall as host, but that deal fell through. So, NBC U executives decided to ask Deal host Howie Mandel to helm the syndication version.

Howie said no, and this has left network executives in a quandary. You see, stations have refused to commit to buying the 30-minute version of the show until a host is found. In addition, with Deal on the back-burner the fate of two additional game shows, Joker's Wild and Combination Lock, are uncertain.

NBC U can get Howie to be host of the syndicated version of Deal if they agree to his hefty asking price. Meanwhile, there are rumors that comedian Mark Curry is also being considered for host if they can't get Howie back to the table. I hope this all gets cleared up because I'd like to see a revival of Joker's Wild, especially with Arsenio Hall as host. I mean, think about it . . . 'Joker, Joker, Joker! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! (said with twirling fist in the air)'.

I'm officially done with Deal Or No Deal. I've tried to like the show, because I'm a game show geek, but the show is just maddening. And now, even the NBC ads are ridiculous.

Did you see the ads NBC was running the last few days for last night's episode? They showed a woman who did really well in the game. So well that she got to the end of the board with most of the big numbers ($400,000 to $1,000,000) still in play. So why did I have to watch the episode? Couldn't I have just turned in really late in the episode to see what happened? Where's the build up in the episode? Where's the drama?

I've already given my review of Deal Or No Deal on these pages, and Joel gave his counterpoint, so this isn't another review of the entire show, it's just an observation I have about one particular part of the show.

After a player decides to take the money, screams "Deal!" and presses the button, Howie (and viewers) want to see what WOULD have happened if the player had continued to play the game. So he'll ask "what number suitcase would you have picked?" And then the player tells him. But this is illogical. Until you're in that moment of a decision, you don't really know what you would have picked. You can think you'd pick a certain thing, but until you're faced with that decision, you don't really know, you're just guessing.

It's even worse when Howie asks the player what they would have picked after that , and then after that. You don't really know what suitcase you would have picked one, two, or three moves down the line. Makes for OK television though.

NBC has announced that they are searching for a new national correspondent for the Tonight Show. Viewers who think they have what it takes to be Jay's field reporter are encouraged to send video or DVD auditions to the show. Submissions will be reviewed by a team of Tonight Show producers and writers. And hey, if you are just too busy this week to get to making your video, no worries. According to NBC, this is not a contest and the submission period does not close.

The winner, or winners, will join the long list of roving reporters for the Tonight Show, which includes Howie Mandel, Kevin Smith, Mo Rocca, Ross the Intern, and Tom Green, among others. More information on the rules for submissions, as well as some tips on making your video, can be found on the Tonight Show website.

I say they combine this with Who Wants To Be A Superhero? and send Lumeria and Major Victory to interview some nutters at a U.F.O. convention.