Deal Or No Deal, the show that NBC dangles in front of our faces three times a week, like so much money in a briefcase, is pretty dumb. It's also wildly popular––for the moment, anyway. I think the public's threshold for Howie Mandel's shiny head and OCD-dictated knuckle touch is getting pretty low.
But most of the show's popularity doesn't have anything to do with Howie, it has to do with the fact that 1. The game requires no skill 2. There are tons of models on stage 3. There's lots of pretty lights and 4. There's a villain: The Banker.
And just who is this Banker? His voice is never heard, his face is never seen, and his name is never revealed. Thankfully, though,
It turns out that The Banker is, like his silhouette, pretty two-dimensional. A sample of his neatly-packaged anger:
These people should just be grateful for the opportunity. I've had to work long and hard for everything I've got. I don't have the patience any more for another pathetic bug crawling under my window mewling for money. Enough.
Mewling? Nice touch, Banker. But the best part about the Banker's rarely-updated blog are the numerous angry or confused comments that each of his posts elicits, most of which are from people who think that the Banker is a real person, and not an over-worked line producer.
For example:
ur unfair, and unjust no one is going to like u unless u give them the million dollars duh!
joey – April 13, 5:15 pm
Hey banker Howie will beat you up and steal your money beacause hes from the hood homie watch out for howie
the master – April 13, 7:45 pm
And then there's this guy, who is the most incoherent voice of reason ever:
whatever. u r losers all of u!!! the banker doesn't even exist. it's a computer head. why else wouldnt he show himself? and hes always nodding in the same way. and how come it takes him twenty minutes to figure out how much to offer during the game but after they take the deal they can say right away his offers? gimme a break and get a life. talkin 2 the imaginary banker. seriously