The taping of the first episode of Deal Or No Deal Canada has begun.
The first contestant selects the first briefcase. One of the 26 gorgeous models picks it up and begins to walk toward host Howie Mandel.
Uh ... wait a minute ... did you see that?
Did the model just trip? It was ever so slight. Was it just our imagination?
Well, no. Taping continues until the first commercial break. Then word comes down from above: "We have to do that again."
Mandel jokes, "Now we're going to press record."
Laughter echoes through the studio audience of 350 people, but there also is apprehension. Are they going to have to redo that entire segment?
No, it's not the entire segment that has to be redone. But the model is brought back in, and the part where she picks up the briefcase and descends onto the main stage is repeated and recorded.
All told, the taping of the debut episode of Deal Or No Deal Canada -- which occurred a couple of weeks ago in downtown Toronto -- goes quite smoothly.
But even a smooth shoot is time-consuming, and it takes almost three and a half hours to record this hour-long TV show. The slick finished product will air on Global tonight, immediately following the Super Bowl.
Interestingly, the taping of a game show as elaborate as Deal Or No Deal Canada presents some of the same challenges faced by producers of live sports events.
"I don't know if you can tell when you're watching at home, because most people aren't versed in TV production, but this show is a monster," Mandel said during an interview. "It's a monster technically."
Before the audience is led into the studio, they are warned that there are going to be no bathroom breaks unless it's a dire emergency. And oh yes, no chewing gum.
Before taping begins, and during every commercial break, there's a dude with a microphone (not Howie) giving away prizes and trying to maintain the appropriate fan frenzy. It's a little annoying, actually.
"There's a competition going on," the dude says. "We have to be louder and better than the American show."
The audience complies as the taping continues, but it backfires, with the crowd sometimes interrupting Mandel and drowning him out. Subsequently, the dude amends his instructions: "Keep the energy up, people, you've been wonderful. But when Howie says, 'Ssshhh', you need to be quiet."
When the American version of Deal Or No Deal is taped, Mandel reportedly has an excellent memory for the models' names and small details about them. But Deal Or No Deal Canada has a different group of 26 models, and is running for only five episodes. So to the right of the models, there's a teleprompter that Howie can see. When a briefcase is selected, the teleprompter brings up the name of the model and her hometown.
During most of the commercial breaks -- which take at least 15 minutes -- Mandel leaves the set. But when there are technical glitches that halt the proceedings momentarily, Mandel stays on stage and does his best to keep the audience loose and laughing.
During one such stoppage, a small child seated with the family of one of the contestants is running around, and a staffer tries to corral her.
But Mandel intercedes on behalf of the toddler: "Whatever she needs to do, you let her do," Mandel says. "I'll handle it." (Still, once taping resumes, the director quietly leads the toddler back to her seat.)
During another break, Mandel slides his hand along the glass podium that anchors the stage.
"Oh good, they cut the corner of this table," Mandel says. "Yesterday I was re-circumcised."
At the end of the day, for something that looks so effortless on TV, the taping has been a bit of an endurance test for the audience, not to mention the people who work on the show.
"We didn't have many glitches," Mandel said. "You have no idea what goes into this show, and when we first built the set in the U.S., we had to do things over and over again.
"But I've been taping TV shows for 30 years and technically speaking, this is the slickest, highest-end, most professional production I ever have seen."
