Raw 'Deal'

Deal or No Deal is a hit, but then so, probably, was the death of George Reeves.

I don't much want to see either.

Jerry Springer once pulled a 5 rating, and would have probably kept on pulling it had not Barry Diller decided or whoever it was decided that the good ratings weren't worth the bad publicity or, and wouldn't it be great if it were the case, that the ratings weren't worth the extent to which it exploited often not-brilliant people for the entertainment of the masses.

Deal or No Deal, as you all know, features women dressed in lingerie carrying suitcases full of money with which to tempt the contestants.

If they lose, it is often having given up a decent chunk of change for the lure of even bigger bucks. Even the winners are forced to find out whether they could have won even more money than they did, so that even winners often don't get to enjoy their victory without the nagging worm of doubt.

I know it's a time-honored formula. I sound particularly curmudgeonly. But I wish time would honor some other formula instead.