When it comes to TV, international shows getting a local spin never run out of viewers.
From Survivor to Idols and the Real Housewives franchise, South Africans love their TV shows.
Home Brew Films has given audiences a taste of the local version of the Dutch show, Deal or No Deal (DOND).
The premise is simple and remains exactly as it is in all the other franchised versions of this show. Deal or No Deal is a game show where contestants try to win the highest amount of money by opening briefcases that contain different amounts of cash.
The contestants are offered a deal by a mysterious banker, who tries to persuade them to accept a lower amount than what they might have in their chosen briefcase. The contestants can either accept the deal or say, ‘no deal’ and continue opening more briefcases until they reveal what is in their own one.
The show is doing well locally with people enjoying the format, the game and of course the talents of Katlego Maboe as the show’s host. The show is performing so well in fact that it has already been picked up for a longer run for the entirety of 2024.
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“The reception of DOND has been extremely positive since its premier. We have allowed viewers to be part of the players journey and supporting them in their dreams and that has captivated our audience. The viewership has drastically increased since its premier in March, which goes to show the overwhelming support for the game show, Deal or No Deal,” says the show’s producer Courtney Jeftha.
DOND SA follows the same game mechanics as the Dutch versions where 20 ordinary citizens are contestants on the show and remain on the show until they are randomly selected to play. These contestants from different parts of the country invariably entered Deal or No Deal to fulfil their desires and dreams.
“We have 20 contestants, who are ordinary South African citizens, opening the box and being part of the DOND journey as soon as they step foot on the stage. Our focus is solely on ordinary South Africans with a dream to improve their life.
“Most of the shared sentiments expressed by the applicants are related to the socio-economic issues in South Africa. This is evident in their reasoning as to why they want to be a contestant on the show, many applicants have expressed that they would like to purchase a home, pay for their school fees, or memorialise their loved ones with a tombstone.”
She believes that under such socio-economic circumstance, South Africans regard money as a necessity to survive, and the people of the country hold high hopes for a better life, “The show's contestants have brought a sense of optimism and hope into the lives of our viewers as they watch in real time how the players life is changing.”
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The DOND SA application is open to all South African citizens over the age of 18.
They have tens of thousands of applicants, many of whom share similar goals and dreams thus when selecting applicants, “we look for three significant things in each application, the first one is individuality, the second, personality, and thirdly why they want to be a contestant and how the money won could help them. The story of the applicant provides context as to why they entered the show, and with all three entities combined, captivates, entertains, and resonates with the audience.”
In DOND SA, there are 20 boxes in front of 20 contestants, each containing a cash amount inside ranging from as little as R1 to a whopping of R250 000.
“No one knows what amount is placed in the box numbers, except for one disclosed person. The contestants are selected to play at random, and with that said the presenter, producers, directors, production crew and the contestants do not know the amount contained in each box. This ensures that the game is always fair and simply a game of chance.”
There is so much South Africa is yet to see on the show, according to Courtney. The most memorable highlight was in their second week since the premiere when a contestant won R250,000.
"He was offered a box swap and instinctively he chose the box containing R250,000, and believed that his box was the winning amount as he said no to the final offer of the game of R135 000. Another memorable moment was when we had a violinist, Sisa, he performed beautifully on the stage of DOND to showcase his talents to South Africa in less than 10 seconds.”
Putting the host in the hotseat
Katlego Maboe is back in the limelight, and he handles the task of hosting this game show with the charisma and charm that has become synonymous with his brand of entertainment.
He says hosting this exhilarating show in which large amounts of money can either be lost or won in an instant has seen him become more emotionally invested than he thought he would be at first.
“Being the host is a hard thing to being next to the player while they are in the hot seat, as they're feeling like today could be the day. I never imagined that I would be so emotionally involved."
He says that we live in a country where for the most part, it's always about every man or every woman for themselves and people predominantly look out for the self.
“We are trying to restore that feeling that we are because of the people around us, the community around us. So, with that, you're genuinely invested in that process. It is quite emotionally taxing.”
He finds this to be a life changing experience so far.
“It's about getting to know the contestants as much as possible. Behind the scenes, I try to have little pick-up conversations here and there with them, trying to gauge where they are emotionally and physically on the day. Obviously, as part of the process into the show, each contestant has to give a little bit of a bio about themselves, where they've been and where it is that they're trying to go to."
He then uses the information as segways into light conversations between rounds of the game bringing the human-interest aspects that aid the show but in a short time of interaction.
“Reading up about their backgrounds, where they come from, what it is that they care about. And hopefully bringing that into each episode to help the person feel like they are genuinely supported, which they are by somebody who cares. And then, of course, from my point of view, just trying to stay on top of just thinking on your feet," the broadcasting veteran says.
“Because the show does require me to flow, to be in a state of flow, that makes it intense. In order for the person who is sitting to feel like everything is going as smoothly as possible. Because as you've seen, if you watch the show, people can get stuck in moments of indecision, in moments of doubt, in moments of fear.”
Because they shoot this show in batches, Katlego struggles from time to time with having seen someone perhaps not do so well in a previous shoot and having those emotions still lingering as the production schedule continues on.
Katlego’s passion for this production was evident as he dispelled any notions that shows like these are preferred to more local and unique ideas.
“Number one, the show is also giving an opportunity for us to show that we can execute world class content, not just in Holland, but in so many different countries. It's a show that has provided excitement and entertainment and opportunity, especially to our audience, where the opportunity to possibly win a quarter of a million rand is life changing for any South African,” he explains.
“I don't see how that could be potentially harmful to the industry or the people. And especially in our approach of the show, because I think that if you weren't watching any of the other versions of the show from any other country, you would have noticed a difference.
“Ours is centered around the values of what we aspire to as South Africans. As I said earlier on that we don't just preach the message of being a family. We really are. We try and support everyone who is in that chair and everyone who is in that studio. We're trying to help sew together the fabric of the South African family.”
Deal or No Deal airs on SABC 1 every weekday at 7.30pm.
