A Brief Look at NBC's "Take It All"

As most of you may have heard by now, Howie Mandel will be returning to his role as a game show host as he will take the helm of the upcoming, gift-stealing, NBC game show Take It All, which was formerly titled Howie Mandel's White Elephant. The new series is based on the popular holiday game, White Elephant, and is due to premiere during the 2012 holiday season on  on December 10 at 9:00pm EST. Hollywood Junket gives us insight to how the game is played and what the viewers can expect for the new NBC game show. 

Here are the rules: The show beings with five contestants, with each contestant approaching the "Dream Board" one at a time and choose one of many large colored question marks, each representing a prize. The extraordinary and interesting prizes at stake ranges from a Mercedes Benz to a barbecue boat. Afterwards, the next contestant will have a chance to either pick a prize from the Dream Screen or steal another contestant's prize. Throughout the game, the contestants will have one chance to lock their prize so no one else can steal it. After each round, the contestant holding the least expensive prize will be eliminated from the game and will leave empty-handed. The remaining two contestants will face off in the "Prisoner's Dilemma" final round, similar to what you may have seen on Friend or Foe, Golden Balls, and/or The Bank Job. Both contestants will have to choose a cash award envelope, which could contain up to $250,000 in cash inside, and decide if they want to keep their prizes or "take it all". Here are the possible outcomes of each game:

- Contestant #1: "Keep Prizes" + Contestant #2: "Keep Prizes" = Both Contestants Win Their Prizes

- Contestant #1: "Keep Prizes" + Contestant #2: "Take It All" = Contestant #2 Keeps Prizes and Wins Contestant #1's Prizes

- Contestant #1: "Take It All" + Contestant #2: "Take It All" = Both Contestants Lose Everything

Before each contestant make their final, life-changing decision, both will plead their cases to why they should both make the right decision and be satisfied with what they have won, as opposed to being greedy and risk losing the prizes they have earned to that point. After their choices have been locked-in, two video clips will be shown featuring what the contestants would choose to do if they had made it to the final round. 

Take It All may simply seem like a holiday version of Deal or No Deal, but I assure you it will be better than DOND for a couple of reasons: the strategy and competitive factor between the contestants and presence of luxurious prizes, the same factor which made The New Treasure Hunt appealing to many fans and viewers. Knowing that this is an NBC game show, I would expect a lot of "spoiler" commercial break teasers and annoying cliffhangers leading into the breaks, a lot of emotion from the contestants, and an intro which previews and somewhat spoils each episode. For the time being, the only problem I have with the show is the Prisoner's Dilemma end game because it has been used many times on past game shows. Other than that, I'm looking forward to the premiere of the "Deal or No Deal/Friend or Foe" hybrid, Take It All, in December and I have no doubt that Howie Mandel will do an excellent job of hosting this show as he has done with Deal or No Deal and the dreck that was the GSN's 2009 Game Show Awards. 

Sources: Hollywood Junket