"Deal With It" Review

Set Design- 10

Gameplay- 7

Show Flow- 7

Potential Viewer Ratings- 3

Play-Along Factor- 2

Host- 7

Overall Rating- 6.0

Premise: Host Theo Von approach a random potential contestant and engages them in the five-round solo game, without letting their friend know they are playing the game. After agreeing to play the game, the contestant will be wearing an earpiece to hear the hosts feed them instructions.  The contestant must perform a number of ridiculous tasks in a public establishment, which are designed to make the people around them and their friend as uncomfortable and annoyed as possible. If they fail to complete any task or choose to end the game by exclaiming "I can't deal with it!", they will leave with the cash they had earned up to that point. The cumulative cash ladder is as follows: $250 / $500 / $750 / $1,000 / $2,500. Completing all the tasks in the game without bailing out, could win the contestant up to $5,000 in cash.

And now, for the review...

Since the birth of Candid Camera, just about every concept has been thought of when it comes to hidden camera shows, from contestants having to verbally admit to being pranked on a show to win money to pranking their spouses and loved-ones. It is very difficult to create a new concept for a hidden camera game shows nowadays and I think the producers of Deal With It were scraping from the bottom of the barrel. I don't have a lot to say about this series other than its a direct ripoff of Money Form Strangers. Deal With It has the same elements that the Money From Strangers has, from the special guest stars playing along, to the contestants having to bypass increasing rounds of difficulty, to the host walking up to complete strangers and asking them if they want to play a game for cash. The only tweak this Howie Mandel-produced show has made, aside from the inflated top prize, is the contestants have to perform all of the crazy actions in front of someone they know, rather than complete strangers. However, this does make playing the game a tad more difficult because they are making fools of themselves in front of their friends, girlfriend, husband, etc. 

Overall, I'll give this show one season before TBS gives it the axe. Nevertheless, Deal With It is humorous as just about any other hidden camera game show. Howie Mandel and Theo Von do a wonderful job of coming up ridiculous and obnoxious challenges for every contestants and the stunts are still hilarious and comical to watch, just to see what people will do for money. However, it's not like anything that the viewers have seen before. Also, the show's weird time slot at 10:30 on Wednesday nights does not do the show much justice. 

Watch new episodes of Deal With It Wednesday nights at 10:30pm EST on TBS!

**All screenshots have been taken from the actual episodes of Deal With It. No ownership is implied.**