Howie Mandel
A Big Deal
by Erik GuntherMar 9, 2006
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How exactly did Howie Mandel worm his way back into our lives? The comic best known for inflating rubber gloves with his nose has gone from failed movie star to failed talk show host and finally back into the limelight with his hosting gig on Deal or No Deal. Searches on the shiny-headed master of ceremonies jumped 161% over the past week as the show plugged holes in NBC's sagging prime-time lineup.
The game show had a successful but limited run in late December, sparking searches in the middle of a dead holiday period on the tube. But now it's back, and while the network is resisting the temptation of massively overexposing it, a la ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, searches show that fans' appetite for the show is insatiable right now. Following its return to the airwaves, Buzz on it jumped 192% over the last week. Like Millionaire before it, Deal attracts an audience that skews older -- almost half of all queries come from the 35-54 age bracket.
Fans wanting in on the action are also heading to the Web. Searches on "deal or no deal online game" (+362%), "dealornodeal. com" (+217%), and "dond.com" (+95%) have all gone bonkers as potential contestants look to play along from the comfort of their couch. And NBC might be happy to learn that the fictional home of hit show The Office, Scranton, Pennsylvania, leads all metro markets in searches on Deal. Makes sense -- we can totally see Dwight Schrute as a big Howie fan.