As if making a choice on Deal or No Deal wasn’t stressful enough, try doing it with your dad heckling you — and with any Kristen Wiig character in charge of opening your chosen case.
When Steve Carell hosted the Season 33 finale of Saturday Night Live in May 2008, he played a Deal or No Deal contestant named Stu. He was down to just four briefcases left in the original game hosted by Howie Mandel (played by cast member Fred Armisen): Three cases held five dollars or less, but one still held $1 million. Stu rejected the banker’s deal of more than $200,000, instead opting to open the case held by a briefcase model named Rebecca (Wiig).
RELATED: Father Guido Sarducci Named Himself the Pope in This Classic SNL Bit
Fred Armisen was Howie Mandel in Steve Carell’s Deal or No Deal SNL sketch
As Stu’s father (Will Forte) yelled from the audience about how dumb it was to not take that deal, Rebecca chose that moment to show off her miming skills. She teased Stu with fake reactions to the number inside as she batted her eyelashes, and at one point, made the case disappear completely. Howie tried to ask the other models, played by Amy Poehler and Casey Wilson, to help out, but they didn’t feel “comfortable” opening another woman’s case.
Stu and his father had a chance at a heart to heart. Sure, Stu may have failed at opening a Quizno’s branch, and dropped out of air conditioning repair school was still living in his dad’s basement with no drivers license. But Stu reveals he stayed at home because he didn’t want his dad to be lonely after his mom left! As they forgave each other and tried to save the banker’s deal, Rebecca accidentally opened the case that would tell Stu how much money he lost…
…Which casually revealed that it held the million dollar prize.
“Deal!” Stu yelled. “I’ll take the deal!”
“Please give him the deal, Howie,” Dad begged, but no dice.
Maybe we’ll just imagine that Rebecca went on to reunite with Howie as a miming magician on America’s Got Talent.
RELATED: These SNL Mother’s Day Sketches Are Funny, Heartwarming, and Deeply Relatable
SNL has parodied Deal or No Deal several times over the years
Stu was not the first or last contestant on SNL’s version of Deal or No Deal. Armisen’s Howie also hosted a Season 31 game that Host Antonio Banderas had no idea how to play, even with help from models Wiig and Poehler.
In a Season 44 cold open, Kenan Thompson played Steve Harvey as the fill in host while Howie was out sick, and the contestant was Donald Trump, played by Alec Baldwin. In that version, the deal was about stopping a government shutdown and the models were political figures like Nancy Pelosi (Kate McKinnon), Chuck Schumer (Alex Moffat), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Melissa Villasñor), Maxine Waters (Leslie Jones), and Mitch McConnell (Beck Bennett).
SNL has yet to parody the newest iteration of the iconic game show, Deal or No Deal Island. Hosted by Joe Manganiello, the competition series sends teams of competitors to the banker’s private island to find hidden briefcases and try to be the last player standing. Chrissy Teigen made the jump from one time briefcase model on DOND to banker on DONDI, so there’s another option for Rebecca’s future career.
Both Saturday Night Live and Deal or No Deal Island are streaming on Peacock.
