Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal

Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal is a Philippine television game show broadcast by ABS-CBN. The show is based on the Netherlands game show Miljoenenjacht. Originally hosted by Kris Aquino, it aired for the first season from June 5, 2006 to February 23, 2007, and was replaced by Pinoy Big Brother: Season 2. The second season aired from June 11, 2007 to January 11, 2008 and was replaced by Wheel of Fortune. The third season aired from July 28, 2008 to March 27, 2009, replacing Wheel of Fortune and was replaced by Pinoy Bingo Night. The fourth season aired from February 25, 2012 to September 28, 2013, replacing Junior MasterChef Pinoy Edition and was replaced by the first season of Bet on Your Baby. The fifth and final season aired from February 9, 2015 to March 4, 2016, replacing the second season of Bet on Your Baby and was replaced by Game ng Bayan. Luis Manzano serve as the final host. The smallest prize has always been ₱1, but the grand prize has always varied; the top prize at the show's last airing was ₱1,000,000.
The first season premiered on June 5, 2006, of the show was supposed to be a three-month stint, to give way to another Endemol-produced program Pinoy Dream Academy, but it immense popularity caused caused the show to be extended to a nine-month long season, the first season concluded with 190 episodes on February 23, 2007. The second season premiered on June 11, 2007, and was supposed to end on September 21, 2007, of the same year. Once again, the show's success amongst viewers resulted in an extended season, a new timeslot on September 24, 2007, and lead programming for the evening news; the second season concluded with 155 episodes on January 11, 2008. After a six-month hiatus, the third season of the show premiered on July 28, 2008, and became the first to be broadcast in TFC's North American Feed. The third and original series of the program ended on March 27, 2009.
After a nearly three-year hiatus, the show returned on February 25, 2012, with Luis Manzano as host. Original presenter Kris Aquino further elaborated that she could not return to host the show as she was having earlier due to her upcoming commitments with Kris TV and taping conflicts with Kailangan Ko'y Ikaw. Considered as a continuation of the original series, this fourth season lasted until September 28, 2013, and had noticeable changes in gameplay, and in scheduling, airing only on Saturdays, as opposed to weekdays like the three previous seasons. The fifth season of the show premiered on February 9, 2015, after numerous teasers hitting of the show's return, with further changes to gameplay (to be mentioned below). On January 25, 2016, Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal became Barangay Edition. The fifth and final season ended on March 4, 2016.
The Philippine version is very similar to the U.S. version of Deal or No Deal (including the logo), except for the sounds and musical scoring which were adapted from the Dutch version.
Before the game proper begins, a third party randomly places the possible amount of prize in the briefcases, which are distributed to 26 identically dressed models (called the 26K) who reveal the contents during the game. No one, including the host and banker, knows what amounts are in the cases. Each contestant receives a new, randomly assigned set of cases. The prizes range in amounts from ₱1 to a varying top prize; the first season had a top prize of ₱2,000,000.
After picking a case, the contestant then selects six of the remaining 25 cases, revealed one at a time. This is followed by a "phone call" by "The Banker", a mysterious figure whose face is not shown (at times a silhouette can be seen). He purportedly sits in a skybox (situated between the two audience sections) and makes an offer, via telephone to the host (his voice is never heard) to buy the contestant's case, loosely based on the mean of the cash amounts still in play, and also based on the player's psychology. The player is then asked by the host the title question: "Deal or No Deal?"
Should the contestant refuse the offer (by stating "No Deal!"), they must choose five of the remaining cases to eliminate from consideration. The Banker makes another offer, and the game continues as before, with the player choosing one less briefcase than the round before (i.e, four, then three, then two, then one case at a time until two briefcases remain). The Banker's offer may be higher or lower than the previous offer depending on the round's gameplay (i.e., if a top prize is eliminated, generally the offer decreases; conversely, if lower amounts are eliminated, the offer increases significantly).
The contestant is shown a button that is revealed underneath a Plexiglas lid to press in case the contestant takes the banker's offer. When asked the question, the player must either press the button to accept the Banker's offer (Deal) or shut the lid to refuse it (No Deal).
If the contestant decides to Deal, the game ends and they win whatever the Banker offered them. If the contestant says No Deal to every offer the Banker makes, they win whatever is in their briefcase.
Each contestant has several supporters (usually three or four), who sit in a special section just off stage during his/her game. As the field of briefcases dwindles, one or more of the supporters are asked to consult with the contestant and help them make a decision. These exchanges have become emotional, particularly when very high and very small amounts remained and the Banker offers a large cash buyout. The contestant's supporters are typically revealed after the second Bank deal and before the third round; although if a contestant is doing well, the host will let the game run its course for some time, often only consulting the supporters when the tide begins to turn.
Players who say Deal to the Banker's offer are often given the chance to play out the game entirely at no risk to them to see if they had made the right choice in accepting. Hypothetical offers are also displayed to see if they could have won a better deal from the Banker or if their offer was the best.
Contestants who joined through text messaging are selected and screened with a series of interviews and tests, including a psychological one, before they appear on the show.
In the fourth season, upon Luis Manzano assuming hosting duties, the 26K became the 24K. As a result, the number of briefcases opened in each round was also modified, starting from five in the first round, three in each of the next three rounds, two in each the next three rounds, and one in each the final two rounds. Gameplay otherwise remains the same, with the exception of a routine option to swap briefcases in the end. The offer to swap briefcases was only given one time during Aquino's tenure.
In the fifth season, the briefcases were reduced once again from 24 to 20. For the very first time in this season and for this franchise, celebrities were the ones to hold the briefcases and a roulette was used to determine who among the 20 Lucky Stars would be the player of the day. Everyone would have a chance to play, since their tenure as briefcase holders lasted for a month, and they would be replaced by a new batch of celebrities every month. The number of briefcases opened in each round was similar to the original run in Seasons 1 to 4, but five cases were opened first, then four, three, two until one case is opened in succeeding rounds. Since the celebrity player of the day is also part of the 20 Lucky Stars, so after each star's situated briefcase is opened, they would sit in the audience space provided with a special platform row and would help the player in case if he/she has a difficult time during case selection at gameplay, thus eliminating the supporters' area of the studio. Generally, the celebrity's designated briefcase as a Lucky Star would be their briefcase for play once chosen. However, the celebrity contestant had the option of swapping for a different briefcase, in which case the original holder of the new briefcase in play would then hold the swapped briefcase for the duration of play, then regain their designated briefcase in the next game.
The show re-aired from September 30, 2024 to March 7, 2025, on Kapamilya Channel's Kapamilya Gold afternoon block, Kapamilya Online Live, A2Z's Zuper Hapon and ALLTV's All-Time Saya, replacing the second incarnation and ninth season of Goin' Bulilit and was replaced by the 2001 version of Meteor Garden 2001.
The currency of the amounts on the money board, on the briefcases, and offered by the Banker to the contestants is in Philippine pesos. Throughout the show, the peso sign is never used in all of the amounts on the money board, on the briefcases, and offers by the Banker to the contestants. It is because of the limited font and/or character support for the actual peso sign (₱).
On January 1, 2007, the ₱2,500 and ₱5,000 case values were replaced by the ₱75,000 and the ₱4,000,000 case values (the latter being the highest amount). On its second season, ₱2,500 and ₱5,000 came back in the board and new amounts like ₱250 and ₱250,000 appeared replacing the amounts, ₱750, ₱200,000, ₱300,000 and ₱400,000 of the first season together with the top amount of the season which is the ₱3,000,000.
The briefcase amounts reverted to the original ones for the third season. But later in the third season, the one highest value was replaced with ₱1,000,000 each, similar to the Million Dollar Missions of the American version.
On January 5, 2009, the case values for the ₱4M Edition were brought back into play at par with the new year.
For the fourth season, the ₱150 and ₱2,500 case values were removed. In replacement, this season introduced a special prize hidden in one of the briefcases. If a contestant opens this briefcase during the game, he/she will win this guaranteed special prize in favor of normally opening its case value afterwards. The Christmas Edition returned on December 1, 2012, with the ₱400 and ₱750 cases replaced with two more ₱300,000 cases put into play. From February 23, 2013, to March 23, 2013, the ₱750 case was replaced with one more ₱1,000,000 for celebrating the first anniversary of the season.
For the fifth season, the ₱75, ₱750, ₱25,000, and the ₱2,000,000 were removed. Only the ₱1,000,000 was maintained, since this has been a common win for those who have been millionaires of the show. This board is also significant since this is the one with least total amount, over the past four seasons.
Aside from the revamp of the money board in the second season, set designs were changed.
While the money board reverted to the first-season values, there were also many changes applied for the third season:
Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal features a wide variety of models over the course of its five seasons. The first three seasons featured the 26K girls, which unlike the U.S. counterpart, can handle any case per episode instead of being placed in a permanent position. Participants have included Wendy Valdez, Diana Qeblawi Toni Alyessa Hipolito, Dang Palma, Bernice Tan, and Ferleene Noguera. In the fourth season, the show featured a new set of models known as the 24K alluding to the number of cases played per game.
The fifth season introduced celebrities as case models, known as the "20 Lucky Stars," a first in the franchise's history. Each month, twenty celebrities held twenty briefcases, with their tenure ending at the close of the month, when they were replaced by a new batch of celebrity case holders. Contestants for each episode were selected through the Gulong ng Tala (Wheel of Stars). Since the celebrities did not choose their initial cases, they were given the option to either swap for another briefcase or keep their assigned one until the end of the game.
After the four batches, the 20 Lucky Stars were combined into a single group, with selected members from each batch assigned different case numbers for specific games.
The following table lists the celebrities who served as case models, divided into four batches.
Names in bold are winners of ₱1,000,000.
On July 10, 2006, a text-messaging game was introduced as a new segment of the show for the viewers to participate and win cash prizes. In Katext, Deal or No Deal, there are 10 special briefcases with amounts starting from ₱5,000 to ₱50,000, one of which is randomly selected for play. After a briefcase is chosen, 2 briefcases are randomly opened, after which the Banker makes an offer to buy the suitcase in play. Viewers can text whether they want to "Deal", signifying that they accept the banker's offer, or "No Deal", meaning they will accept whatever amount is in the suitcase. In the next episode, the suitcase is opened to reveal the amount it contains. If the amount in the suitcase is lower than the offer, one winner will be selected from those who texted "Deal", with the Banker's offer as the prize. If the amount in the suitcase is higher than the offer, one winner will be selected from those who texted "No Deal" to take home the amount in the suitcase. The winner is chosen each day from those who texted via electronic raffle. The amounts are:
On November 13, 2006, a segment was made that was named: Kapamilya, Katext, Deal or No Deal. The range of the amounts inside the case still increased by ₱5,000 starting from ₱10,000, but the highest amount inside the case is ₱100,000. Same procedures still apply, but have been modified. On Monday, one briefcase and another has been chosen. The next day after the chosen briefcase has been opened, another briefcase is chosen, and the banker's offer is based on the briefcases already opened the previous day. This new process continues throughout the week. The amounts are:
Along with the show's return, a new promo was launched, named after the first text promo Ka-text, Deal or No Deal, wherein home viewers could win half of either what the contestant has won or the contents of the chosen briefcase (i.e. ranging from ₱0.50 to ₱1,500,000). Viewers could text the contestant's possible final response of "Deal" or "No Deal." Texting stopped after the contestant made their final decision. The following day, a winner was chosen from those who texted; if the contestant's final decision was "No Deal," only those who text the same response would win. On the other hand, if the contestant said "Deal," all who texted would be considered, regardless of response; what the winner would receive depended on the response.
In the show's third season, the rules were modified. Viewer could text "Deal" if the accepted offer was larger than the contents of the chosen briefcase or "No Deal" if the briefcase contents is larger than the accepted offer or the Banker's final offer if the contestant decides to say "No Deal" all the way. The correct response would depend on the outcome of the game; only those who text the correct response are eligible for prizes: ₱20,000 for the daily winners or ₱200,000 for the monthly winner. The promo was relaunched later with the same daily prizes, but this time, a Nissan Navara was up for grabs as the grand prize.
In a third promotion, this time using the show's title, viewers were invited to guess which briefcase contained ₱3,000,000. Those who correctly guessed the said briefcase would win ₱25,000 plus a "nochebuena" package.
Prior to the start of the 4 million Edition, a commercial of the show was released where barangay captains were invited to join and play as studio contestants. The aim of Tulong sa Barangay is to provide help for the needs and developments of different barangays in the Philippines by allowing the barangay captains to play as studio contestants and whatever the barangay captain will get, it will be donated to the barangay funds. A different set of text messaging instructions are given for interested barangay captains. The first episode involving barangay captains began on February 6, 2007.
On November 30 to December 1, 2007, the show finally made its first out-studio episodes at the parking lot of SM City Cebu. The stage made for the show was noticeably larger, having a larger stage and two large staircases where the models stood. The Banker would stand at the screen behind the staircases obscured by a red clouded background. He only appeared in front of his "helicopter" whenever he made his offer.
The episodes were shown from December 3 to 7 of the same year. One of the contestants happened to be the mayor of Toledo City, Cebu, who played as a regular contestant.
In April 2008, the U.S. version of Deal or No Deal filmed an episode from the studio of the Filipino version, as part of a series of "World Tour" episodes showcasting international entries in the franchise. The episode was conducted in a similar manner to the U.S. version of the format, featuring an American contestant and prizes in U.S. dollars. Kris Aquino joined U.S. host Howie Mandel as co-host. The episode premiered on NBC in the U.S. on May 5, 2008, and aired on ABS-CBN on June 22; although it was actually the last of the "World Tour" episodes to actually be filmed (the first was filmed from the Estonian version Võta või jäta), ABS-CBN business unit head Alou Almaden stated that Endemol USA "loved the episode so much" that it was aired first instead.
ABS-CBN's PR campaign for that event also earned the show a Philippine Quill Award of Merit in the same year.
Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal has been consistently topping on its timeslot. Season 4 aired the show's highest-rated overall episode, aired on October 6, 2012 with Vice Ganda as the guest player and garnering a nationwide rating of 32.7%. This is, to date, the highest-rated episode for any game show on Philippine television.