Why was Howie Mandel chosen to host Deal Or No Deal?

[Hawkee]

I have never figured out how Howie Mandel was chosen to host Deal Or No Deal for NBC and I would love to hear the whole story of why Howie Mandel got to host Deal Or No Deal? In my own words I think Howie Mandel was hoping to relaunch his comedy career and had dreamed of having his own sitcom but since NBC knew him from making a household name of himself by playing Dr. Wayne Fiscus on St. Elsewhere and so rather than offering him a sitcom NBC wanted to make him a game show star and they offered him Deal Or No Deal. But I did hear a story that originally before Howie Mandel was even offered the job of hosting Deal Or No Deal Arsenio Hall was gonna be the host but Arsenio Hall turned down the job and Howie got the show instead. I also think Howie Mandel was hoping for a show that would actually be a success for him after his talk show The Howie Mandel Show failed. And in my eyes I think the reason why Deal Or No Deal became a hit for NBC was because of Howie Mandel because without Howie Mandel he wouldn't have saved NBC and got Deal Or No Deal good ratings and now has made himself a superstar on America's Got Talent as a judge. But I do wish Howie Mandel could host another game show because he is a master of game show hosting and even when 1 Vs 100 debuted with the late Bob Saget Howie Mandel and Bob Saget became the crown prince and knight of NBC's game shows

[AMackII]

No clue, it was the first game show he hosted

[Hawkee]

Personally I think why Howie Mandel was chosen to host Deal Or No Deal was because I think NBC wanted to see how good he could be at hosting a game show. Because in my eyes I think NBC was trying to morph Howie Mandel into being like Regis Philbin when ABC had Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and for NBC Deal Or No Deal was their Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and Howie Mandel was NBC's version of Regis Philbin. But I mainly think why Deal Or No Deal was a smash hit for NBC was because of Howie Mandel and when you take a talented comedian and have a game show you can bet that the game show scores big ratings and for Howie Mandel Deal Or No Deal let him test his game show hosting skills but also helped jumpstart his comedy career. But when NBC decided to end Deal Or No Deal I think it affected Howie very much because that was the game show that put him on the map for hosting future game shows. But as we saw with Take It All Howie Mandel does have talent to host game shows but Take It All was Howie Mandel's weakest game show but I think if it wasn't for Howie Mandel Deal Or No Deal wouldn't have become a giant success for NBC