MFHS choir director Bryce Gage appearance on Deal Or No Deal airs Wednesday Jan. 16

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor

One thing is for certain: no one watching Wednesday's upcoming 8 p.m. episode of the hit CNBC game show “Deal or No Deal” will forget Marble Falls High School choir teacher Bryce Gage anytime soon.

Especially not host Howie Mandel, who was on the receiving end of a big bear hug from the affable Gage in a clip from the episode, which aired as a teaser earlier this month.

Another clip shows Gage shooting — and making — a free throw during a challenge from the banker while getting encouragement from Mandel as well as family and friends, including his wife, Marble Falls Middle School math teacher Shannon Gage, who said of her husband, “He puts his whole heart into everything he does and that's what I love about him.”

Also joining Bryce and Shannon Gage on the show were their daughters, McKayla and Jennie Lynn, both MFISD students. Gage showed his Marble Falls Mustang pride almost from the get-go once he was called to the stage by Mandel in the teaser clip.

“I am a high school choir director in a town called Marble Falls, Texas, which is the greatest town in the world,” Gage told Mandel when asked to describe himself.

“I’ve never heard of Marble Falls,” said Mandel.

“It’s about 7,000 people in the town, outside of Austin and San Antonio,” Gage replied. “I travel the world with my choir students. We have sung at the White House. Next year, we are planning to travel to Munich, Salzburg and Prague. But the one thing you don’t know about me is I am super competitive. I have been a soloist in Carnegie Hall and I have pretty decent basketball skills ...”

“I don’t think any of those skills have to do with why you are here today,” Mandel said.

“And I know this game better than anybody,” Gage continued. “And the banker needs to know the curtain is going down on you tonight. I’m going to win $1 million.”

According to a press release from CNBC, the banker “doesn't take it easy on 'Mr. Marble Falls.' She has surprise offers, surprise guests and even a basketball challenge against an NBA Orlando Magic player. Bryce isn't phased and stays focused on winning his big deal!”

Asked by Mandel what he wanted to do with any money he won, Gage said, “My wife and I are both teachers. At the rate it’s going, we are going to be 70 years old before we are allowed to retire. We don’t make what we’re worth, so this could take decades off paying for our house. And, the most important thing is that, in our house, we have a 1999 18-inch TV that needs to be replaced.”

In the game, a contestant must choose from one of 26 numbered briefcases containing denominations from a penny up to $1 million. The contestant must then choose cases to eliminate from play, one at a time, with the value inside those cases being revealed.

After a certain number of cases are eliminated, the “banker” rings down to Mandel to make an offer to the contestant based on a percentage of the average value remaining. The player can either accept the “deal” or say “No deal” and continue eliminating cases until either they accept a new offer or all cases are out of play except the one they chose.

The hour-long show is based on a Dutch TV game show of the same name and has been hosted by Mandel since it premiered in December 2005. This newest edition of the show is based at Universal Orlando in Florida.