Deal or No Deal: Here's the Half-hour Deal

NBC Universal is telling potential buyers that the syndicated version of the red-hot Deal or No Deal will only be a half hour, and the top prize will be a "mere" $250,000 (as opposed to a full mil). Variety also reports that while Howie Mandel is continuing on as host, the bevy of suitcase-toting hotties will be narrowed down from 26 to an as-yet-undetermined number. The Banker has also been instructed to start talking faster.