Has anyone else noticed the rampant inflation on television game shows? Remember when contestants were vying for the simple pleasures of a dinette set or perhaps a ceramic dalmatian? As much as I hate getting sucked into mainstream phenomena, every once in a while I find myself glued to an episode of Deal or No Deal. It's an amusing expose of commonly-held misconceptions about statistics, but what really sucks me in is the prospect of banking $100,000 (on a bad day) or so just by picking random numbers, jumping up and down, and hugging Howie Mandel. Nice work if you can get it. Now, those suckers on Survivor have to pine away in the jungle for up to 40 days, licking leaves for hydration and forgoing basic personal hygiene just for a 1/18 chance at grabbing a million. I think being a Survivor contestant is worth waaaay more than ten times the loot DOND contestants get for hugging Howie - even the losers score in the 6-figures! I think it's only a matter of time until the "jackpot" prizes are upped on game shows that have one winner per season. The ultimate prize is only a wee fraction of Survivor's budget, when you consider salaries for 350+ crew members, insurance, supplies, and all the behind-the-scenes expenditures. Not to mention the medical bills. I'll bet we're only 2 years away from seeing a 5 or 10 million top prize on Survivor. I'd lick leaves for that. But I'll hold my application until I know if the rumors about Survivor: Canada are true.