Mike "Fish" Fisher (File photo) [Click to enlarge]

Although the NBC / Universal media relations web site stated that Mike "Fish" Fisher's appearance on the NBC game show "Deal or No Deal" would air tonight, a corporate spokesperson said late this morning the site listing was incorrect.

The spokesperson did not state when the show will be broadcast.

Fisher, who ran for county mayor in 2006, taped his appearance last November.

Fisher interviewed with producers during a contestant search held in March 2007.

(NBC Universal)

"I must have done something right," Fisher told the Times-Gazette prior to his taping.

The show's producers like contestants with colorful personalities and interesting stories, and often work the contestants' idiosyncracies into the game. For example, when a die-hard NASCAR fan was on the show, the normal metallic briefcases were replaced with checkered-flag briefcases.

Fisher said producers noted on his application that he had once been a whiskey taster at the Jack Daniel Distillery and also noted his run for county mayor in 2006 as an independent.

"I have a pretty good time wherever I go," said Fisher prior to his taping.

"Deal or No Deal," which airs on NBC with repeats on the cable channel CNBC, is hosted by comic and actor Howie Mandel. The game begins with a player choosing one of 26 numbered briefcases, each of which is held by an attractive model. The briefcases represent dollar amounts ranging from a penny to $1 million. The cash prize in the player's chosen briefcase is his to keep, if he decides to do so -- but the case remains closed until the end of the game, its contents unknown.

As the other briefcases are opened, one by one, process of elimination gives the player more and more information about what might be in his own briefcase. The player is tempted at regular intervals to accept a "deal" -- to end the game by selling his unknown prize for a known, cash-on-the-barrelhead offer. Almost all players make some sort of deal; the trick of the game is timing, weighing the odds and deciding when to take a particular deal and when to wait for a better one.

Versions of the game have aired in more than 35 countries around the world.