"There's nobody more conservative than me with money," Mandel said. "I play (stand-up comedy dates in) Vegas many, many weeks a year, and I don't put a quarter in the machine. I don't gamble. I'm very conservative. You know, I drive a hybrid. I'm just really conservative." (He's conservative. Did you catch that?)

"That's the fascinating part for me," he said, "that a lot of contestants are very free and easy with money, and I'm just not."

Which is why he's apparently not acting when he seems nervous for the contestants. "I think Howie, when he hosts this game, is legitimately a nervous wreck," said executive producer David Goldberg.

And Mandel agreed. "I tell you, it's devastating. Sometimes I go home exhilarated, sometimes devastated. First and foremost, I'm a human being. I'm a father; I'm a parent; I'm a husband. And I watch these people and I have all the same issues that they have.

"And when I see somebody making what I believe to be the wrong move, I find it devastating."

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com