Mo' Money Syndrome

[Don Howard]

Everything was dancing along nicely on Beat The Clock with its cute stunts, fairly easy Jackpot Clock puzzles and THE BONUS!!!! going up just $100 per week.
Then, THE SUPER BONUS!!!! came along and soon after Sylvania was gone and Fresh didn't last long. Thankfully, the wood on the helmet trick was solved just before that bonus would have eliminated and the money no longer available to the contestants.
Three cheers to ABC for keeping the show alive in daytime for three years after CBS dumped it.
But I wonder. Would Beat The Clock have lasted to the middle 1960s on CBS prime time like I've Got A Secret, To Tell The Truth and What's My Line?--which didn't resort to big payout gimmicks--if not for that SUPER BONUS?

[Jimmy Owen]

I don't think BtC would have continued anyway on CBS after 1958. From what I was reading in Brooks & Marsh, they went Mo' Money to compete with "The Big Surprise" in the same time slot over on NBC, which had a $100,000 top prize.  Of course, when the scandals hit in 1958, CBS cancelled the primetime non-panels and imposed winnings limits on the few daytime entries that did appear.  They didn't really get back on board with game shows until Labor Day 1972.

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'116819\' date=\'Apr 22 2006, 07:42 PM\']
I don't think BtC would have continued anyway on CBS after 1958. From what I was reading in Brooks & Marsh, they went Mo' Money to compete with "The Big Surprise" in the same time slot over on NBC, which had a $100,000 top prize.  Of course, when the scandals hit in 1958, CBS cancelled the primetime non-panels and imposed winnings limits on the few daytime entries that did appear.  They didn't really get back on board with game shows until Labor Day 1972.
[/quote]

It might've stayed on if the bonus stunt was made a fixed amount every week--perhaps $500 to match what couples could earn going all the way in the regular game and making the $1,000 CBS prime time limit.