Break the Bank

[Jeremy Nelson]

It always seemed like something out of a sitcom game show parody.

That's the vibe I always got from it- from the audience chants to the generic theme music to the just overall cheesiness of the whole production.

I've always liked the Password Puzzle/Super Password "right answers are clues to a bigger answer" format, but it seems Password was the only show to execute it right, as I remember there being 3 or 4 other shows that tried it too.

[TimK2003]

I've always liked the Password Puzzle/Super Password "right answers are clues to a bigger answer" format, but it seems Password was the only show to execute it right, as I remember there being 3 or 4 other shows that tried it too.

To an extent, The Cross-Wits did a good execution as well. The only real difference was sentence-long definitions vs. single word clues, but the "board" was pretty much the same as PW+, except with a few more clues.    I wonder if Mr. Goodson got the inspiration to improve upon the Password franchise after seeing The Cross-Wits?

[davemackey]

Cheesiness: Wonder how music from other shows wound up on "Break the Bank"? I remember hearing at least a snippet of "The Joker's Wild" theme on there, and also the "21 Win" cue from "Gambit".

[JMFabiano]

It's interesting, because on Regis Philbin's show, Gene praises BTB calling Richard Kline a "creative man" and that the show was fun to do.

Was this said during his run on the show or after?  If the former, then we can probably chalk that up to Gene being a good company man, taking what he has and trying to promote it.

[GrandGame1440]

For those who care to see it:

[whewfan]

It's unfortunate that Gene had restrictions, because if Kline and Friends had allowed him as much free reign as he did on Match Game, maybe it would've been a bigger hit.

I've said before, the thing I disliked most about the Bonus Puzzle format was that in the original, when you put the bank card in the slot, it would show a code, and wait a few seconds before it said WRONG CODE or BREAK BANK. In the second format, the suspenseful pause was taken away, thus removing what was probably the best part of the show.

[DoorNumberFour]

I've said before, the thing I disliked most about the Bonus Puzzle format was that in the original, when you put the bank card in the slot, it would show a code, and wait a few seconds before it said WRONG CODE or BREAK BANK. In the second format, the suspenseful pause was taken away, thus removing what was probably the best part of the show.

That's interesting--I watched that bonus round clip, and I thought the suspense of the reveal was ruined by the fact that WRONG CODE or BREAK BANK scrolled instead of simply appearing. I mean, once you see the B in BREAK BANK appear, you know you've won. In practice, it was very anticlimactic.

[Mr. Armadillo]

The suspense is in the moment before the reveal, not the reveal itself (which only scrolls because everything else scrolls).

[TLEberle]

It's unfortunate that Gene had restrictions, because if Kline and Friends had allowed him as much free reign as he did on Match Game, maybe it would've been a bigger hit.

I don't see how. You still have a lame front game and a catawampous end game that frazzled the host. Where do you give him more reign?

[whewfan]

It's unfortunate that Gene had restrictions, because if Kline and Friends had allowed him as much free reign as he did on Match Game, maybe it would've been a bigger hit.

 I don't see how. You still have a lame front game and a catawampous end game that frazzled the host. Where do you give him more reign?

The only way I could think of is if they had modified the main game format and somehow incorporated the stunts more.

Here's how I would do it...

Forget the questions... Clues to a puzzle are revealed one at a time a la the tiebreaker round. The couple that buzzes in first and solves wins seconds. The point/seconds structure is reversed... 1st clue- 100 seconds, 2nd clue 80, 3rd clue 40, fourth clue 20, fifth 10 and 6th is 5 seconds. Play continues until a couple amasses a total of 3 minutes in the prize vault. Perhaps to make the game run a little faster, the third puzzle, the seconds payoff is doubled. With this format, perhaps two bonus games instead of one could be played in a half hour.

[clemon79]

With this format, perhaps two bonus games instead of one could be played in a half hour.

And what happens if the bank breaks in the first half of the show? That was a big enough prize that to shoot your wad at the midpoint of the show would make the second half utterly lame.

[whewfan]

With this format, perhaps two bonus games instead of one could be played in a half hour

And what happens if the bank breaks in the first half of the show? That was a big enough prize that to shoot your wad at the midpoint of the show would make the second half utterly lame.

Quite simply, if the bank is broken during the first bonus game, the cards are reshuffled and there's another chance to break the bank. Of course, they could've done what Family Game night does... just play 5 or 6 events and earn bank cards that way.

[clemon79]

Quite simply, if the bank is broken during the first bonus game, the cards are reshuffled and there's another chance to break the bank.

Yeah, that would make the second half utterly lame. Unless there was a second breaking, and 1) I'm not going to bet the look and feel of my show on the one time in 1,000 that happens, and 2) by definition (assuming the same climbing jackpot) it would always be for less (and likely a lot less) than the first one was...which looks lame.

[whewfan]

Quite simply, if the bank is broken during the first bonus game, the cards are reshuffled and there's another chance to break the bank.[/quote]
Yeah, that would make the second half utterly lame. Unless there was a second breaking, and 1) I'm not going to bet the look and feel of my show on the one time in 1,000 that happens, and 2) by definition (assuming the same climbing jackpot) it would always be for less (and likely a lot less) than the first one was...which looks lame.

Under those conditions, yes, you're right. It's kinda like with Play the Percentages jackpot bonus for guessing a percentage on the nose. It climbed all the way up to $26,000 and it was finally hit. Then they played the bonus game for significantly less, and even Geoff pointed out that the bonus game seemed anti-climactic.

[whewfan]

Oops I'm off by $10k... it was a $36,000 win in the maingame.