I know there are others who agree with me, but it seems to be the majority opinion that Password Plus/Super Password was preferred to the original CBS/ABC Password.
Call me old, or maybe it's the fact that I've worked with words all my life, but the original versions to me were more challenging. With the puzzles, the words are, if not predictable, at least aimed toward a common theme, which leads to a smaller universe of possible correct answers. In the original, the words were random, and required a much wider vocabulary. The words also seemed a bit more challenging by themselves - try thinking up clues for "flail."
(An aside - that's one reason why "no opposites" may be a better rule for the puzzle vs. nonpuzzle versions. If, say, the first two puzzle words were "cat" and "dog", after getting "cat" on the first, the obvious choice for the next one would be "cat.....")
I understand that going through 10 clues when it's clear nobody is getting anywhere near the word can be a slog, and I once proposed (back in the ATGS days, I think) just having three clues each, going from 6 points to 1, and playing to 15.
Ab out the only change I liked was the bonus - the Lightning Round (5 words in 60 seconds) was a nice little bonus for $250, but with players used to the format, it became disappointing when the contestant didn't get all five. In Alphabetics/Super Password, 10 in 60 worked, especially with the "start with M, end with V" format giving you at least a handle on the first word to get going.
Anyway, long opinion is long.