Anything that "raises the stakes" for any of the big three panel shows, or really, for ANY panel show, pretty much ruins it right there. If there's actual money at stake, the viewer's rooting interest is thrown completely out of whack, because you're either hoping that the celebrities play their own game badly, or you're hoping the contestant doesn't win the big money.
John Charles Daly was purported to have contemplated quitting
WML? after Mark Goodson was pitched an idea from CBS to increase its stakes, arguing that the show was about people, not prizes. I agree with Matt that if Gaspin/Moll/Fremantle's remake of
TTTT were to go the big-money route, that would, on the surface, take away from the "people" aspect of it right there.
If the $1000 top prize on the old CBS primetime
TTTT from 50 years ago were to be adjusted for inflation, it would be equal to well over $7500 today. Thus, if the
TTTT remake were to stick to it being about people more than prizes, my idea of how to give away the money (divided amongst the 3 challengers) would simply be $750 per wrong guess, $7500 if all the guesses are wrong, or a consolation $300 if all the guesses are right.