Break the Bank, ends in daytime after fifteen weeks in spite of itself, syndicated series is a bust. Blank Check, bust. Hollywood's Talking, 65 and out. Hollywood Connection, one season. Play the Percentages, half season wonder.
If you really consider it, B&E and Grundy were given a lot more credit than they perhaps deserved. Two hits and a lotta misses.
Break the Bank was one of those shows that actually was a hit, but due to circumstances never really got a fair chance. The daytime version may have lasted only 15 weeks, but ratings show it was strong for all of those weeks. I know in the past it was thought that maybe it started strong and then faded, but a while back (I think it was Jimmy) produced some ratings for June-July1976 and it was still in the top three. It was only cancelled because Fred Silverman was more interested in lengthening soap operas. The syndicated version didn't continue because Jack was more interested in reviving
The Joker's Wild in fall 1977 instead. I believe it got middling ratings. There's no way of knowing but I'd bet
Break the Bank could have had at least a year-or-two run. It's one of those gems that most of us look back on fondly today.
Joker and
Tic Tac were seen in the early evening hours in our area, while
Bullseye was on at noon. I think
Bullseye wasn't equal to the sum of its parts. It had a great set and great theme music, but somehow couldn't quite live up to its surroundings. Plus, to me there's a flaw in the game that I don't recall us discussing that much - let's supposed you get two contestants who don't know much about a category and it turns out to be a long contract (4 or 5 questions), it's feasible you could be stuck on it for several days before it was completed. I don't recall there being an "out" if both contestants kept missing.
Plus, many have said it was just the typical Barry-Enright quizzer wrapped up in a different package. Still, it's neat to watch once in a while.
