40-year-old hypothetical about "Break the Bank"

[Neumms]

I've been watching Tom Kennedy's Break the Bank on YouTube lately, so here's a discussion question: Would a remount have worked without celebrities?

Not that it wasn't amusing with them, but the game was pretty good on its own. Change to typical B&E questions, though harder so turns don't last forever. Instead of numbering the boxes 1-20, each are different dollar amounts (say, from $20 up to $400) which go into the bank with right answers so it accumulates as we go. They could match three of a prize rather than three 100s, 200s or 300s.

Joker's Wild was invented with celebrities, after all, and Tic Tac Dough was essentially joke-free Hollywood Squares.

[TLEberle]

Tic Tac Dough predated HS. I assure you that no person in the history of civilization would get excited at the thought of the jackpot going from $5,240 to $5,260.

What intrigues me is that over the years you have tinkered with High Rollers, The Pyramid, Whew and now Break the Bank and each time you attempt to fix what isn't broken and make the show worse in the process. Break the Bank is a nothing-burger without celebrities, and the problem is that the constraints of the either-or questions and the fact that the celebrities weren't all that great.

Get four high wattage stars, put one on each line and after the contestant chooses a number ask the star on that line a simple question in the style of what would become Battlestars. Done deal, tip your waitress on the way out.

[Johnissoevil]

I'll snip out what wouldn't work, leave in what would work, and then, I will add what could be added to what I left in.

(snip)

Add that to what the show actually was, and you have a great format.

[TLEberle]

Add that to what the show actually was, and you have a great format.

New format fails without wacky stunts and a prize vault.

[Thunder]

And a host that looked like he wanted to hang himself during every show...

[Jeremy Nelson]

And a host that looked like he wanted to hang himself during every show...

Well...that escalated quickly.

[Sodboy13]

This is why The All-New Beat The Clock with David Carradine never got past pilot.

[DoorNumberFour]

This is why The All-New Beat The Clock with David Carradine never got past pilot.

Well, they actually wanted him to host when it went to series, but he was all tied up.