Rafferty was a little too smart alecky on BB and not particularly warm as a game show host. The lack of a set was also a minus. Give me Bill Cullen anytime.
I'm in agreement that Rafferty just never seemed to really work for me on any show he did, notwithstanding
Every Second Counts as I barely have any memories of that show. Between BB and CS however, I thought he was better on Blockbusters. I think the Goodson team was looking for somebody that could inject more comedy into their games, hence Rafferty, Combs, and them giving Bruce Forsyth a hard look before giving Eubanks the nod for
Card Sharks.
As for the aesthetics, outside of the game board, I liked the '87 set better than the '80 set, but many of the Goodson shows in the 80's had cheap looking sets compared to their previous incarnations.