Break the Bank 1976

[carlisle96]

Culling my collection, I watched part of a 1976 Break the Bank. I remember watching this show with my father back in the day. Dad watched a few minutes and blew it off as "pedestrian" stuff. That was my dad. He didn't care much for game shows. But I remember he said it would be a better game if they revealed the box after the contestant answered the question instead of before. Indeed, it may be more dramatic if you didn't know what you were going to get, especially if you were looking for the third money bag. There was no suspense if you already knew where it was because you saw it before and rejected it. Did Barry-Enright ever do any test games or pilots where the boxes were revealed later instead of sooner?

[steveleb]

They sort of did what your dad was seeking prior to the question.  When a potential bank break was possible Tom-and especially Jack—built the tension as much as realistically possible, and I distinctly remember a couple of occasions on Jack’s version where a few seconds went by even after he finally stopped talking to reveal what ultimately was the win

[carlisle96]

Thanks...I didn't see this show too much in on-air run, but I don't remember seeing it played that way

[Ian Wallis]

What I noticed is if you look closely at how the board is laid out, sometimes you KNOW when a contestant gets a money bag.  There are several Kennedy episodes where he says "If this is the third money bag you'll break the bank"...but it was beside a blank, the Wild Card was already revealed and it couldn't be a money box, so the only thing it could be was a money bag.

[clemon79]

What I noticed is if you look closely at how the board is laid out, sometimes you KNOW when a contestant gets a money bag.  There are several Kennedy episodes where he says "If this is the third money bag you'll break the bank"...but it was beside a blank, the Wild Card was already revealed and it couldn't be a money box, so the only thing it could be was a money bag.

It was daytime TV, I don't think they were expecting the audience of mostly-housewives to apply that much logic to it, so might as well build it up anyhow. (It's also entirely possible that Tom, busy doing his job, hadn't mathed it out himself and so didn't know either. Which really is for the best.)

What you don't do is Drew-With-The-Perfect-Bid it by explaining all of that and pissing all over the big reveal.