Break the Bank 85 is another perfect example. The Prize Vault bonus game was not very well planned. Some stunts took up way too much time to set up and explain. This was later remedied by stopping the clock so that Gene Rayburn didn't have to rush to explain the stunt, which he seemed to be explaining for the first time. Gene should've been briefed about the stunts (especially where they were located, because during the first week, he didn't know where everything was!)
Also, Gene was discouraged from trying to get laughs, and he had trouble playing it straight. If Gene was allowed more freedom, the Prize Vault round would've been far more entertaining.
Gene was fired after three months, and in came unknown Joe Farago. Joe didn't necessarily make the show any better. Shortly after Joe took over, the stunts were gone, leaving a dull and anticlimactic "Master Puzzle" bonus game where the couple tried to get as many bank cards as possible solving one last puzzle. No more playing for time, couples played for money. Also, when the Prize Vault opened, the set now looked very empty and less interesting without any stunts. Also gone was the "pause" when the couple inserted bank cards into the slot. Instead, whatever was on that card popped up on the readout right away, taking away the "suspense" of whether that card was the card that broke the bank.
Also, Bumper Stumpers couldn't make up its mind what bonus round to use, and each bonus game resulted in less money at stake. First version was having 60 seconds to solve 7 stumpers. Doing so automatically won the bonus game, but if not all 7 stumpers were solved, then a second part of the bonus game was played where there were dollar figures and stop signs. The number of stop signs depended on how many the couple did not get right. If they totalled 1000 without picking a stop sign, they won double the amount. Later, a WIN was added, and picking that meant an instant win.
During the first bonus round era, they also changed from playing one round and one bonus game to best two out of three. They probably did this so that only one bonus round was played per show, but IMO that also made the main game drag a little bit.
Later, the bonus game was changed to something similar to Super Password. One player had 30 seconds to solve 5 stumpers. Each stumper was a clue to a person place or thing. Each stumper was worth 100 dollars, and the other player was brought out of isolation and had to guess the person, place or thing for 5 times the dollar amount (Maximum of 1500 dollars)
I don't remember exactly how the third bonus game was played, but I think it involved solving 3 stumpers, each worth 400, and the couple risked the money to solve a more difficult stumper. The maximum amount that could be won was 1600.
