Here's how I think I could use for a new version of "$ale of the Century" (hopefully, StinkMantle is reading this and ISN'T screwing this up!):
Three players, each starting with $20 (or $200 on on my proposed prime-time version). Players may ring-in during the question, and each right answer is worth $5 ($50 prime-time, note all values are 10x higher on prime-time), while a wrong answer loses that amount. After five, six, or seven questions, the player with the most cash is offered an "In$tant Bargain", like a 13" television worth $145 for $8. There is also a "Fame Game" round, where a really long question is asked about a famous (or infamous) someone, and the player who gets it right chooses one of nine numbers on the "Fame Game" board, which could be from $5-$15, or a cash jackpot starting at $1,000 and rising up by $500 each day until won. After three "In$tant Bargains" and two "Fame Games", we culminate with a 60-second lightning round (which I call the "Fast 60 Seconds of TV"), this time, with each right answer worth $10, and a wrong answer losing $10. The highest score after this round goes to play a two-part bonus round. If there's a tie, a sudden-death tie-breaker question is asked, or, if time is allowed, one final "Fame Game" question to determine the winner.
In the first part of the bonus round, I use the same word puzzle game we know and hate, but this time, the clues are to answers that are actually related to the prizes on the stage. It's only 15 seconds long, and each right answer adds $15 to your final score. When time runs out...
"Let's go shopping!" Now, comes the shopping part that builds up the suspense, whether or not you want to take this prize, or discard it in an attempt to build up more money to win the lot (you need at least $1,000 total in score money to win the lot). If you lose the game on your second day (and subsequent days) everything goes bye-bye, but if you score $1,000 total (again, in score money), you win everything plus a jackpot that starts at $100,000 and goes up by $25,000 each time it isn't won (on prime-time, it's $1,000,000 and goes up by a quarter-million each time it isn't won, and you need $10,000 in score money to claim it).
That's the game.
Here's what I'd use:
Set: Same as the one on the more recent Australian version (only difference is that the podiums' score displays are in EggCrate font, and they use red buttons on yellow stands like on most US game show podiums)
Host: I'd get Jim Perry back, but if he can't make it, I could use Peter Tomarken, or I could use some Aussie flair from Tony Barber or Glenn Ridge.
Hostess: Definitely Summer Bartholomew.
Announcer: Burton Richardson or Charlie O'Donnell comes to mind, maybe even Pete Smith from the Aussie version (I could picture Charlie-O giving a long emphasis on 100 THOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSAND DOLLARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRSSSSS!!! on this show).
Where to put it: Syndication for daytime, NBC for prime-time
What do you think?