[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Aug 19 2003, 01:31 PM\']Remind me how the Joe G. couples format worked? I do remember they changed the theme to a wedding march variation.[/quote]
Actually, the couples version was also a weekly syndicated version for a season (or two?); the end game was always for one of three prizes - a trip, a fur, or a car. In the first episode, the winning couple answered $100 questions until they missed (and the game ended) or had enough to get the prize they wanted; in the rest of the episodes, they chose one of the prizes in advance and had to answer three questions (the bigger the prize, the harder the questions) to win. (I don't think anybody won the car except on the first episode, and I certainly don't remember anybody even trying for the fur.)
If SOTC were to be brought back as a weekly syndicated series - do those even exist any more? - I would let the winner choose what prize to play for, and then have a 60-second question round with the questions worth a certain dollar value so the player could earn enough money (combined with any winnings from the main game) to win the prize.
Having a winning player's prize based on how well they did in the game is nothing new; that's how the weekly syndicated Jeopardy! worked (in the first season, with daytime champions, $1500 (what would be $30,000 on today's version!) won $10,000, and $2000 won $25,000; in the second, \"open\", season, the values went up to $2000 and $2500).
-- Don