Break the Bank (1985 game show)

This article is about the 1985–1986 game show. For other titles, see Break the Bank.
Break the Bank
Genre Game show
Directed by Richard S. Kline
Presented by Gene Rayburn (1985)
Joe Farago (1985–1986)
Narrated by Michael Hanks
Theme music composer Hal Hidey
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes ~195
Production
Executive producer(s) Richard S. Kline
Producer(s) Gary Cox
Location(s) Hollywood Center Studios
Hollywood, California
Running time ~24 minutes
Production company(s) Kline & Friends
Storer Communications
Hubbard Broadcasting
Blair Entertainment
Release
Original network Syndicated (daily)
Original release September 16, 1985 – May 23, 1986

Break the Bank is a game show created by Richard S. Kline. It aired in syndication from September 16, 1985 to May 23, 1986, with repeats airing until September 12. It was not related to two previous shows by the same name.

The series debuted with Gene Rayburn as host, with Joe Farago taking over in December 1985. Kandace Kuehl was the co-host for the first three shows and was then replaced afterward with 1983 Miss USA winner Julie Hayek. Voice-over artist Michael Hanks was the announcer.

Break the Bank was the first game show produced by Kline's production company Kline & Friends. Kline and many of the show's production staff members had previously worked for Barry & Enright Productions, which had seen significant changes made after company founder Jack Barry died in 1984; Kline and his staff broke away from the company in protest of changes made by co-owner Dan Enright shortly thereafter.

Format #1

Two couples competed for seconds to use in the bonus round. Up to six questions were asked, and each question was worth a corresponding amount of seconds. Correctly answering the first question was worth five seconds, and the couple that answered the question correctly was given a choice to guess the puzzle, or to keep playing to try to add more seconds. If the couple chose to guess the puzzle and gave an incorrect guess, they were locked out of the next question.

If the couple chose not to guess the puzzle, the process continued with questions two through six, with correct responses worth 10, 20, 40, 80 and 100 seconds each. If the puzzle was not solved after the six questions were asked, one final question was asked with the answer being the solution to the puzzle. The first couple to solve two puzzles won the game.

If the game ended in a tie, one last round was played without questions. Each clue to the puzzle was revealed one at a time until one couple buzzed in to solve it. The first couple to solve that puzzle won the game plus an extra 30 seconds.

Prize Vault

The winning couple advanced to the Prize Vault to try to break the bank and win its jackpot of cash and prizes, which started at $20,000 and increased by $500 and a prize–later two prizes–every day until it was won. They used the time they had earned to participate in various knowledge/skill-based stunts. The Prize Vault featured nine stunts, with 50 bank cards divided among them. Each of the cards contained a numeric code, only one of which was the correct code to break the bank. Each completed stunt earned a bonus prize, as well as a choice of the five bank cards assigned to each stunt. One of the stunts, when chosen, enabled the couple to choose up to five additional bank cards by stopping a random number generator called the "Number Jumbler". Initially, the clock ran throughout the round, but during the seventh week, this was changed so that the clock froze while the host explained each stunt.

Among the Prize Vault stunts/events featured were:

Play continued until the couple's allotted time ran out, and whatever bank cards they had earned were taken over to a code reader attached to the door of a large bank vault prop with the show's logo atop. The couple was given at least one opportunity to sell back those cards for a cash or prize payoff. If they chose not to take the bribe, they began feeding the bank cards into the code reader. The couple was given a chance to sell their remaining cards after every turn, and play continued until the couple took the payoff, ran out of cards, or broke the bank.

If the couple failed to break the bank and won the next day, the Prize Vault round started with the bank cards that were left after the previous round. Any cards sold back to the bank, in the event that the couple chose to take the cash/merchandise bribe, would be replaced.

Format #2

The format was adjusted shortly after Farago took over as host.

The game was now played in three rounds, with the couples trying to earn cash instead of time. In the first round, each question was worth $100 and solving the puzzle won the couple a bonus prize. The second round saw question values increase to $200 and another prize was awarded to the couple who solved the puzzle.

In the third round, a series of toss-up puzzles worth $400 apiece were played. Each clue was revealed one at a time and the first couple to buzz in with the right answer won the money. The first team to reach or pass $2,000 won the game and kept their money while the opponents left with consolation prizes and any bonus prizes won from solving earlier puzzles.

Prize Vault

The champions earned one Bank Card for winning the game and played a new Master Puzzle game to earn up to nine additional cards for a total of ten. The couple was given up to six clues to try to identify the puzzle, and each of the clues had a corresponding value of bank cards it would cost them to reveal it. Clues cost one, two or three bank cards, and were distributed by a shuffle that the couple stopped manually. They were then revealed in a clockwise fashion. The couple was given a guess at the Master Puzzle after each clue was revealed. A correct guess at any time earned the couple the amount of bank cards remaining.

Once the Master Puzzle was solved the couple entered the Prize Vault. This time there were forty bank cards in play. Instead of codes, the cards were now worth prizes of either cash or merchandise. Initially one of the cards was for a car, but this changed to having the car be part of the bank (which, in turn, resulted in the starting cash value of the bank being reduced from $20,000). One of the remaining two cards, which was never taken out of play, was the Bankrupt card and finding it ended the round and cost the couple whatever they had won to that point. The other remaining card broke the bank.

The couple chose their cards one at a time and could stop with what they'd won at any time. Otherwise, play continued until they chose the Bankrupt card, ran out of cards, or picked the card that broke the bank.

For each subsequent attempt at the Prize Vault, the couple started with the amount of bank cards that were left from their previous attempt. In this version, breaking the bank retired a couple immediately as undefeated champions.

Winnings limit

During the first few months, couples stayed on the show until they won $75,000 or until they were defeated, with anything over $75,000 donated to a charity of the couple's choice.[1] This was a result of airing in the New York City area on WCBS-TV, the CBS network's flagship station; hence, it was subjected to CBS' network winnings cap at the time. Later, when the main game format changed, any team who broke the bank retired undefeated.

Foreign versions

Despite its failure in America, the 1980s Break the Bank found success in France as La Porte Magique ("The Magic Door") from September 14, 1987 until November 12, 1988 on the now-defunct network La Cinq ("The Five"). The series was hosted by Michel Robbe, and used a set similar to that of the American series with the original bonus round format for at least part of the run. The number of seconds earned per correct answer also used the 5-10-20-40-80-100 layout. Beginning on November 14, 1988, the series was renamed Ali Baba until its end in 1989.

In addition, a short-lived kids version of the series titled En route pour l'aventure ("On the road to adventure"), also hosted by Michel Robbe, aired briefly in 1988.

Episode status

All episodes are known to exist; they are likely held by 20th Television, as through the acquisition of New World Communications in 1997, they acquired the rights to the library of Blair Entertainment (which had been absorbed into co-producer of this show, Storer Communications, in 1985 and that company was in turn acquired by New World in 1993).

CBN Cable (now ABC Family) reran episodes of this version from September 1 to December 26, 1986. Only episodes from Joe Farago's tenure were rerun; none of Gene Rayburn's episodes have been broadcast since their initial airing, per an agreement he made with Kline & Friends while leaving the show that his episodes were not to be rerun; it is unknown if that agreement is still valid given Rayburn's death in 1999 and the acquisition of the Blair library by Fox.

See also

References

External links

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