1 | The first of three unrelated {{Game Show}}s with this name was from Wolf Productions, debuting on Mutual radio on October 20, 1945. Contestants chosen from the StudioAudience answered questions of increasing value, although the amounts varied: |
2 | * By October 1949, it was $10-$20-$50-$100-$200-$300-$500. |
3 | * The 1953 daytime version used $10-$20-$30-$50-$100-$200-$300. |
4 | * By about mid-1955, the structure was modified to $25-$50-$100-$200-$300-$500. |
5 | |
6 | The highest-valued question was the "Gateway to the Bank". Answering it correctly gave that player/couple one final question for the chance to break the Bank. Missing one question along the way simply knocked you down one rung (for example, missing the $200 question dropped your winnings from $100 to $50, and you'd have to answer another question to get back to $100), but missing a second time ended the game and sent you home with the amount you previously won (in the previous example, $50 due to missing the $100 question). It also added the amount you won to the Bank. |
7 | |
8 | Originally without a permanent host, Bert Parks took the reins permanently in 1946. The television version debuted on the then-new Creator/{{ABC}} on October 22, 1948 and proceeded to ChannelHop among ABC, Creator/{{NBC}}, and Creator/{{CBS}} for the next eight years. The radio version also hopped around, becoming a daily series from 1950 until its end in 1955. |
9 | |
10 | When the show returned to NBC on October 9, 1956, it became ''Break the $250,000 Bank'' and overhauled its format to offer considerably more. Unfortunately, nobody ever broke the Bank (the most anybody won was $60,000) and ''Bank'' folded, this time for good, on January 15, 1957. The show was replaced on the 22nd by ''Hold That Note'', a ''Series/NameThatTune''-esque game also hosted by Parks, which ran until April 2. |
11 | ---- |
12 | !!This show provides examples of: |
13 | * TheAnnouncer: Including Bud Collyer, Win Elliot, and Johnny Olson. |
14 | * BonusRound: The question for the Bank. |
15 | * ConsolationPrize: The amount you had before the second wrong answer. |
16 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Among the substitute hosts were Peter Donald, Johnny Olson, and Creator/BillCullen. |
17 | * GameShowHost: Bert Parks, famous for helming Miss America pageants and goading answers out of contestants on ''Yours For A Song''. Collyer assisted from 1948-53, afterward hosting a brief daytime version on NBC. |
18 | * HomeGame: Two versions were released by Bettye-B in 1955, but play for considerably more than the show did! |
19 | * LovelyAssistant: They appear to have been added after Collyer left. |
20 | * ProgressiveJackpot: The Bank, which started at $1,000 ($500 on the 1953 daytime series) and grew by the amount each player or couple took home until won. |
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FollowingContext Series / BreakTheBank1945
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