----
* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: During the Stunt era, the number of seconds earned per correct answer was 5-10-20-40-80-100, which basically encouraged couples to not solve the puzzle if they knew it early on and rewarded those who ''couldn't'' figure out the solution early.
** On the other hand, Kline & Friends probably didn't expect anybody to get the maximum possible Prize Vault time of 540 seconds[[note]](one couple answers all six questions correctly in the first two rounds for 255 seconds each, wins one round while the opponents win the other, then wins the tiebreaker for 30 more seconds)[[/note]], since then the Prize Vault would last ''nine minutes'' and the entire show would be subject to extreme editing.
* QuestionableCasting: If you wanted a serious host in a silly stunt-based game, then why did you hire a guy ''known'' for his spontaneity and who essentially built his career through being a goofball when he could? (According to the biography ''The Matchless Gene Rayburn'', it was because Gene had "star power" and was apparently seen by Kline as "a means to an end" - that being to get the show picked up. It seems Kline never actually considered giving Rayburn respect... or kindness.)
** Gene wasn't ''always'' a goofball, of course--when time came for contestants to go for the big money, he toned down the joking just enough so that all present could focus on what was at stake. On this show, Gene got semi-serious once the Bank Cards were being tabulated.
* ReplacementScrappy: Joe Farago, a guest early in the run who replaced Gene Rayburn following his firing. This [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools doesn't make Farago a bad host in his own right]], as he and his tenure (including the Master Puzzle) have their fans... but he's only put here when compared to Rayburn.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
** Inverted when the Prize Vault rules were slightly changed to stop the clock while Rayburn/Farago described the chosen stunt--but this could also cause issues when, like in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqyQ83MPpPc this]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zieyibteXeA episode]], where they had to severely edit the end just to fit in the fee plugs because of the extra time when the clock was stopped (it doesn't even have logos, just the show logo over a blue background).
** Subverted with the introduction of the Master Puzzle format in January 1986 (which also altered the main game to reaching a goal of $2,000). As hinted at above, Farago's first few weeks used the Stunt format.
----