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loogslair.com Is that your final answer?


VITAL STATS

Lifespan: September 1985 - September 1986
Hosts: Gene Rayburn, Joe Farago
Announcers: Michael Hanks
Produced by: Kline and Friends

Front Game Rules ('86 money version)

Two couples compete. In the first two rounds, one member of each couple (husbands or wives) were asked a toss-up question. Each question is worth $100 in the first round, $200 in the second. The answers to the questions serve as clues to a puzzle, which wins the couple a prize if solved. If the couple guesses the puzzle but is incorrect, though, the other team gets the next question all to themselves. The third round is a speed round where the clues to each puzzle are revealed one by one until someone buzzes in to solve it, with puzzles worth $400 each. The first team to score $2000 wins the game. Could you solve this puzzle? Maybe, if the words were legible...

End Game

The bonus round is played in two parts. In the first part, the couple earned one "bank card" for free, and had the opportunity to earn up to 9 more bank cards by solving another puzzle. 10 cards were distributed among each of the clues, and with each clue those cards were removed. When the puzzle was solved, the remaining cards were added to the couple's stash.

At that point, the couple went into the vault and selected the appropriate number of cards from those available. Each card offered either cash or a prize. One of the cards was a "bankrupt card" that ended the bonus round then and there, and another card broke the bank and awarded a growing jackpot of prizes to the couple. The selection of cards continued to dwindle until the "Break Bank" card was selected.


Loogaroo Looks it Over

OK, I'm prepared to have my head handed to me, but the concept here wasn't too terribly bad. Granted, I didn't see the early form of this show, where front game answers were worth time that was spent in the bonus round completing stunts to earn the bank cards, so that probably is working in this show's favor. What really hurts this show is that it just overdoes everything. From the audience joining host Farago in shouting "Break the Bank!" before each break, to the flashy bank vault used to house the clue monitors, they really could've turned the glitz down a notch. Instead, the show becomes a caricature.

Break the Bank

Gameplay: 2 pts.
Host: 1 pt.
Presentation: 1 pt.
Execution: 1 pt.
Total Score: 5 pts.



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