Bonus round over the front game?

[gamed121683]

Here’s a question about shows that get it backwards, so to speak. I remember playing the “Family Feud” home game with my friends at a game night one time and someone commented about how Fast Money was more fun than the main game.

Thinking back about this moment made me wonder is there another game show that you feel the bonus round was more fun than the main game?

[Brian44]

Pyramid and all versions of Password, though I will say that I've always found the main game of P+ and SP to be far more exciting than 20 minutes of just guessing random words in the original PW main game.

[Kevin Prather]

Winning Lines is often considered one of the worst formats with one of the best bonus rounds.

[vtown7]

Winning Lines is often considered one of the worst formats with one of the best bonus rounds.

Too funny - "Warning - while you were typing a new reply has been posted.  You may wish to review your post."  I had just typed "Winning Lines by a country mile."

Great minds think alike I suppose!

R.

[aaron sica]

Card Sharks.

[Blanquepage]

Definitely Pitfall.

[BrandonFG]

A couple years ago, someone posted a megamix of Face the Music episodes. As much as I like the show in all its cheesy glory, I usually skip straight to the $10,000 Championship Round nowadays.

[Matt Ottinger]

I don't understand the premise of the question.  Isn't the bonus round supposed to be the most exciting part of the show, the one part everybody looks forward to seeing at the end?  I would argue that it's far more rare to have a lousy bonus round that the main game overshadows.   (Musical Chairs for example.)

[TimK2003]

For some reason, Bill Rafferty's Every Second Counts came to mind first.

Likely because the main game was all softball and goofy "this or that" questions.  Once you got to the bonus round, it went all serious and was pretty intense.

[Blanquepage]

I don't understand the premise of the question.  Isn't the bonus round supposed to be the most exciting part of the show, the one part everybody looks forward to seeing at the end?  I would argue that it's far more rare to have a lousy bonus round that the main game overshadows.   (Musical Chairs for example.)

I find that most of the Barry / Enright "avoid the bad guy" endgames were rather uninspired. Can't say I looked forward to seeing the contestant pick numbered boxes in TTD's bonus game.
At least Bumper Stumpers had a tie-in the main game with the contestants still solving plates before playing "avoid the stop sign." Wasn't a fan of Battlestars and with its random guess the famous face round, either.

[Nick]

I don't understand the premise of the question.  Isn't the bonus round supposed to be the most exciting part of the show, the one part everybody looks forward to seeing at the end?

If you're Frank Wayne producing The Nighttime Price Is Right, you're treating the Showcase that way.  I rather liked that approach, though I think it goes without saying the pricing games make for the far more exciting part of the show.

My hot sideways take: Jackpot was such a great game it didn't need a bonus round.

[Winkfan]

Card Sharks.

Hear! Hear! Might I put in a good word for:
The Big Showdown; their bonus round was boss!
The Magnificent Marble Machine; I really enjoyed that one.
Now You See It; one of the better "play-along" ones.
Blockbusters; see under NYSI.

Cordially,
Tammy

[BrandonFG]

Winning Lines is often considered one of the worst formats with one of the best bonus rounds.

Even at 17, I thought the Wonderwall should've been the main attraction with a simple qualifier like a Fastest Finger. More than a decade later* nothing has changed.

*/Shut up that was only 12 years ago

[Ian Wallis]

I agree with Magnificent Marble Machine.  The front game was boring.  I remember watching it originally and it seemed forever until they actually played the machine.