Front game over the bonus round?

[aaron sica]

Flipping over the other thread for the opposite.

Any shows where you preferred the main game OVER the bonus round?

I can only think of one - Classic Concentration. I much preferred trying to solve the puzzles (even if I was never very good at it) more than watching someone play for a car.

[MikeK]

Likely unpopular opinion:  The Big ShowDown.  The game is an amazing game of strategy.  The end is dumb luck by rolling dice.

Musical Chairs too, especially that first incarnation of the bonus round.

[parliboy]

Any Split Second besides the last one.  I know GSN shows are formulaic in certain ways, but the end-game of their Split Second was a great improvement.

[Ian Wallis]

Since it was mentioned in the other thread I'll throw in Card Sharks.  Even when I was a teen watching the show for the first time I found the questions fascinating and the card play was interesting.

Maybe the original Chain Reaction too.  Was never a huge fan of the one-word-at-a-time question format which Stewart really milked to death.

[jmangin]

The Challengers over any "Ultimate Challenge" format that stuck to/fell from the wall that month.

[Dbacksfan12]

Either format of Trivia Trap.  I was not a fan of "Work as a team, now turn on each other".

[gamed121683]

Well, I started the original post. I might as well give some equal time. This might be a hot take, but even though both the front and end games are awesome, I preferred the multi answer guessing front game over Fast Money on Feud.

Parliboy & Ian: I agree with you two about the OG Split Second and Chain Reaction, two excellent answers! How the bonus round in the latter got a spinoff in Go is beyond me. Too gimmicky for my taste, but…obviously somebody liked it.

[Casey Buck]

How the bonus round in the latter got a spinoff in Go is beyond me. Too gimmicky for my taste, but…obviously somebody liked it.

Yeah, that somebody is Bob Stewart.

[BrandonFG]

$ale of the Century, at least the Perry version. In the shopping era, it was mostly anticlimactic unless someone played for the car, the jackpot, or the lot. Most of the lower-level prizes weren't that exciting.

The Winner's Board was solid but again, unless someone matched the car, one of the cash prizes, or maybe a trip it was still anticlimactic at times. But at least fit NBC's mandate for an actual bonus round.

The Winner's Big Money Game would've been fine had $ale been an actual word-association game. Didn't help that you were pretty much on thin ice if you got one puzzle wrong.

One thing Temptation US got right was using Super Knockoff to build the jackpot quicker. For a reboot, maybe offer something similar here and offer more desirable lower-level prizes. Smaller trips, a stainless steel kitchen, maybe a personalized prize similar to what PYL does?

That reminds me, the current PYL. I still think 30 minutes is too long for a bonus round and you have to make a concerted effort not to look at the clock around 9:53.

[Chief-O]

The Winner's Big Money Game would've been fine had $ale been an actual word-association game. Didn't help that you were pretty much on thin ice if you got one puzzle wrong.

Agreed; it's probably the brainiest of SOTC's bonus rounds, but it was misplaced. They probably should've pushed it upon "Super Password" (nothing against their adaptation on Alphabetics). (edit: Or some Bob Stewart show?)

That reminds me, the current PYL. I still think 30 minutes is too long for a bonus round and you have to make a concerted effort not to look at the clock around 9:53.

Exactly; I've been a harsh critic of that bonus round from day one. I've personally done the look-at-the-clock and thought "oh, there's 4 minutes left and they've got (some amount well below the $500K), they're not getting the million"....best case scenario at that point is to just hope they don't whammy out.

Also, agreed on the Kennedy and Hall SS bonus rounds. From what I read re. the GSN version's bonus round, it's at least an improvement just by virtue of being based on the main game.

[jage]

I lose interest in TPIR at the showcases unless they are something unique.

[Ian Wallis]

That reminds me, the current PYL. I still think 30 minutes is too long for a bonus round and you have to make a concerted effort not to look at the clock around 9:53.

I'm with you there.  As much as I've been a fan of PYL over the years, the bonus round on the current version is usually a drag to get thru.  It would have been better to have two half-hour games instead.

[TimK2003]

That reminds me, the current PYL. I still think 30 minutes is too long for a bonus round and you have to make a concerted effort not to look at the clock around 9:53.

I'm with you there.  As much as I've been a fan of PYL over the years, the bonus round on the current version is usually a drag to get thru.  It would have been better to have two half-hour games instead.

Seems like the current version of PYL is best viewed and enjoyed "On Demand" when you start it at a random time without looking at a clock.