I've got two things to say, one for the direction that I inadvertently took this, and one for the original intention of this thread.
First, about my thing, gotta say this stunned me. I thought Wayne had been doing a better job in your eyes. Make no mistake, no one is ever going to make us forget Monty and his version of the show. It will always be the best. But I feel that to just dismiss it because "it's not Monty" isn't fair, and we've been down this road already with today's shows several times. I admit at first, I thought Wayne & Co. ran a very slow show, I wasn't keen on the zonk sign and the solo Big Deal, either. But I HAVE enjoyed the improv comedy, because it adds to the banter that Wayne does with the contestants, which I feel he does do well and does show that he cares what happens to them. I think the original games they have are real good (and Beat The Dealer & the Cash Register/Board are still there). They have picked up pace this season a bit. And while yeah, they do like most shows today do and find more excuse to have the audience going nuts for everything, that's just today's audience. It's a weaker measuring stick for sure, but I still feel that the current version is doing pretty well for what it is and will continue to do so. They have to be doing something right or else Les would've given his wife even more airtime long before now.
Overall, is this more a question that you don't like the show today as a whole package, or just Wayne's style of presenting it?
While we ponder that, let me try to bring this back to the original topic.
I agree that The Big Showdown was terribly underrated, as was Jim Peck, who I still stick with as my most underrated host. The game was a great strategic rapid-fire quizzer. The dice game, while a little offbeat to the rest of the show, still kept true to the payoff point concept. (How much more could you do with the trivia anyway?) I could totally see it in today's market, but it would have to be on cable, I think, because in syndication, too many people would say it's too much like Jeopardy. (Here we go again with being hardened on the classics.) Overall, it made my Top 50, and maybe one day, I might duplicate it on the anime circuit.
Moneymaze, I wasn't as keen on, but I got the niche behind it. If it were revived today, I'd see it more as a kids game. The gimmick doesn't feel like it plays as well to adults. I'd still take a crack at it anyway, of course.