283:"break the bank" question worth all the money in the bank, which began at $ 1,000. The first incorrect answer returned the player to the previous cash level, and a second miss ended the game and the contestant kept his or her current winnings. The same amount would then be added to the bank. At first, the question values before the bank were $ 10, $ 20, $ 50, $ 100, $ 200, $ 300, and $ 500. By the mid 1950s, the first right answer won the contestant $ 25, and the values increased to $ 50, $ 100, $ 200, $ 300, $ 500, and finally the bank. On the short-lived daytime edition, the values were $ 10, $ 20, $ 30, $ 50, $ 100, $ 200, $ 300, and the bank which started at $ 500.
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would up the score to $ 5,000. The contestant would then return for the next several weeks to answer more $ 5,000 questions. Prize money increased as the player continued, up to $ 250,000. A wrong answer along the way simply ended the game. Each multiple of $ 25,000 would be guaranteed in case of a miss.
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Contestants were drawn from the studio audience and brought up on stage to play a quiz game. The contestant was asked a series of questions, each worth progressively more money. The goal was to provide enough correct answers (eight, later seven) before making two mistakes. The final question was the
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In this 1956 NBC prime time revival, the rules slightly changed. The contestant picked a category and was asked five questions on that category worth $ 100 a piece with one wrong answer ending the game. If they get all five right they could walk with $ 500 or risk it and answer on one question that
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and other big-money shows. However, that version ran for only three months (October 9, 1956, to
January 15, 1957), and no contestants won any more than $ 60,000 (won by dentist Harry Duncan).
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who competed in a special category – "Fight for
Freedom". Waters appeared on the last episode before the show was cancelled. She was announced for a new
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as the sponsor, the radio show moved back to weekdays on NBC for 1953–55, overlapping with a weekday radio series on Mutual during 1954–55.
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television, from 1945 to 1957. From
October 1956 to January 1957, NBC aired a short-lived prime-time television version called
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which aired variously – and sometimes co-existed in separate radio and television forms – on
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television. The co-existing radio and television broadcasts were co-hosted by Bert Parks and Bud
Collyer. That same year,
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on
October 20, 1945, heard Saturdays until April 13, 1946. Initially, it featured different hosts each week, including
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http://www.tv4u.com/show-video.asp?cid=21&sid=388&vid=782&t=Break%20The%20Bank&cat=Game%20Show
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and Bob
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400:(Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 112.
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A board game based on the show was made by Bettye-B Games in 1955.
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became the full-time host in 1946. The questions were written by
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On
October 22, 1948, a televised version started broadcast on
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The most notable contestants during this period were actress
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as the sponsor, the series returned Friday, July 5, 1946, on
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274:"the highest-paying quiz program in the world".
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516:American English-language television shows
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476:1957 American television series endings
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300:The record bank win was $ 9,020 until
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174:(first televised version, in 1948),
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394:Dunning, John (1998).
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104:(1946-1949, 1954-1956)
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307:The $ 64,000 Question
446:(1948-1957) at IMDB
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218:Joseph Nathan Kane
407:978-0-19-507678-3
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76:Running time
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53:(1948-1957)
455:Categories
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378:References
353:Board game
214:Bert Parks
170:, as well
140:1957-01-15
130:1945-10-20
79:30 minutes
71:Production
51:Bert Parks
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235:ABC Radio
164:ABC Radio
156:quiz show
109:and / or
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361:See also
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278:Gameplay
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270:called
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208:and
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180:NBC
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111:NBC
102:ABC
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386:^
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