Three of these boxes...
will break the <insert amount> bank!
Is this one of them? Or is it this one? Or this one?
We'll find out in a moment in this game of hide and seek, as these nine celebrities, <insert names>
All join us in playing...
Broadcast History
Airdates: April 12, 1976-July 23, 1976, ABC
September 18, 1976-September 11, 1977, Syndicated (Weekly)
Hosts:
Tom Kennedy (ABC)
Jack Barry (Syndicated)
Announcers: Johnny Jacobs, Ernie Anderson
Packager: Jack Barry and Dan Enright Productions
Origination: Studio 55, ABC Television Center, Los Angeles
Gameplay (ABC version)
Two
contestants competed, with a nine celebrity panel. Five celebrities sat on the
top, and four on the side. The contestant would pick a box (numbered 1-20). 
The
box may contain a money amount ($100, $200, or $300), a Money Bag, a Wild Card,
or it could be blank. On the board, the three dollar amounts always touched, the
money bags were scattered and may 
touch
or may not, the Wild Card was placed anywhere, and the blanks never touched. If
it was a money amount or the wild card, a question was asked to the two
celebrities "connected" to that box (the one on the top and to the
side). 
Each
of them gave an answer, 
and
the contestant had 
to
pick the correct answer in order to "capture" the box.
If correct, a moustache or lips (games were always played between a male and
female contestant) was placed on it, and they picked another box. If incorrect,
the box returned to it's neutral position (changed late in the run, where an
incorrect answer would give the box to their opponent, unless it meant a win)
and control passed to their opponent. If a money bag was found, the contestant
could elect to take it and pass control to their opponent. The first player to
find three like dollar amounts would win the game, the cash amount of the three
boxes times three, and would win a a special prize.
If they found three money bags, they would "Break the Bank", which
started at $5,000 and increased by $500 (later $250) until won.
Gameplay (Syndicated)
Very similar, except two
players competed for the entire show, until time ran out. The boxes were now
worth $100, $300, and $500, 
and
the "Bank" was worth a set $10,000 in prizes
,
including a car. 
If
time was running out in a show, the two players would alternate picking boxes
until one of them found a three of a kind, with no questions being asked (the
box was automatically there's when picked). 
Any
player who broke the 
bank
or the player with the most money at the end of the night played a bonus game.
In the bonus game, the
player would call on a celebrity who would reveal a dollar amount. The object 
was
to get to $2000 or more without s
eeing
a "Bust" card. A player could stop at any time and take what they had
accumulated, and finding Bust lost all of their bonus winnings. Getting to $2000
or more won a player $5000 cash.
Facts
-The fact that the ABC version of Break the Bank lasted 15 weeks is of no fault of the show's ratings. It was the number 2 rated game show of 1975-1976, behind only Match Game '75/'76, and ahead of The $20,000 Pyramid. It was axed to make room for an expanded soap opera.
-This was the first game show to be called a "Jack Barry and Dan Enright Production" since the 1950s quiz show scandals. They had worked together again on Blank Check, and would later have great success with The Joker's Wild and Tic Tac Dough.
-Announcer Ernie Anderson is probably more recognizable as the "Voice of ABC." Before his death in the early '90s, Anderson voiced many ABC network promos and voiceovers.