Keep Wink Martindale as host, but have Randy West announce.

Minimum debts are $15,000.

Gameplay-wise, I'd keep the second-season format for General Debt (including the $1 opening question), but with higher stakes: $100-$500 for regular categories, $200-$1,000 for the Debtonator category.
For Gambling Debt, I'd double the original stakes:
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,500
$3,000

If a contestant wins by mathematical elimination, the amounts from the remaining questions are deducted from the winner's debt.

3rd place wins a $500 savings bond
2nd place wins a $1,000 savings bond

As for the Get Out of Debt bonus round, the same rules, except the contestant chooses from one of three categories during commercial break, and every correct answer deducts $500 from their debt. As usual, 10 correct answers within 60 seconds wipes out the entire debt.

In the second half of the bonus round: Bet Your Debt, the champion has the option to walk out with what they have won already (either the amount they already subtracted from their debt if they lost the first half, or the debt paid in full if they won the first half), or risk it all on one final question from the specialty category they chose prior to taping. After being read the question, if they answer the question correctly in 10 seconds, their winnings are doubled. If they miss, they lose everything and walk out with a $2,500 savings bond (or $5,000 if they succeeded in the first half).

Last edited by TVLubber (3/25/2021 9:21 pm)