Split Second (game show)

Split Second
Created by	Monty Hall Stefan Hatos
Directed by	Kip Walton (1972-1975) Henry Pasila (1986-1987)
Presented by	Tom Kennedy (1972–1975) Monty Hall (1986–1987)
Narrated by	Jack Clark (1972–1975) Sandy Hoyt (1986–1987)
Theme music composer	Stan Worth (1972-1975) Todd Thicke (1986-1987)
Country of origin	United States Canada
No. of episodes	1,025 (1972-1975)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Stefan Hatos Monty Hall
Producer(s)	Stu Billett (1972-?) Bob Synes (?-1975) Alan Gilbert (1986-1987) Frank Bluestein (1986-1987)
Location(s)	The Prospect Studios Hollywood, California (1972-1975) CHCH Studios Hamilton, Ontario (1986-1987)
Running time	22-26 minutes
Production company(s)	Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions Concept Equity Funding Ltd. (1986-1987, Canada only)
Distributor	Viacom (1986-1987, USA)
Release
Original network	ABC (1972–1975) Syndicated (1986–1987)
Picture format	NTSC
Original release	March 20, 1972-June 27, 1975 December 15, 1986 – September 11, 1987

Split Second is an American television game show which originally aired on ABC from March 20, 1972, to June 27, 1975. The show returned on December 15, 1986 in syndication in the United States and Canada, where it was produced, and ran until September 11, 1987.

Both editions of Split Second were productions of Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions. The syndicated series was produced in association with Concept Equity Funding Limited and Viacom Enterprises; the former company was responsible for the production of the show in Canada while Viacom distributed the series to its American markets.^[1] Canadian television stations CHCH-TV, CFAC-TV, and CITV-TV assisted in production of the syndicated series as well, but were not credited on American airings.^[2]

Tom Kennedy was the host for the original ABC version, with Jack Clark serving as announcer. When the show returned in syndication in 1986, production moved to Hamilton, Ontario (at CHCH's studio facilities)^[3] and producer and joint creator Monty Hall became the host, with Sandy Hoyt as announcer.

Game play

Rounds 1 & 2

On each version three contestants, one a returning champion (or designate), competed.

Each question Kennedy or Hall asked had three possible correct answers. Some questions took a form such as "Name the three films for which Katharine Hepburn won the Oscar for Best Actress." For most questions, three words, names, or phrases were displayed on a board which acted as clues, and the question took a form such as "Pick a word from the board and give its plural." Approximately once each day on the ABC version there was also a "Memory Buster", in which Kennedy gave a list of items and asked which three of them were common to each other.

Contestants rang in by pushing a button on their podiums. The first person to ring in was permitted to provide any one of the three answers. The second-fastest provided one of the remaining answers, and finally the slowest player got whatever was left, by default. In the '70s version, the clues on the board were revealed first and contestants could buzz-in before the question was completed, whereas in the syndicated version the answers were revealed after the question was finished, and if a contestant rang in too soon (before the choices were revealed), he or she was forced to take a turn after the other two had had their chances.

Bob Synes, producer of the 1970s Split Second, took a very strict stand regarding contestants’ answers; he required contestants to guess the answers exactly right, meaning mispronounced answers were ruled incorrect, similar to most other quiz shows like Jeopardy!. When Hall took the reins of the 1980s version he acted as judge himself, giving the player credit for the correct answer if he/she mispronounced the answer or was close enough to the right answer.

Each player received money for a correct answer. The value of each answer was determined by the number of people supplying a correct response, and no money was deducted for answering incorrectly.

For example, if two players gave a correct answer in round one of the ABC version, each player received $10.

During the latter half of the ABC version, the first person to be the only contestant to respond correctly on a question during the first two rounds, a situation which Kennedy referred to as a "Singleton," also won a bonus prize, his or hers to keep regardless of the game's outcome.

Countdown Round

The Countdown Round served as the final round and determined the winner. No money was awarded for correct answers in this round. Instead, a correct answer enabled a player to keep control of the question and answer the remaining two parts.

Each player was required to give a set number of answers in order to win the game. The leader entering the Countdown Round had the lowest number, with the second place player needing one more answer than the leader and the third place player two. In the event of a tie, the tied players had to give the same number of answers. On the original series, the leader needed three answers to win (which could be accomplished in one question), the second place player four, and the third place player five. These numbers all increased by one when the syndicated series debuted, with four being the lowest number and six the highest.

The first player to count down to zero won the game regardless of their total score and moved on to the bonus round. All three players got to keep whatever they had won.

Bonus Round

1970s

Every new champion was given a choice of five car keys, which corresponded with five cars that were displayed on stage. The champion chose a car to attempt to start with the key, and if he/she was successful the car was won and the champion retired. If the car did not start, it was taken out of play and the champion tried the same key in another car if he/she returned the next day. If after four consecutive tries the key did not start a car, if the champion won the next game he/she received a choice of any of the cars on stage.^[4]

In addition to the car, a retiring champion received a cash bonus. The bonus started at $1,000 and increased by $500 for each unsuccessful bonus round (originally $200 to start with $200 more for each unsuccessful bonus round), resetting only when a champion won a car.

1980s

The bonus round on the 1980s Split Second utilized five screens which champions picked from to try to win the car.

Initially, a champion tried to determine which of the screens hid the word "CAR" behind it. If the champion picked the correct screen on the first try, he/she won the car and retired. If not, the champion won $1,000 in cash and the screen was blacked out if the champion won the next game. The process repeated until the champion chose the right screen, was defeated, or won five consecutive games, at which point he/she automatically won the car.

The bonus round was reworked later in the run and the object of the round changed. The champion chose three of the five screens to start the round in the hopes that they all hid the word "CAR". Two of the five screens did not and instead concealed the name of another bonus prize. The champion's first choice was revealed and if it was one of the "CAR" screens, the next choice was revealed. If any of the chosen screens revealed the other prize, the round ended and all five screens were revealed to show where the three "CAR" screens were.

For each day that the car was not won, the champion was given a choice to take the prize and a cash award or return. If a champion missed on their first try, he/she was offered $1,000 and the prize (originally just the prize). For each subsequent miss, the cash offer went up by $1,000. The champion also received a bit of assistance if he/she made it to a fourth day without winning the car, with one extra "CAR" screen placed among the five. As before, if a champion made it to a fifth day without winning the car and won the match, he/she received the car automatically and retired.

Broadcast history

ABC, 1972–1975

Split Second occupied only one timeslot during its three-year run, 12:30 PM (11:30 AM, Central), against the traditional CBS favorite Search for Tomorrow and NBC's The Who, What, or Where Game. It displaced Password, which moved ahead a half-hour. Although never able to surmount Search, Split Second kept a large number of affiliates on the network at that hour (preemptions, mostly for local newscasts, had plagued ABC for years). Within two years, NBC replaced 3W's with a succession of short-lived games.

Split Second's 1972 entry completed ABC's most successful block of daytime game shows, which included Password, The Newlywed Game, The Dating Game, and Let's Make a Deal, a lineup which lasted for nearly two years.

However, the decline of its lead-in, Password, began to adversely affect the Nielsens of Split Second, and it was one of four game shows ABC cancelled between June 27 and July 4, 1975. After a week of 60-minute episodes of the soap opera All My Children, Split Second was succeeded by another soap, Ryan's Hope.

The winning contestant on the final episode lost the bonus game but was awarded the car anyway, since he would have no opportunity to try again on a future show; the final $1,000 cash jackpot was split between the two runner-up contestants (one of whom was future ABC News and CNN correspondent Judd Rose).

Syndicated, 1986–1987

After an eleven-year hiatus, Hatos and Hall decided to revive Split Second and Hall, who had just finished hosting The All New Let's Make a Deal, chose to host this edition of his previous production.

The show aired simultaneously in the United States and Canada upon its premiere, but many more Canadian markets cleared Split Second than their American counterparts (although it was cleared in at least one major market, New York). With the reappearance of episodes on Canada's GameTV, there have emerged some notable production differences for episodes aired in Canada. These are listed as follows:

• As the show returns from its first two commercial breaks, some trivia questions are displayed on the screen for the viewers. On the American airings, three questions were shown. The Canadian airings usually only displayed one question, with announcer Sandy Hoyt filling the time with fee plugs.
• On the American airings, the bonus round is played immediately as the show comes back from its final commercial break. On the Canadian airings, a series of promotional consideration plugs are read before the round begins.
• In the closing credits, all of the Canadian production entities are listed for Canadian airings. The American airings did not do this, with producer Hatos-Hall and distributor Viacom receiving credit.

1990 Pilot

A pilot for an attempted revival was taped in 1990, with Robb Weller as host. This version was produced by Ralph Edwards-Stu Billett Productions (Billett having co-produced the ABC version) and featured the same main-game payoffs as the syndicated version.

The bonus round was completely different from both earlier versions: Three exotic vacations were offered, with a graphic for each hidden behind three video screens. Selecting the screen which contained the chosen locale's graphic won that trip for the champion.

Episode status

The original ABC version is believed to be wiped due to network practices at the time. Six episodes are known to exist and have been posted on YouTube: four consecutive episodes from May 19 through the 24th, 1972, featuring Michael Russnow (prior to the adoption of the "Singleton" and "Memory Buster" elements); an episode from May 8, 1975, with Marvin Shinkman becoming a five-time champion (Shinkman was later a champion on Double Dare in 1977 and Jeopardy! in 1986^[5]); and the June 27, 1975 finale.

The UCLA Film and Television Archive holds 15 episodes spanning the entire run, beginning at episode #39 (May 11, 1972) and ending with the finale.^[6]

The syndicated version is completely intact, and is currently owned by Hatos-Hall Productions and reran on The Family Channel from August 30, 1993,^[7] to March 4, 1994,^[8] and January 2^[9] to September 29, 1995,^[10] as part of its afternoon game show block. As of October 2013, GameTV is airing reruns.^[11]

Two copies of the 1990 pilot are listed among UCLA's holdings, with different recording dates.

International versions

Australia

The show ran in Australia from 1972 to 1973 on Nine Network, hosted by Ken James and later by Jimmy Hannan, and produced by Reg Grundy.^[12]

United Kingdom

The show ran in the United Kingdom from 1987 to 1988 in the STV region of ITV, hosted by Paul Coia.^[13]

References

External links

• Original Split Second at Game Show Utopia
• Original Split Second at Game Shows '75