Game Show Memories – Split Second.

Split Second (ITV, 1987-1988)

This is a game show that was only shown in the Scottish region, so of course I never saw this at the time, but an edition turned up online recently, and I was curious to take a look. Split Second was based on an American format that originally ran in the early-70s, before being revived in the late-80s, and then revived again only a couple of years ago (I must admit that I haven’t seen any editions of the American version yet).

The host was Paul Coia, and I think that this was his game show debut, even before he took over the long-running Catchword. Three contestants took part, and to get viewers excited, the first two editions were both celebrity specials. Three questions appear on the screen. They need to answer one of the questions, and must buzz in as soon as they think they can. When they buzz, the computer determines who was first.

This is where the “split second” element comes in. I must admit that I have thought about how the technology used for buzzers on game shows works, such as determining who was first, locking contestants out who were too early and so on. Who buzzed first gets the first pick of the three, the second has two choices, and the third has no choice. If all three can offer a correct answer, they get five points. If two can, they get ten.

But if only one can, they get a big 15 points. In the next round, they are given a question on a category. This time, the choices are colour-coded. So the red is determined to be the hard difficulty, the orange is average, and the green is easy. If you go first, maybe it would be a good idea to choose easy. And would you believe it, the points are now doubled to 10-20-30. Next is a round where the questions aren’t shown at all.

So if you get the first question right, you don’t know if you’ll play for a hard one or an easy one until you choose. And they’ve doubled the points again to 20-40-60. And if that wasn’t terrific enough, there are now some hidden spot prizes, so if you do get one right, there’s a chance of the noise going off and receiving a bonus. In the last round, their scores are converted into how many answers they need to win the game.

So the contestant in first needs four, the one in second needs five, and the one in third needs six. But they can now answer as many of the three questions as they want. The first one to zero wins! The losers get a consolation watch. In the final, there are questions on a category for 30 seconds. For each of the first five correct answers, £100 is won. But get the sixth in time and the star prize of £1,000 is won! There was only one series.