Split Second

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Fast-moving game show where three contestants, one a returning champion, competed to answer general knowledge questions and win cash. Host Kennedy announced a category (e.g., "Presidential losers") and a question relating to the category ("Everyone remembers the winners in a presidential election, but do you remember who they defeated?"); the players were shown three clues (Harry Truman (1948); Lyndon B.Johnson (1964); and Richard M. Nixon (1968)). All three contestants rang in, the one who rang in first having the first chance to select a clue and provide an answer. If he was right, he won a share of the pot; his/her opponents could answer two or possibly all three questions. Players were rewarded based on their ability to answer $5 each if all three contestants provided one right answer; $10 if two of them were right; and $25 if just one answered all three questions correctly (by the way, the correct answers were, in order, Thomas Dewey, Barry Goldwater and Hubert H. Humphrey). After an undefined time limit, dollar values were doubled (i.e., $10, $25 and $50). In the game's final round, contestants were seeded based on their score up to that point the player in the lead needing four correct answers to become champion, second place requiring five and third place requiring six; ties required the players to answer the lesser of the required number of questions. The player who met his requirements first was the day's winner. That player moved on to the bonus round, where he/she chose a set of keys and the car (from a choice of five) they thought it would start. If the car started, the champion retired undefeated; otherwise, he/she won $1,000 and got to return the next day, where upon successive wins, their chances became better at winning a car (e.g., 1 in 4 chance on the next show). Champions otherwise competed for up to five days (at which time they automatically won a car) or until defeated.