Every Second Counts (U.S. game show)

Every Second Counts
Directed by	Barry Glazer
Presented by	Bill Rafferty (host) Debbie Bartlett (original hostess) Susie Carr (replacement)
Narrated by	Johnny Gilbert
Country of origin	United States
Production
Executive producer(s)	Charles Colarusso
Producer(s)	Peter Noah
Running time	approx. 26 minutes
Production company(s)	Charles Colarusso Productions Group W Productions
Distributor	CBS Television Distribution (current)
Release
Original network	Syndicated
Original release	September 17, 1984 – September 1985

Every Second Counts is an American television game show that premiered in syndication on September 17, 1984. The series lasted one season and aired in reruns until September 1985. Every Second Counts was a production of Group W Productions and Charles Colarusso Productions.

Bill Rafferty hosted Every Second Counts with Johnny Gilbert announcing. Actress Debbie Bartlett served as the show's hostess for the first half of the season, then left the series in early 1985 to join the cast of The Love Boat and was replaced by Susie Carr.

Although Every Second Counts lasted only one season in America (according to host Bill Rafferty in an interview, it was because certain Westinghouse/Group W executives apparently did not like the show; it also suffered from clearance issues as some cities, including the country's top-rated TV market of New York City, did not air the show at all), it was far more successful in the United Kingdom, where it ran from 1986 to 1993.

Three married couples competed in a game of answering questions, with the object of the game being to earn seconds that would later be used in the bonus round at the end of the show.

The game was played in two rounds, with the wives playing the first round and the husbands the second.

In each round, three sets of questions were played. Each of these questions were either true/false or this-or-that, and in the latter case the players were presented with two humorous answer choices before the first question was asked. (E.g., "chew it" if an item was a brand of chewing tobacco, or "screw it" if it was a type of screwdriver.) Each set consisted of nine questions, asked in order from left to right. Answering correctly added seconds to the couple's total, with incorrect answers locking them out for the remainder of the set. Each set ended after once either all nine questions were asked or all three couples had locked themselves out, whichever came first. Questions were worth two seconds each in the first round, and four in the second. The couple with the most seconds at the end of two rounds won the game and advanced to the bonus round.

During the last question set in the second round, a couple could automatically win the game by being in the lead with both opposing couples locked out. The set was played either to completion or to an incorrect answer, allowing the couple a chance to accumulate more seconds.

...
Wikipedia