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''Dollar a Second'' is an American comedy
game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...
hosted by
Jan Murray Jan Murray (born Murray Janofsky; October 4, 1916 – July 2, 2006) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and game-show host who originally made his name on the Borscht Belt and later was known for his frequent television appearances over se ...
which originally aired from September 20, 1953, to June 14, 1954, on the
DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in ...
. It was based on the
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
radio program ''Cent Francs par seconde'' (which had been made into a romantic comedy of the same name at the time of the American debut).


Game play

Contestants (team or solo player) had to perform various tasks, winning $1 (compared to 100 F oughly €4 in 2025on the original show) for every second they were onstage, and, unless they were paying the penalty, could quit out at any time. If a mistake was made, they had to pay a penalty. For example, a loved one was placed on a slide that went down towards a small above-ground swimming pool, and the contestant had to pick one of five telephone numbers from a rack of envelopes, one of which nobody on the other side would be available to answer. Should someone be there on the other end of the line, the contestant who dialed the number would say "I've got somebody!" and the penalty was beaten, and they would then resume the previous activity before they were interrupted. If they failed to beat the penalty, the game ended, but they kept any money won at that point, and sometimes also won additional money based on the number of correct answers. However, while all this was happening, there was something else in the background that could also affect the final outcome of the game. The "outside event" was something that when it occurred, the game ended and all money made while playing was lost. For example, contestants had to pick an envelope that contained the number of round trips a model train could take until it reached a certain number, but wouldn't know how many trips that train would make until that mystery number had been attained. In such a case, contestants would still receive a consolation prize based on the number of correct answers put together.


Broadcast history

After the series left DuMont, it bounced back and forth between
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
and
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
—July 4 to August 22, 1954 (NBC); October 1, 1954 to June 24, 1955 (ABC); July 5 to August 30, 1955 (NBC); June 2, 1955 to August 31, 1956 (ABC). In 1954 it replaced ''
My Favorite Husband ''My Favorite Husband'' was an American radio program and network television show. The original radio show, starring Lucille Ball, shaped into the famous sitcom ''I Love Lucy''. The series was based on the novels ''Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Recor ...
''. After this, ''Dollar a Second'' remained dormant until NBC picked it up one last time from June 22 to September 28, 1957. It is notable that while NBC only saw fit for it to be run during the Summer, ABC (being relatively new as a network) aired it during the regular season.


1981 pilot

A revival pilot was taped on February 7, 1981, by
Chuck Barris Productions Barris Industries, Inc. was an American game show production company that was founded by Chuck Barris. History Barris founded his company on June 14, 1965 as Chuck Barris Productions. The company's first series was an unsold pilot called '' Peop ...
and hosted by
Bob Eubanks Robert Leland Eubanks (born January 8, 1938) is an American disc jockey, television personality and game show host, widely known for hosting the game show ''The Newlywed Game'' on and off since 1966. He also hosted the successful revamp version o ...
.Information on the 1981 Pilot
/ref> Despite negative opinions by some fans who saw it, this version actually had very few changes aside from starting the players off with $100, and a $500 bonus once the player reached $500.
Chuck Barris Charles Hirsch Barris (June 3, 1929 – March 21, 2017) was an American game show creator, producer, and host, author, and songwriter. A key crew member of several hugely successful game shows, he was the creator of ''The Dating Game'' (1965– ...
had acquired the rights to both this show and another Jan Murray series, '' Treasure Hunt''. “Second” was produced by veteran producer
Willie Stein Willie Stein was an American television producer and songwriter. In 1950, Stein and Milton DeLugg cowrote the song " Orange Colored Sky", which became a hit for Nat King Cole, and later his daughter Natalie. Among his television productions wer ...
and Barris producer David M. Greenfield, who had worked with Eubanks on ''
The Newlywed Game ''The Newlywed Game'' is an American television game show. Newly married couples compete against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know or do not know each other. The program, originally created ...
''. Had ''Dollar a Second'' been sold, it would have most likely been partnered with the revamped ''Hunt'' in five-a-week syndication.


Episode status

For decades, only two episodes were known to exist of the original series; one is notable for being guest-hosted by Dagmar. A third episode was discovered and uploaded to YouTube in May 2021. The 1981 pilot was aired on GSN twice - first as part of their ''Game Show Turkeys'' marathon of unsold pilots on Thanksgiving 1998, and again as part of their "Raise The Dead" unsold pilot marathon on October 28, 2000 (the latter being hosted by
Elvira Elvira is a female given name. It is believed to have first been recorded in medieval Spain, while other sources claim that it is likely of Germanic ( Gothic) origin. In the Balkans, Elvira is popular among Bosniaks, Croats, and Slovenes in the ...
, Mistress of the Dark).


See also

*
List of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network This is a list of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network, which operated in the United States from 1942 to 1956. All regularly scheduled programs which were aired on the DuMont network are listed below, regardless of whether they origi ...
*
List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts The DuMont Television Network was launched in 1946 and ceased broadcasting in 1956. Allen DuMont, who created the network, preserved most of what it produced in kinescope format. By 1958, however, much of the library had been destroyed to recov ...


References


Bibliography

*David Weinstein, ''The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television'' (Philadelphia:
Temple University Press Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach ...
, 2004) *Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'', Fourth edition (New York:
Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...
, 1980) *Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows'', Third edition (New York:
Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in ...
, 1964)


External links

*
DuMont historical website
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