A Dollar a Second Game Show with Jan Murray

This is one of two 16mm kinescopes in my collection of A Dollar a Second a comedy game show hosted by Jan Murray which originally aired from September 20, 1953, to June 14, 1954, on the DuMont Television Network.

If you know any history of the show, please contact me at TVDAYS.com

One pair of contestants (or a solo player) were selected to perform a certain task, which could be anything. They earn one dollar for every second they were on the stage, and, unless they are paying the penalty, may quit out at any time. If at any time one or both players make a mistake, they have to pay a penalty. For example, one player is placed on a slide that goes down towards a small above-ground swimming pool, and the partner has to pick one of five telephone numbers on the list, one of which nobody on the other side will be available to answer.
Should someone be there on the other end of the line, the person who dialed the number would say "I've got somebody!" and the penalty is beaten, and they would then resume the previous activity before they were interrupted. If they fail to beat a penalty, the game ends, but they keep whatever money they won at that point, and sometimes also win additional money based on the number of correct answers.

However, while all this is going on, there is something else in the background that can also affect the final outcome of the game. The "outside event" is something that when it has occurred, the game ends and the couple loses all the money they made while playing.

For example, the couple has to pick an envelope that contains the number of round trips a model train can take until it has reached a certain number, but they won't know how many trips that train will have made until that mystery number has been attained. In such a case, the couple may instead receive a consolation prize based on the number of correct answers they had put together. (wikapedia)

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