Every Second Counts (1)

The one year old game show where contestants win seconds by answering questions.

Broadcast
Syndication - September 17, 1984 – September, 1985

Packagers
Charles Colarusso Productions/Group W Productions

Host
Bill Rafferty

Hostess
Debbie Bartlett

Announcer
Johnny Gilbert

Premise
Three married couples competed in a game of answering questions & earning time.

Main Game
The game was played in two rounds, one spouse from each couple would play in the first round, while the other spouses would play in the second round. Each round has three categories with nine dual-choice questions. On each category, host Rafferty asked each couple a question. A correct answer would earn seconds, while a wrong answer eliminated the couple from the remainder of the category. The category continued until all nine questions were asked or if all three couples missed a question & were locked out.

Values of Seconds

 * Round 1 - 2 seconds
 * Round 2 - 4 seconds

The couple with the greatest amount of time at the end of the game are the winners and goes on to the bonus round.

Bonus Round
In the bonus round, the winning couple used their winning time to answer a certain number of questions on four levels to win prizes. On each level, host Rafferty asked a series of rapid-fire multiple-choice questions from any category. Each right answer brought one step closer to completing that level.

Levels
Each level required a different number of questions answered correctly to complete:
 * Level 1 - 4 questions
 * Level 2 - 5 questions
 * Level 3 - 6 questions
 * Level 4 - 7 questions

Each completed level won a prize, and completing all four levels before time expired won a brand new car. But if they don't win the car, they still win $100 for each correct answer.

Trivia

 * This was Bill Rafferty's first game show, having hosted Card Sharks & the 1987 version of Blockbusters in later years.
 * Although it wasn't a big success in America, one year after the show's cancellation, a new & more popular English version premiered with Paul Daniels as host. It enjoyed a nice seven year run.

Links
Rules for Every Second Counts

YouTube Videos
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3