Second Chance (2)

Pilot intro:

"Today, (insert contestants' names) will be risking everything they've won every time they play SECOND CHANCE! And now here's the man who gives everyone a second chance, Jim Peck!"

Series intro:

"It's Second Chance, Hollywood's most exciting new game, and here are today's players, (player intro by name and hometown), and each/all three of them will be risking everything every time they play Second Chance!" (The host introduction remained the same.)

The precursor to Press Your Luck.

Premise
Three contestants competed in a question/answer game for points which would be turned into spins and traded for cash & prizes on a game board.

Question Round
In each round, the contestants were asked three questions. On each question the contestants wrote down answers on cards in five seconds or less and placed them down on their card holder (which were actually their score boards for when they go to the board) when they were finished. Host Peck then told the contestants how well they did (ex: "At least two of you are wrong" or "At least one of you is right") unless (in the series) everybody wrote the same thing; then gave three possible answers (aka Second Chance Answers). This was where the show got its name. Each contestant was asked to either stay with his/her current answer or replace it with one of the Second Chance answers (aka taking a Second Chance). When all said and done, the correct answer was revealed (usually one of the contestants revealed the correct answer if at least one of them had it). A correct original answer scored three points, while a correct Second Chance answer scored one point. 27 points were up for grabs and all three contestants can earn up to nine points each. All points earned were turned into spins for the game board.

Second Chance Bonus Board
When the question round was over, the contestant island moved over for the contestants to see the game board which would open up like a book.

The board itself had 18 spaces (just like the Press Your Luck big board) with thousands of dollars in cash & prizes but with several differences:
 * The lights around the squares flashed really fast.
 * Whenever the board spun, a disco-like tune that loops continuously (a variation of the theme song) is played.
 * None of the squares changed except in the series when square #4 (the big money square) rotated amounts from $1,000-$5,000 in round two and offered a free spin.
 * At first there was only one pattern, then nine, and finally even more.
 * The prizes were hidden behind gift boxes
 * A bell sounded when a contestant landed on a good square.
 * Instead of Whammies, there were devils on the board; a "waa-waa" sound was heard whenever a devil was hit. The devil squares were highlighted in red (just like the Whammy squares in Whammy!). There were three on the board. However, unlike the Whammy, the devil would not show any on-screen animation acting, nor do they have indicators on the contestant podiums; once hit, the contestant's score just clears out.

In both rounds, the player with the fewest spins or the player at far right in case of a tie always went first.

The contestant in control of the board took as many of his/her earned spins as he/she can and on each spin the contestant stopped the board by hitting his/her button and by yelling "STOP!" If he/she hit a cash amount it was added to his/her score; if he/she hit a gift box, the prize behind it was revealed and its value was added to his/her score. If at any time the contestant hit a devil, he/she lost all his/her money up to that point, and hitting four devils puts that contestant out of the game. Originally when the devil was hit, the devil(s) appeared behind the player in lights; later the devil showed up on flip cards.

If at any point the contestant fears that a devil would show up on the next spin, he/she would pass his/her spins to the player in first place, or if he/she is in first place, that player had to pass them to the second place player. And should both players have the same score, the passing player would decide who to pass the spins to. The player with the passed spins had to take those spins until he/she ran out or hit a devil (at which point the remaining passed spins became earned spins). In the series, each time the passed contestant hit money plus a free spin, the spin just played became an earned spin.

The player with the most money at the end of the game won the game and kept all his/her cash & prizes won. Originally, winning players would come back on the next show; later it was changed to having three new contestants every day but with this one exception: should any players win the game with zero (and with fewer than four devils), they were invited back to play the next show.

Music
Score Productions

This theme was used originally on the short-lived 1976 version of I've Got a Secret.

Some of the sound effects were originally intended for Card Sharks/Double Dare (1).

Inventor
Bill Carruthers

Episode Status
Three pilots were made for Second Chance. Only the third pilot exists. The episode aired June 27, 1977, and the series finale (albeit only in audio form) are the only two episodes of the aired series existing to this day. An opening sequence announced by Jack Clark is also available albeit only in audio form.

Australian Version
Not only Second Chance ran for a short while in America, but also in Australia as well in the same year on Network Ten, hosted by Earle Bailey and Christine Broadway. It was produced by Reg Grundy.

Tagline
“Until tomorrow/Monday, this is Jim Peck reminding you: It’s never too late to take a second chance. Bye-bye, everybody.” – Jim Peck (1976-1977)

Links
Game Show Central: Second Chance

Second Chance information page

YouTube Videos
The Finale Show (AUDIO ONLY)

The Full 3rd Pilot Episode - November 9, 1976

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

A full episode from June 27, 1977

Part 1

Part 2