Run for the Money

A pilot that would become a popular British show.

Round 1 (First Round Proper/Beat the Buzzer)
Host Rafferty read a series of questions to four players, the first player to buzz-in with a correct answer earned points. Point values for each question changed throughout the round, they're either worth 1, 2 or 3 points. The first three players to reach nine points moved on to round two, the fourth place player was out of the game. After one player made it to the next round, the one point questions were eliminated.

Round 2 (Four in a Row)
The object in this round was to answer four questions in a row in under 40 seconds. The order of the three remaining players was determined by what position they finished in in round one. Each player one at a time chose one of four categories, then host Rafferty asked questions under that category during the next 40 seconds. For each correct answer the player in control scored a point, but an incorrect answer resets him/her to zero. If the player can get four in a row before time expired, he/she stopped and scored the necessary four points; but if he/she can't do that when the time was up, the player in control still got points according to the longest streak of correct answers. Once a category was chosen & played, it was taken out of play.

The two players with the highest scores moved on to the final round. The losing player received $100 in addition to parting gifts. If there was a tie for second place or a three way tie, a series of final round typed questions (see below) were asked and the first player to buzz-in with a correct answer scored a point. The first (two) player(s) to answer two questions correctly advanced.

Round 3 (Final Round)
In the final round, the two finalists faced-off to see who becomes that day's winner. In this round, host Rafferty asked Who am I typed-questions (ala Sale of the Century), and the player's job is to buzz-in, come up with the correct answer and score points. The catch is that both players get two assigned point zones, and they can only answer if his/her point zone is active. There were four zones altogether worth 1-4 points, one player gets the odd numbered zones (1 & 3), and the other gets the even numbered zones (2 & 4). At the beginning of each question, Bill gave a category and the home viewers were shown a fun fact-typed hint; then one player (the one who made it to the round first, the trailing player thereafter) decided whether to play first or force his/her opponent to player first. While Bill read each question, the timer on the zones ran down, and if the timer was up on a player's controlling zone, he/she must sit out the question (for the moment), allowing the other player try and buzz-in. If a player buzzed-in with an incorrect answer, he/she inherited what's left of his/her zone to his/her opponent. Whatever zone had time left whenever a correct answer was given, that's how many points the player with the correct answer received. The first player to reach nine points won the game and $5,000. Supposedly, players who won five days in a row won a grand total of $50,000.

Trivia
Even though it didn't sell here in America, it did become a British show called Going for Gold by Reg Grundy Organization. Going for Gold itself spawned a french game show called Questions pour un champion.

Links
Run for the Money @ usgameshows.net

YouTube Video
Full Pilot Show