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Hosts
Ken Roberts (1944–1947)
Win Elliot (1947–1949)
Bill Cullen (1949–1952)
Bobby Sherwood (March–May 1953)
Bud Collyer (May 1953–1954)
Broadcast
QuickasAflash
Mutual Radio (Weekly): 7/16/1944 – 12/17/1949
ABC Radio (Daily): 12/12/1949 – 6/29/1951
Logo (1)
NBC Pilot: 1952
ABC Primetime: 3/12/1953 – 7/2/1953, 9/10/1953 – 2/25/1954
Packagers
Bernard Prockter Productions (1944–1951)
Prockter-Lewis Productions (1952–1953)
Moss and Lewis Productions (1953–1954)

Quick as a Flash was a radio (later TV) game show where players competed to answer questions as quickly as possible.

Gameplay[]

Radio Version[]

In this version, six contestants selected from the studio audience competed. The game was played in a series of rounds, referred to as "races" and given names associated with popular racecourses (i.e. "The Belmont", "The Jamaica", etc.). Contestants heard clues to a topic and pressed their buzzers to stop the clues and attempt to answer. A wrong answer eliminated a player from that "race" and the clues continued for the remaining players. The winner of each "race" won $10. The first race was about a current event. The second race was a musical clue provided by Ray Bloch and his orchestra. The third was a history-based question. The fourth one was either on entertainment or literature. The highlight of the show was the fifth race (referred to as the "Sponsor's Handicap"), and was a fully dramatized short mystery play that provided the clues. These plays featured stars of popular detective series, performing as their well known characters.

Television Version[]

In this version, two teams, each consisting of consisting of a celebrity and a civilian were presented a play or film based on a person, place, thing or event (e.g.: The stork delivering the Dionne quintuplets). If a player felt they knew the answer at any time, they buzzed in, and if they were right, his/her team would win $25. If a celebrity gave the correct answer, an additional sum of money was given to his/her favorite charity. If a civilian player buzzed in and was wrong, they could try a second time; however, the celebrity players only had one guess per race.

One of the races was a "Pyramid" or "Jackpot" race, which started at $100, and would carry over if nobody answered it during the game.

Recording Location[]

New York City, NY

Trivia[]

From March to July, 1953, the television version was seen on alternate weeks with Personality Puzzle.

This was the first game show to have contestants press a button to answer a question. IOW, this show was the first to have contestants buzz/ring in/signal to answer a question.

A fan-made creation of the show was created in 2014 based on the show's premise using The Sims 2 PC game. It runs for 22 minutes and uses incidental music that reflects the show's era. The show can be seen here.

Links[]

Quick As A Flash @ The Game Show Pilot Light
Quick As A Flash @ Game Show Utopia

YouTube Videos[]

A full episode from September 28, 1950
The full 1952 TV pilot

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