| Hosts | |
| Ken Roberts (1944–1947) Win Elliot (1947–1949) Bill Cullen (1949–1952) Bobby Sherwood (March–May 1953) Bud Collyer (May 1953–1954) | |
| Broadcast | |
 ABC Radio (Daily): 12/12/1949 – 6/29/1951  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