Front Game Rules | ||
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| Three players competed. Each round consisted of a question with three parts. Each player buzzed in, and the order in which the players signaled was the order they answered the question: the first player got first choice of answering any part of the question; if correct, the second player picked from the two remaining parts, and the third player took whatever was left over. | 
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| In the first round, players earned $5 each if they all got their part of the question right, $10 was awarded if only two players answered correctly, and if one player was the only one to answer his/her part correctly got $25. In Round 2, the values were increased to $10 for all three players being right, $25 for two being right, and $50 for a single right answer. Having the first single right answer in each round also earned a bonus prize. | ||
| The third round was known as the "Countdown Round". In this round, a player who answered a part of the question right could then go for another part of the question, and possibly all 3. The leader after the second round could win by getting 3 more correct answers; the second place player needed 4 right answers and third place required 5. If two or more players tied with the same score, the lower number of answers was assigned to both or all players. The first player to get the appropriate number of answers won the game and got to advance to the bonus round. | |
End Game Rules | ||
| At the end of the show, the winner tried to select a car out of five available that could be started with the key chosen. If the key did indeed start the car, the player won the car along with a cash jackpot that began at $1000 and went up $500 each day it wasn't won, and the champ retired undefeated. If not, the player returned the next day with the car that had been attempted being eliminated from contention: winning 5 days in a row won the car and cash automatically. | 
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This thing has to be right up there with Jeopardy as one of the best quizzers in the genre. While Jeopardy goes for a vast range of knowledge, Split Second looks for rapid synapses and players who can change gears in an instant when the part that they wanted gets taken by the person before them gets it first. Tom Kennedy proves how he has the best pacing in the business, knowing exactly when to move things along and when a respite is in order. The one fault to this game, though, is the endgame. How a show can go from a blindingly fast-paced challenge to something that relies totally on luck is beyond me.
