Run for the Money

Host
Bill Rafferty
Announcer
Bob Hilton
Broadcast
Unsold Pilot for ABC: 6/6/1987
Packager
Reg Grundy Productions

"Steve DeSanctis is one step closer to $50,000. Christie Gauden, Doug Mertz, and Nancy McNeely are his challengers today, on... RUN FOR THE MONEY! And here's your host, Bill Rafferty!"

Run for the Money was an unsold American pilot that was later adapted into the popular British game show Going for Gold and later the French game show Questions pour un Champion (Questions for a Champion).

Gameplay[]

Round 1: 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 round one. Each player, one at a time, chose one of four categories, and 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; 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: Head-to-Head[]

In the final round, the two finalists faced off to see who becomes that day's winner. In this round, host Rafferty asked questions consisting of clues to a famous person, place or thing, and the player's job was to buzz in with the correct answer and score points. The catch is that both players get two assigned point zones, and each player can only answer if his/her point zone is active. There were four zones altogether numbered 4-3-2-1, each worth the given number of points. Each Zone was active for a certain number of seconds: Zone 4 was active for 10 seconds, Zone 3 for 8 seconds, Zone 2 for 6 seconds, and Zone 1 for 4 seconds, for a total of 28 seconds in which the question was read.

At the beginning of each question, Rafferty gave a category and the home viewers were shown a fun fact-typed hint. Then one player decided whether to play first or force their opponent to player first (for the first question, the player who qualified first chose; the trailing player chose thereafter). The player with initial control of the question got control of the even numbered zones (4 & 2), and the other got the odd numbered zones (3 & 1). While Rafferty read each question, the timer on the Zones ran down. If the timer was out of a player's controlling Zone, they had to sit out the question (for the moment), allowing the other player try and buzz in. If a player buzzed in with an incorrect answer, they forfeited what's left of their zone to their opponent. Whatever Zone in which the timer had stopped whenever a correct answer was given was how many points that player received.

The first player to reach nine or more points won the game and $5,000, while the losing player took home a consolation prize of $500. Supposedly, players who won five days in a row would have their total winnings doubled, for a grand total of $50,000.

Tickets[]

Trivia[]

The music cues used for this pilot were recycled from an earlier Grundy pilot, Keynotes.
Unusually, the Reg Grundy Productions logo did not have their trademark fanfare play over it; the end theme merely continued (Keynotes also did that).
ABC considered using it as a replacement for reruns of the sitcom Webster, but it was lost to Bargain Hunters.
21 years later, this program was tried again in 2008 but under a different name and semi-altered format. It's new name was American Know-it-All and it's new host was Neil Patrick Harris.

Studios[]

ABC Television Center, Hollywood, CA

International Versions[]

The following are a list of countries that adapted Run For the Money:

Austria: as Der-Quiz Champion (The Quiz Champion).
France: as Questions pour un Champion (Questions for a Champion) running on FR3 and France 3 since 1988. It was also rebroadcast on TV5 Monde. It was formerly hosted b Julien Lepers from 1988 until 1994 then from 1994 until 2016. It was also briefly hosted by Vincent Perrot in 1994. Currently, its hosted by Samuel Etienne since 2016. A spinoff of this show called Questions pour un Super Champion (Questions for a Super Champion) also hosted Julien Lepers from 2006 until 2016 now currently hosted by Samuel Etienne since 2016 airs on France 3 since 2006.
Indonesia: as Jadilah Pemenang (Be Winners).
Serbia: as Pitanja za Sampiona (Questions Champion) on B29 from 2006 to 2009.
Turkey: as Bilir Bilmez (Knows Not Know/He Knows Not Know) hosted by Huseylin Koroglu running on TRT 1 in 1996.
United Kingdom: as Going for Gold, originally hosted by Henry Kelly, running on both BBC1 from 1987 to 1996 and on Super Channel from 1987 to 1993, with a unique Pan-European competition element for almost all of the run; the 1996 series limited the show to British contestants only, as a consequence of Super Channel having been bought by NBC and refocused. Channel 5 revived the show from 2008 to 2009, still with only British contestants, now hosted by ITN newsreader John Suchet.

Links[]

Run for the Money @ The Game Show Pilot Light

YouTube Video[]

Full Pilot