A bit of fun this Christmas, hope you’re having a good one, Mister Doc has found and uploaded the first episode (a Christmas celebrity one) of STV’s version of Split Second.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the US original, the 70s Tom Kennedy one where you could buzz in if you could infer the question was my favourite, but I also enjoy the 80s Monty Hall one, if only as it has the most magnificently 1980s theme tune out of all 1980s theme tunes (Synths! Soft rock! Guitars! Love it). Even the recent GSN one is fun enough, although the material doesn’t feel quite so challenging.
Here we have a theme that’s reminiscient of the Hall one (although not the same), Coia has developed some excellent pointing action, the first round (and the Countdown round) play like (a slower version of) the original really, the mystery additions don’t really add much (it just becomes a reaction test), and it’s surprising how much explanation is required for the idea that the computer will rank how quickly you buzz. I was expecting it to be rubbish, but it’s a more successful reimagining than the Coia hosted Press Your Luck he’d go on to host a few years later for HTV at any rate (which no longer seems to have a clean version on Youtube, sadly.