Dollar a Second is an American comedy game show hosted by Jan Murray which originally aired from September 20, 1953, to June 14, 1954, on the DuMont Television Network.
It was based on the French radio program Cent Francs par seconde (which had been made into a romantic comedy of the same name at the time of the American debut).
Contestants (team or solo player) had to perform various tasks, winning $1 (compared to 100F [roughly €3 in September 2022] on the original show) for every second they were onstage, and, unless they were paying the penalty, could quit out at any time.
For example, a loved one was placed on a slide that went down towards a small above-ground swimming pool, and the contestant had to pick one of five telephone numbers from a rack of envelopes, one of which nobody on the other side would be available to answer.
[citation needed] A revival pilot was taped on February 7, 1981, by Chuck Barris Productions and hosted by Bob Eubanks.