History Series / ThinkFast

Each show consisted of four events (worth $50 for the first two, $100 for the other two), after which the winning team would win money and a chance to solve the "''Think Fast'' Brain Bender", usually a picture or a rebus covered by puzzle pieces. One would be uncovered after each event. Solving the Brain Bender was worth $200. The team with the most money won the game and advanced to the Locker Room.

** '''Carrington Era:''' The first contestant had 30 seconds to make as many matches as possible before the second went. The unpaired locker contained a "TimeBomb", which would "go off" after 20 seconds if not revealed. If the first contestant found the Time Bomb in time, the second got the full 30 seconds to make matches; however, if the Time Bomb went off, the second player only received 20 seconds (in very early episodes, finding the Time Bomb also ''added'' 10 seconds to the second player's time, for a total of 40 seconds; likely changed due to too many winners). Finding six of the seven pairs in time won the grand prize.

* LuckBasedMission: Plumber's Blackjack, in which the contestants had to fill a container with randomly-sized beakers of water that corresponded to numbers on cards. The first team to go over lost.

** During the second half of the Skip Lackey era, the announcer would say "Today inside the Think Fast locker room, if you can find the matching pairs, then you've got what it takes to win cash and prizes worth over $2,500. But somewhere inside lurks the ever-smelly Red Herring!"

[[caption-width-right:350:"[[OpeningNarration They're here to play Think Fast- where fast finds and fast feet add up to fast prizes!]]"]]

** '''Lackey Era:''' Players alternated making matches for 60 seconds. The odd locker contained the "RedHerring", an item or character with no match. The only way to proceed was to pull on a special "Herring Handle" at home base. $100 per match for the first four, two prizes of increasing value for five and six, finding all seven won the grand prize.

* {{Whammy}}: The ''Red Herring'' in the locker room. The Red Herring is a character or thing with no match at all.

!!GameShowTropes in use:

* ConsolationPrize
* CoveredInGunge: Many of the events, because it almost wouldn't be Nickelodeon without it.

* Personnel:
** TheAnnouncer: James Eopollo for the Carrington era, Henry J. for Lackey's; he would then announce ''Series/GetThePicture'' shortly thereafter.
** GameShowHost: Michael Carrington, then Skip Lackey.
** StudioAudience
* PromotionalConsideration
* RulesSpiel
* ShowTheFolksAtHome: The identity of the "Red Herring" in the Lackey era.
* SpeedRound: If both teams did not guess the Brain Bender after the 5th (and final) event, they go to the ''Speed Up Brain Bender'' before advancing to the locker room.
* {{Whammy}}: The ''Red Herring'' in the locker room. The Red Herring is a character or thing with no match at all.

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!!This version provides examples of:
* ColourCodedArmies: The Gold (yellow) Team vs. the Blue Team.

* TheTeaser: During the original era, Carrington would open each episode by saying "Hey you....think fast!" Sometimes, he'd use a prop from one of the day's events or locker contents to do so.

** During the second half of the Skip Lackey era, The announcer would say "Today inside the Think Fast locker room, if you can find the matching pairs, then you've got what it takes to win cash and prizes worth over $2,500. But somewhere inside lurks the ever-smelly Red Herring!"

** During the first half of the Skip Lackey era, Locker room characters would chat as the announcer says "We are here inside the Think Fast Locker room where you can find the matching pairs but look out for the evil red herring today on...." And the locker room character would then shout "THINK FAST!"

** During the second half of the Skip Lackey era, The announcer would say "Today inside the Think Fast locker room, if you can find the matching pairs, then you've got what it takes to win cash and prizes. But somewhere inside lurks the ever-smelly Red Herring!"

** During the second half of the Skip Lackey era, The announcer would say "Today inside the Think Fast locker room, If you can find a matching pair then you got what you take to win cash and prizes $100. But somewhere inside lurks the ever-smelly Red Herring!"

** During the first era of the Skip Lackey era, Locker room characters would chat as the announcer says "We are here inside the Think Fast Locker room where you can find the matching pairs but look out for the evil red herring today on...." And the locker room character would then shout "THINK FAST!"
** During the second era of the Skip Lackey era, The announcer would say "Today inside the Think Fast locker room, If you can find a matching pair then you got what you take to win cash and prizes $100. But somewhere inside alerts the ever-smelly Red Herring!"

* SpeedRound: If both teams did not guess the Brain Bender after the 5th (and final) event, They go to the ''Speed Up Brain Bender'' before advancing to the locker room.

** During the second era of the Skip Lackey era, The announcer would say "Today inside the Think Fast locker room, If you can find a matching pair then you got what you take to win cash and prizes $100. But somewhere inside alerts the ever smelling, Red Herring!"

* OpeningNarration: During the Early Lackey-Era
-->'''Announcer:'''We are here inside the Think Fast Locker Room. If you can find the matching pairs You will win up to $400 in cash. But watch out for the RedHerring today on....
-->'''Locker Room Character:''' Think Fast!

[[caption-width-right:350:[[OpeningNarration They're here to play ''Think Fast''- where fast finds and fast feet add up to fast prizes!]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:"[[OpeningNarration They're here to play ''Think Fast''- where fast finds and fast feet add up to fast prizes!]]"]]

[[caption-width-right:350:They are here to play Think Fast]]