The Big Showdown
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The Big Showdown was a game show that aired on ABC from December 23, 1974, to July 4, 1975. Jim Peck was the host, and Dan Daniel was the announcer. The series was produced in New York City by Don Lipp and Ron Greenberg.
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[edit] Front game format, round 1 (The Big Showdown)
Three contestants competed, one a returning champion.
The first question of the game was a one point toss-up for control of the board. The player who answered it got to choose from six categories, with questions ranging from 1-6 points in value depending on the category. The player who answered the first question began the game by choosing a category. All of the questions were toss-ups (a la Sale of the Century); with the first to buzz in and answer correctly gaining control of the board. There were no penalties for answering incorrectly, however, the player who rings in and miss the question is out of the rest of the question, with the other players eligible to buzz in and answer.
A number was determined before the round to be the "payoff point," and the first player to hit it would win a cash bonus varying from $25 to $500 (set by a randomizer dial in host Peck's podium). The payoff point had to be hit EXACTLY- if a contestant was in danger of surpassing it with any correct answer, they would be locked out of that particular question, and a player cannot select a category that is more than the value needed to hit the target number. In the event of a double-block, the player who selected the category gets to hear the entire question.
Once a target number is reached, that player won the cash bonus, and a new target number is established. The first round consists of at least four target numbers, sometimes five depending on the amount of time used before going into the speedround (discussed below).
Two sets of categories were played (the first one using only two target numbers; the second set of categories using its third and subsequent target number), and a 90 second speedround finished off the first segment (with each payoff point after the one currently in play worth $100). At the end of the round, the player with the lowest score was eliminated, and the two remaining contestants advanced to The Final Showdown. In the event of a tie for second-place, a tie-breaking question would be asked, with the first to buzz in with the right answer moving on to the second round, and an incorrect response eliminating that player from the game.
[edit] The Final Showdown
In the Final Showdown, the two remaining contestants competed to hit a payoff point of 7. Three categories were played, and the point values were 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The same rules from the first round applied; a player cannot go over 7 points, and all questions were toss-ups. The first player to reach 7 points won the game and an additional $250.
[edit] The bonus round
The champion of the day now had a chance to win $10,000 by rolling dice. The dice were standard six-sided dice, but the 6s were taken off and replaced with the words "Show" and "Down."
The player would then throw the dice. If "Showdown" came up on the first roll, the contestant would win $10,000. If not, the number shown would be the payoff point. The contestant then had 30 seconds to roll the dice as many times as s/he possibly could. Every time the payoff point was hit, it netted the contestant $250 and an extra five seconds of rolling time. If "Showdown" was rolled, the contestant earned $5,000 plus any money won by hitting the payoff point.
If after the initial 30 seconds the player had not rolled "Showdown," but had hit the payoff point, they would receive whatever bonus time they had earned to roll "Showdown." The payoff point bonus was not in play. If the player rolled "Showdown" during the bonus time, they earned $5,000.
Statistically, the player should win $10,000 one show out of 36, but far more than 36 shows went by without a winner. The results in the $5,000 rolls showed the dice were unbiased, but as the weeks went by it was a little embarrassing that the big prize was never hit. Finally on the 100th show, the winner rolled "Showdown" on her first roll, winning the $10,000 prize. The producers wanted regular viewers who may have missed that day to know the prize had been hit, so the next week, they used a clip of the $10,000 roll to open the show. For the rest of the run, the show began with clips of players making $10,000 and $5.000 rolls.
It should be noted that the sides of the dice showing "Show" and "Down" did not count as a six. Instead the point total was the number showing on the other die. Therefore, with this set of dice it was possible to roll a count of one. It also changed the probability of rolling certain numbers. The probabilities with this set of dice are:
1: 2 out of 36
2: 3 out of 36
3: 5 out of 36
4: 5 out of 36
5: 6 out of 36
6: 5 out of 36
7: 4 out of 36
8: 3 out of 36
9: 2 out of 36
10: 1 out of 36
[edit] Jim Peck's fall
During the program's 68th episode (about half-way through the series' run), Peck was walking down a set of stairs to his podium, like he had many times before. This time was not like the others, however- he hit one step, slipped, and fell. He got up, dusted himself off, and laughed along with the audience, saying, "Sure! You people would applaud a lynching!"
[edit] Episode Status
The fall episode and the pilot are believed to be the only two episodes of the series that still exist.
