Showoffs
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Showoffs was a Goodson-Todman game show that aired on the ABC television network for six months in 1975 from June 30 through December 26, with Bobby Van as the host and Gene Wood as the announcer.
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[edit] Premise
Two teams (the red & blue) of three players (consisting of two celebrities & one civilian contestant, with each member wearing a sweater of the corresponding team color) competed in a game of charades.
[edit] The Main Game
The main game had two formats in its six month run.
[edit] Format One
One team was isolated while two members of the other team acted out a series of words to their partner for sixty seconds. The actors could alternate in acting, and the guessing partner could pass on a word if he/she were stuck, but the team could do that only once per game. When time ran out, the isolated team returned to the stage, and acted out the same words as the first team. The team that guessed the most words in two minutes (60 seconds per team) won the round. The first team to win two rounds won the game. If the game ended in a tie, then a tie-breaker round was played in which both teams had 30 seconds to act out three words. The team doing that in the fastest time won.
[edit] Format Two
The main game format was changed about midway into the run. Now to win the game, the team had to correctly convey and guess a set number of words or more (usually seven). Extra rounds were played if the goal had not been reached by the end of a full round. The tie-breaker was cut to two words in 30 seconds.
In either case, the civilian contestant on the winning team won a $1,000 prize package for the game, plus a chance to play the bonus round.
[edit] The Payoff Round
This also had two formats in the series.
[edit] Format One
In this version, all four celebrities alternated turns acting out a series of words for the winning contestant to guess during the next 60 seconds. Each correct answer was worth $1. When time ran out, then only one celebrity, chosen by the contestant, had 30 seconds to act out three words. Each word added a zero to the winning player's round one winnings, meaning that guessing one word correctly was worth 10 times the money, two words 100 times, and all three 1,000 times the money earned in the first phase.
[edit] Format Two
In this revised bonus round, the winning contestant acted out a maximum of three words to one of his/her two celebrity partners. He/she acted out the first two words for 10 seconds each; each word was worth $1,000. The winning player could choose to stop after either of the two were guessed or risk his/her earnings to that point and continue. On the third and final word, the player acted it out for 15 seconds and if the celebrity partner guessed it, the civilian player won the top prize of $5,000. If at anytime the celebrity partners failed to guess a word correctly when time ran out, the contestant lost half of his or her money earned up to that point.
[edit] Scheduling/Ratings
Showoffs replaced the ABC version of Password, another Goodson-Todman show, at 12 Noon Eastern/11 a.m. Central time. Password's ratings had declined steadily over the previous year, and Showoffs did not improve things for ABC, because CBS's Young and the Restless had taken a commanding lead in the Nielsens, over Showoffs and NBC's Magnificent Marble Machine. On the last Monday of the year, Showoffs gave way to Regis Philbin's first game show, The Neighbors, via a shuffle with Let's Make a Deal and Rhyme and Reason.
[edit] Episode Status
Reportedly, only one episode is known to exist and is traded among tape traders. Originally broadcast on November 28, guest celebrity Dr. Joyce Brothers injured herself on that show, which also featured Dick Gautier, Karen Morrow, and Mike Farrell.
The pilot (featuring Larry Blyden as host) is located at the UCLA Film and Television Archive. A clip was also seen during the VH-1 special Game Show Moments Gone Bananas.
[edit] Notes
- Blyden, the originally scheduled host, was killed in a car crash in Morocco before production began.
- Because the team colors were indistinguishable on black and white television sets (which were still commonplace at this point in time), the words "RED" and "BLUE" were later placed on the back of each team member's sweater for the benefit of home viewers.
- Showoffs was later revived on CBS under the name Body Language, with Tom Kennedy as the host.
