The Big Showdown
Last Update: December 11, 2004 -- links updated.
Airing:
2:30-3 p.m. Monday-Friday, January 1-July 4, ABC.Personnel:
Jim Peck, host; Dan Daniel, announcer; Heather Cunningham, hostess/model. A Don Lipp-Ron Greenberg Production. Taped in New York City.Description:
Hard quiz with a dice game determining a possible $10,000 payoff.Game Play:
Three players competed. Peck introduced six categories, worth from one to six points, a payoff point (the first one, for example, would have been seven) that the contestants tried to reach, and a dollar value for each payoff point determined by a "money dial" on his podium (worth from $25 to $500). One-point tossup questions determined control of the board. The goal was to hit the payoff point exactly by ringing in first and answering questions correctly in the six categories without going over. If a contestant requested a point value that would have put another contestant over the payoff point, the second contestant was locked out of that particular question. After a payoff point was hit, a new payoff point (which would have been fifteen) and dollar value were established. Two rounds were played in this manner, with different categories for the second round.The second round ended with a 90-second speed round, in which all payoff points (after the one already in play had been reached) were worth $100. The two players with the highest scores went to Final Showdown.
In Final Showdown, only three categories were offered, worth from one to three points, and the payoff point was seven. The first player to reach seven points, in a similar manner as illustrated above, won $250 and the right to roll the dice for $10,000. All players kept the money earned during the game.
End Game:
The champion then went to the dice table, a long table (unlike High Rollers’ more rectangular model) with a well at the bottom. The champion was given a pair of oversized dice with the sixes removed and the words "Show" and "Down" added instead. Given one roll of the dice, the champion tried to roll "Show" and "Down" for $10,000. If they were unable to accomplish that, the value of the roll they did achieve (let’s say a four and a two, for six) became their payoff point. They were then given 30 seconds to roll the dice as many times as possible. The champion was given multiple pairs of dice two by two by Cunningham (this was her only function in the show) while Peck stood at the end of the dice table and called out the results of each roll, clearing out the dice after the roll had finished. Hitting "Show" and "Down" at this point meant a $5,000 payoff, while hitting the payoff point gave the champion $250 and an additional five seconds of rolling time after the first 30 had elapsed. During the bonus rolling time, the payoff point was eliminated; only by rolling "Show" and "Down" could the player accumulate money. If the champion rolled "Show" and "Down" at any time, they won the top payoff offered and retired; if that didn’t happen, they returned on the next show.Background:
The Big Showdown took awhile to make it to the air. The first pilot was shot in 1973 under the title Showdown, and the second pilot a year later as The Big Showdown (I can only assume someone pointed out Heatter-Quigley had produced a completely different game under the title Showdown in 1966). Jim Peck, who had previously been a news anchor in Milwaukee and (I believe) Washington, D.C., hosted both pilots and the series. TBS took to the air December 23, 1974, replacing ABC’s anachronistic and sentimental giveaway show The Girl in My Life.The Big Error:
In my opinion, anyway. The end game had one fatal flaw: the odds of winning $10,000 were 35-1. Only two players (to the best of the recollection of the newsgroup alt.tv.game-shows) actually rolled Showdown on their first roll. There were a reasonable number of $5,000 winners, who were promptly whisked away afterward. Considering contestants on The Money Maze were being showered with piles of cash and prizes in comparison, this hardly seemed fair.Peck’s Bad Fall:
The most famous episode of the series taped March 14, 1975. While walking down the stairs at the show’s opening, Peck’s feet came out from under him and he landed on his rear. To his everlasting credit, however, the tape wasn’t edited nor did he pretend it didn’t happen, but referred to it self-mockingly throughout the episode, kicking the offending stair at one point in mock frustration. (His first words to a sniggering studio audience – "Sure… you people would applaud a lynching!" – revealed a wry sense of humor that would serve him well on some of his later shows.)Contrary to theories on the Internet, there is no credible evidence he was pushed. But just the same, look for Image of a Stumble: A New Look at The Big Showdown Film, coming soon for sale or rental at a video store near you. You may go frame for frame through the tape and decide for yourself.
The Big Comedown:
TBS was a solid pairing with The $10,000 Pyramid, except it didn’t get ratings. This can partially be attributed to the shows that had aired previously from 2-3 p.m. for ABC for the previous years. The Newlywed Game, The Dating Game, and The Girl in My Life were three completely different kettles of fish, so it’s possible audiences were confused by these much more challenging games. They also had strong competition on other networks: CBS was running The Guiding Light at 2 p.m. and The Edge of Night at 2:30, while NBC countered with Days of Our Lives and The Doctors. In any case, ABC dropped it in a massive housecleaning of game shows, announcing the cancellation of five of their seven games simultaneously, leaving only Pyramid and Let’s Make a Deal on the schedule. The last episode of TBS aired July 4, 1975.Pecking Order:
One member of alt.tv.game-shows refers to this as Peck’s best show, then says parenthetically "this isn’t saying much." Unfortunately, that’s fairly true – he did a reasonably good job on TBS, his first game, but was consistently handed mediocre games thereafter. Under contract to ABC and also available as a newsman (he guest-hosted Good Morning America for a week in 1975), Peck didn’t make it back on the air full-time until the summer of 1976. Sadly, his new show was Hot Seat, a truly silly Heatter-Quigley game where husbands were hooked up to a "galvanic skin response machine" (a lie detector to you and me), which lasted just 15 weeks. His next ABC game, Second Chance (1977) was far better, but also lasted just four months, as ABC was airing it while a new Goodson-Todman game, The Better Sex, was being prepared. (Second Chance would become a hit in its ‘80s incarnation as Press Your Luck.)Freed from his ABC contract, Peck’s next two shows were also flops – the mediocre revival of
You Don’t Say! in a five-a-week syndicated version, and the excruciating Three’s a Crowd, which according to producer Chuck Barris dragged down several of his other shows off the air due to negative reaction to the premise – who knows a man better, his wife or his secretary? (One of the more amusing aspects of Barris’ book detailing the show, The Game Show King, is that he doesn’t seem to recall Jim’s name, nor could the editor, copyeditor, or proofreader be bothered to look it up.) What sticks with Three’s a Crowd when watching reruns is Peck’s hair – a huge mop of Mike Brady-esque curls he never employed before or after.Peck’s main jobs in the ‘80s were substitute host of
The Joker’s Wild during the Jack Barry era (which ended upon Barry’s death and the choice of Bill Cullen as his successor) and announcer/court reporter on Divorce Court. A recent e-mail through Tony Harrison at alt.tv.game-shows notes his retirement in 1993, or "at least I figured I was retired since my agent stopped calling me." Moving back to his home in Wisconsin, Peck is currently senior advancement officer at Marquette University in Milwaukee, where he also hosts the historical interview program I Remember (formerly I Remember Milwaukee) on PBS station WMVS, as well as Wisconsin Paw and Beak. His son, Jim Peck Jr., hosts TECHNO@bytes on the same station. "I’m not sure if this is retirement, but I love it," Peck added. Good for him – all posts to the newsgroup indicate he’s a very nice guy.A side note: this was announcer Dan Daniel’s only game show, but he’s had a long broadcast career in New York City, including many years as an air personality on WMCA ("The Good Guys"), WYNY, and other radio stations, as well as on-camera for WABC’s A.M. New York in the ‘70s. He’s now retired from WCBS-FM in New York.
Key Quotes:
The Home Game:
26 weeks on the air equals no home game. An enterprising game show fan could make their own version using an existing game with lots of questions in six different categories (such as Trivial Pursuit), three Jeopardy! clickers, and a few sets of dice. For true ’70s accuracy, they have to be big dice, with the words "Show" and "Down" taped over the sixes. Instant home game. No, please don't thank me.Reruns:
Apparently all episodes have been destroyed by ABC, except one – the one with Peck losing his footing while walking down the stairs. Nice thing to go down in history for, huh? The game itself was a nail-biter with a $5,000 win at the end. Andy Aaron, the champion on that show, only received a copy of this tape over the last couple of years – he also scored a bigger haul in 1999, winning $250,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. There’s also a two-minute end game clip and a copy of the second pilot also on the trading circuit, and a copy of the second pilot is also floating around, although I have never seen it. The people who like this game really like this game.Revivals:
Producer Ron Greenberg reportedly shopped around a revival a few years ago, but found no takers. Another reason to dislike station managers.Curt Alliaume, Executive Producer:
Of all the games that aired in 1975, this is the undiscovered gem. No other game with such a short run is so fondly remembered among game show aficionados. With its similarities to Jeopardy! (whose 1978-79 revival played somewhat like TBS’s gradual elimination of players), this could be a hit for any producer who is willing to roll the dice (pun intended). And the format works as it is – it needs very little adjustment. The end game could be made more exciting by increasing the value of the first roll for every day it isn’t won, starting at $20,000 going up to $50,000, with a $10,000 payoff for hitting Showdown in 30 seconds of dice rolls. Champions would stay on for a maximum of five days, regardless of what they won in the end game (thus opening up tournament possibilities). Producer Ron Greenberg recently wrote "Don’t be surprised when new versions of The Big Showdown and The Money Maze make a comeback!" I sure hope so, as would almost any true game show fan.My Grade:
A-.Read More About It:
Sound + Vision:
It's too obvious to show The Fall, so here's the second part of that show, with a pretty exciting finish.
The Big Showdown is a copyrighted title of Don Lipp and Ron Greenberg Productions in association with MCA-TV. This page is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Don Lipp Productions, Ron Greenberg Productions, Music Corporation of America, their subsidiaries, affiliates, or successor organizations. No challenge to their ownership is implied.