Couch Potatoes (game show)
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Couch Potatoes was an American game show that premiered on January 23, 1989 and ended on September 8, 1989, in USA Network as a midseason replacement. This show was produced by Saban Entertainment in association with Group W Productions. The show was hosted by Double Dare host Marc Summers and was announced by Joe Alaskey (who also appeared on-camera as Marc's "neighbor") and Jim McKrell.
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[edit] Gameplay
Two teams of three players each competed to answer questions about television shows past and present in a five-round main game. In each of the first two rounds, Marc would ask a "Tune-In" question for which anyone could buzz in. A right answer earned 25 "ratings" points and gave the team a chance to answer three "Spin-Off" questions; but a wrong answer gave the opposing team control, but don't score. The Spin-Off questions were about a TV show and were also worth 25 points each, however a given player could only try to answer one Spin-Off, and a wrong answer at any time gave the opposing team a chance to take control of the remaining questions. The third and fourth rounds were played in the same way, but with the point values doubled.
[edit] Couch-Up
In the fifth round, players from opposing teams were paired up for two questions per pair. Points were determined by a random display that stopped whenever someone buzzed in: 50, 100, 150, 200, or the "Couch-Up." This last would immediately tie the score if the trailing team answered correctly, but would have no effect if the leading team got it right. After all six questions had been asked, the team with the higher score won the game and $1,000, while the losers were "CANCELLED."
[edit] Channel Roulette (Bonus Round)
The team was presented with a grid of 12 channels (2-13), 11 of which had still shots from various shows hidden behind them. When the team picked a channel, the still was revealed and they had to guess the show in order to win the point value displayed below it. However, one channel was "Pay TV," which dropped the total back to zero. If the team scored 1,000 points in 30 seconds, they won an additional $5,000; otherwise, they received $1 per point earned in this round.
[edit] Guest stars
During the eight-month run, Couch Potatoes had several celebrity guests on the show; they usually appeared in round four asking questions about their career or show.
One memorable show featured Jack Larson and Noel Neill, "Jimmy Olsen" and "Lois Lane" from the 1950's series "The Adventures of Superman", asking questions about that classic series.
[edit] Game Show Week
For one whole week, game show celebrities Bob Eubanks, Jim Lange, Janice Pennington, Wink Martindale, Peter Marshall, Johnny Gilbert and Gary Owens appeared.
