The Big Showdown
Host: Jim Peck
Hostess: Heather Cunningham
Announcer: Dan Daniel
Lifespan: January 1-July 4, 1975
Premise: Three contestants answer questions and earn points, and hitting exact totals wins cash, and a shot at $10,000. Or not.
Round One
The contestants are shown six categories, each with a point value of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Then, the "payoff point" was revealed. The first payoff point would be less than ten. Players needed to hit this total exactly, to win a cash amount that Jim revealed by spinning a dial on his wheel. Payoff points could be worth anywhere from $25-$500. Peck read a 1-point toss-up question to the players, and whoever was right got control. That player chose the category for the next question, but all questions were jump-ins. If a player chose a category with too high a point value, contestants who would go over the payoff point were locked out. Thus, a badly trailing opponent could swoop in on a question, pick a couple of sixes, and win the payoff point and money. Another round was played this way, with six new categories. Each time, the payoff point would increase by roughly ten, and points would carry over.
The Final Showdown
At the end of round two, the two high scoring players would move through to the Final Showdown. The Final Showdown had three categories with questions worth 1, 2, and 3 points. This went on for 90 seconds. The payoff points were always 7, and worth $100. The player with more money was the day's champion.
The Dice Table
The champ could then win $10,000 by rolling "SHOW" "DOWN" on a pair of dice with the sixes removed. If he did, $10,000 was won, and the player retired. If not, the player had 30 seconds to win $5000 (and retire) by rolling ShowDown. Every time the contestant rolled his/her "point" (the number of the first roll), he or she got $250, and an additional 5 seconds to roll. This time was accumulated, and used at the end of the 30 seconds. For the bonus time, the contestant either won $250/point, or the $5000. No more bonus time here.
Contestants stayed on until eliminated, or he/she rolled ShowDown.
Click here to return to the home page.
Click here to return to the Rules/Reviews page.