Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre (partially lost showtape recordings for animatronic theater of restaurant chain; 1977-1995)
Example of a showtape.
Status: Partially Lost
Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre is a restaurant chain started in 1977.
At Pizza Time Theater (as well as the current incarnation Chuck E. Cheese's) and any other animatronic restaurant chain, the programming for the characters, the lighting effects, video footage (If the show has a video monitor that goes along with it), and the show's audio were stored on showtapes (or as of recent showdisc).
These usually contained skits and/or songs sung by the animatronic characters on stage.
Main Showtapes (Pizza Time Players)
The following listed are CECPTT main stage showtapes, their dates release and both audio and animatronic signal status.
| Showtape title | Release Dates | Audio Status | Signal Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Big Cheese Birthday Show Conceptual Dialogue Recording Session | October 7, 1976 (Never released to the public) | Found | Non-existent |
| Original PTT Tape with Crusty | May 17, 1977 | Partially Lost | Lost |
| Helen Henny "Portrait" Showtape (With Crusty & Warblettes) | August 1977 | Lost | Lost |
| Madam Oink "Portrait" Showtape | February 1978 | Partially Lost | Lost |
| Foxy Colleen "Portrait" Showtape | October 1978 | Partially Found? (Some of the segments without Crusty might have been reused in Foxy Colleen IV - Irish Stew. All Through that's unconfirmed) | Lost |
| Helen Henny "Portrait" Showtape (With Mr. Munch & Mopsey Sisters) | November 1978 | Partially Found | Lost |
| Madam Oink "Portrait" Showtape #2 | May 1979 | Partially Found | Lost |
| Sally I | November 1979 | Found | Found |
| Showboat | May 1980 | Lost | Lost |
| Foxy Colleen in Irish Stew | August 1980 | Found | Found |
| Madam Oink - Around the World (Normal and X-Mas ver.) | October or November 1980 | Found (Both Variations) | Found |
| Dr. Dux Diagnostic Stage/Shelf | 1980 | Found | Found (The audio signals are damaged though) |
| Harmony Howlette's Wild West Show | May 1981-October 1982 | Found | Found |
| Harmony II - Harmony's Hoedown (Normal and CEC's 5th B-day) | December 1981 | Found (Both Variations) | Found (Both Variations) |
| Madame Oink III - Tunnel of Love (CEC's 5th B-day and Normal) | May 1982-March 1983 | Found (Both Variations) | Found (Both Variations) |
| Madame Oink IV - "The Tune Machine" | March-September 1, 1983 | Found | Found |
| Broadway Helen Henny | June 1983-March 1984 | Found | Found |
| Madame Oink III - "Tunnel of Love" Spanish Version | September 1983- 1984-1986?? | Found | Found |
| Bandstand 1 | March-May 1984 (Produced in July 1983) | Found | Found |
| Bandstand 2 | June-August 1984 (Produced in August 1983) | Found | Found |
| Country Helen | September-November 1984 and January-March 1985 (Produced in 1984) | Found | Found |
| Happy Holidays | November-December 1984, November-December 1985, & November-December 1986 | Found | Found |
| Hit Parade | April-May 1985 and October-November 1985 | Found | Found |
| Salute to America | June-July 1985 | Found | Found |
| Salute to Kids | August-September 1985 | Found | Found |
| World of Kids | January-March 1986 | Found | Found |
| History of Rock and Roll | April-August 1986 | Found | Found |
| History of Rock and Roll II | September-Novmber 1986 | Found | Found |
| Movie Magic | January-February 1987 | Found | Found |
| TV Westerns | March-April 1987 | Found | Found |
| Summertime / TV Westerns | May-June 1987 | Found | Found |
| Working / Summertime | July-August 1987 | Found | Found |
| CEC Faves / Working | September-November 1987 | Found | Found |
| Home For the Holidays (Reel Only) | December 1987-1990 | Found | Found |
| Country / Faves | January-February 1988 | Found | Found |
| Tune Machine/ Country | March-April 1988 | Found | Found |
| Summertime | May-June 1988 | Found | Found |
| CEC Grammy Awards/Summertime | July-August 1988 | Found | Found |
| CEC Dance/CEC Grammy Awards | September-November 1988 | Found | Found |
| Chuck E. Cheese Live | 1988-1990 | Found | Found |
| Fractured Classics | January-February 1989 | Found | Found |
| Kiddie Songs | March-April 1989 | Found | Found |
| Best of 1988 | May-June 1989 | Found | Found |
| CEC Dreams/Kiddie Songs | July-August 1989 | Found | Found |
| CEC Neighbors / Dreams | September-November 1989 | Found | Found |
| Home For The Holidays (Cyberstar) | December 1989 | Found | Found |
| Chuck E. Cheese's Birthday Extravaganza (ShowBiz Branded) | 1989 | Found | Found |
| CEC American Pride/Neighbors | January-February 1990 | Found | Found |
| CEC Kids/American Pride | March-April 1990 | Found | Found |
| CEC TV Classics | May-June 1990 | Found | Found |
| Summer Days | July-August 1990 | Found | Found |
| September 1990 | September 1990 - November 1990 | Found | Found |
Cabaret, Lounge, and Other Showtapes
Alongside the main animatronic show, other rooms in the restaurant would host additional characters, playing their own individual showtapes. They were slowly phased out between the mid 1980s through the mid-late '90s as Showbiz Pizza Time (Now known as CEC Entertainment) slowly phased out the Pizza Time Theater Concept for the then more modern version of Chuck E. Cheese.
| Showtape title | Date Released | Audio Status | Signal Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dolli Dimples I (Kooser) | November 1978 | Found | Lost |
| Dolli Dimples I | May 1979 | Found | Found |
| Dolli Dimples II | December 1982 | Found | Found |
| Helen Henny | October 1979 | Found | Found |
| Artie Antlers | Early 1980 | Found | Found |
| Dr. Quack | 1980 | Lost | Lost |
| Beagles I | October 1980 | Partially Found | Lost |
| Beagles II | May 1982 | Found | Found |
| Beagles III | February 1983 | Found | Found |
| King I | June 1981 | Found | Found |
| King II | February 1983 | Found | Found |
| King III | November 1985 | Found | Found |
| King-Combo-Birthday | July 1986 | Partially Lost | Partially Lost |
| King '90 #1 | October 1990 | Found | Found |
| King '90 #2 | December 1990 | Found | Found |
| Still the King | March 1993 | Lost? | Lost |
| King '95 | 1995 | Found | Found |
| Four Little Shavers | August 1981 | Lost | Lost |
| Beach Bowzers | December 1982 | Found | Found |
| Beach Bowzers '91 | March 1991 | Found | Found |
| B.B. Bubbles | December 1982 | Partially Found | Lost |
| King Kat | October 1984 | Found | Found |
Media Recovery:
Due to the showtapes only ever being owned by the store, along with becoming obsolete once the next tape was sent in, most original tape copies are lost or destroyed. Tapes are mostly found in possession of a former employee (usually the technician) after their location has shut down. This is usually either the last showtape before closure or all tapes owned throughout the store's use. This makes older tapes increasingly harder to find. Due to all of this it's is unknown if any of the lost ones will ever be uncovered due to their unknown fate. Some showtapes have also turned up on eBay though.
A YouTube channel by the name of Pizza Time Theatre has uploaded a majority of Pizza Time Theater's library of showtapes. Four other YouTube channels The SPT Archives, Pizzacam3, Pizza Time Archive, and occasionally Pasq has also uploaded a lot of Pizza Time Theater's library of showtapes. Showbiz Pizza.com's official internet radio station Radio Showbiz also ever so often play segments of Pizza Time Theater showtape and also has two scheduled block decided to them. One called Pizza Time Tuesday (dedicated to the Main showptapes) and One called Lounging in the Cabaret (dedicated to Lounge and Cabaret showtapes) both of which aired on Tuesdays and Thursdays respectively. Just about all found Pizza Time Theater Shows are available to the public, and to this day, remain that way.
See Also
References
- A segment on Pizza Time Theatre's second location from the TV talk show Real People which has clips of Helen Henny "Portrait" Showtape (With Mr. Munch & Mopsey Sisters)
- (The Pizza Times) Untitled Newsletter - Volume 1, Number 1
- The Pizza Times - Volume 2, Number 1
- The Pizza Times - Volume 1, Issue 1
- The Pizza Times - Volume 1, Issue 2
- The Pizza Times - Volume 1, Issue 3
- The Pizza Times - Volume 2, Issue 2
- The Pizza Times - Volume 2, Issue 3
- The Pizza Times - Volume 2, Issue 4
- The Pizza Times - Volume 3, Issue 1
- The Pizza Times - Volume 3, Issue 2
- The Pizza Times - Volume 3, Issue 3
- A list and reviews of most of Pizza Time Theatre Showtapes (Showbiz Pizza.com)
- Dolli Dimples Ditties - Full Uncut Donna Miller Session Recordings 1 of 2 (Includes Outtakes of slight glimpses of talking in the studio during the recording of the original Dolli Dimples showtape used at the Kooser Rd location)
- Dolli Dimples Ditties - Full Uncut Donna Miller Session Recordings 2 of 2 (Includes not only more unused cuts and even miscellaneous studio talk, but also 5 previously lost segments that were only used at the Kooser Rd location)
- History of Chuck E. Cheese's Overview (Showbiz Pizza.com)
- Radio Showbiz Homepage (Showbiz Pizza.com)
- The Radio Showbiz Master Archive (Showbiz Pizza.com)
- Radio Showbiz Main Broadcast Schedule (Showbiz Pizza.com)
- Character page on Helen Henny (Showbiz Pizza.com)
- The Retro Pizza Zone forums.
- https://www.instagram.com/p/B1wTxauHqYD/
- Looking Back on the Early Days of Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre