Showoffs (partially found Goodson-Todman game show; 1975)

The show's logo.

Status: Partially Found

Showoffs was an American game show that aired from June 30th to December 26th, 1975, on ABC. It was hosted by actor Bobby Van and was created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. The show was a The show would be revived for a short time under the name "Body Language" between 1984 and 1986 on CBS.

Format

The show's format is two teams of two celebrities, and one contestant competes in a game of charades. One person is guessing what his/her teammates are acting out in 60 seconds, one point per subject, while the other team is in an isolation booth. If the guesser is stuck on a word, they can pass on that word. When the current team runs out of time, the other team comes out of the booth and try and act out the same words the other team got. This happens twice, and the first team with the most points at the end of the two rounds wins the game and goes on to the payoff round.

By November 24th, the format was changed to one of the teams has to get at least seven words or has to get the most words at the end of three rounds .

The payoff is similar to the regular game. Only all four celebrities participate. All four celebrities alternate turns to act out a series of words that the winning contestant has to guess in 60 seconds. Each correct guess is worth $1. When time expires, one celebrity is chosen to act out three words in 30 seconds. Each word added a zero to the winning contestant's score from the previous rounds. Guessing one word correctly is worth ten times the amount of the money, two words are 100 times, and all three words are 1,000 times the money earned. A maximum cash prize that could be won is $10,000.

When the format of the main game was changed by November 24th, the payoff round also had a different format, in which the civilian has 10 seconds to act out three words for their celebrity partner. The first two words would be for $1,000 and the third word would be for an additional $3,000 for a total of $5,000. After guessing each word, the civilian has the option of walking away with their current winnings or they could risk their winnings and go for the next word. If the celebrity fails to guess the word in the time given, the civilian loses half of their winnings up til that point.

Cancellation

The show was off to a rocky start before it even premiered, it's first host Larry Blyden (who did two pilots for the show) died of injuries sustained in a car crash in Morocco just days prior to production on the series commencing and actor Bobby Van was slotted as host and when the show did premiere on June 30th (replacing Password) it didn't do too good in the ratings. The show would air it's final episode on December 26, 1975 and was replaced with The Neighbors.

Availability

Only 3 of the 129 episodes are known to exist, as the rest of the series is said to have been wiped by ABC (allegedly without Goodson-Todman's permission). The November 28th episode can be found on YouTube in which guest celebrity Dr. Joyce Brothers injured her foot during the episode. The Christmas Day episode has been preserved at the UCLA Film & Television Archive and was aired on Buzzr as part of their 6th annual Lost and Found marathon in 2021. Another episode from December 10th, 1975 is confirmed to exist in audio only, though it has not surfaced online.

Gallery

November 28th episode.

December 25th episode.

External Link

• Showoffs episode guide on Mark Goodson Fandom.

See Also

Pilots

• Showoffs (partially lost unaired pilots of ABC game show; 1975)
• Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour (lost unaired pilot of NBC game show; 1983)
• The Price Is Right (partially found unaired pilot for syndicated game show; 1993)
• The New Price Is Right (lost unaired pilot of Goodson-Todman game show; 1972)
• Family Feud (partially found unaired pilot of Pearson game show; 1998-1999)
• Rock Feud (lost unaired pilot of cancelled spin-off of Pearson game show; 2001)
• To Tell The Truth (lost unreleased pilot of Pearson remake of Goodson-Todman panel show; 1999)
• Card Sharks (partially lost pilots of syndicated revival of Goodson-Todman game show; 1996-2000)

Television

• The Price Is Right (partially lost Dennis James episodes of game show; 1972-1977)
• Tattletales (partially found syndicated version of CBS game show; 1977-1978)
• To Tell The Truth (partially found first season of syndicated panel show; 1969-1970)
• The Price Is Right (partially found Australian adaptation of Mark Goodson game show; 1973-1974)
• Snap Judgement (partially found NBC game show; 1967-1969)
• Call My Bluff (partially found NBC game show; 1965)
• Match Game (partially lost Mark Goodson Bill Todman game show; 1973-1982)
• Family Feud - Popular Vs Freaks & Geeks (found episodes of Pearson game show; 2000)
• Family Fortunes (partially lost British version of Goodson-Todman game show; 1980-2002)
• The Price Is Right (partially found Doug Davidson version of Goodson-Todman game show; 1994-1995)
• Match Game (found ABC revival of Goodson-Todman game show; 1990-1991)
• Champion Blockbusters (partially found spin-off of British game show, 1987-1990)
• Släktslaget (lost Swedish adaptation of "Family Feud" game show; 2000)
• Password Plus (found unaired George Peppard episode of Goodson-Todman game show; 1979)
• The Price Is Right (partially lost episodes of CBS game show; 1972-2007)
• Distraction (partially found American adaptation of British game show; 2005-2006)
• I've Got A Secret (partially lost syndicated revival of Goodson-Todman panel show; 1972-1973)
• Press Your Luck (lost British adaptation of American game show; 1991-1992)
• Match Game (partially found revival of Goodson-Todman game show; 1998-1999)
• Password (partially found ABC revival of Goodson-Todman game show; 1971-1975)
• Mindreaders (partially found Goodson-Todman game show; 1979-1980)
• Sale Of The Century (partially found Reg Grundy revival of Al Howard game show; 1983-1989)

Miscellaneous

• Super Password (lost builds of unreleased NES port of word game; 1980s)
• To Tell the Truth (lost unreleased DVD game based on panel show; 2005)