The Big Showdown Revival Idea

[Jimmy Owen]

We're close to thirty years since TBS left the air and I have always hoped this show would return.

It's almost perfect as it is, but I'd like to propose a change to the bonus round.  For every day a champ returns another side of the die is covered with a Show and Down, so it becomes easier to win the $10,000 if one stays on long enough.  With a five-day champ limit, the win is almost assured.  The modifications to the dice would be for the first roll only.  

In the timed round, I'd change the rules so that a Show and Down would be worth $1,000 and the player could return the next day rather than having to retire with $5,000.

[TimK2003]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Jun 9 2005, 07:43 PM\']We're close to thirty years since TBS left the air and I have always hoped this show would return.

It's almost perfect as it is, but I'd like to propose a change to the bonus round.  For every day a champ returns another side of the die is covered with a Show and Down, so it becomes easier to win the $10,000 if one stays on long enough.  With a five-day champ limit, the win is almost assured.  The modifications to the dice would be for the first roll only. 

In the timed round, I'd change the rules so that a Show and Down would be worth $1,000 and the player could return the next day rather than having to retire with $5,000.

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I agree with you on the near-perfect format, but why dumb down the roll for each main game win?  Instead, I'd start the Show Down dice jackpot at $10,000 and increase the Jackpot by $5,000 for each day Show and Down is not rolled on the initial roll.  Since there is a 1 in 36 chance a person would roll it on the first try, that also means that there is a 1 in 36 chance that the jackpot could reach or exceed $175,000 on the single roll of the dice.

Otherwise, hitting Show and Down on any subsequent roll during the 30 second roll-a-thon nets the player $5,000.

I think that the gameplay is such that it would be hard for a person to win a lot of games in a row, as there is much riding on skill (blocking) as there is on trivia knowledge.  So let a person continue to play until they are defeated.

Oh, and eliminate the curved staircase.  We don't need to see any other emcee pull a Jim Peck on us.  Nowadays, lawyers will be waiting outside the studio ready to file lawsuits for the emcee!  :-D

[Chelsea Thrasher]

[quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Jun 9 2005, 08:25 PM\'] Since there is a 1 in 36 chance a person would roll it on the first try, that also means that there is a 1 in 36 chance that the jackpot could reach or exceed $175,000 on the single roll of the dice.

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Given the rather decent odds of a jackpot getting that high - or even up in the $100,000-$125,000 range, the people controlling the purse-strings would never OK that..   Wheel of Fortune can get away with offering 100 Grand per night because....it's Wheel of Fortune.  The Big Showdown, were it to be revived, would NOT have that much potential prize money budgeted.

The idea of a progressive jackpot is OK, IMO, but $5000/show, given the odds of it happening while the jackpot is in the $10K-$50K, the concept just won't work.   That in mind, I wonder progressive amount could be added without causing the number-crunchers to defecate themselves. $1000?  $2000? $2500?

Or, turning away from a progressive jackpot, perhaps a $20,000 [Show] [Down] on first roll, with $10,000 if it's hit any other time.

[dmota104]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Jun 9 2005, 07:43 PM\']We're close to thirty years since TBS left the air and I have always hoped this show would return.

It's almost perfect as it is, but I'd like to propose a change to the bonus round.  For every day a champ returns another side of the die is covered with a Show and Down, so it becomes easier to win the $10,000 if one stays on long enough.  With a five-day champ limit, the win is almost assured.  The modifications to the dice would be for the first roll only. 

In the timed round, I'd change the rules so that a Show and Down would be worth $1,000 and the player could return the next day rather than having to retire with $5,000.

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How I'd bring back TBS' bonus game...

\ On the free roll, "ShowDown" pays $50,000 (or maybe 100-grand...depends on how much is in the prize budget).

\ If no "ShowDown", the total number rolled becomes the payoff point.  Then, the champ gets 10 more chances (as opposed to timing this part of the game for 30 seconds) to roll "ShowDown", which at this point is worth $20,000.  Matching the payoff point is worth $1000 and an extra roll of the dice.

...plus, I'd tweak the main game slightly.  Instead of the same six categories for the first round and another six for the second, I'd throw in a slight dose of WBSM.  In other words, once a category is played, it's replaced immediately with a new one.

When a new round starts, a new payoff point is set or all three players miss a particular question, the game "defaults" to the 1-point category -- which would also be worth control of the board.

Finally, instead of a spinner determining the payoff for hitting the payoff point in the main game, it should be determined by a pair of regular dice (with sixes on these cubes).  The total value rolled is multiplied by either $100 or $250 (again, depending on the budget).

[ChrisLambert!]

Forgive me for posting to a week-dormant thread. I just found my idea from 2003 on how to update TBS and have since updated the update, so to speak:

The bonus round will still end with the rolling of the ShowDown dice - but before that, a game board with the numbers 1-10 (representing all of the possible rolls of a pair of dice with no sixes) is revealed. A choice of three categories is offered to the day's champion, and 60 seconds are put on the clock. The contestant calls out a number and the host asks a question from that category. Getting the answer right claims that number for the player, except for "7", which requires two correct answers to claim.

(Caveat: having no 6's on the dice means that "7" isn't really any more common of a roll than "6"; however, having "7" be the only "hard" number to claim simplifies the proceedings, plays off traditionally-known rules of craps, and ties the game to the preceeding Final Showdown round.) A wrong answer renders that number unavailable until another number has been claimed.

At time's up, each claimed number becomes a good roll of the Show Down dice.

With 30 seconds of dice-rolling time, the player wins $500 for every roll of one of the numbers they picked off the bonus board, and an additional $10,000 if they roll "Show Down". If the player had claimed all ten numbers from the bonus board, the prizes are doubled to $1000 and $20,000 respectively.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'ChrisLambert!\' date=\'Jun 16 2005, 05:59 AM\']With 30 seconds of dice-rolling time, the player wins $500 for every roll of one of the numbers they picked off the bonus board, and an additional $10,000 if they roll "Show Down". If the player had claimed all ten numbers from the bonus board, the prizes are doubled to $1000 and $20,000 respectively.
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Thing is, if they went 10 for 10, wouldn't this be pretty antoclimactic? They're either gonna get the 20K or make a good roll. They win big cash no matter what. I dunno that I like this format in the first place, but if I was gonna do it, I think I'd just give 'em then ten large on a perfect 10, no rolling.

[TLEberle]

I'm gonna throw this out, and see if it sticks.  Each day the champ can win (some amount, $10,000?) by rolling Show Down.  The host asks a bunch of questions for :60, each right answer wins a roll.  Show/Down gets $250, boxcars wins the jackpot.

[Jay Temple]

Because of the skill in blocking, I definitely like having returning champions.  WBSM-izing the categories might be a good idea in the two-player part of the game, but I think it would be too time-consuming in the three-player portion.

I generally dislike the idea of adding Q&A to the bonus round.  Here's my idea:  (Scale the amounts up or down depending on your prize budget.)

You have three dice instead of two.  One has "Big," one has "Show" and one has "Down."  The other faces are cash amounts:  I'm thinking 2 $500's, $1000, $2000 and $3000.  "Big-Show-Down" is worth $25,000,* but the individual words are worth nothing.  If you don't get the $25K, you have two opportunities (if you so choose) to roll any or all three of the dice again.  Mind game:  If you start with $3000, $1000 and "Down," what should you keep?

* Or borrow a page from TJW/TTD/PtP and make it a $30-$50K prize package that includes $10,000 cash.

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'Jay Temple\' date=\'Jun 16 2005, 05:00 PM\']Mind game:  If you start with $3000, $1000 and "Down," what should you keep?

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If Heather Cunningham is brought along for the revival, I'd choose DOWN.

[Neumms]

About the only things interesting about Big Showdown were the frantic dice rolling at the end and the potential for the host to fall down the stairs. And now you people want to get rid of them. Sheesh.

If you take the clock away from the dice part, you'd be better off playing High Rollers.