Couch Potatoes

The television game show all about popular television shows past & present.

Broadcast
Syndication - January 23, 1989 – September 8, 1989

Packagers
Saban Productions/Group W Productions

Host
Marc Summers

Announcers
Joe Alaskey (The Neighbor) Jim McKrell

Premise
Two teams of three contestants, both with a TV show related name, answered questions focusing on popular TV show past & present.

Tune-In Questions
Each of the first four rounds began with a "Tune-In" question (toss-up) in which all six players can play. The first player to buzz-in had a chance to answer. A correct answer earned points (on this show they were called "Rating Points") and control of the "Spin-Off" questions (follow-ups), but an incorrect answer did not give the opposing any "Rating Points" but control of the "Spin-Offs".

Spin-Off Questions
The "Spin-Off" questions were questions related to the "Tune-Ins" and about a specific TV show or category. The team that won the "Tune-In" earned control of those questions. Only one player can answer each question and each correct answer scored more "Rating Points". If at anytime the controlling team missed a question, the opposing team had a chance to steal control by answering the same question.

Scoring
The first two rounds had questions worth 25 rating points, while the next two rounds had the questions worth double or 50 rating points.

Couch-Up (Final Round)
In the fifth & final round called "Couch-Up", all questions were under one more category and were all head to head. For one member from each team played each question. While host Summers asked questions, a randomizer was active. The randomizer was constantly shuffling point values (50, 100, 150 and 250), and it stopped when a contestant buzzed in. A correct answer scored the landed point value, but an incorrect answer gave the opponent a chance to answer the same question for the same amount. It was called the "Couch-Up" round, because there was also a "Couch-Up" space in the randomizer and whoever buzzed in and landed on "Couch-Up" that contestant who's team was trailing had a chance to tie the score by answering the question correctly. Each pair of players gets two turns and after six questions, the team with the most rating points wins the game, $1,000 and goes on to play Channel Roulette for $5,000. The losing team gets "CANCELLED".

Channel Roulette (Bonus Round)
In the Channel Roulette bonus round, the winning team faced a board of 12 channel numbers (2-13). Behind those numbers were pictures from popular TV shows and a point value below it. Players on The winning team took turns picking off channel numbers and tried to guess what the mystery TV show was. A correct answer earned those attached points. A player in control can pass if he/she doesn't know the show, but they may go back to it if there's time. It was not all that easy because behind one of those channels was a sign reading "PAY TV"; picking that channel lost all the accumulated points up to that point. If the winning team can reach 1,000 points or more in 30 seconds or less, they win $5,000. But if they can't when time ran out, they still picked up money based on their final bonus round score.

Music
Haim Saban & Shuki Levy

Inventors
Ellen Levy & David Greenfield

Trivia
Throughout it's eight month run, Couch Potatoes had celebrity guests from TV shows past or present appear to ask question about their shows or career. Originally they appeared in round two, later they appeared in round four.

One show featured Jack Larson and Noel Neill, "Jimmy Olsen" and "Lois Lane" from the 1950s series "The Adventures of Superman", asking questions about that classic series.

Game Show Week
For one whole week, celebrities from TV game shows visted the show. They include Bob Eubanks, Jim Lange, Janice Pennington, Wink Martindale, Peter Marshall, Johnny Gilbert, and Gary Owens.

Links
Rules for Couch Potatoes Another Couch Potatoes Rules Page Xanfan's Couch Potatoes Page

YouTube Videos
Couch Potatoes Promo Rebecca Arthur of Perfect Strangers makes a visit