By the start of 2000, Game Show Network (now GSN) had produced a handful of original games. Some were standard at-home participatory games, others dreadfully-awful, sex laden remakes or rehashes of classic game shows.
Then, along came Hollywood Showdown, and finally, GSN had the original game show... more »
By the start of 2000, Game Show Network (now GSN) had produced a handful of original games. Some were standard at-home participatory games, others dreadfully-awful, sex laden remakes or rehashes of classic game shows.
Then, along came Hollywood Showdown, and finally, GSN had the original game show it was looking for. While somewhat a pretty run-of-the-mill affair, this show's use of elements from the 1970s game show Jackpot!, all-around execution and the great hosting job of rookie Todd Newton combined for arguably the first great game show of the 21st century (or, last of the 20th, depending on your point of view).
Seven contestants, including the "King of the Hill" (though never referred to as such) competed for an entire week, answering pop culture questions for a shot at a jackpot that started at $10,000 and kept growing until claimed. The "King" (or "Queen," if that contestant were a female) stood at the podium and selected one of the remaining six contestants who sat in the Gallery, each of which is holding an envelope.
Inside six of the envelops are cards with cash amounts ($500-$1,000); the seventh conceals the Box Office card. If a dollar amount is chosen, that amount is added to the Box Office jackpot. That player then comes on stage for a best-of-five question-and-answer quiz, with all the multiple choice questions centering on entertainment (music, television and movies). The first to get three questions correct becomes the new "King/Queen" (or continues, if appropriate); the other player then goes offstage until after the Box Office had been played for.
If the Box Office card is revealed, the jackpot is frozen at whatever it is at, but the winner of that showdown advances to the Box Office Round.
Box Office Round
In the Box Office Round, the contestant had to correctly answer five questions to claim the Box Office jackpot. Before each question, Newton announced two categories, each one being multiple choice. Each correct question was worth $500, and the player could stop at any time. However, he/she risked their winnings for that Box Office Round if they chose to answer (all previous winnings were safe).
An incorrect answer stopped the game and lost all winnings (although they continued as the "King/Queen"). Winning the jackpot on the fifth correct answer caused that player to leave undefeated, the jackpot reset to $10,000, and his/her spot in the Gallery taken over by a new contestant. That week's non-winners also returned to the Gallery, regardless of the Box Office Round outcome.
While Hollywood Showdown was an exciting game (which ran concurrently on GSN and PAX), new episodes were produced for only about a year. Reruns, however, have been aired on occassion on both networks.less «
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