TV Powww explained

TV Powww (often stylized as TV POWWW) was a franchised television game show format, in which home viewers controlled a video game via telephone in hopes of winning prizes.

History

The TV Powww format, produced and distributed by Florida syndicator Marvin Kempner, debuted in 1978 on Los Angeles station KABC-TV as part of A.M. Los Angeles, and by the start of the next decade was seen on 79 local television stations (including national superstation WGN as part of Bozo's Circus) in the United States, as well as several foreign broadcasters. While most stations had dropped TV Powww by the mid-1980s, stations in Australia and Italy were still using it as late as 1990.[1]

Stations were originally supplied with games for the Fairchild Channel F console, but following Fairchild's withdrawal from the home video game market, Intellivision games were used. Kempner later unsuccessfully attempted to interest both Nintendo and Sega in a TV Powww revival.[2]

While the underlying technology was standardized across participating stations, the format of TV Powwws presentation varied from market to market. Many presented TV Powww as a series of segments that ran during the commercial breaks of television programming (a la Dialing for Dollars), while some (such as KTTV in Los Angeles) presented TV Powww as a standalone program.

Gameplay

In the video game being featured, the at-home player would give directions over the phone while watching the game on their home screen. When the viewer determined that the weapon was aiming at the target, they said "Pow!", after which that weapon would activate.

Accounts vary as to what kind of controller technology was involved. Some sources state that the gaming consoles sent to the stations were modified for voice activation., while a 2008 WPIX station retrospective reported that stations without the special voice-activation-equipped consoles would have an employee in the control room manually hit the fire button when the caller said "Pow!" (or "Pix" (pronounced picks) in WPIX's case).[3]

One of the pitfalls of the gameplay was that, due to broadcasting technicalities, there was significant lag in the transmission of a television signal. The player would experience this lag when playing at home, which likely made playing the game somewhat more difficult. (For similar reasons, such a game would be impossible in digital television without the use of a second video chat feed for the player, due to the time it takes to process and compress the video stream; most stations also mandate a seven-second delay to prevent obscenities from reaching the air.)

Featured games

Channel F

There is video evidence for the following Fairchild Channel F games being played on TV Powww:

Kempner marketing documentation also supports the following games being used:

Intellivision

There is video evidence for the following Intellivision games being played on TV Powww:

Kempner marketing documentation and Marvin Kempner's autobiography suggest the following games were available or under development:

The Intellivision title Sharp Shot[14] reportedly comprised four TV Powww games, implying that the simplified versions of the following titles found on this cartridge were also available to TV Powww customers:

TV Powww variants

City/MarketLocal nameHostShow Featured onNetworkAir dates
Boston, MATV Powww!UnknownUnknownWXNE-TVUnknown
Baltimore, MDTV Powww!Stu KerrUnknownWMARUnknown
Battle Creek, MITV Powww!UnknownStar BlazersWUHQUnknown
Calgary, AlbertaSwitchbackUnknownUnknownCBRT1985
Chicago, IL
(Nationwide Cable)
Ray's TV Powww!, Bozo's TV PowwwRay Rayner, Frazier ThomasRay Rayner and His Friends, Bozo's CircusWGN
Superstation WGN
1979-1980
Cleveland, OHTV Powww!Candy CramerVideo ArcadeWCLQ1982–1984
Columbus, GATV Powww!UnknownUnknownWYEAUnknown
Dallas, TXTV Powww!B.J. ClevelandUnknownKXTXUnknown
Dayton, OHTV Powww!Unknown
Unknown
Clubhouse 22 (children's version)
Evening (adult version)
WKEFUnknown
Unknown
Flint, MITV Powww!UnknownUnknownWEYIUnknown
Green Bay, WIClubhouse Powww!Gerald "Uncle Jerry" Drake[15]
"Barney"
Weekday afternoonsWLUK-TVc. 1979–1981
Greensboro, NCTV Powww!UnknownCaptain TriadWGGTUnknown
Hartford, CTTV Powww!UnknownUnknownWTXXUnknown
High Point, NCTV Powww!UnknownUnknownWGHPUnknown
Hobart, TasmaniaTV Powww"Jim Shoes"Saturday Fun ShowTVT61980s
Honolulu, HITV Powww!Fred "Professor Fun" BallUnknownKHNLUnknown
Houston, TXTV Kid POWWWUnknownUnknownKHTVUnknown
Jacksonville, FLTV Powww!Gary RogersUnknownWAWSUnknown
Kingsport, TN
Knoxville, TN
TV Powww!Frances EdenUnknownWKPT
WTVK-TV
1981
Los Angeles, CATV PowwwUnknownA.M. Los AngelesKABC1978–?
John RovickTV PowwwKTTV1979
UnknownTV PowwwKCOPUnknown
New York, NYTV PixxxRalph LowensteinN/AWPIX197?–1982
Oakland, CATV Powww!Pat McCormickUnknownKTVUUnknown
Regional & Remote Western AustraliaTV PowwwChris MillsN/AGWN71980s
PhilippinesTV PowwwVariousN/ABBC-21970s–1980s
Phoenix, AZTV Powww!UnknownUnknownKPNXUnknown
Raleigh, NCTV Powww!"Barney"Barney's ArmyWPTF-TV1979–1982
Rochester, NYTV Powww!"Ranger Bob"N/AWUHF1981
Rockhampton, QueenslandTV PowwwUnknownUnknownUnknownEarly 1980s
Sacramento, CATV Powww!Mitch AgrussCap'n MitchKTXL1980
San Diego, CATV Powww!UnknownUnknownKCSTUnknown
San Francisco, CATV Powww!Pat McCormickUnknownKTVU1970s–1980s
São Paulo, BrazilTV Powww!Luis Ricardo
Mara Maravilha
Paulo Barboza
Gugu Liberato
Sérgio Mallandro
Tânia Alves
Christina Rocha
Show MaravilhaSBT1984–1989
Spokane, WAQ6 Powww!Cal FankhouserUnknownKHQ-TVUnknown
United KingdomTV PowwwPeter Powell
Mark Curry
Get Set for SummerBBC11982
Wagga Wagga, New South WalesTV PowwwUnknownUnknownRVN2Unknown
Waterbury, CTTV Powww!UnknownUnknownWTXXUnknown
Wodonga, VictoriaTV PowwwUnknownUnknownAMV4Unknown
Youngstown, OHTV Powww!UnknownUnknownWYTVUnknown

TV Pixxx

One notable version of TV Powww was used by New York based television station WPIX, called TV-Pixxx (a play on the station's call letters). Hosted by station staff announcer Ralph Lowenstein, it was aired during the traditional weekday afternoon slot of children's TV as an interlude. Participants would be called at home to play a videogame that appeared on their screen.

Participants interacted with the game by saying the word "Pix" to perform game-related actions. Prizes included T-shirts and $10 U.S. savings bonds. They could double their prize or win a bonus prize (such as advance tickets to see upcoming films) by guessing a "Magic Word" (originally common everyday words, later in the last two years one of the 50 U.S. states). For a chance at playing, children could send a postcard with their name, address, and phone number to TV Pixxx.

WPIX's program lasted until 1982; for many New York viewers, TV Pixxx was their first glimpse of the Intellivision home game system.

In the Beastie Boys Book, Michael Diamond claimed to be a regular viewer of the program, but was never picked to play the game, nor saw anyone actually win.

Switchback

Switchback aired on CBC Television station CBRT in Calgary, Alberta in 1985, also including Intellivision games.

Zap

Zap aired in the mornings from 1978 to 1979 on Cleveland, Ohio NBC station WKYC which had a feature similar to TV Powww.

International versions

Australia

In the early 1980s, Golden West Network (GWN) had a version called TV Powww (or possibly TV Pow), hosted by Chris Mills. There was a spaceship game, a boxing game and a soccer/football game.

A basic version of Space Invaders was broadcast daily after school hours in Rockhampton, north-east coast of Australia during the early 1980s. Children would yell "Pow!" over the telephone, with the host pressing the fire button in the studio. Reaction time varied with the mood of the host. The game was often chaotic, with contestant rapid firing, and sync abandoned when the host was unable to keep up.

Brazil

The game premiered on SBT in August 1984 and its first host was Paulo Barboza. Shortly thereafter, other hosts like Tânia Alves, Mara Maravilha, Luís Ricardo, Sérgio Mallandro, Gugu Liberato and Christina Rocha presented the game. TV Powww! became a segment of the Bozo show in 1986 and continued until 1989.

United Kingdom

The game had a 12 episode run as part of the BBC Saturday morning children's show Get Set For Summer[16] between April 1982[17] and July 1982.[18]

Colombia

In 1982 there was a variation of Tv Powww called Telectronico hosted by Reynaldo More. [RTI TV ] Children could participate by sending coupons from newspaper and waiting for the right phone call. Show took place Monday to Friday at 5:30 p.m.

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Erickson . Charles . When the Future of TV Was a Youngster Yelling 'Pow!' . . 27, sect. 2 . June 9, 2002 . 2009-11-05.
  2. Web site: Intellivision Lives . Newsletter . March 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20181219094534/http://www.intellivisionlives.com/media/newsletters/news020327.html . 2018-12-19 .
  3. Web site: Tsiokos . Costa . Population Statistic: "TV PIXXX: Remote Gaming, 80's Style" . June 15, 2008 . 2009-11-05.
  4. Web site: Barney's Army: TV Powww from Around the USA. . 26 January 2019 .
  5. News: Broadcasting . 41 . Feb 26, 1979 .
  6. Web site: Barney's Army: Football Powww. . 2 October 2010 .
  7. Web site: KTXL Jackpot Movie/Commercial Breaks. . 23 May 2008 .
  8. Web site: TV Powww com Sérgio Mallandro. . 16 August 2014 .
  9. Web site: Ralph Harris - TV POWWW LOS ANGELES. . 22 September 2016 .
  10. Web site: WUHF TV-Powww 1981 promo. . 29 September 2012 .
  11. News: Broadcasting . 106–107 . March 7, 1983 .
  12. News: Kempner . Marvin . Can't Wait Til Monday Morning: Syndication in Broadcasting . 216 . July 1, 1998 .
  13. Web site: Kempner TV POWWW Marketing Document. 31 December 2019 .
  14. Web site: Blue Sky Rangers - Sharp Shot Production History.
  15. Web site: Obituary for Gerald Drake . Legacy.com . June 2013.
  16. Web site: Saturday Mornings ~ from Swap Shop, through Live & Kicking, to TMi and everything inbetween . 2014-10-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141026080648/http://www.saturdaymornings.co.uk/page.sm?ref=sushows . 2014-10-26 .
  17. Web site: BBC Radio Times 1982-04-17 .
  18. Web site: BBC Radio Times 1982-07-31 .