Couch Potatoes (game show)

Couch Potatoes
Created by	Ellen Levy David M. Greenfield
Presented by	Marc Summers
Narrated by	Joe Alaskey Jim McKrell
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	100
Production
Location(s)	Hollywood Center Studios Hollywood, California
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Saban Entertainment (Disney-ABC Domestic Television)
Distributor	Group W Productions
Release
Original network	Syndicated (daily)
Original release	January 23 – June 9, 1989

Couch Potatoes is an American game show which featured two teams competing in a television-centric quiz game. The program premiered in syndication on January 23, 1989. It aired in first-run until June 9, 1989, for a total of one hundred episodes, and reruns aired after that until September 8, 1989.

Couch Potatoes was hosted by Marc Summers, who at the time was also hosting the children's game show Double Dare on both Nickelodeon and local stations. Comedian and voice actor Joe Alaskey was also featured on the show, serving as its announcer and also playing an on-camera role as Summers' next door neighbor. After Alaskey left the series toward the end of its run, his character was retired and Jim McKrell took over his announcer role (albeit off camera).

Couch Potatoes was taped at Hollywood Center Studios and was a production of Saban Entertainment with Westinghouse Broadcasting's Group W Productions as distributor. The series was created by Ellen Levy and the show’s producer-writer David M. Greenfield.

Couch Potatoes featured two teams of three players each, with one of the teams usually a returning champion. To tie in with the overall theme of the show, both teams were given some sort of TV-centric name.

The game started with a toss up question, referred to as the "Tune-In" question, a multiple choice question worth 25 points and control. All six players had the ability to ring in and answer, but answering incorrectly forfeited control to the other team.

The team in control was then asked three questions referred to as "Spin-Offs". Each question was worth 25 points (referred to as "ratings points") and each member of the team could only attempt one question. If at any time the team answered incorrectly, the other team was given a chance to steal control.

Four rounds were played in this manner, and for the third and fourth the point values doubled to 50 for each correct answer.

Late in the run, two additional rounds of questioning were added; the first three rounds were worth 25 points and the last three 50.

The Couch Up Round was the last round and was played face-off style.

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Wikipedia