Couch Potatoes was an American game show

Game show

A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...

 that aired in syndication as a midseason replacement

Midseason replacement

In American and Canadian television, a midseason replacement is a television series that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between January and May...

 from January 23 to September 8, 1989 with reruns airing on USA Network

USA Network

USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...

 (September 11, 1989 to March 23, 1990). This show was produced by Saban Entertainment in association with Group W Productions.

The show was hosted by Marc Summers

Marc Summers

Marc Summers is an American television personality, comedian, game show host, producer, and a two-time talk show host. He is best known for hosting the Nickelodeon game show Double Dare and currently hosts Unwrapped on The Food Network.- Early career :Summers was born Marc Berkowitz in...

 and announced by Joe Alaskey

Joe Alaskey

Joseph "Joe" Alaskey is an American actor, comedian, and voice artist, credited as one of the successors of Mel Blanc in impersonating the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and other characters from Warner Bros. cartoons. He was born in Watervliet, New York.-Other work:Alaskey has also done voices...

 (who also appeared on-camera as Summers' "neighbor") and Jim McKrell

Jim McKrell

James "Jim" MacKrell is an television personality, best known for emceeing television game shows such as Celebrity Sweepstakes and The Game Game. He was born in Little Rock, Arkansas...

.

Gameplay

Two teams of three players each competed to answer questions about television shows past and present in a five-round main game. In each of the first two rounds, Summers would ask a "Tune-In" question for which anyone could buzz in. A right answer earned 25 "ratings" points and gave the team a chance to answer three "Spin-Off" questions; but a wrong answer gave the opposing team control. The Spin-Off questions were about a TV show and were also worth 25 points each, however a given player could only try to answer one Spin-Off, and a wrong answer at any time gave the opposing team a chance to take control of the remaining questions. The third and fourth rounds were played in the same way, but with the point values doubled.

Couch-Up Round

The fifth round was called the "Couch-Up" round. In this round six total questions were asked and two players, one from each team, played at the same time. The point values for the questions were determined by a randomizer, which displayed point values beginning at 50 and increasing by that amount to 200 and "Couch-Up", which gave the trailing team a chance to immediately tie the score with a correct answer. In order to stop the randomizer, one of the contestants had to buzz in to attempt the question.

Whichever team was ahead at the end of this round won the game and $1,000 while the losing team was "cancelled" and left with parting gifts.

Bonus Round: Channel Roulette

The team was presented with a grid of 12 channels numbered 2 through 13 (representing the standard VHF channels). 11 of those channels hid still pictures behind them featuring the casts of various television programs. The winning team was given thirty seconds to identify the pictures and, one at a time, chose a channel, revealing the picture and an attached point value which ranged from 100 to 1,000 points. One of the channels was called "Pay TV", and if it was picked the team lost all of the points they had accumulated to that point. Reaching 1,000 points won the team an additional $5,000, while failure to do so in time won them $1 per point.

Players stayed on the show until they won five shows or until defeated.

Guests

During its eight-month run, Couch Potatoes had numerous celebrity guests on the show; they usually appeared in Round Four asking questions about their career or show. One show featured Jack Larson

Jack Larson

Jack Edward Larson is an American actor, librettist, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of photographer/cub reporter Jimmy Olsen on the TV series Adventures of Superman.-Biography:...

 and Noel Neill

Noel Neill

Noel Neill is an American actress in motion pictures and television. She is best known as her portrayal of Lois Lane in the film serials Superman and Atom Man vs...

, better known as "Jimmy Olsen

Jimmy Olsen

Jimmy Olsen is a fictional character who appears mainly in DC Comics’ Superman stories. Olsen is a young photojournalist working for the Daily Planet. He is close friends with Lois Lane, Clark Kent/Superman and Perry White...

" and "Lois Lane

Lois Lane

Lois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....

" from the 1950s series The Adventures of Superman

Adventures of Superman (TV series)

Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...

, asking questions about that classic series. Another notable guest was Gary Coleman

Gary Coleman

Gary Wayne Coleman was an American actor, known for his childhood role as Arnold Jackson in the American sitcom Diff'rent Strokes and for his small stature as an adult. He was described in the 1980s as "one of television's most promising stars". After a successful childhood acting career, Coleman...

, who asked questions about "Diff'rent Strokes

Diff'rent Strokes

Diff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978 to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985 to March 7, 1986...

" and mentioned to host Summers he was asked to be the youth chairman for the Just Say No

Just Say No

"Just Say No" was an advertising campaign, part of the U.S. "War on Drugs", prevalent during the 1980s and early 1990s, to discourage children from engaging in recreational drug use by offering various ways of saying no. Eventually, this also expanded the realm of "Just Say No" to violence and...

 Foundation. During one week, game show celebrities Bob Eubanks

Bob Eubanks

Robert Leland "Bob" Eubanks is an American television/radio personality and game show host, best known for hosting the game show The Newlywed Game on and off since 1966, where he was known for using the catchphrase, "Makin' Whoopee"...

, Jim Lange

Jim Lange

Jim Lange is a former American game show host and disc jockey. He was particularly well known to listeners in the San Francisco and Los Angeles radio markets with stints at several stations in both markets, racking up over 45 years on the air...

, Janice Pennington

Janice Pennington

Janice Marie Pennington was one of the original "Barker's Beauties" models on The Price Is Right, serving as the show's longest-running model to date, from 1972 to 2000. She was also Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for the May 1971 issue. She is the older sister of fellow model Ann...

, Wink Martindale

Wink Martindale

Winston Conrad Martindale , known professionally as Wink Martindale, is an American disc jockey and television game show host.-Radio:...

, Peter Marshall, Johnny Gilbert

Johnny Gilbert

John L. "Johnny" Gilbert III is an American show business personality who has worked mainly on television game shows. Originally a nightclub singer and entertainer, he has hosted and announced a number of game shows from various eras, dating as far back as the 1950s...

, and Gary Owens

Gary Owens

Gary Owens is an American disc jockey and voice actor. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offers deadpan recitations of total nonsense, which he frequently demonstrated as the announcer on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Owens is equally proficient in straight or silly assignments and is...

appeared.