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Back In The Day: SHOWER GAME

After being under the radar for 26 years, Golden-Road.net’s staff unearthed two playings of Shower Game late in 2004, with permission from then-producer Roger Dobkowitz to post screencaps from them; nearly a decade later, on April 2, 2014, video of the first playing was finally put online by, strangely enough, Wink Martindale.

The car shower’s chain would cause a gigantic key with the word “CAR” on it to lower from the ceiling; of the other five showers, three would spray the contestant with confetti, and the other two would spray one hundred $1 bills. The contestant could enter showers and pull chains until he found either the car key (thus winning) or $100 (thus losing, but keeping the money).

The game had a huge prop with six shower stalls on it; it rivaled Hurdles in size, stretching all the way from the Turntable to Door #3. Each of the six shower stalls had a price on it; one of them was the price of the car. Each stall had a chain in it for the contestant to pull.

Shower Game only lasted 10 playings over three months months during the rarely-rerun Season 7. Rumors persisted that the game was retired because viewers wrote letters saying it reminded them of the Holocaust; various staff members over the years have given different answers as to whether this was plausible or whether this was a lurid explanation to explain a short-lived poorly-documented game. In either case, most agree it was not exciting enough to be worth keeping its massive set around backstage.

June 30, 1978

Here’s the original Race Game curtain. What is it hiding today?
Holy soap! It’s the Shower Game!
This contestant is the first ever to play the Shower Game. When Bob showed him the game, he began to take his shirt off!
To play the game, the contestant is shown prices like this one, above 6 shower stalls. The shower stall with the correct price contains the key to the automobile he is trying to win!

In three of the showers, the contestant is showered with confetti! The confetti may make a mess, but it means that the contestant may move on to another shower. In the remaining two showers are 100 one dollar bills. Get the money or the key to the car and the game is over.
The camera pans to each of the prices at the beginning of the game so that the home audience can see the different prices. The set is so large, it is very difficult to get the entire prop on camera at once!
The contestant enters the shower marked $4,888 as his first guess.
He pulls on the handle and OUT COMES THE KEY!
He’s won the first playing of Shower Game on his very first guess! He’s taking home a new car!
The entire spiffy looking audience is thrilled!
He’s a happy, happy man! Congratulations!

(October or November 1978)

Here’s a playing exactly 2 months after the premiere of Shower Game. Take note that the stalls have been updated with doors so that the prices can be easily seen by the audience in studio and at home.
This contestant takes a walk to his first guess at the price of the car, $5,034.
He pulls the handle and gets sprayed with confetti! That’s not the right price of the car. He can now continue on again until he finds that key or wins $100.
Lee can’t see! He’s got confetti everywhere. He’s brushing it off his glasses before he continues on! Note that the logic behind which showers contain the money and which contain the confetti is never explained.

Here’s a wide shot of the full Shower Game from the turntable side of the stage. Note that the stall door with the price he’s already chosen is “open.”
He’s found $100! He gets to keep that, but his chances at winning the car are through.
Bob decides to show everyone what the correct price was and he pulls the handle down himself.
$4,752 was the correct price, as can be seen in the background as our host goes out for a commercial. Interestingly enough, when the Shower Game premiered, it was played in the first half of the show. In the second half, yet another game premiered. That game? It’s Optional.