TV Powww facts for kids

TV Powww (sometimes written as TV POWWW) was a fun television game show where kids at home could play a video game using their phone! It was a big deal because it let viewers control the game right from their living room and win cool prizes.

How to Play the Game

Imagine watching a video game on your TV. When it was your turn, you'd talk on the phone to the TV station. You would tell them where to aim a weapon in the game. When you thought it was perfectly lined up with the target, you'd shout "Pow!" (or sometimes "Pix!" depending on the TV station). When you said the magic word, the weapon would fire!

It's interesting how it worked behind the scenes. Some people say the game consoles sent to the TV stations were specially made to hear your voice. But a TV station in New York, WPIX, said that if they didn't have a special voice-activated console, an employee in the control room would just press the "fire" button for you when you said "Pow!" or "Pix!"

One tricky part was something called lag. This means there was a small delay between what happened on the TV and when you saw it. Because of this delay, playing the game from home could be a bit harder. It was like a tiny pause that made your timing a challenge!

Games You Could Play

Many different video games were featured on TV Powww. Here are some of the games that home players got to control:

Fairchild Channel F Games

The show used games from the Fairchild Channel F console. Some of these included:

• Baseball
• Bowling
• Shooting Gallery
• Quadra-Doodle (this one was often used as a background for the show)

Other games that were planned or used with the Channel F system were:

• Dodge' It
• Maze
• Tic-Tac-Toe

Intellivision Games

Later, TV Powww also used games from the Intellivision console. Here are some of the Intellivision games seen on the show:

• Football
• Slots
• Soccer
• Space Battle (both single-player and two-player versions)

There were also many other Intellivision games that were available or being worked on for the show, such as:

• Astrosmash
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Boxing
• Frog Bog
• Horse Racing
• Skiing
• Space Hawk
• Word Fun (like Word Rockets)

Some parts of the game Sharp Shot were also used, which included simpler versions of:

• Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
• Sea Battle

Different Versions of TV Powww

TV Powww was so popular that many TV stations across different cities and even countries created their own versions! They often had local hosts and were part of other TV shows. Here's a look at some of these local versions:

TV Pixxx in New York

One very well-known version of the show was called TV-Pixxx. It aired on the WPIX TV station in New York City. The name was a clever play on the station's call letters, "PIX."

The show was hosted by Ralph Lowenstein. It was often shown in the afternoons when kids were watching TV. Kids would call in to play a video game they saw on their screen. Just like the original, they would say "Pix" to make actions happen in the game.

Players could win cool prizes like T-shirts or $10 U.S. savings bonds. They could even double their prize or win bonus prizes, like tickets to upcoming movies! To do this, they had to guess a "Magic Word." At first, these were everyday words. Later, they became the names of the 50 U.S. states. To get a chance to play, kids would send a postcard with their name, address, and phone number to TV Pixxx.

TV Pixxx ran until 1982. For many kids in New York, this show was their very first look at the Intellivision home game system. Interestingly, Michael Diamond from the famous music group Beastie Boys said he watched the show all the time but was never chosen to play.

Switchback in Canada

In Calgary, Alberta, Canada, there was a version called Switchback. It aired on the CBC Television station CBRT in 1985. This show also used Intellivision games for its players.

Zap in Cleveland

Another show with a similar idea was Zap. It aired in the mornings from 1978 to 1979 on the NBC station WKYC in Cleveland, Ohio.

TV Powww Around the World

The fun of TV Powww wasn't just in the United States! It was also popular in other countries.

Australia

In the early 1980s, a TV station called GWN7 in Australia had its own version. It was hosted by Chris Mills. They played games like a spaceship game, a boxing game, and a soccer game.

In another part of Australia, Rockhampton, a simple version of Space Invaders was shown daily after school. Kids would yell "Pow!" over the phone, and the host in the studio would press the fire button. Sometimes, the host couldn't keep up with how fast the kids were yelling!

Brazil

In Brazil, TV Powww! started in August 1984 on the SBT channel. Many different hosts presented the game. By 1986, it became a part of the popular Bozo show and continued until 1989.

Philippines

The Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation in the Philippines also aired its own version of TV Powww in the 1980s.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the game was a regular part of a children's show called Get Set For Summer. This show aired on BBC1 on Saturday mornings in the early 1980s.