RAE INTERMISSIONS

[cec080]

I ONLY SAW 1 OR 2 SHOWBIZ RAE SHOWS WITH THE CYBERSTAR CLOCK AS THE INTERMISSION. BEFORE CYBERSTAR WHAT DID THEY DO FOR THE INTERMISSIONS? I HEARD ABOUT CARTOONS COULD YOU ELABERATE MORE.

[captslappy]

They are not much different from today's CEC. They did show cartoons (Looney Tunes) and the same sort of things they did in the early CEC shows when both companies were owned under one brand. Alot of times the monitors just had a countdown that said 3 minutes to next show with different backgrounds going on and they played instrumental music. I remember also some music video for a toy called "Forever Friends". They were cat stuffed animals you could buy extra sections to add to their tails so you could make them super long. They had a few things along that line but nothing special.

[VegaNova]

Yeah, these were the 'Family Vision' tapes. A screen would drop down in front of center stage and a projector would play little cartoons and short clips, and then it would rise back up and a show would start.

The clip Capt is talking about was neat - it was 'Furrever Friends' or something of that sort. It was more promotional than some of the others, but fun to see and totally 80s. PizzaCam was talking about a RAE ski trip video that was on one of the tapes (I haven't seen it yet). And they had the 'Dot Derby' with colored dots running around a track and you were suppsed to try to pick the winner.

Kinda lame, but fun to watch one of these tapes if you're bored out of your skull. :)

-VegaNova

[RodHouTx]

The Family Vision was not during every intermission; wasn't it every other intermission? Or was it customizable with an EPROM?

For intermission music, there was an auto-reverse cassette deck that played music (not instrumental), like you would hear in a typical restaurant. And they also had "country" during coutry shows, and "christmas" songs, patriotic songs during July, etc. This 'intermission' music always played in the restaurant even during shows, except the computer would "Mute" the speakers in the showroom during a show or during a family vision video (this music came out of the ceiling speakers, not the show speakers). There was also an orange panel at the beverage counter where you could turn it off in the:
Theater, Game, Sports, Hall. Four switches at the top, and the birthday select switch below it and start button. Anyone remember that panel?

[VegaNova]

You're probably right about it being after every other show. My memory of it is very vague, as I was like 4 or 5 years old when I saw it. All I know about it is from watching some of the tapes that have surfaced. Haven't found any documentation about it either. :)

-VegaNova

[VegaNova]

I'm such a dork... I mentioned earlier how Pizzacam said he had the Family Vision RAE ski trip. I was wondering where more of these tapes turned up since I had never seen it before.

Well I dug through my tapes and found this video. He dubbed these from the original Beta tapes I found years ago. The entire first half of the tape is nothing but Looney Tunes so I must have watched it part way through and given up on it when I got the dub years ago. Makes me wonder if I have other stuff that I've been sitting on that I don't even know I have... :rollin

-VegaNova

[RAERocks]

The Family Vision was manually controlled, so it varied on how many times it was played a night. At my SPP, they would only show it once, maybe twice, in a 3 hour period.

I always hated it too, because that meant more time until another RAE show.

RR

[Lilredridinghood]

A cool thing about the RAE ski trip was it was shot in Vail, Colorado, and Air was in Billy Bob, and some ski instructors where in the other characters....

The two dots racing was very lame. Furrever Friends was sooo cute though, and very 80's! I had a miniture version of one that could clip onto things, I stupidly put it on my luggage and it got lost, so I need to find another one on Ebay. In case anyone was interested. :b

[RodHouTx]

Family Vision was NOT manually controlled. It was activated by the grey-box computer after every-other show. However, you could manually "cancel" the video, which I somtimes did. It would only be cancelled for that play and the computer would activate it again the next time it was time for a video. To cancel the video, you would keep pressing "STOP" on the VCR (as the screen came down it would keep trying to start the VCR). Then you would send the screen back up and press "START" to tell the grey-box computer to exit video mode (raise the house lights, unmute background music, and go back to intermission).

[TreyTX]

It seemed that the screen would start coming down which took about 15 seconds to fully come down, and after it was down then the background music would mute and lights would dim and the Family Vision would start. so my question is was the Family Vision already in play mode once the screen came down? Also, how did the system know when the screen was down in order to start the video tape and dim the lights? That being said could the person who programs the show program it where the house lights could go up and down during the show to draw attention like during BDay shows?

[RAERocks]

Sorry RodHou, but at my SPP the family vision WAS manually controlled. It was still hooked into the grey box, but it was manually started for a particular intermission in the interactive booth. It always was and was until they discontinued it.

Eventually, at least at my SPP, the RAE even became manually controlled. There was a panel by the drink stand, back when the employees made your drink order, that was added when the interactive booth was removed. It had a push button and a flip switch. The flip switch had a position for regular show and birthday show. You would just flip it to what kind of show you wanted, push the push button, and the show would activate. This was also where the Family Vision was activated when the interactive booth was removed.

The above setup didn't last too long, because cyber star and the remodel were right around the corner.

RR

[YoungCaliHottie]

the spp in lakewood played the family vision for every other intermission i believe. i would stay around 1 - 1 1/2 hours and see about 2 or 3 cartoons. so it sounds about right.

[TreyTX]

why was Family Vision around anyway? Was it so there would be less wear on the show? Seems that there were always some dumb music videos that would play if the loony tunes were not on. But I do know that not all ShowBiz stores had Family Vision.

[RodHouTx]

The show control panel at the beverage bar was not added 'after' family vision was taken out, that was the original control for the show that was used 'before' family vision was put in (some stores may have removed it after family vision was put in since it was controlled from the booth). When the booth was removed the show was wired back to its original configuration (its in the blue show manual).

I still don't see controlling it 'manually' as the norm! I know you could always start a show or video at any time by the method you said, but you're saying the computer would never start a show or video by itself? Someone always had to start it? That sounds messed up! It definitely was not supposed to be work that way. Unless we have different definitions of 'manually controlling the show'.

[RAERocks]

I never said the panel was added after family vision was taken out. I said it was added when the interactive booth went away. I wasn't aware of the configuration being that way pre interactive booth.

Yes I'm saying that the computer never started "Family Vision" at my SPP. It was always manually started by a person from the interactive booth and then later from the beverage bar panel.

RR

[RodHouTx]

When they took out your booth, did they still play family vision on the drop-down screen or did they play it on the new monitors that were put up (our new monitors went up before cyberstar was installed).

I can't remember if we still used family vision after the booth was taken out, but I remember all that stuff being moved into the computer room. Cyberstar was installed soon afterwards - within the next week. And the new "Cyberstar" control panel was placed at the beverage counter with the flashing red "Birthday Warning" light. Remember that? The customers would always ask what the red warning light was for. This warning light would start blinking when the countdown/intermission would start and would go off after you could no longer request the birthday show to play (the birthday was hidden in the intermission, but you guys already know that).

There was also a way to "Pause" the tape from the control panel that you weren't supposed to know about :-) I bet Gabe knows.

[TreyTX]

yea...and you were not supposed to use the pause button as it was just for emergencies. You knew the BDay show was coming up on the Cyberstar tape as the red light on the control pad would start blinking and if you wanted a BDay show you would press the green button...then just watch the silver dots on the Cyberstar monitors change from silver to gold and right when the last dot turned gold the BDay show would start (if pressed) or if it wasn't pressed then the count down would continue with no BDay show.




http://i1.tinypic.com/nq2w5e.jpg

[RAERocks]

Family Vision was still played on the drop down screen after the interactive booth was taken out. Our booth got the axe a little earlier than most, because the location was a busy one and they needed the room for extra seating. The monitors went up just right before Cyberstar, but not much before.

The beverage counter control panel was not for cyberstar at our location. After the booth went bye-bye, the beverage counter control panel was used to manually start all shows. Regular, B-day and family vision. Everything was done manually from this panel until cyberstar.

Cyberstar went in concurrently with the full scale remodel. The beverage counter and control panel went away (self service drinks went in) and the cyberstar control panel was placed at the entrance to the show room, by the host/hostess stand.

RR

[RodHouTx]

How did you start a Family Vision from the beverage bar control panel? On ours there was a switch for Birthday/Show and a start button. If you pressed "start" when "Show" was select a regular show would start. Did they hook up the video switch to your panel too (there were more switches in the "booth" allowing you to select to start a video).

[YoungCaliHottie]

thats what the gold circles meant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i always wondered - to this day! - why they didnt sync up to the entire minute countdown! lol!!!!!

[RodHouTx]

They had some good intermission music during those days!

Also, you guys remember when they got rid of the clock and you just had the pizza slices in the right-hand corner? Who knows the first showtape to have that? That is when they started having intermissions like the ones today rather than just a countdown.

[pizzacam]

September 1992 "Working For A Living"! Man, I really liked that...I was getting kind of tired of the countdowns. I think they were too cause they started switching it up a bit remember, they stopped using the counter and went to the little walkaround/cartoon countdowns with the CEC characters. I recently went to my local CEC and put in Best of CECTV '93 and using the BDAY button STILL works! I think the system was a little freaked at first cause at every bday wave PRIOR to me pushing the bday button the characters would start moving and the lights would go for about 20-30 seconds then just stop. Then I pushed the button and it stopped doing that UNLESS I pushed it. :lol These shows are freaky! Got alot of it on film though! ;)

[YoungCaliHottie]

did somebody say youtube? :P

[stixcom92]

If the RAE and CEC birthday shows were hidden in the tape, and the vcr was "looking" for them while the intermission was still on screen, was the intermission video/data in the cyberstar box or on the tape?

[rodhoutx]

The VCR was never looking for them. At a specific point if you had pressed the bday button, the a/v switcher would switch to the other audio track. If you forgot to push the button you had to wait until the next opportunity at exactly the same point in the NEXT countdown. A LONG wait! Since the bday was 3 minutes long it was usually right at the 3 minute mark.

[menutia]

Aw come on... we all know that there was an easier way without the wait. That was to fast forward or rewind the tape in the spare "hi-fi" VCR until you saw the little pizza in the corner of the screen. Then you put the tape back into the show and hit play.

(cough-cough)

[YoungCaliHottie]

lol @ menutia.

i think the countdown was actually probably a good idea. maybe they should bring it back. think of it this way...
-it was more obvious when it was showtime vs intermission
(with studio c and chuck just standing there half the time, you dont always know if its another character singing or its just an intermission song, to the casual observer/guest)
-there was nothing fun going on, so lets go play games!
(we all know how much corporate loves people playing games!)
-and it put more of dept 18s energy/effort into the shows
(no intermission clips to create... ...and maybe less recycling of footage???)

i say bring the countdowns back!