Ronnie Dobbs

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RagingBull80

That actually looks pretty interesting.

tofu

Hmm that actually does look kind of interesting. It makes me see Chuck E Cheese in a whole new light.

Troy Stiffler

Yea. I"ve never been in a Chuck E Cheese that looks as cool as Showbiz Pizza. Well, judging from those clips, that is.

fiver

Wow. I don't remember the animatronics shown in this trailer, but I do remember playing my first arcade game at a Showbiz Pizza around '82 or '83 when I was 7 or 8. It was Donkey Kong, which is still my favorite video game. The fact that I bother to recall this restaurant as a 'cherished' childhood memory hopefully says a lot for it

I recall going into a Chuck E Cheese a few years later, thinking that it was really cool that a restaurant 'like Showbiz' was still in business - boy was I disappointed in the food, the 'fun', and the whole experience.

Geofferson

Look like it's worth checking out -- had fond memories of Showbiz as a kid.

Pointyskull

Looks cool.

Back in the early '80s my then-girlfriend-now-wife was in her early 20s, and she babysat the kids of a guy who managed a Showbiz. He was always giving us free pizzas and an endless bucket of tokens. Good times for all.

And as an odd parallel, my wife made some crafty Christmas wallhanging around the same time, and it's stored in a what-was-once-new Showbiz Pizza box. So every year the box gets pulled out of storage, and we usually end up recalling the kooky weirdness of Showbiz.

RocShemp

Wow. That was one heck of a flashback.

I always wondered why Showbiz Pizza was replaced by Chuck E Cheese. It always seemed like such an odd change to me when I was a kid.

majorjoe23

I can't wait to see this. I loved Showbiz, I think I might still have a token or two somewhere.

Dr Mabuse

I've watched quite a few of those Showbiz Pizza videos on Youtube.

Walk down memory lane.

RocShemp

Before you click play on the video in the OP, given the still image that's shown, anyone else initially got a wrong vibe about what the video was gonna be about?

Charlie Goose

I don't think I ever went to a Showbiz Pizza.

gmanca

Looks interesting; there weren't Showbiz Pizzas when I was a kid, only Chuck E Cheese and Bullwinkle's, which was my favorite. I loved the cartoon so the animatronics were cooler to me and the setup was a bit better albeit smaller than Cheese. They eventually turned it into a nightclub, killing the dream

Abob Teff

I thought it was going to be a "Country Bears" style movie with the characters (which I didn't think Showbiz was still around).

This actually does look interesting -- but is just about this guy who bought the old animatronics show? I thought maybe he was reviving the restaurants!

And one final note ... did anybody notice the size of that slice of pizza? That's got to be 10 times thicker than what you get at Chuck E Cheese now!

SkipKassidy

Information on upcoming screenings of The Rock-afire Explosion (aka the "Showbiz Pizza movie"):

Alamo Drafthouse - Austin, TX (Downtown)

Sunday, February 08, 2009 - 7pm
Monday, February 09, 2009 – 7pm
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 – 7pm

More info can be found at http://www.rockafiremovie.com/

Numanoid

Looks great. I can't wait for Fall 2008!

lawyer goodwill

This looks interesting. I had one of those Wikimoments several months ago when we attended a kid's party at Chuckie Cheese and I looked up Showbiz to make sure the place (and its animatronics) weren't just a dream.

In the early 80s, I remember watching Showbiz ads promoting the arcade games Popeye, Q*Bert and Dragon's Lair - I recall pretty vividly getting close glimpses of each of them and losing my quarters very quickly to these machines. I was just a wee kid, but I would probably only fare better in Popeye all of these years later if I were to give them another whirl.

story

I went to a Showbiz Pizza a handful of times in my life, though I couldn't tell you what city it was in. People who grew up in the Sioux Falls, SD are in the 1980s and 1990s can tell you about Piccadilly Circus, a.k.a. Gigglebee's, however, and Wilbur, the animatronic coyote who brought your pizza out on a tricycle!

SPiRAL

I remember this place. I also remember Captain Andy's River Town. I went to my neice's bday party at this place : http://www.johnspizza.com/fun/ it's like Chuck E. Cheese on steroids.

outer-edge

Piccadilly existed in Sioux City, IA, as well. I always thought is was rather sad and pathetic, having been to a Showbiz several times growing up. I believe we went to a Showbiz somewhere near my aunt and uncle's in Colorado, but I could be wrong on that.

Abob Teff

Sorry -- I immediately thought of this ...

and was very creeped out.

starman9000

I hope they get the rights to use some of the new songs they've done.

TomOpus

One thing I remember about Showbiz Pizza... the pizza was REALLY bad. And that's usually hard to do. But I guess that's not the main reason to go there.

Maybe it was the location. It was in central California (either Hanford or Visalia)... can't remember.

Drexl

Does anybody know what the deal is with the DVD? They must have had a very limited print run.

Wikipedia says it was released on September 29th, and their offical website is the only place I can find it. It's sold out, but supposedly with more coming. Amazon is the only other place with a page for it, and they say it's "currently unavailable." I was kinda hoping I could rent it, but NetFlix doesn't have it either.

majorjoe23

I'm curious too. I want to see this so much.