How VHS Marked the END for Showbiz Pizza | The Cyberstar Era 

Oh, and if you need any help with technical information for your followup video, feel free to ask. I’ve dealt with the pre- and post-Cyberstar Cyberamic and graybox control systems quite a bit and have a decent grasp of how they work.

No problem! Thanks for sharing, and I appreciate the information! Definitely would love to have some more intel for the follow up video so feel free to reach out to me!

The graybox was a pretty neat computer, since that old tech controlled every aspect of the show. Dimming the lights, turning off the background music when the show started, putting down the screen for Family Vision videos, controlling two reel to reel decks. As @layton889 mentioned, there was a control panel at the beverage bar where you could put the show on hold until you were ready to play the birthday show. It was literally just a switch with BIRTHDAY/SHOW and a pushbutton (obviously you could just push the button to play a regular show immediately too). All this flexibility was lost with Cyberstar because it was just a linear VCR tape. 3 minutes before a show or video started, you had to be ready to do a birthday as that's where it was on the VHS tape. You were not allowed to access the VCR to stop it or pause it. This led to a lot of headache when trying to get all the birthday kids, parents, adults back in a timely fashion because you HAD to do the birthday at that exact time. That control came back with the introduction of Live Shows because you now had to physically change the VHS tape to the Live/Birthday tape. Oh, the Cyberstar manager control panel that replaced the reel to reel panel was actually a white panel (the one in your video was a later version from a phase 3 remodel or so). It had a green button you would press to let it know you wanted to do a birthday at the next opportunity, a red light that would flash faster and faster the closer it got to a birthday, and a volume control. The other neat thing is the Cyberstar works along with the graybox. There is a ribbon cable that goes from the Cyberstar to the gray box because it still has to control the characters/curtains/light dimming (but nothing else anymore). As far as programming, since SPT programmed the stages, I think they could spit out code for reels or Cyberstar because they would have had a mix of stores for a while. Our store had the reel-to-reel version of shows, and then Cyberstar version, and the programming was identical.

Thanks so much, appreciate it!

I think if i recall CEI probably programmed some of the cyberstar show i remember seeing footage of them programming Kids 1 as some of the songs in the cyberstar era were used for the show selector

@@conceptcheeseentertainment I believe CEI reprogramed most of the cyberstar shows at the same time as Showbiz was also programming them, due too CEI selling RAE shows to Pistol Pete's Pizza around that period.

I think the Liberty Show was one both programmed, since there was a corporate voiced and a CEI voiced, plus there was a portion where Dook sang Beach Bear's part that wasn't the case on the version CEI programmed.

@@LiamCherkasky CEI did program the Liberty Show since Showbiz gave them a chance to redeem themselves soon after, they've thrown a party as Showbiz were aware about them being drunk so one employee erased everything due to him being drunk and the next morning, SPT found out and just straight program it themselves which explain why Dook sung Bear Beach line due to a programming error. It can be seen again on Neighbors 1 and the beginning of Magic Carpet Ride on the Tribute to Mothers showtape

Same here!

Wow, of all people to see here commenting I wasn’t expecting to see you! Thank you so much, glad you liked it!

Yeah same! I still wonder why they didn’t just retrofit looney bird or munch jr. maybe both) into bullhorns If they were used so much in the early shows

Glad you loved it! :)

Thank you, though I think you misunderstood. I was referring to the fact that you can’t see SHOWBIZ stores in person anymore, and I was referring to how it’s a bygone era. You can still see the rock-afire and MMBB in plenty of places, but it’s now impossible to go to a showbiz and you can only see what it’s like online

@@BeachKai Oh I see. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

You’re absolutely right. Part of that is due to the shows being programmed by SPT. I like the overall aesthetic of the brand at this time, but can see a stark contrast in the quality of the shows as compared to something such as the White Album show. It’s important to note the contrasts and similarities that the two program styles have between one another.

Good Catch, I refer to the era from the time SPT came to be after the merger up until 1988 as the “transitional era” as this was the time that they were basically keeping CEI out of their zone. No programming, no vocalizing, nothing. Since the Cyberstar system began INITIALLY as a Reel to Reel system when it was first tested around this time, that is why I would say it’s more Showbiz testing the waters rather than locking in to using Cyberstar system-wide. Thanks for watching!

Thank you! ;)

@@BeachKai Np dude. Keep up the great content!

They used something called Wegl controls (not sure if that’s how it’s spelled) because they were programmed differently from the 3-Stage/Cyberstar shows. However I feel as though I have seen a Studio C Cyberstar setup before somewhere, but then again chances are I’m more than likely wrong.

@@BeachKai At the store, Studio C used a PC Computer with a few special cards in it to control the lights, characters, DVD players, and manager panel. I think it was called "Cyberstar 2000", even though it didn't work in any way like the other Cyberstar systems since there wasn't anything legacy to deal with. The computer itself controlled everything based on data loaded from a floppy disk that came with the DVDs, there was no audio data track on any media.

I said that in the video and mentioned that there are now only relics of the Cyberstar system still in stores.