Chuck E Cheese vs ShowBiz Pizza | Rat Pizza | 1 AI transcript and summary - episode of podcast Business Wars
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Episode: Chuck E Cheese vs ShowBiz Pizza | Rat Pizza | 1
Author: Wondery
Duration: 00:32:32
Episode Shownotes
It’s 1976, and Atari founder Nolan Bushnell is on a mission to launch a family arcade disguised as a pizza parlor. He comes up with a name that’s impossible not to smile at—“Chuck E. Cheese”—and combines pizza, video games, and animatronic entertainment. The chain quickly becoming the go-to destination for
a generation of American kids. And as business takes off, hotel mogul Robert Brock sees the potential to franchise, but after feeling misled by Bushnell, he demands their contract be torn up. Brock goes on to create a rival chain called ShowBiz Pizza Place, pitting his bear mascot, Billy Bob, against Chuck E. Cheese’s scrappy rat in an all-out battle for pizza parlor supremacy.Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletterListen to Business Wars on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts. Start your free trial today by visiting wondery.com/links/business-wars/ now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Summary
In the inaugural episode of Business Wars, the competition between Chuck E. Cheese, founded by Nolan Bushnell in 1976, and ShowBiz Pizza, created by Robert Brock, is explored. The narrative begins with Bushnell's innovative approach of combining pizza, video games, and animatronic entertainment, which quickly captivates children and families. However, as Brock enters the market with his animatronic mascot Billy Bob, a rivalry ensues, highlighting the development of family-oriented entertainment in America during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The dynamics between both chains define a critical period in the evolution of dining experiences mixed with entertainment.
Go to PodExtra AI's episode page (Chuck E Cheese vs ShowBiz Pizza | Rat Pizza | 1) to play and view complete AI-processed content: summary, mindmap, topics, takeaways, transcript, keywords and highlights.
Full Transcript
00:00:00 Speaker_02
Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of Business Wars Chuck E. Cheese vs. Showbiz Pizza early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. May 1977, San Jose, California.
00:00:24 Speaker_02
Ted Dabney pulls into the parking lot of a windowless single-story building. Above the door, a sign reads, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater. Dabney is a 40-year-old former Marine with a horseshoe mustache.
00:00:37 Speaker_02
Five years ago, he co-founded Atari, the company that kick-started the video game industry. He no longer works there, but he's still friends with Atari's other co-founder, CEO Nolan Bushnell.
00:00:49 Speaker_02
So he didn't hesitate when Bushnell asked him to check out his latest venture. Bushnell described it as a pizzeria crossed with an arcade, where the main attraction is an animatronic show to rival those at Disneyland.
00:01:03 Speaker_02
Dabney enters and is hit with a wall of sound. Kids running wild, screeches of dozens of coin-operated video games, change machines gushing quarters, staff shouting out order numbers. Ears reeling, Dabney weaves through the tight rows of tables.
00:01:22 Speaker_02
At one, there's a birthday party with balloons, paper cups full of soda, and a cake. and on the walls looking down on it all is a cast of motionless animatronic animals poking out of picture frames.
00:01:35 Speaker_02
At the counter, an acne-faced teenage girl in a t-shirt and flared jeans welcomes him.
00:01:40 Speaker_06
Welcome to Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater. What can I get you?
00:01:43 Speaker_02
Yeah, I'll have a regular pizza with Canadian bacon and mushrooms and give me a large root beer. The teenager hands Daphne his drink and a fake coin the size of a quarter.
00:01:54 Speaker_06
That's your free game token so you can play while you wait. Use the change machine if you want more. Your order number is 87. I'll holler when it's ready.
00:02:02 Speaker_02
Dabney skips the games and finds a seat. He pushes the remains of a previous customer's meal away and makes a mental note to tell Bushnell his pizzeria is dirty. Then, the animatronic characters jerk into life.
00:02:17 Speaker_02
Kids rush back from the games to watch the show. Dabney cranes his neck up. On one wall is a hound dog with a banjo. On another, a cat in a basketball jersey. But the star is Chuck E. Cheese.
00:02:32 Speaker_02
Chuck's got rough gray fur, two buck teeth, and a red derby hat. In one hand, he's clutching a microphone. In the other, a fat cigar. He's also a rat. A rat with a New Jersey accent.
00:02:46 Speaker_04
By now, it's probably no surprise to anybody that we got a birthday number coming up here. Well, it's a surprise to me. I didn't even get a present. Me neither, Big C. That's because it's not your birthday, Nedwick. Oh, yeah.
00:03:02 Speaker_02
Dabney and the other customers twist back and forth to keep track of which character's talking. He feels the need to keep looking up, giving him a crick in the neck.
00:03:11 Speaker_03
All right, all right, now. Everyone in the audience is going to sing along here. We're going to do this nice and simple.
00:03:21 Speaker_02
Dabney joins in as the entire restaurant starts singing. The birthday girl clambers onto a table with icing smeared over her face. But then, he hears a voice buried beneath a den.
00:03:32 Speaker_06
Number 87!
00:03:37 Speaker_02
Dabney jumps up to collect his pizza. The teenager stares at him.
00:03:41 Speaker_05
I was calling you forever.
00:03:43 Speaker_02
Sorry, I couldn't hear over the show.
00:03:45 Speaker_05
Yeah, happens a lot, Pops.
00:03:48 Speaker_02
Dabney carries his thin-crust pizza back to his seat. He stares at the lukewarm pie. It looks sad. He picks up a slice and takes a bite. Tomatoey, with indistinct cheese, tasteless mushrooms, and bland bacon. It's pizza, but not good pizza.
00:04:08 Speaker_02
Dabney leaves shaking his head and wonders how he's going to break the news to Bushnell that the best thing he could do with his rat-themed pizzeria is call in an exterminator.
00:04:21 Speaker_07
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00:06:20 Speaker_02
In this season, we explore the 80s pizza rivalry that captivated a generation of American kids. We're talking, of course, about the cook-off between Chuck E. Cheese and its copycat nemesis, Showbiz Pizza.
00:06:33 Speaker_02
Their fusion of pizza, arcades and live entertainment from a cast of furry robotic entertainers made them the end thing for pre-teens hooked on Rubik's Cubes and Knight Rider, and later inspired the creepy video game hit, Five Nights at Freddy's.
00:06:50 Speaker_02
But behind the smiles, these two chains were jostling to grab the biggest slice of the animatronic pizza market, a subcategory that turned extracting cash from mom and dad into a science.
00:07:03 Speaker_02
Their struggle was one packed with boardroom backstabbing, huge lawsuits, and shattered dreams. And it all began with a Silicon Valley entrepreneur with a taste for pizza and profits. This is episode one Rat Pizza.
00:07:29 Speaker_02
1973, Redwood City, 30 miles south of San Francisco. In a busy pizzeria, the chatter subsides as a man in a tuxedo steps onto a stage at the front of the restaurant. He settles into a cushioned seat in front of an ornate Wurlitzer organ.
00:07:44 Speaker_02
Once upon a time, this gigantic musical instrument played the soundtracks for silent movies. Now, it entertains pizza-munching families at Pizza and Pipes. The organist plays a chord. The organ pipes embedded in the wall light up. The diners applaud.
00:08:03 Speaker_02
Then, the organist launches into the first tune of the night. As he plays, the place is filled with sound and flashing lights. All the customers clap along, eyes glued to the organist and his musical light show.
00:08:16 Speaker_02
All the customers, except for one man, Nolan Bushnell, the shaggy-haired CEO of Atari, the company behind Pong, the world's first hit video game. Tonight he's here with his family, but while they're watching the show, he's watching the other diners.
00:08:35 Speaker_02
And as he watches the clapping customers, he's forming a plan. Before founding Atari, he dreamed of starting a pizza chain where people would play pinball machines while waiting for their pies to cook.
00:08:48 Speaker_02
But the big problem was how to stand out enough from the other pizzerias to get people through the door. Pizza & Pipes has solved that problem.
00:08:57 Speaker_02
It's not packed because it sells the best or cheapest pizza, but because it offers customers a good time with its live entertainment. Just then, Bushnell turns back to the stage and sees a flaw. The organist. He's human.
00:09:13 Speaker_02
He needs to be paid and given breaks, too. And when he's not playing, well, the fun stops. Pizza and pipes would make much more money if the organist was a robot. Robots don't talk back or demand paychecks.
00:09:28 Speaker_02
He recalls the animatronic robot shows he'd seen at Disneyland. Those machines don't get any downtime. An equation forms in Bushnell's mind. Pizza plus animatronic entertainment equals mega profit.
00:09:43 Speaker_02
And as the CEO of the company that's just started the video game business, he's already got the engineers he needs to build his robotic entertainers. 1974, Los Gatos, California.
00:10:01 Speaker_02
In Atari's headquarters, an excited Bushnell paints his vision for his executive team. The company is going to move into restaurants. He no longer thinks the idea he had at Pizza and Pipes is a good one. He now thinks it's an amazing one.
00:10:16 Speaker_02
He lounges back in his chair, taking puffs on his tobacco pipe as he talks. Here at Atari, we create and build video games and then sell them to arcades for $1,000. But those games make $15,000 in their lifetime.
00:10:31 Speaker_02
We're on the wrong side of the business equation." A sales executive cuts in. Nolan, we can't get into the arcade business. We'd be competing against our own customers. Yes, I know that. So that's why we open arcades that are disguised as pizza parlors.
00:10:47 Speaker_02
Also, by doing that, we attract little kids and parents who think arcades are hangouts for teenage thugs. All right, but why pizza? Why not hot dogs or steak? Well, pizza takes 20 minutes to cook. Customers will play the games while they wait.
00:11:03 Speaker_02
Also, pizza's got the perfect bill schedule. Bill schedule? You're opening a restaurant, not a factory. I don't see the difference. You can mess up a steak, but pizza is simple to make.
00:11:15 Speaker_02
If you have good cheese, sauce, and dough, any old fool can make a passable pizza." The representative from the finance team raises an eyebrow. Uh, who's gonna come for passable pizza? They won't come for the pizza. They'll come for the animatronic show.
00:11:30 Speaker_02
The pitch is, we brought Disneyland to your neighborhood. It's why we don't need to open in prime locations. People will travel further because of the entertainment. It's also why we can charge more for our pizza. Where are we getting the animatronics?
00:11:45 Speaker_02
Our engineers will figure it out. What matters is that the show appeals to kids but has enough snark to entertain the parents too. But first, we need a mascot, a character kids will latch onto. November 1975, Atlanta, Georgia.
00:12:06 Speaker_02
Bushnell is on the exhibition floor at the annual convention of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.
00:12:13 Speaker_02
Every year, this show brings together theme park buyers with sellers of coin-op games, roller coasters, cotton candy machines, and more. Bushnell's here to give a talk about the arcade business. But he's also here to check out the latest inventions.
00:12:28 Speaker_02
He's still thinking about how to start his robotic pizzeria. He's codenamed it, Coyote Pizza. and his engineers are making headway on the tech, but he still needs a mascot.
00:12:40 Speaker_02
But then Bushnell turns a corner and sees a huge display of walk-around costumes, the kind used for sports mascots and theme park greeters.
00:12:50 Speaker_02
He heads over and his eyes widen in delight as he notices the torso of a grey furred creature with a long nose and buck teeth. A saleswoman from the stand notices his interest and moves in.
00:13:03 Speaker_05
Hey there, see anything you want?
00:13:05 Speaker_02
Yeah, I need that coyote. The woman looks in the direction that Bushnell's pointing.
00:13:11 Speaker_05
The coyote? Uh, yeah, sure. You're paying by credit card? Perfect.
00:13:18 Speaker_02
Bushnell leaves, grinning. The animatronic's skeletons are almost ready. And now, he's found the perfect costume for his pizza chain's star attraction. 1976, Grass Valley, California.
00:13:38 Speaker_02
Nolan Bushnell enters the engineering floor of Atari's research facility. It's been a while since he had the Coyote costume shipped to the team and he's eager for an update. He spots the engineer leading the animatronics project and hurries over.
00:13:52 Speaker_02
Hey, how's the animatronic Coyote coming on? Uh, the animatronics are running much smoother now. The computer control system and pneumatic air cylinders are working much better, I think. That's cool. And the coyote?
00:14:05 Speaker_02
The engineer gives Bushnell a sideways look. What coyote? The coyote, come on, the one I had shipped out to you. Uh, Nolan, that wasn't a coyote. It wasn't? No, it's a rat. A rat? No, no, no, no, it's definitely a coyote.
00:14:22 Speaker_02
When did you last see a coyote with a pink tail? Show me. The engineer leads Bushnell to a side room. Inside, the costume Bushnell bought is hanging up with its long pink tail looped on the floor. Yep, that's definitely a rat.
00:14:42 Speaker_02
Okay, well, I guess I can't call the place Coyote Pizza anymore. Still, no problem. We'll just rename it. Rick Rats Pizza. A few weeks later, Atari headquarters, Sunnyvale, California. Bushnell puffs on his pipe as his marketing chief blows a fuse.
00:15:03 Speaker_02
You can't name the restaurant after a friggin' rat. Why not? Why not? Why not? Because rats are dirty. No one wants rat pizza, and that includes the folks at Warner Communications." Bushnell sighs.
00:15:18 Speaker_02
He's in the process of selling Atari to movies and music giant Warner Communications, and they're not keen on his pizza project. But Bushnell's sure that once the pilot restaurant opens next year, they'll see the light.
00:15:32 Speaker_02
Bushnell looks at the marketing man. Okay, can it be a rat, but we just de-emphasize the ratness? The marketing chief sighs. Well, that might be just about okay, but you have to change the name. Rick Ratt's Pizza Time Theater will not work.
00:15:52 Speaker_02
Okay, okay, fine. But you name him then, and I want him to have a happy name. A week later, Atari's marketing department comes up with what it calls a three-smile name. A name that makes people smile three times when they say it. Chuck E. Cheese.
00:16:11 Speaker_02
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00:18:26 Speaker_02
May 1977, Atari headquarters, Sunnyvale, California. In his office, Nolan Bushnell listens as his former business partner, Ted Dabney, reports on his experience at the first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater in San Jose. Nolan, it's not good.
00:18:45 Speaker_02
The place is dirty for a start." Bushnell nods. He likes Dabney's focus on the practical. By his own admission, Bushnell's not much of a manager. Strategy and vision are his forte. Okay, Ted, I'll fix that. But Dabney's only getting started.
00:19:01 Speaker_02
It's too damn noisy. I can barely think, let alone hold a conversation. Bushnell shrugs. It's an arcade, Ted. It's for kids. I had to keep turning in my seat to watch the show. That's stupid. The show should be in one spot. Okay, okay, noted. Anything else?
00:19:18 Speaker_02
The pizza's expensive, and it's not good. Not good? It's mediocre at best, and in restaurants, anything less than good is unacceptable. Mediocre's fine. Parents decide when to go, but it's the kids who decide where to go.
00:19:33 Speaker_02
Kids don't care about how the pizza tastes or how much it costs. I couldn't hear my damn order being called, and so my pizza was room temperature when I got it. Okay, okay, that is a problem. Any suggestions?
00:19:46 Speaker_02
Well, you could rig up a TV screen that shows the numbers as they're called. That'd be pretty simple to make. Okay, great. And since it's so simple, how about you build it for me? Warner Communications headquarters, Manhattan.
00:20:04 Speaker_02
It's December 1977 and Bushnell's in the boardroom trying to get Warner's top executives to sign off on Atari's spending plans for the coming year. And pizzerias are one of his priorities.
00:20:17 Speaker_02
The pile of Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater in San Jose is doing great. We're on track for sales of half a million a year. If anything, it's too small. 5,000 square feet isn't enough. Should have been 10,000.
00:20:30 Speaker_02
Warner's executives don't look impressed. They never wanted Chuck E. Cheese. They bought Atari to get into video games, not to take on Pizza Hut. Bushnell presses on. The next step is to open a second restaurant to refine the concept. Then we franchise.
00:20:47 Speaker_02
Go nationwide." Manny Gerard, the Warner executive who oversees Atari, shakes his head. Nolan, we don't want to be in the food business. This isn't about food. It's about vertical integration of the coin-op game business. Sorry, Nolan.
00:21:02 Speaker_02
We bought Atari to put video games into people's homes, not to get into fast food. We're not funding another restaurant. Either shut it down or find a buyer. You're crazy! This is going to be huge! All the better for you finding a buyer then.
00:21:21 Speaker_02
Bushnell spends two months looking for buyers and then hits on an alternative plan. If Warner doesn't want Chuck E. Cheese, he'll buy it himself, using the millions he made from selling Atari.
00:21:34 Speaker_02
He strikes a deal with Warner to buy the business for half a million dollars, paid over five years.
00:21:41 Speaker_02
In June 1978, he founds Pizza Time Theater Incorporated and quickly opens a second restaurant, this time with more space, an easier-to-watch show, and TV screens to tell people when their pies are ready.
00:21:55 Speaker_02
The second location rings up even more sales than the first. So when Bushnell falls out with Warner over strategy and leaves Atari in January 1979, he devotes himself to making his pizza chain a success.
00:22:10 Speaker_02
He recruits a Holiday Inn executive to sell franchises. And within weeks, that executive finds him a major league franchisee. Summer, 1979, Cupertino, California.
00:22:27 Speaker_02
In the Pizza Time Theater boardroom, Bushnell smiles at the guy sitting on the other side of the table.
00:22:32 Speaker_02
He's Robert Brock, the 54-year-old chairman of Topeka Inn Management, the biggest Holiday Inn franchisee in the U.S., operating more than 50 of its hotels. Brock's wearing a dark suit with flared trousers and polished black shoes.
00:22:48 Speaker_02
Bushnell makes his pitch. Our animatronics are state of the art. We've invested more than one and a half million dollars in their development. Outside Disneyland, nothing comes close. So their movements are still a little stiff.
00:23:03 Speaker_02
Kids don't mind, but the technology is only going to get better. Look at video games. Five years ago, they were simple bat and ball games. Now we have space invaders. Brock feels reassured by Bushnell's promise.
00:23:16 Speaker_02
He's made his millions as a hotel franchisee, but he wants to take his Kansas-based company public next year. Getting in early on the next venture of this tech visionary will surely get Wall Street excited about his IPO.
00:23:30 Speaker_02
Well, I have to say, Nolan, I've been in the hospitality business for years, and these numbers are amazing. You're averaging close to $10 per family visit when the average pizzeria does less than six. So how much of the tab comes from the food?
00:23:46 Speaker_02
80% from food and beverages. $2 from the games. It's our intention to sell more pizza in 10 years than Pizza Hut. Brock is sold. Okay, I'm in. But here's what I'm after. I don't want any old franchise agreement. I want a co-development deal.
00:24:03 Speaker_02
I want to open these restaurants across the Midwest and South. I'm talking 200 restaurants. That's a $100 to $200 million commitment. But for that, I need sweeter terms. Paying you 6% of gross sales is too much." Bushnell squashes the urge to smile.
00:24:21 Speaker_02
He might have tech industry cred, but the restaurant industry is still skeptical of him. This deal with Brock would be a vote of confidence that would have other would-be franchisees begging to come in.
00:24:34 Speaker_02
But Bushnell knows better than to take the first offer on the table. Well, Robert, there's a lot of interest right now. But if you raise that commitment to 300 restaurants, we can bring down the fees. 285 restaurants over five years.
00:24:51 Speaker_02
I won't go any higher. All right. Agreed. Brock grins and reaches over to shake Bushnell's hand. You know, Nolan, I think we might have just done the biggest franchise deal in U.S. history.
00:25:12 Speaker_02
Deal signed, Brock starts a new division of Topeka Inn Management dedicated to opening Chuck E. Cheese restaurants. He names the division Pizza Showbiz, but the name eventually morphs into Showbiz Pizza.
00:25:26 Speaker_02
He decides to open the first new Chuck E. Cheese in Kansas City in March 1980.
00:25:32 Speaker_02
And as Brock prepares to bring Chuck to the middle of the country, Bushnell starts opening new company-owned locations in California and striking deals with other franchisees. But the union between Bushnell and Brock is about to nosedive.
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00:27:29 Speaker_02
It's November, 1979, and in New Orleans, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Convention is rocking. On the exhibition floor, the Wolfpack Five are playing another set to a crowd of amazed, smiling delegates.
00:27:57 Speaker_03
Good times, bad times, rock and roll.
00:28:04 Speaker_02
The Wolfpack Five are an animatronic band built by a small company from Orlando called Creative Engineering. The lead singer is a crooning wolf, the drummer's a beagle, the bassist a polar bear in beach shorts.
00:28:16 Speaker_02
A lady fox handles backup vocals and a gorilla in a white tuxedo plays the keys. Their performances are wowing the convention's crowds with their smooth movements and nostalgia-heavy set list.
00:28:29 Speaker_02
But while most of the delegates leave smiling, for two of the onlookers, the sight of the Wolfpack 5 is anything but welcome. And that's because these two men work for Robert Brock's new showbiz pizza division.
00:28:44 Speaker_02
They came here to scout coin-op games to buy for the company's first Chuck E. Cheese. Instead, they've uncovered an animatronic show that's a cut above Bushnell's Scrappy Rat and his friends.
00:28:57 Speaker_02
As the other delegates depart, the two executives agree they've got to call Brock right away and let him know that Bushnell's claim to have the best animatronics outside Disney doesn't hold water. December 1979, Orlando, Florida.
00:29:28 Speaker_02
Inside a white, single-story warehouse near the railroad tracks, Robert Brock follows a 25-year-old man in a Hawaiian shirt through a workshop packed with strange devices and machines.
00:29:39 Speaker_02
Watch out for the cables there, no idea what they're connected to." Brock carefully steps over the cables snaking across the floor and looks up to see a half-finished animatronic creature.
00:29:50 Speaker_02
Its outer layer of latex fur and fabric hangs open to reveal its metallic skeleton and the network of plastic tubes that push compressed air around to make it move. It's been a week since Brock's employees encountered the Wolfpack 5 in New Orleans.
00:30:05 Speaker_02
So now, he's flown to Orlando to meet its creator, Aaron Fector, the Hawaiian-shirted founder of Creative Engineering. Fector turns a corner and leads Brock into his office. Brock notices a mattress on the floor. You sleep here?
00:30:21 Speaker_02
Yeah, I work 18-hour days. It's easier to sleep here than go home. So, the Wolfpack 5, you invented them? Yes, I also do some of the singing and play the piano on the songs when we record them in the studio. That's impressive. How'd you get into this?
00:30:37 Speaker_02
Inventing? I started early. I was dismantling and reassembling radios by the time I was five. But I started creative engineering after inventing a high mileage car. A car? Yeah, it did 90 miles per gallon.
00:30:51 Speaker_02
But I couldn't get any backing, so then I made a pool cleaning device that I sold door to door. One day I knock on this guy's door and he challenges me to make some animatronics for his theme park. That's where it got started.
00:31:03 Speaker_02
So you've been doing animatronics for a while?" Yeah, three years." Brock grits his teeth. Nolan Bushnell convinced him that only Disney and Pizza Time Theater had animatronics this good. You've heard of Nolan Bushnell? Sure. He tried to buy my company.
00:31:20 Speaker_02
Twice. But I said no. Why? Because I believe in my creations. Right now it's kids' entertainment, but eventually we'll be able to make them perform Shakespeare plays. Or the Wolf Pack 5 could open for the Rolling Stones.
00:31:34 Speaker_02
They'd be more entertaining than most human opening acts. It'll take time, but I think that's the future. Brock thinks for a moment. He bet big on Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater on the assumption that there will be no competition.
00:31:50 Speaker_02
But here's this kid selling better animatronics to anyone with enough money. And that changes everything. For Brock, the only reason to buy a Pizza Time Theater franchise was the animatronics.
00:32:04 Speaker_02
Anyone can buy pizza ingredients, paper plates and arcade machines. It dawns on him that if he can get Fector to provide the animatronics, he won't need to buy franchises from Bushnell. He could sell the franchises himself. Brock looks at Fector.
00:32:22 Speaker_02
Say, kid, how would you like to go into business together? January 1980, Topeka, Kansas. In his office, Brock is on the phone to Bushnell and trying to contain his fury. I want out. I signed our deal in good faith. I want it torn up.
00:32:45 Speaker_02
No, you don't just get to bail on a legal contract. It's not legal if there was misrepresentation. No, all that's happened is you've just found a better way to give your IPO more pizzazz. The deal is over, Nolan. Let it go.
00:33:01 Speaker_02
You know, Robert, you're a very greedy guy. I'm not letting you breach your contract. You signed this deal. You made a commitment. Stick by it. It's over. Robert, if you breach this contract, we will sue. Yeah?
00:33:17 Speaker_02
Well, if you do, I'll sue Pizza Time and you personally for misrepresentation. There's a moment of silence. Then Bushnell replies. On that case, I guess we'll see each other in court. Goodbye, Robert. Brock hangs up.
00:33:36 Speaker_02
A few days later, Pizza Time Theatres sues for breach of contract, seeking $250 million in damages. Brock quickly countersues for misrepresentation. But while the legal letters fly, the opening day of Brock's answer to Chuck E. Cheese nears.
00:34:00 Speaker_02
March, 1980, Kansas City, Missouri. In the Antioch Shopping Center, Aaron Fechter watches with pride as the first customers indulge in pizza and play games at the first showbiz pizza place.
00:34:14 Speaker_02
The past three months have been a crazy scramble to transform this 80,000 square foot grocery store into a functioning rival to Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater. But now, it's real.
00:34:27 Speaker_02
At the counter, uniformed employees hand out free game tokens with every order. In the kitchen, pizza pies are cooking in the ovens.
00:34:36 Speaker_02
Over in the game area, preteens rock on kiddie rides while their siblings zap alien hordes and race virtual cars on dozens of video game machines. At the gift shop, the merchandise is ready to sell.
00:34:49 Speaker_02
And at the tables, children are stuffing their faces with pizza and ice cream while staring in wonder at the Wolfpack 5 characters on the stage. But the Wolfpack Five won't be here for long.
00:35:01 Speaker_02
Factor is already working on a new, improved version of his animatronic rock and rollers. They're called the Rockafire Explosion and will become the house band at every Showbiz pizza place.
00:35:15 Speaker_02
and its frontman will be Billy Bob, a singing bass-strumming brown bear who wears red and yellow overalls. The showbiz team believes he's going to put Chuck E. Cheese out of business.
00:35:28 Speaker_02
And that team includes Factor too, because Brock gave him a 20% stake in the business to lock in his animatronic expertise. But Brock's not stopping there.
00:35:40 Speaker_02
He's also promised to bankroll the creation of more high-grade animatronics and set Billy Bob and the Rockafire Explosion on the path to global fame.
00:35:52 Speaker_02
And with Brock plotting to open 200 showbiz pizza places in the next five years, the race for animatronic pizzerias is on. There's only one thing standing in their way now. One angry rat called Chuck E. Cheese.
00:36:11 Speaker_02
On the next episode, the animatronic pizza chain's craze rocks America, Robert Brock and Nolan Bushnell clash in court, and Chuck E. Cheese undergoes a transformation.
00:36:27 Speaker_02
If you like Business Wars, you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music.
00:36:39 Speaker_02
Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. From Wondery, this is episode one of Chuck E. Cheese vs. Showbiz Pizza for Business Wars.
00:36:53 Speaker_02
We've used many sources for this season, including showbizpizza.com. If you're interested in hearing more about pizza rivalries, make sure to check out our season Pizza Hut vs. Domino's. A quick note about the recreations you've been hearing.
00:37:06 Speaker_02
In most cases, we can't know exactly what was said. Those scenes are dramatizations, but they're based on historical research. I'm your host, David Brown. Tristan Donovan of Yellow Ant wrote this story, researched by David Walensky.
00:37:18 Speaker_02
Our producers are Emily Frost and Grant Rudder. Sound design by Ryan Potesta. Voice acting by Caroline Kinley and Carrie Cavanaugh. Fact-checking by Gabrielle Trolay. Our senior producers are Karen Lowe and Dave Schilling.
00:37:31 Speaker_02
Our managing producer is Desi Blaylock. Our senior managing producer is Ryan Lohr. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marsha Louis. Poor Wondering.
00:37:47 Speaker_00
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00:37:59 Speaker_00
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00:38:11 Speaker_00
That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash WONDERY.