"Big Time", the world's biggest gameshow (tm), is a game show-style show hosted by Doc Beardsley in his mountain top lab. Guests are divided into two teams (Team Boxers and Team Briefs) who take turns answering questions provided by Doc. Doc Beardsley asks the questions verbally, but a video screen is also present to provide additional reinforcement (a la Jeopardy). Guests answer the questions by speaking their answer into a microphone.
The game show is comprised of five different questions (including both multiple choice and open-ended formats). It includes a full game introduction in which Doc explains the rules. The dialogue is delivered in true Doc Beardsley style, including humor, tangents, and general silliness. The entire show runs roughly seven minutes from start to finish.
The success of the game show format lays in the notion of control. The character Doc Beardsley, as the show's host, is responsible for asking all of the questions, verifying all of the answers, and moving the show along. In other words, he is in complete control of the story and how it unfolds. The guests need only respond when asked, and they're comfortable with that because it follows the socially-accepted format of a game show.
The story of "Doc Beardsley Presents..." revolves around its title character, a kooky and slightly cynical old man whose zaniness translates directly into the inventions he concocts. We see Doc Beardsley in his element, his very own lab, where he creates the inventions that are so fundamental to his persona. Recently he's been trying to raise the exposure of his inventions. Thus he has converted his lab into a working television studio to broadcast a program that highlights his creations, "Doc Beardsley Presents..." Our show allows guests the chance to visit Doc's crazy lab to both see and experiment with his inventions. They also comprise the studio audience for an episode of Doc's show where he unveils the INVISIBLE MACHINE!
What could happen along the way...or rather, what couldn't? After the guests have entered and the stage manager is counting down to show time, suddenly the electricity fails. You must then help Doc pay the electricity the bill by pumping jam (he pays them in condiments).
Once the show begins you meet Doc's cute little pet hamster, Slippy, who has been given a hamster translator so that he can be understood. After getting a chance to tinker with Doc's inventions, he unveils the INVISIBLE MACHINE, which is naturally, invisible. But it isn't long before Doc's evil nemesis (or an interim one while the real nemesis is on vacation) comes back from the past, the invisible Interminator. He actually used to be Doc's assistant, but when Doc turned him invisible and mixed up some body parts in the return process, he became deformed and forever invisible. Now he's come to do the same to Slippy!
So the Interminator turns Slippy invisible using Doc's machine. Doc implores his guests to help expel the Interminator and save Slippy before he stays invisible forever. The guests can use many choices to terminate the Interminator, or even discover a method on their own. If not, Doc himself may be able to save the day.
Once the Interminator is sent back to the past, the guests try to help Doc make Slippy visible again, except the wrong lever is pulled and now Slippy's pigment packets are rolling about the room. Now everyone must try to retrieve Slippy's pigment packets before he is forever invisible. If they can, then Slippy is returned to normal. If not, then he takes on a newly found comedic form of existing half-invisible. By this time, Doc's regularly scheduled program is over, and the guests must bid a fond farewell until next time. They are encouraged to return, and of course, to dance their way out as Doc plays his favorite vibe...disco music.