5016 Park Ave was the first
Pizza Time Theater in Tennessee that opened during August 1981 and closed during August 1984.
Not to be confused with either the
Memphis, TN (3649 Hickory Hill Rd) location, which opened on August 24, 1982 as a
Showbiz Pizza Place, and closed on October 27, 2020 with a 3-Stage or the
Memphis, TN (3268 Austin Peay Hwy) location, which opened on August 7, 1983 as a franchised
ShowBiz Pizza Place, and closed on April 1, 2013 with the 3-Stage.
History
Memphis was an average PTT, having a Fantasy Forest, Beverages Stand and Balcony Stage. When it first opened, it had no backdrops or theme for it's stage. The backdrops and wild west theme were added later. In 1983, Chuck got a new updated vest (previously a prototype 1 vest) but then in 1984, he switched back to his original vest. The known backgrounds were the wild west background and the 1984 Helen Henny background. This location was also bought back by corporate in 1983 due to poor sales. It closed due to the bankruptcy and showbiz locations opening nearby. All animatronics, games, rides, and other store equipment were auctioned off.
Animatronics
This location had an earlier version of the Balcony Stage cyberamics consisting of Mr Munch, Jasper T. Jowls, Chuck E. Cheese, Harmony Howlett, and Chef Pasqually. Some other cyberamics were the Warblettes, Applause Board, Drum Board, and Flag Wavers. The first known guest stars were Harmony Howlett (added during grand opening), Madame Oink (replaced harmony in 1983) and Helen Henny (replaced Madame in 1984). They featured one of the first, 'The King' animatronic instead of Dolly Dimples.
Thanks to JND for the reference.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=zXuNBbEw_uo (I do not know where the creator of this video got the information, so far, there has been no answer to the comment I left so some of this information could be false.)
