This is the 5524th most frequent Russian word.
показывали
"They showed" or "were showing."
This use of 'показывали' refers to a past event where a movie was aired or displayed on television.
Вчера по телевизору показывали интересный фильм.
Yesterday, an interesting movie was shown on TV.
Here, 'показывали' describes an action where someone was showing rare paintings at an exhibition setting.
На выставке нам показывали редкие картины.
At the exhibition, they showed us rare paintings.
In this context, 'показывали' is utilized to express an educational action of demonstrating a method or procedure.