Comments on: “Pyramid” Replaces “Russian Roulette” on GSN

By: Mike B.

Mike B. — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:14:52 +0000

I find it amusing how the image for Pyramid in the slideshow contains the URL pyramidgameshow.com, which redirects to ION’s website. I guess they acquired that URL when they got the rerun rights to the show, and they haven’t give it back to Sony.

By: Chas

Chas — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:29:38 +0000

“Open Donny’s drop zone.” (CHUNK!)

By: dawn

dawn — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:42:07 +0000

i like russian roulette i am sad to see it get replaced with pyramid i dont know if ill like it as much russian roulette is the best please dont take it off

By: Rich

Rich — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:40:43 +0000

I am a huge Pyramid fan, but I think that the Donny Osmond version fell short. If GSN wants to start replaying classic episodes, they should bring back The Jokers Wild, Bullseye, TPIR, and Bill Cullen’s Pyramid from the ’70’s. But I am looking forward to seeing the premiere of Catch 21.

By: Eddie

Eddie — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:07:08 +0000

two words… EPIC FAIL.

By: MrQuiz

MrQuiz — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:34:57 +0000

I just thought of something else (bear with me on this one, please): If Allen Ludden were alive today (he’d be 90+ years old), do you think having him make an appearance at the opening of “Million $ Password,” and passing the torch to Regis Philbin, might, or could have “validated” things? (Granted, with the show turning out to be the success it did, this is all moot; hypothetical, or not). But, for say, the sake of “Sentiment,” “tradition,” or respect for the show’s heritage, what’s your opinion? And, thanx most kindly for letting an “old skool purist” impose his two cents worth to this blog from time to time. We may agree, disagree, or even agree to disagree on any given topic. But, we are all in lockstep with our shared passion, pleasure, and care/concern with TV game shows-past & present! (right?)

By: MrQuiz

MrQuiz — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:20:37 +0000

Say what you want about this version of PYRAMID. But, don’t blame Donny Osmond for the format changes, the set design/style, the choice of celebrities, WHATEVER! Like it or not, he wasn’t half bad as an emcee. Comparing Donny Osmond to Dick Clark (or even Bill Cullen, for that matter) is as unfair as can be; for those of us who remember the original JEOPARDY! we (to some extent, still think) of it as Art Fleming’s show; Alex Trebek didn’t quite seem like the same kind of fit. But, we were wrong. True, some emcees associated with given shows are irreplaceble (textbook example: Gene Rayburn/Match Game). I know people will snipe “yeah, but what about TPIR, huh? Drew Carey dosen’t hold a candle to Bob Barker!” Well, think of it this way: truth be told, TPIR was never really Barker’s show , to begin with, Originally, it was Bill Cullen’s show. Barker merely took a virtually totally reformatted classic, and made it his own. MG, with its original and revised formats (60’s & 70’s-era) on the other hand, had only ONE emcee, Gene Rayburn. Here’s another thought: who’s to say if Allen Ludden had lived, he wouldn’t have hosted “Super Password,” instead of Bert Convy (who didn’t do a bad job, either).
So, go ahead and stick with your opinions, pro or con. You’re entitled to them. Just try to be fair about it, and place whatever blame where it really belongs-in this case, Sony, who now owns Pyramid, and all of Bob Stewart’s old shows, for green-lighting the “need” for changes (other than the host, who as I understand it, is generally the last piece in the puzzle).

By: K.C.

K.C. — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:45:00 +0000

The bad: Russian Roulette’s gone. ‘Nuff said. That added to the fact that they could’ve picked up far superior seasons from the good ol’ days.

The good: FINALLY, something my wife will watch with me! She ain’t too fond of game shows in general, but she used to rush home every day after school so she could catch Donnymid.

By: Mike B.

Mike B. — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:31:55 +0000

^And even with $100K Pyramid, they really only wore out the second season. It’s been a while since the third season aired, and even longer since they aired the first.

By: jaymich1128

jaymich1128 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:42:37 +0000

While my favorite game show of all time was the classic version of Pyramid (with Dick Clark), I kind of liked the Donny Osmond version…I even tried out for the show. While I think the producers’ rule changes stank up the place (especially changing the tournament rules…and then changing them again…and then changing them back), the game itself was close enough to the classic to make me happy.

As for running the classic version to death…GSN did that to “The $100,000 Pyramid”….not the other versions…I started getting Game Show Network just after “The $20,000 Pyramid” left their schedule…and it’s only been shown in spurts, ever since.

So, while I would like to see the classics come back, this will do in a pinch.

By: Devon

Devon — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:00:39 +0000

I don’t see what the problem is. RR is still on weekends and this just adds another show *exclusive* shall we say to the weekend lineup. I actually loved the new pyramid and it’s great to see more variety on GSN.

By: devares

devares — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:07:19 +0000

While this wasn’t the best version of Pyramid, it stayed true to its form. the only beef i have with this version is the set, the theme music, and the dropping of the increments of money on the title. I understand you have to get with the times, but, in this case, they shouldn’t have. Donny Osmond wasn’t a good host, but he wasn’t a bad host either. It could’ve been better if CBS Television Distribution (or Kingworld as it was at the time) would’ve collaborated with Sony on this the way they did Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, it would’ve lasted longer than 2 seasons.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:08:01 +0000

Yay. Another classic from the 1980s that was butchered in 2002 is coming to GSN soon. I just bet GSN has a plan to attract younger viewers to the network by airing originals and recent programming from earlier this decade. I just bet Shelly (a.k.a. “tattooed” on GSN Buzz) will be really disappointed when she reads this. No wonder the daytime ratings are better than in evenings and prime time. I agree that GSN should have at least gotten the rights to one season of $25K Pyramid. At least it would have beaten no Pyramid at all. But Donny Osmond is definitely no Dick Clark, and his version will not last past Christmas on the GSN Schedule. But you never know - there may be more people who enjoyed the show than anyone could ever realize.

By: JD Nole

JD Nole — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:36:17 +0000

Is it the classic game we grew up with featuring the host who never seemed to get any older? No. And, honestly, I had more trouble with some of the Win Ben Stein’s Money-style category names than the celebs on this version.

IMHO, some flavor of Pyramid should always be on GSN. Those who blame GSN are a little over-angry IMHO. Perhaps this is the version Sony wanted to peddle and hinted that more of the Clark years could be forthcoming if GSN aired the Osmond era first.

As for RR, it resurfaced once…it could come back again. It’s not like GSN doesn’t have a history of that.

By: Julia

Julia — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:36:24 +0000

OK…Donnymid is not NEARLY as bad as the two attempts they made to bring the franchise back in the mid 90’s. Just check out usgameshows.net and you’ll see the two failed formats they tried. Absolutely horrible attempts. I’m just happy that the only different rules from Donnymid compared to the original are the 6 words in 20 seconds, and the tournament debacle. Other than that, it was true to the original.