We’re now continuing our November Sweeps thing here and it’s my weekend. I have two favorite shows. If you’re a regular here, you may know one of my favorites is Russian Roulette. Another may shock people because it’s a classic; my all time favorite show is $100,000 Pyramid. I really couldn’t decide which I wanted to post, so I decided one of both. Here you go.
Alex Davis has written 2832 articles on BuzzerBlog.
Alex Davis is an award winning writer and producer based out of Pittsburgh, PA, who works out of New York, Los Angeles, and London. Alex is the head writer and editor for BuzzerBlog and is the president and head of development of 5Hole Productions, specializing in unscripted formats for television and internet play.
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21 responses to "Weekend Replay: “$100,000 Pyramid” and “Russian Roulette”"
I didn’t know you were a Pyramid fan…me too!
During my childhood, The Pyramid was pretty much a family show…i.e. my entire family watched it! Awesome stuff!
that particular episode of pyramid has a lot of significance for me becuase it was the very first game show episode I ever taped and it was the first time I ever saw someone win the $100K.
and I think I speak for all the straight guys here when I say thank you for choosing the playmates ep. of russian roulette.
To Jay: Who the heck isn’t a fan of Pyramid? There are still fans of the Davidson version out there (even though he didn’t do a good job as host).
To Marc Power: I’m with you, bro (just don’t tell my girlfriend) .
Of all the versions of “Pyramid”, “The New $25,000″ version is my favorite version. I usually prefer seeing the celebrities and the contestants play “Pyramid” the normal way.
No show before or since has had the built in drama and excitement that separated Pyramid from the pack. Today’s games are just wanna-be’s. The drama in this show was not manufactured with pregnant pauses and annoying music. It was just the contestants versus the Pyramid towering tall, dark and imposing over them. That clock was more unnerving than any dramatic musical underscore used on shows today.
And the game itself was not easy to win. Players earned every dime they won on that show.
Even though Dick Clark was the definitive Pyramid host, my favorite version of the show was The $25,000 Pyramid with Bill Cullen. $25K was a huge amount of money back then. ..and players would cry when they won it! I love watching the clips on YouTube and I wish someday Sony would release a Best of Pyramid DVD and could pry the Cullen shows away from Viacom.
Davidson’s shows didn’t suck…he wasn’t the best host, but he did an adequate job. The shows just weren’t produced as well as its predecessors.
Donny’s Pyramid tried to create drama that wasn’t needed…the game is intense enough.
Someone at Sony PLEASE bring this show back…and do it right! I think Chuck Woolery or Mike Greenberg would make good hosts. Don’t throw a stand-up comic behind the podium. You probably wouldn’t need celebrities. Million Dollar Passwordamid proved that unless you’re Betty White, today’s celebrities aren’t necessarily the best game players. And losing $1M is a lot of pressure to put on Rachel Ray! Have family members or best friends play.
Thanks for the clip, Alex.
I’m with you on a Pyramid revival, myke25. Chuck Woolery would be the perfect fit for the show. I don’t think Mike Greenberg would host it (not that he would want to, but because ABC/ESPN would pull the same stunt that Fox did with Mark Walberg and Trivial Pursuit). But please, for the love of g-d, don’t let Ryan Seacrest host it. He has too many job as is.
Now, here’s an idea (and I’m sure everyone here thinking like me on this one): The $1 Million Pyramid.
DeVares,
I just ordered Endless Game’s “$1,000,000 Pyramid” home game.
It’s formatted on Donny’s show (6 items per category, wacky category names, weak $100,000 tournament), but they added the twist that if you win the $100,000 you face the Pyramid one more time for $1,000,000.
Pretty weak, but good core gameplay…and it keeps my streak of Pyramid home versions alive.
If they do bring it back to TV, I’d prefer a format closer to The $20,000 Pyramid, where the prize you played for was based on the number of opponents you defeated. That would mean returning champions. It would also mean a commitment to more than 6 episodes.
BTW: Chuck taped a pilot for a completely revamped Pyramid back in 2000 or so (before Donny’s show). It featured 6 celebrities (one for each category, I guess.). Thank god it died…but Chuck would be a good host.
Devares: I actually know some people who aren’t fans of the show…yeah, I know…whatever (to them).
I completely agree that The $20,000 Pyramid was my all-time favorite version. The reason I preferred that one over the 80′s versions (and beyond) was because the winner was decided in the front game…therefore “The Winner’s Circle” was just that…a WINNER’S circle. Plus, you didn’t have to worry about “winning $10,000 just to come back tomorrow”. Completing that Pyramid was tough enough as it was without worrying about other contestants’ time or money. When you get to The Winner’s Circle, you should just concentrate on getting big money…not on what other people have done.
As for Chuck Woolery, I agree. He would make a great host. However, I also heard about the version that he hosted…it was more like “Body Language” than “Pyramid”….come on…seriously ? I say create a new version…make it like the classic version (7 out of 7 in 30 seconds)…and don’t put any weird stuff in (like Body Language-esque stuff).
I should also mention I tried out for Donny’s version of “Pyramid”…I didn’t make it, but he seemed like a nice guy…not just one of those celebrities that are just nice on camera. However, I could have done without the rule changes (6 out of 6 in 20 seconds ?…huh?).
To Jay: for me, it’s the $25,000 Pyramid (although I do like the music from the $10/20,000 Pyramid). I’m also glad that they didn’t do the 2000 version of Pyramid, it would’ve sucked. As for the Osmond version of Pyramid, it was an OK show, but they should’ve sticked with the tournament format from the $100,000 Pyramid (the top 3 to get to the top in the fastest time goes to the tournament). Not to mention the gameplay format (7 out of 7 in :30).
Devares: Yes, I definitely think that the original theme music is better.
I also agree that the original tournament was better than the original. However, I wonder (if the show came back…which I hope it someday does) if they could do qualifying with money (like they do on Jeopardy). I don’t know how it would work…but, the top money winners (2 or 3) would come back for the big money, and (as before) the first one to complete the Pyramid would win. Hmm.
Also, the show would have the rules for The $20,000 Pyramid (only with higher money…and a higher cap). Hmm.
I meant to say: I also agree that the original tournament was better than on Donny’s version…oops.
I liked the New25/100 version best for several reasons.
1. As Dick liked to point out, if you had a rough round (READ: if your celebrity partner the first time you took the stage was a frickin’ moron), it wasn’t automatically goodbye (’cause your opponent would have to play a game with the same frickin’ moron).
2. When two players split the games, I liked seeing one player need some figure LESS than $10,000 to win. It added a strategic element to that second WC.
3. They kept good players around instead of sending them home the first time they won in the WC.
The main reason they were sent home after winning the big money on the $10K/$20K Pyramids was that it put players close to or at the network ceiling on winnings. After the scandals, the networks put limits on how much a game show player could win. ABC’s limit was $20,000 while they had Pyramid. CBS’s was $25K when they got Pyramid back in the 80′s, then they raised it to $50K, $75K then $100K. Anything players won that put them over the limit was often given to charity. The syndicated limits were higher, which is why Bill Cullen’s Pyramid was able to be $25K and the nighttime Clark show could go to $100K. The limits are mostly gone now, since the only daytime network game show is TPIR.
The thing about Cullen’s Pyramid that baffled me was that the contestants played with the same celebrity partner in both games. They didn’t switch partners. You get stuck with Jerry Stiller for both games and you’re really hosed. (Sorry, Jerry. Love you, but Pyramid was not your game.)
About Donny’s show: The 6/:20 rule didn’t really bother me too much. It actually was harder to do than 7/:30. But I hated the set (Are we through with the metal truss look, now?) and the crappy theme noise (I refuse to call that thing “music”.). No cuckoo…no dollar amount in the title or atop the Pyramid. That all sucked. Donny did an alright job hosting.
I auditioned for the Donny Osmond version of Pyramid at the Mall of America. I asked the producers a couple of questions, like why they didn’t do the, “Here is your first subject,” or why they didn’t have returning champions. They said they didn’t want it to feel like a fresh coat of pain on an old product and that they wanted to make it Donny’s version. While admirable, we can see that if it isn’t broke, you don’t fix it.
GrahamGB: I completely agree with you. Many game shows have a “catch phrase”, and “Here’s your first subject!” is so synonymous with the Pyramid that I never understood why they left it out…till now. “A fresh coat of paint”? Come on! And, yeah that theme stuff they called music was something I could have done without, as well. Besides, it WAS Donny’s version. I heard that he spoke to Dick Clark, himself, about wanting some tips for hosting the show. Dick Clark said 2 words: “Have fun!” Apparently he did. But, the other stuff brought the show down too much.
Well, they tried the “fresh coat of paint” approach with Davidson’s version…rebuilding the set to match the 80′s version, using the identical theme music. And that show went nowhere. Can’t really blame them too much for going a different direction for Donny…just didn’t like the drastic changes.
I see both sides of the arguement. I completely revamped a game that had been on the air for 15 years…and caught a lot of hell from the faithful. Sometimes, you’re damned if you do make changes and damned if you don’t. The trick in reviving a classic is keeping enough familiarity to get the long-time fans while tweaking just enough to make it fresh and bring in new eyes. It’s a very fine line. The New $25,000 Pyramid pulled it off back in ’81…Family Feud has done it just well enough to squeeze out 10 years. Bullard’s Card Sharks bombed. And I know some of you are bitter about Temptation.
At the end of the day, you go with what you think might be the best direction for the show NOW. Sometimes it’s The New Price is Right…sometimes it’s Card Sharks.
The reason that JD’s Pyramid failed is simple: JD, although a kind hearted person, was just not to many people’s liking as the host. Plus, the addition of Double Dare 1 & 2 didn’t help things much, at all. So, the “fresh coat of paint” didn’t help. Yes, I know that Dick Clark was hosting “The Challengers” (making it impossible for him to host the new version), but I didn’t agree with JD as a host.
Actually…no offense…I do blame them for trying to take it in a different direction…it wasn’t the same thing…older viewers, like me, want to see the tried & true version of a show…too many changes do just that…change the show…which can often detract viewers.
Let’s look at FF…when this version first came back 10 years ago, the 300 rule was gone, and whoever had the most money at the end won. Plus, the last round only had one strike…so if the first person couldn’t think of something, the entire family was screwed…regardless of whether or not the rest of the family had an answer. But, look at it now…most (if not all) the classic rules are back. Hmm…strange.
Pyramid has always been a favorite of mine. Nice to see it be given some love here on Buzzerblog. My favorite version is the 25,000 Pyramid. I would kill for a new version of Pyramid. Bob Stewart is a genius. Enough said.
Adam, Bob Stewart is not a genius. He’s brilliant. Many people would think that Pyramid is just a rip-off of Password, instead, it’s a compliment seeing as he created both show (the former while he was working for Goodson-Todman).
I kinda figured that networks had limits to how much money contestants could win. It was also the reason they have limits to how many times a contestant can come back and defend their title (Although Jeopardy! ended theirs back in 2002).
To myke25: I didn’t say that John Davidson sucked, I just said that he didn’t do a good job as host. Maybe that’s my opinion.
I really didn’t have a problem with the Osmond verison’s set. It was actually pretty good. However, I did have a problem with not having returning champions (the same problem I had with Louie Anderson’s version of Family Feud), and having to win twice in the winner’s circle to advance to the tournament (I rather have the 3 players with the fastest time advances).
To Jay: I think it seemed strange that they went back to the classic format, not to mention the “Sudden Death” round (Which kinda reminds me of the “Bullseye/Bankroll” game on the Ray Combs (and the Richard Dawson comeback) version. It’s even stranger that it happened just as the syndicated version of Millionaire began.
Stewart was very good…but he was also very good at creating variations of his original creations…not all to the better. Chain Reaction begat Go…Shoot for the Stars begat Double Talk…David Letterman hosted a pilot for a riddle game that looked like a spin-off of Jackpot. I think it was Mark Goodson who said when creating a new game you start with Plan A and what ends up on the air is usually Plan H. With Bob Stewart, we often saw plans B-G get on the air, too.
That is very true, myke25. Even though some of his shows didn’t last long (eg. Bill Cullen’s Chain Reaction or GO!), they were, in fact, innovated.