Pyramid (game show)

The Pyramid
Genre	Game show
Created by	Bob Stewart
Directed by	Mike Gargiulo (1973–81) Bruce Burmester (1982–92)[1] Paul Nichols, Bob Loudin (2002–04) Paul Overacker (2012)
Presented by	Dick Clark (1973–88) Bill Cullen (1974–79, syndicated) John Davidson (1991) Donny Osmond (2002–04) Mike Richards (2012) Michael Strahan (2016)
Narrated by	Bob Clayton (1973–79) Steve O'Brien (1979–82) Alan Kalter (1979–81) Jack Clark (1982–85) Johnny Gilbert (1982–88, 1991) John Cramer (2002–04) JD Roberto (2012)[2]
Theme music composer	Ken Aldin (1973–81) Bob Cobert (1982–92)[1] Barry Coffing, John Blaylock (2002–04) Alan Ett, Scott Liggett (2012)[3]
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	Bob Stewart
Producer(s)	Anne Marie Schmidt (1973–88) Sande Stewart (1981–88) Francine Bergman (1982–88) David Michaels (1982–92) Erin Perry (1991–92)[1] Stephen Brown, Cathy Cotter (2002–04) John Ricci Jr., Jonathan Bourne (2012)
Running time	approx. 20–22 minutes
Production company(s)	Bob Stewart Productions (1973–88) Basada, Inc. (1973–74, 1978–81, 1986–88) Stewart Tele Enterprises (1991) Sony Pictures Television (2002–04, 2012, 2016) Embassy Row (2012) GSN Originals (2012)
Distributor	Viacom Enterprises (1974–79) CPM, Inc., Chicago (1981) 20th Century Fox Television (1985–88) Orbis Communications (1991) Multimedia Entertainment (1991) Columbia TriStar Television (2002) Sony Pictures Television (2002–04, 2012)
Release
Original network	The $10,000 Pyramid CBS 1973–74 ABC 1974–76 The $20,000 Pyramid ABC 1976–80 The $25,000 Pyramid Weekly syndication 1974–79 The $50,000 Pyramid Daily syndication 1981 The (New) $25,000 Pyramid CBS 1982–87, 1988 The $100,000 Pyramid Daily syndication 1985–88, 1991 Pyramid Daily syndication 2002–04 The Pyramid GSN 2012 The $100,000 Pyramid ABC 2016
Original release	Original daytime series: March 26, 1973–74 (CBS) 1974–80 (ABC) Weekly syndicated series: 1974–79 Revived daytime series: September 20, 1982–January 1, 1988; April 4, 1988–July 1, 1988 First daily syndicated series: 1985–88 Second daily syndicated series: 1991 Third daily syndicated series: 2002–04 GSN revived series: September 3, 2012 – October 26, 2012
Website

Pyramid is an American television game show franchise that has aired several versions domestically and internationally. The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted March 26, 1973, and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series (most with a full title format matching the original series, with the title reflecting the top prize increase from $10,000, $20,000, $25,000, $50,000 to $100,000 over the years). The game featured two contestants, each paired with a celebrity. Contestants attempt to guess a series of words or phrases based on descriptions given to them by their teammates. The title refers to the show's pyramid-shaped gameboard, featuring six categories arranged in a triangular fashion. The various Pyramid series won a total of nine Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show, second only to Jeopardy!, which has won thirteen.

Dick Clark is the host most commonly associated with the show, having hosted every incarnation from 1973–88 with the exception of the original version of The $25,000 Pyramid, which aired in syndication from 1974 until 1979 and was hosted by Bill Cullen. The $100,000 Pyramid was revived for a brief 1991 run with John Davidson hosting. In 2002, the series was revived as simply Pyramid, with Donny Osmond hosting for two seasons. The most recent edition of the series, GSN's The Pyramid, was hosted by Mike Richards and aired for a single forty-episode season before it was cancelled in 2012. A new The $100,000 Pyramid (which will have game play similar to the 1982–88 The $25,000 Pyramid) is slated for summer 2016 on ABC with Michael Strahan as host.

Re-runs of The (New) $25,000 Pyramid and The Pyramid are currently shown on GSN.

History

Broadcast history

Dick Clark as host of "The $10,000 Pyramid".

The $10,000 Pyramid, with host Dick Clark, made its network debut on March 26, 1973 and was a ratings hit, sustaining its ratings even when episodes were delayed or preempted by the Watergate hearings. A year later, the ratings temporarily declined (against the original version of Jeopardy! on NBC) and CBS canceled it. The show was quickly picked up by ABC, and began airing on that network on May 6, 1974. As per CBS custom at the time with celebrity game shows, three weeks of episodes for CBS were taped in Hollywood, at CBS Television City, Studio 31.^[4] The remainder of the 1973–81 episodes originated in New York City at the Ed Sullivan Theater, moving to ABC's Elysee Theatre after Pyramid switched networks.^[5]

Title card of the 1980s (New) $25,000 Pyramid.

On September 20, 1982, the series returned to the CBS daytime lineup as The $25,000 Pyramid, again with Clark as host, but now taped in Los Angeles full-time at CBS Television City's Studio 33 (currently used for The Price is Right, which recognizes it as the "Bob Barker Studio") and remained there for the entire run up until December 31, 1987.^[6] Blackout began airing in the series' 10:00 a.m. timeslot the following Monday, but that show was canceled after thirteen weeks of episodes. On April 4, 1988, The $25,000 Pyramid returned to the CBS daytime schedule; the show's final episode aired on July 1. The following Monday, the show was replaced by a revival of Family Feud.

The original $25,000 Pyramid and The $50,000 Pyramid were taped in the Elysee Theatre in New York, and the original version of The $100,000 Pyramid taped at Studio 33 in Hollywood. The revival of The $100,000 Pyramid, hosted by John Davidson, ran from January until December 1991 and taped in Studio 31.^[4] Pyramid, hosted by Donny Osmond, ran from September 16, 2002 to September 10, 2004 and was taped at Sony Pictures Studios. The Pyramid was taped at the CBS Studio Center. Strahan's The $100,000 Pyramid will be taped at the ABC studios in New York.

Later developments

Following CBS's cancellation of Guiding Light in April 2009, Pyramid was one of three potential series considered as a replacement for the veteran soap opera. (Let's Make a Deal and The Dating Game were the other two, with a pilot shot for the former series.) During the tapings that took place in June of that year, the top prize was raised to a potential $1,000,000 with a tournament format similar to the $100,000 format. Dean Cain and Tim Vincent were tabbed as hosts of the pilots, and Sony Pictures game show legend Ken Jennings served as a panelist in the pilots.^[7]

CBS passed on Pyramid and opted to pick up Let's Make a Deal, hosted by Wayne Brady, as Guiding Light's replacement. Several months later, in December 2009, CBS announced the cancellation of another long-running soap opera, As the World Turns. Pyramid was once again among the series being considered as a potential replacement.^[8] CBS ordered a third pilot on April 9, 2010.^[9] Andy Richter was identified as a potential host.^[10][11]

On May 18, 2011, TBS announced development of a possible new version of Pyramid, again to be hosted by Andy Richter.^[12] It was later announced that the show was not picked up.

Another pilot, titled The Pyramid, was taped on June 16, 2012.^[13] On July 12, 2012, GSN announced The Pyramid had been picked up and would premiere on the network on September 3, with Mike Richards hosting the show.^[14] The series ran for 40 episodes before being cancelled later in the year.

On January 9, 2016, ABC announced a revival of the series, with the $25,000 format but paying up to $100,000, had been green-lit and is set to air during the summer of 2016. The first season will comprise twenty episodes with Michael Strahan serving as host. In Addition, this will be the second incarnation of Pyramid to air in Prime time on the network (the first was the All-Star Junior Pyramid in 1979).^{[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]}The format will be similar to the CBS $25,000 format (1982–88). New episodes will air Sundays as part of ABC's Sunday Fun & Games at 9:00pm EST/8:00pm CST beginning June 26, 2016.^[26]

Other personnel

Bob Clayton was the series' original announcer and performed these duties until his death in 1979. Alan Kalter and Steve O'Brien shared the primary announcer role until The $50,000 Pyramid ended production in 1981. Substitutes included Fred Foy, John Causier, Dick Heatherton, Scott Vincent, and Ed Jordan.

When the series was revived and production moved to California in 1982, Jack Clark became the announcer and held the position until 1985. Johnny Gilbert became the primary announcer for The $25,000 Pyramid while Charlie O'Donnell took the job for The $100,000 Pyramid when it launched that fall. Both Gilbert and O'Donnell would substiute for each other on their respective series; other substitutes included Jerry Bishop, Rod Roddy, Bob Hilton, and Dean Goss. For the 1991 revival, Gilbert and Goss were both featured announcers and frequent panelist Henry Polic II also announced for several weeks.^[1] John Cramer announced the 2002–04 version, and JD Roberto announced The Pyramid (2012).

Mike Gargiulo directed through 1981, with Bruce Burmester replacing him until the end of the 1991 revival.^[1]

The original theme tune was "Tuning Up" by Ken Aldin. In 1982, it was replaced by an original composition by Bob Cobert, which was also used on the 1991 revival.^[1] Barry Coffing and John Blaylock composed the theme of the 2002–04 version, and Alan Ett composed for The Pyramid.

Gameplay

The Pyramid's gameboards, both in the main game and in the Winner's Circle bonus round, featured six categories arranged in a triangle (referred to as a pyramid), with three categories on the bottom row, two on the middle row, and one on the top. In the main game, a category's position on the board was arbitrary. In the Winner's Circle, categories became progressively more difficult the higher they were on the board.

Main game

Two teams competed in the main game, each composed of a celebrity and a regular contestant.

At the beginning of the game, the teams were shown six categories, whose titles gave vague clues to their possible meaning (for instance, "I'm All Wet" might pertain to things found in water). Once the category was chosen, its exact meaning was given (except in certain bonus situations where the meaning was not given and a cash/prize bonus won for completing all the clues). For up to 30 seconds, one contestant conveyed to the other clues to a series of items belonging to a category. One point was scored for each item correctly guessed. If a word was passed, the giver could not go back to that word, but if the receiver knew the word later on and guessed it, the team still earned a point (no sound effect was played, in order to avoid a distraction). On the Osmond version, a team that passed on any words could return to them if time permitted, but if a word was guessed correctly after it had been passed, it would not count until the word was returned to and correctly guessed then.

When The $10,000 Pyramid launched on CBS, there were eight possible items in a category. This was reduced to seven when the show moved to ABC, and this became the standard used for every subsequent series with two exceptions. When The $20,000 Pyramid briefly switched to its Junior Partner Pyramid format, the time limit was increased to 35 seconds. Pyramid used categories with six items, with 20 seconds given to guess all six. Illegal clues, such as using part of the word in the description, resulted in the word being thrown out.

Originally, the celebrity gave the clues in both the first and third rounds, and the contestant in the second round. This changed to having the contestant decide whether to give or receive in the third round. The teams alternated in the first two rounds, and the team with the lower score played first in the third round. Whoever had the higher score after three rounds advanced to the Winner's Circle. In the 1970s and 1980s versions, in the rare event that contestants were mathematically unable to at least tie their opponent before the opponent has had his or her last turn (or even rarer, before that point), the game ended and the remaining categories were left unplayed.

If a tie occurred after the rounds were completed, the host would give the team who caused the tie a choice between two letters of the alphabet, and then play a round with seven words each beginning with that letter, after which the opposing team would do likewise with the other letter. Originally, tiebreaker rounds would be played until the tie was broken, but in later years, the rules were changed so that whichever team completed its seven words faster was declared the winner.

In the 1980s incarnations, a random category in the first round would double as the "7–11", meaning that the contestant would receive an $1,100 cash bonus if all seven words were guessed correctly. Similarly, a random category in the second round would be the "Mystery 7", in which the host would not reveal the topic of the category until after the fact, and correctly guessing all seven words awarded a prize.

The John Davidson-hosted version had its own similar bonuses: "Gamble for a Grand"/"Gamble for a Trip" offered the choice to reduce the round's time limit to win $1,000 cash or a trip, respectively, and "Double Trouble" offered the team 45 seconds to guess seven two-word responses for a $500 bonus.

Winner's Circle

The winner of the main game played "The Winner's Circle," whereby the goal was for the team to communicate six categories of increasing difficulty within 60 seconds, using only a list of words or phrases that fit the given category. One contestant was the clue-giver while the other had to guess what was being described. Successfully guessing all six categories won the contestant the top announced prize; otherwise, the contestant won cash depending on the amounts the correctly guessed categories were worth.^[27][28][29] Clue-givers could pass on a category and then return to it if time allowed.

Returning champions and winnings limits

On the 1970s daytime version, contestants were allowed to remain on the show until they were defeated or won the Winner's Circle. Under the $10,000 format, a contestant who won the Winner's Circle was allowed to keep all earlier winnings. Under the $20,000 format, the contestant's total was merely augmented to the amount won in the Winner's Circle. The syndicated versions featured no returning champions prior to 1985.

During the 1970s syndicated version, if a contestant won a bonus prize, then went on to win the $25,000 top prize, the value of the bonus (either the additional bonus cash, or the value of the car offered during the final season) was deducted from the champion's total, leaving them with exactly $25,000. This version did not feature returning champions. On all versions from 1982 onward, all main-game bonus winnings remained intact in the event of a $25,000 win.

On the $25,000 and $100,000 versions of the show, the same two contestants competed for both halves of the episode. A contestant who won one of the two games on the episode played the Winner's Circle for $10,000. A contestant who won both games played the second Winner's Circle for a total of $25,000 (thus earning for example, $750 in the first Winner's Circle means the second was worth an additional $24,250 to the contestant). On all versions from 1982–91, a contestant who won both games of an episode became the champion and returned on the next show. If each contestant won one game, the contestant with the higher total in the Winner's Circle became champion (winnings from the various main-game bonuses did not count). If the two contestants won equal amounts of money in the Winner's Circle (including $10,000 wins), both returned on the next show.

From 1982 to 1991, contestants were allowed to remain on the show until defeated or a maximum of five episodes. Champions on the CBS version also retired after exceeding the network's winnings limit. This was originally $25,000, but was increased to $50,000 on October 22, 1984 (episode #0542) and to $75,000 on September 29, 1986 (episode #1041). Contestants were allowed to keep a maximum of $25,000 in excess of the limit. Pyramid and The Pyramid did not have returning champions.

On Pyramid, the goal was once again to try to win $25,000. However, this required a contestant to get to and win the Winner's Circle twice. If the contestant made a second trip without having won the first, he/she was given another chance at $10,000. If the contestant managed to win both, he/she won the $25,000 and automatically qualified for the $100,000 tournament.

On The Pyramid, each Winner's Circle was played for a base of $10,000. For each category that the contestant and celebrity swept, an additional $5,000 was added to the potential prize, with the maximum prize for a trip to the Winner's Circle being $25,000 for each contestant.^[30]

For the 2016 ABC Primetime Strahan format, the first Winner's Circle is $50,000 and the second appearance by the same contestant in the same episode is worth $100,000, meaning a contestant can win up to $150,000.

$100,000 tournament

On the 1985–91 version of The $100,000 Pyramid, the three contestants who completed the Winners' Circle in the shortest lengths of time qualified for the $100,000 tournament, which was held every few weeks. During the tournament, all front game bonuses were removed except the $5,000 bonus for a 21–21 tie. Each Winners' Circle was played for $100,000 until someone won the bonus. If a contestant won the $100,000 bonus during the first half of the episode, the second half would be played by the two contestants who did not win the bonus for a Winners' Circle prize of $10,000.

International versions

The British version was called The Pyramid Game and ran intermittently from 1981 to 1990, with Steve Jones as host. Donny Osmond hosted a short-lived 2007 revival, which used the same music package and a similar set as the 2002 American revival hosted by Osmond.

In 2009, Sony created an Australian version of The Junior Partner Pyramid called simply Pyramid. This version was hosted by Shura Taft until 2012, with Graham Matters taking over the following year.

A German version titled Die Pyramide aired on ZDF from 1979 to 1994, and was hosted by Dieter Thomas Heck. A new version aired on ZDFneo in 2012, and was co-hosted by Micky Beisenherz and Joachim Llambi.

Versions in French, both titled Pyramide, were produced at different times in France and in Canada.

Versions of Pyramid have been also produced for other countries outside the United States:

Country	Name	Host	Channel	Air dates
Australia	Pyramid	Shura Taft (2009-2012) Beau Walker (2013)	Nine Network (2009–2012) GO! (2013-present)	September 1, 2009 – present
Canada (French)	Pyramide	Sébastien Benoit	Radio-Canada	April 28, 2008 – April 22, 2011
Chile	Contrarreloj	Esperanza Silva Coco Legrand	Canal 13	2002
Denmark	Pyramide			Not aired yet
Egypt	الهرم El Haram	Moufida Sheeha	ERT 2	May 16, 2009
Estonia	Püramiid	Teet Margna	TV3	March 4, 2006
Finland	Pyramidi		MTV3	Not aired yet
France	Pyramide	Patrice Laffont Olivier Minne	France 2	1991–2003 2014
Germany	Die Pyramide	Dieter Thomas Heck Micky Beisenherz and Joachim Llambi	ZDF ZDFneo	1978–1994 2012
	Hast Du Worte?	Jörg Pilawa (1996–1997) Thomas Koschwitz (1997–1999)	Sat.1	1996–1999
Indonesia	Piramida	Ronnie Sianturi Ricky Johannes	RCTI	1995–1999 2000
	Piramida Baru	Ricky Johannes		2001–2003
Iran	Pyramid	Sina Valiollah	PMC	2009
Israel	שחק אותה Play It	Yigal Shilon Dudu Topaz	Channel 1	1983–1984
	הפירמידה Ha-Pyramide	Oded Menashe	Channel 2	2002
Italy	Pyramid - Chi mi capisce è bravo	Enrico Brignano and Debora Salvalaggio	Rai Due	December 3, 2007
Japan	ピラミッド		Fuji TV	Not aired yet
Poland	Piramida	Hubert Urbański Andrzej Strzelecki	Polsat	1997–1999
Russia	Пирамида Piramida	Ivan Urgant	Russia 1	May 16, 2004 – March 20, 2005
Singapore	The Pyramid Game	Samuel Chong Benedict Goh Darryl David	Channel 5	late 1990s
Spain	Pirámide			Not aired yet
Thailand	มาตามนัด	Sestha Sirachaya & Yanee Jongwisut	Modernine TV	August 6, 2012
Turkey	Piramit	Mim Kemal Öke	aTV	1994–1995
United Kingdom	The ₤1,000 Pyramid Game	Steve Jones	ITV	1981–1984
	The Pyramid Game			1989–1990
	Donny's Pyramid Game	Donny Osmond	Challenge	2007
Venezuela	Match 4	Juan Manuel Montesinos	Venevisiόn	1984–1989
	Contra reloj	Daniela Kosán	Televen	2001–2002
Vietnam	Kim tự tháp	Chi Bảo	HTV7	April 30, 2005 – 2008

References

1. Schwartz, David; Ryan, Steve; Wostbrock, Fred (1999). The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows (3 ed.). Facts on File, Inc. pp. 220–221. ISBN 0-8160-3846-5.
2. "News". JD Roberto. Retrieved 2014-01-02.
3. "The Pyramid cast and crew". IMDb. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
4. "Shows". CBS Television City. 1954-09-07. Retrieved 2014-01-02.
5. "Elysee Theatre".
6. "Shows–CBS Television City". Retrieved 25 July 2011.
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9. "CBS orders 'Pyramid' pilot". Retrieved 20 September 2013.
10. "Andy Richter wrapping deal to host new version of 'Pyramid' for CBS". Los Angeles Times.
11. Archived September 30, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
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17. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (January 9, 2016). "ABC Bringing Back 'Pyramid' Game Show with Host Michael Strahan". Variety. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
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19. Snierson, Dan (January 8, 2016). "ABC orders $100,000 Pyramid reboot with Michael Strahan as host". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
20. Smith, Jerry (January 7, 2016). "ABC Brings Back $100,000 Pyramid With Michael Strahan As Host". The Light 103.9fm. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
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24. "CASTING CALL FOR '$100,000 PYRAMID' HOSTED BY MICHAEL STRAHAN". Eyewitness News abc7 WABC-TV. March 24, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
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30. "BUZZERBLOG Exclusive Info on 2012 GSN Revival". Buzzerblog.com. Retrieved 2014-01-02.

External links

• Official website (GSN, at the Wayback Machine)
• The (New) $25,000 Pyramid at the Internet Movie Database 1982–87/1988 US Version
• Pyramid at the Internet Movie Database 2002–04 US Version
• The Pyramid at the Internet Movie Database 2012 US Version