The topic of this page has a Wikia of its own: Pyramid.
How to Play $10,000 Pyramid. The $10,000 Pyramid game show has been around since the early 1970s. We watched it and played along with the contestants. Many of us wanted to be a contestant and having our chance at that prize money. If we can't be on the show, then we can at least play the game with our friends. Most millionaire games have a single-player feature and a multi-player option. You can use these games in your classroom as a contest between two teams to promote student engagement and to review important math facts. In this millionaire-style game, students will use order of operations to solve math problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division including exponents and parentheses. This is a single-player game that can be played on computers, iPads, and other tablets. The '$100,000 Pyramid' game can be played online at Facebook as an iWin game app. Each player gains access to two free games. To keep playing, additional games must be purchased. The online version of the '$100,000 Pyramid' gives players a choice of three categories. The $1,000,000 Pyramid raises the stakes on the classic multiple Emmy-award winning TV game show that pits duo against duo in a bid to reach the coveted Winner's Circle. The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted in 1973 and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series.Game play is addictively simple! Mar 02, 2012 The $1,000,000 Pyramid raises the stakes on the classic multiple Emmy-award winning TV game show that pits duo against duo in a bid to reach the coveted Winner's Circle. The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted in 1973 and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series. Game play is addictively simple!
Pyramid, based loosely off Password, is a game show where you have to get your partner to say a word by describing it.
Since its inception in the 70s, the series has a plethora of incarnations:
The $10,000 Pyramid (1973â1974, 1974â1976) The $20,000 Pyramid (1976â1980) The (New) $25,000 Pyramid (1974â1979, 1982â1987, 1988) The $50,000 Pyramid (1981) The $100,000 Pyramid (1985â1988, 1991, 2016âPresent) Pyramid (2002â2004) The Pyramid (2012) GameplayMain Game
The game is played with two teams of two players (consisting of one celebrity & one contestant) in a game of word communication. Each game starts with the introduction of six categories arranged in a pyramid. In the main game, a category's position on the pyramid is not an indicator of its difficulty. The categories are usually puns hinting to the content within that subject (i.e. 'I'd Like to Buy a Vowel' could contain things associated with Wheel of Fortune).
Each team in turn chooses a category, and then a subject under that category is given. Each subject has seven words/phrases/names. The team has 30 seconds to guess the seven answers that fit into the category. One player describes each item while the other player tries to guess what the words are. Each correct word is worth one point. When a word is passed, it can't be returned to, but if the guesser can guess the word already passed, the team still scores, but with no sound effect used, as to avoid any distractions. This is not possible in Donny Osmond's, GSN's, and Michael Strahan's versions, as un-guessed words have to be returned to in order to count. If at any time the clue giver gives away any part of the answer or conveys the essence of the answer, a cuckoo sounds (burble in the Donny Osmond version) and the word is thrown out.
Each team has three turns with the celebrities giving first in Round 1, the contestants giving in Round 2, and in Round 3 they decide among themselves on who's giving and who's receiving. In the event that a celebrity is paired with a visually-impaired contestant, the celebrities give clues in all of the rounds.
The team with the highest score after the three rounds wins the game.
In the 1970s, 1980s and 2016 versions, in the rare event that contestants are mathematically unable to at least tie their opponent before the opponent has had his/her last turn (or even rarer, before that point), the game ends and the remaining categories are left unplayed, unless one of them conceals a bonus.
The Category Board from The $10,000 Pyramid. Looks like a traffic cone, doesn't it?
Sandy Duncan helping her contestant partner in the main game from 1973.
The Category Board from The $25,000 Pyramid.
Lois Nettleton giving her partner clues.
The blue-and-red board from 1979. We have changed from pull cards to trilons ala the Winner's Circle.
A contestant giving clues to David Letterman from the late 70s.
The Category Board from The $50,000 Pyramid
Didi Conn giving clues to her partner. Note that the clock counted up.
The more well-known Category Board from the CBS version.
Jamie Farr and a contestant playing the main game from 1985.
The Category Board with the rather unnecessary monitors from the John Davidson version.
Jason Alexander giving clues to a contestant from 1991. Note the triangle.
The Category Board with the improved monitors from the John Davidson version.
Beth Maitland giving clues to her partner.
The Category Board from the Donny Osmond series. Got to love the bottom-right one.
A contestant giving clues to Dick Clark himself from 2002. Notice the lack of scoreboard.
Let's see the score (season 1)
Kyle Lowder giving clues to a contestant in 2003. The scoreboards are now in place.
Here's the Category Board from The Pyramid. It is all one giant screen and it has 3D CGI trilons.
Chandra Wilson giving clues to her partner.
Here's the Category Board from The $100,000 Pyramid (2016). Three monitors are placed together in each box forming a new kind of trilon. Unlike previous versions however, there's no base underneath.
Close-up
Sherri Shepherd giving clues to her partner. Unlike all previous versions, the words aren't superimposed on the screen, instead appearing on monitors on each desk.
Alterations
Special Bonuses
At some point in the game, a team uncovers a special card behind one category prompting a bonus situation. To win the bonus, the team must get all the answers right. In situations where a team can win the game without needing all the answers or has won the game automatically, if the last category conceals a bonus, the team is allowed to play all the way out in order to win the bonus. The $50,000 Pyramid & GSN's The Pyramid had no such bonuses.
Orange & Black Big 7
Blue & Red Big 7
$1,500 Big Money Card
$2,000 Big Money Card
$2,500 Big Money Card
$3,000 Big Money Card
$3,500 Big Money Card
$4,000 Big Money Card
A close-up shot of the 7-11
The 7-11 is last but highly not least. It came out on top.
But here, on Johnâs first day as host, the 7-11 came up right away!
A close-up of the old look of the Mystery 7. It changed from blue to white after the first week.
Starting on October 31, 1983, it was given its own unique logo, in the same font as the 7-11 bonus card.
Starting on April 23, 1984, it was changed to being a 'behind-the-category' bonus (like the 7-11). Here, it's exposed behind the next to last category chosen.
Here's the Mystery 7 during John Davidson's era, but still on trilons.
Same scenario in this picture as do the previous one. Note the monitors.
In 2016, after 25 years, the Mystery 7 is back!
Double Trouble on trilons
Double Trouble on monitors
Gamble For a Grand
Gamble on trilons.
Gamble on monitors.
Super Six from season 1, which showed a close up camera shot. Note that in season 2, it was changed to a graphic that flipped and took up the entire screen (a la the Daily Double on Jeopardy!).
Player of the Week
In The $50,000 Pyramid and for three weeks in 1983 on The New $25,000 Pyramid the player who had the fastest time of the week won a trip (in the $50,000 Pyramid it was a European getaway; in 1983 it was a trip to Greece).
Tie-Breakers
If the game ended in a tie, the game shifts into a tie-breaker situation. The team that causes the tie has a choice between two letters leaving the other for the other team. Both teams have 30 seconds to get as many of the seven items beginning with their letter(s) as they can. The team that gets the most out of seven wind the game.
1970s and 2002 Versions
The teams continued building on their scores using the tie-breaker categories. This caused an achievement of very rare high scores. Extra ties kept the game going, and as soon as the tie was broken, the game was over. In the Osmond version, the team that scored six points in the fastest time won the game.
In the Cullen version, if the tiebreakers precluded playing a second Winner's Circle, the one who won the tiebreaker earned $2,500. By the end of the run, the later rules had been established.
1980s, 1990s, and 2016 Versions
The teams' scores were erased and each team played their 30 second round of seven answers each. The team that got the most out of seven won the game. If both teams got the same amount of answers, but they failed to give seven, the tiebreaker was replayed. If both teams got seven, the team with the fastest time was declared the winner. If the first team got seven, the time remaining on the clock was subtracted from 30 to give the time that the other team needed to get seven. If the game ended in a 21-21 tie, the team that broke the tie won $5,000 (originally a car) to the contestant. The Davidson and Strahan versions don't have that rule.
On many occasions in the 1980s versions, the first word in a tiebreaker list is usually an easy word to identify, designed to give the team a head start. That first word could be a body part, an common country, a number, a month, or a common animal.
Ties in the current version are broken by determining which team got that score in the fastest time. That team advances to the Winner's Circle. If both teams achieve the same score in the same amount of time, the tiebreaker round is played with the 80s & 90s rules.
The Pyramid
There were more than seven words in each category. High score was the winner. Earlier tapings used the 1980s & 1990s rules.
The winning team goes over to the Winner's Circle for a grand cash prize. Stop motion app free. Starting with the move to ABC in 1974, the contestant on the winning team even had a choice as to who would give and who would receive.
Winner's Circle
The giver of the winning team faces a larger pyramid board of six subjects with the guesser having his/her back to the board. The winning team has 60 seconds to climb up to the top of the pyramid by getting all six. On each subject, the giver gives a list of items that fit the subject while the guesser tries to guess what they all have in common. As soon as the guesser gets the right subject or passes, they move on to the next subject to the right. Upon a pass, the team can come back to it if there's time leftover though the guesser can still get the subject without going back to it (not possible in the Donny Osmond version). If at any time the giver gives an illegal clue (giving away part of the answer, conveying the essence of the answer, descriptions of the category, a synonym or gives a clue that is not related to the subject) a buzzer sounds (a double buzz in the 1991, 2012 and the current version; the same burble from the main game in Donny Osmond's version), the subject is re-concealed and the team forfeits their chance at the big money. Starting in the ABC version, the giver was discouraged from using his/her hands which is why they were strapped into the chair, and starting in the 2nd CBS version prepositional phrases were also outlawed. Even though the big money is forfeited, the team can still go for the other subjects, because when time runs out, the contestant still wins money attached to the subjects guessed; of course, getting all six in 60 seconds without illegal clues wins the grand cash prize.
NOTES:
PayoffsConsolation Money
Here are the amounts for each subject according to the versions:
The bonus round in progress from 1973. Notice that the giver (Sandy Duncan in this pic) is using her hands.
William Shatner is messing up here.
By 1974, the giver must keep his or her hands in the straps while giving clues.
The bonus round in progress from the 1980s. The set would now turn red during gameplay.
The bonus round in progress from 2002, using different camera angles and straight cuts.
The bonus round from 2012, returning to the classic style.
The bonus round in 2016.
Grand Cash Prizes
Here are the grand cash prizes for going up to the top of the Pyramid in the series:
$10,000 win from 1973.
Another $10,000 win from 1973, complete with cheesy graphic.
Billy Crystalâs record: 26 seconds!
$10K win from 1978.
A $50K Pyramid win from 1981.
A good ol' $25K win from 1982.
Lani Mahaffey (wife of $100,000 winner Richard Mahaffey) winning $25,000!
And here's something even more exciting, the very first $100K win from 1985.
Everybody loves it when the $100,000 is won!
And here's something even better, a $100K win from 1987.
John Davidson had his share of winners as well, whether it was $10,000â¦
â¦$25,000â¦
â¦or $100,000.
The Mahaffey family (Richard, Lani and their son Brian) from 1982â¦
and again in 1985.
A $10K win from 2002.
And a $25K win as well. BTW, this was done in 27 seconds.
And a nice payoff! (Note: He got 7/7 twice in the front game, thus earning a chance at $20,000.)
The 2016 version kicked off right, with not oneâ¦
â¦but TWO Winners' Circle wins!
And here we have the first $100,000 win!
No, your eyes are not deceiving you. In this version, if a player wins both Winner's Circles, they win the total of both, or $150,000!
And here's the lucky winner!
..and this one..
..and this one..
..and this one..
..and this one making her the first female contestant to win the top prize.
..and this one..
..and this one..
..and this one making her the second female contestant to win the top prize.
Game/Championship Formats
In the 1970s daytime version, contestants who didn't make it to the top returned to play the next game. If they did make it to the top and won the grand cash prize, they retired from the show. Also games straddled at that time, so whenever there was no time for the second Winner's Circle on that day's show, the second Winner's Circle would be played at the top of the next show. On Friday shows, if the second game ended in a tie but there was no time for one more Winner's Circle round, the celebrities of the week would team up to play the Winner's Circle themselves. Any money won by the celebrities was split between the contestants, and if they won, their contestant partners would split $5,000 between them.
In all versions thereafter, each episode was made self-contained for it had the contestants play two games every show. During the CBS version & $100,000 versions, any money won from the Winner's Circle was used as score money (not counting bonuses). The player with the most money or who won both games returned to play the next show. If the show ended in a tie both contestants returned to play the next show (Except on The $100,000 Pyramid during the tournament when a coin toss determined who would come back). Contestants retired after five wins, but in the CBS version they also retired after winning the $25,000 since it was the network's winnings limit; when the limit was raised to $50,000 in 1984 and $75,000 in 1986, contestants were required to stay a little while longer until they got enough $25,000 wins to retire or won the usual five games, and were allowed to keep a maximum of $25,000 in excess of the limit.
Tournaments
On The $50,000 Pyramid, the player with the fastest time for all seven answers in a single category in the front game during that week was called The Player Of The Week, won two round-trip tickets to Europe and qualified for the $50,000 tournament. This explained why the clock counted up (00 to 30) instead of down (30 to 00). If there was a tie (both players got seven in less time than the current POTW during a given show), a standard tiebreaker was played. There were two tournaments. The first was held starting on March 23, 1981 and the other beginning on May 25, 1981. The quarterfinals were played on Monday and Tuesday. The winner of each game would advance to the semifinals after playing the Pyramid for $5,000. On Wednesday and Thursday, each match would have two semifinalists playing two games against each other with players winning one game playing for $5,000, and players winning both games in the same show playing for a total of $10,000. Whoever won the most money would compete in the finals. The losing players from the semifinals competed in a 'wild card' match. Starting the following Monday, two finalists played one game and the winner played the Winner's Circle for $50,000. If the grand prize was not won, that player played the next game against the finalist who sat out the previous game. When playing for $50,000, an illegal clue ended the round, and there was no money awarded for each individual category.
In the 1980s and 1990s versions of The $100,000 Pyramid, the three players who won the Winner's Circle in the shortest time during a given period of shows (usually 13 weeks) returned on later episodes to compete in a tournament. The players alternated in a round-robin format, with two players competing each day and the third player replacing the loser of that episode in the next one, if neither player won the Winner's Circle that day (in the event of a tie, a coin toss was used to determine who returned on the next show). The first player to win the Winner's Circle won $100,000 and ended the tournament. If a $100,000 win happened in the first game of the show, the two remaining players played the second game for a possible $10,000. No bonus cards were in play during a tournament, although the $5,000 bonus for a 21-21 tie remained intact on the 1980s version.
On the Osmond version, the rules were changed drastically to being played between either four or six players who won $25,000 in their initial appearance (which, due to the above requirements and a lack of returning champions, made qualification difficult), with two tournaments played each season. During a six-player tournament, each contestant's first attempt at the Winner's Circle was worth $25,000. If $25,000 was won in the first half and the same player returned to the Winner's Circle, that contestant played for an additional $75,000 and the tournament title. If the tournament ended with no players able to win both Winner's Circles in one show, either the contestant who won $25,000 in the fastest time or the player who won the most money would have his or her tournament winnings augmented to $100,000.
In a four-player tournament, contestants competed in single elimination, with the first two semifinalists competing on Day 1 and the other two semifinalists on Day 2. Each attempt at the Winner's Circle was worth $25,000. The top two winners then returned to compete in the finals, where each Winner's Circle victory that day was worth an additional $50,000. A tournament sweep would be worth $150,000.
In addition, unlike the previous tournament format, the Super Six was still in play, this time offering more expensive prizes.
Unsold PilotsNovember 19, 1996
Hosted by Mark L. Walberg[1]. Instead of two celebrities, six 'celebrities' were featured:
Round 1: Standard Pyramid, with each celebrity being assigned a category.
Round 2: A contestant would have 60 seconds to give classic 'things in a list' clues to the 'celebrities' while they tried to guess the category one at a time. If you got all six, you just started up again at the bottom. You got five points and $100 per correct category.
Round 3: Each contestant selected one 'celebrity', and they alternated giver-receiver roles for 60 seconds trying to do as many words as possible in 60 seconds. Ten points per word in this round.
Final Pyramid: Same as the Winner's Circle, but there was no appreciable difference in difficulty from one box to the next, and each one was a flat $200. If you got all six, it was worth $25,000.
November 16, 1997
Hosted by Chuck Woolery[2]. A return to classic Pyramid, but still featuring six celebrities:
As before, each celebrity represented a category. Other then that, classic Pyramid rules applied.
Final Pyramid remained, but regardless of player, first trip was for $10,000, second $25,000.
1999
This was called Pyramid Rocks, taped for VH1, hosted by Bil Dwyer. A return to using two celebrities, in this case, Ellen Cleghorne & Riki Rachtman.
All clues pertained to music, including lyrics (which, to avoid royalties, couldn't be sung).
A perfect 21 earned a bonus prize, and the Winner's Circle returned, worth $5,000.
December 6, 2000
Hosted by Donny Osmond. Two versions were filmed[3].
The $100,000 Pyramid
Taped for Syndication. In this version, getting 7/7 rewarded $500.
In the Winner's Circle, the first trip was worth $10,000; each trip thereafter was worth $5,000 more, up to $30,000 for the 5th.
Here were the amounts for each subject:
Champs were to remain until winning $100,000.
The $1,000,000 Pyramid
Taped for NBC. In the front game, each point earned was worth $1,000.
The first Winner's Circle was worth $125,000. Each subsequent one doubled the money, up to $1,000,000 for the fourth. However, once a Winner's Circle was won, the player had the option to leave the show, or return for the next game. If they played on, and lost the front game, or won the front game but lost the WC, their endgame winnings were forfeited; main game winnings and WC consolations were safe.
Here were the amounts for each subject:
June 2009
Taped for CBS. Hosted by Tim Vincent & Dean Cain.
A 7-11 was offered in the first game of one of the pilots, now offering $11,000 with a $500/answer option.
In the Winner's Circle, the first trip was for $25,000, and the second was for a total of $75,000.
Here were the amounts for each subject:
The top four money winners and top four WC times were to be entered in a 'League of Champions' for $1,000,000.
June 23, 2010
Taped for TBS, hosted by Andy Richter.
This time, the show was an hour long: two games for $10,000, then the winners played for a shot at a total of $25,000.
The third and fourth categories awarded bonuses for 7/7, and the categories were chosen for the players.
Here were the amounts in the WC:
In addition, there was an option called 'Double Down', which allowed a team to play one category for Double Points.
While never confirmed, it could be assumed that there was supposed to be a tournament format for the $500,000.
Rating
for the 1973â1991 versions and the 2012 version;
for the 2002â2004 version
for the 2016 version
Music
1973â1981, 2009 (Dean Cain pilot) - 'Tuning Up' by Ken Aldin
1982â1992, 2009 (Tim Vincent pilot) - by Bob Cobert 2002 by Barry Baylock & John Coffing InventorStudios
Ed Sullivan Theater, New York City, NY (1973â1974)
Elysee Theater, New York City, NY (1974â1981) CBS Television City, Hollywood, CA (Fall 1973, 1982â1992) Sony Pictures Studios, Culver City, CA (2002â2004) CBS Studio Center, Studio City, CA (2012) ABC Television Center, New York City, NY (2016âPresent) Trivia
In the 1973 pilot, the Winner's Circle round required 10 subjects (with the four on the bottom worth $25) instead of six to be guessed, but producer Bob Stewart realized how extremely difficult it would be to achieve, so a large piece of plywood was added to the giant pyramid to cover up the four on the bottom. Future versions had no covering seeing that they all have six boxes on their pyramids.
Early in the show's run, in the Winner's Circle, clue givers were allowed to use their hands, and could give prepositional phrases (e.g., 'the shirt off your back') as clues. (Direct synonyms and saying all or part of the clue were never allowed.) By 1974, clue-giving rules became increasingly strict and more precision was needed to accomplish a win.
The fastest celebrity to make it to the top of the pyramid was Billy Crystal at 26 seconds.
In the 1991 premiere episode of The $100,000 Pyramid with John Davidson, former host Dick Clark wished Davidson on the success of his version via a brief video message from his set of a new syndicated game show called The Chalengers.
The theme song 'Tuning Up' for the early versions of Pyramid was used on a 1995 Saturday Night Live game show parody sketch entitled 'You Think You're Better Than Me?'
The highest total given away in the history of Pyramid was $150,800.
Former host Donny Osmond not only hosted Pyramid in the states, but he also hosted an equally short-lived British version called Donny's Pyramid Game for Challenge TV (UK's GSN) in 2007. In addition, its gameplay was very similar to that of the original 70s/80s American counterpart.
The correct answer bell, buzzer, cuckoo, and the Winner's Circle clock sound from the 80s versions were recycled into the GSN version. There was even a revamped version of the 80s versionâs theme song.
The Barack Obama/Osama bin Laden Incident
On a August 12, 2018 episode of The $100,000 Pyramid[4] (Strahan), a contestant named Evan Kaufman was teamed up with former SNL cast member & current star of the ABC sitcom Schooled Tim Meadows at the Winner's Circle as he made the mistake by mixing up former al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden with former president Barack Obama.
As Kaufman's round began, starting with the easiest topics at the bottom of the pyramid, the hint in the question was 'People Whose Last Name is Obama' Instead of citing the former president or his wife Michelle, Kaufman first said 'bin Laden' before offering the name Barack after a pause. Meadows quickly offered the correct answer after Kaufman provided the former president's first name.
Kaufman's flub was mocked on Twitter by viewers of the episode. On Monday, August 13, 2018; Kaufman posted a series of tweets about the incident[5].
Spin-Offs & Similar Shows
Junior Pyramid â Kids' version aired in 1979
Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak â Similar show aired in 1986 Taboo â Similar show aired 2002-2003 International Versions
Countries that have previously aired their versions of Pyramid include:
Additional Pages
Pyramid/Gallery
Pyramid/Merchandise Pyramid/In Popular Culture Pyramid/Video Gallery Pyramid/Quotes & Catchphrases List of Pyramid Celebrities References
Links
Official Website of The $100,000 Pyramid (2016 Version)
Xanfan's Pyramid Page Xanfan's older Pyramid Page Information on the 70s Pyramid The $10,000 Pyramid fan page (via Internet Archive) Josh Rebich's Pyramid Rulesheets A blog about The $25,000 Pyramid board game The $1,000,000 Pyramid Review (2000) via Internet Archives
Pyramid is an American television game show franchise that has aired several versions domestically and internationally. The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted on March 26, 1973,[4] and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series. Most later series featured a full title format matching the original series, with the title reflecting an increasing top prize. The game features 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 have won a total of nine Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show, second only to Jeopardy!, which has won 13.
Dick Clark is the host most commonly associated with the show, having hosted the network daytime version from 1973-80 (which moved from CBS to ABC in 1974, and increased its namesake top prize from $10,000 to $20,000 in 1976) and its revival from 1982-88 on CBS (The (New) $25,000 Pyramid). Clark also hosted two weeknight syndicated versions, The $50,000 Pyramid in 1981 and The $100,000 Pyramid from 1985-88 (concurrent with the daytime show).
Bill Cullen hosted the first weekly nighttime version of The $25,000 Pyramid from 1974-79. John Davidson hosted a revival of The $100,000 Pyramid in 1991, and Donny Osmond hosted a version simply titled Pyramid from 2002-2004; both were five-nights-a-week affairs. GSN's The Pyramid, hosted by Mike Richards, aired a single forty-episode season in 2012.
The current revival of The $100,000 Pyramid debuted June 26, 2016, on ABC with Michael Strahan as host, and has aired on Sunday nights during the summer months since, currently in its fourth season as of August 2019.
History[edit]Broadcast history[edit]
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[4] 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.[5] The remainder of the CBS episodes originated in New York City at the Ed Sullivan Theater, moving to ABC's Elysee Theatre after Pyramid switched networks.[6]
Beginning on January 19, 1976, the series doubled its top prize and was retitled The $20,000 Pyramid. From October 1 to November 9, 1979, the series briefly became Junior Partner Pyramid, which scrapped the usual celebrity-contestant pairings in favor of children playing the game with a parent or other adult relative.[7] Its last episode aired June 27, 1980, with Family Feud subsequently moving up a half-hour to take over the 12:00 noon (EST) slot formerly occupied by The $20,000 Pyramid.
Title card of the 1980s (New) $25,000 Pyramid.
On September 20, 1982, the series returned to the CBS daytime lineup as The (New) $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, now known as the 'Bob Barker Studio') and remained there for the entire run up until December 31, 1987. Blackout began airing in the series' 10:00 a.m. timeslot the following Monday, but that show was canceled after 13 weeks of episodes. On April 4, 1988, The $25,000 Pyramid returned to the CBS daytime schedule, but only for 13 more weeks. The show's final episode aired on July 1. The following Monday, the show was replaced by a revival of Family Feud hosted by Ray Combs.
Concurrent with the network show's run, several nighttime versions of the show were sold to local stations though syndication: 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[8] taped at Studio 33 in Hollywood. A revival of The $100,000 Pyramid, hosted by John Davidson, ran from January until December 1991 and taped in Studio 31.[5]Pyramid, hosted by Donny Osmond, ran from September 16, 2002 to September 10, 2004 and was taped at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. The Pyramid was taped at the CBS Studio Center. Strahan's The $100,000 Pyramid is taped at the ABC Television Center in New York.
Later developments[edit]
In late 1996, Sony Pictures Television (then-Columbia TriStar Television) produced a pilot for a new version of Pyramid, with Mark Walberg as host, which featured a format radically different from the earlier versions, including an increase of the number of celebrities to six, each of which would be assigned to a different main game subject.[9] It did not sell, but Sony tried again the following year, this time with Chuck Woolery at the helm and a format closer to the original, although the six-celebrity motif from the previous pilot remained.[10] This version also failed to sell, but two years later, after the success of its series Rock and Roll Jeopardy! on VH1, Sony attempted to give Pyramid similar treatment with a 1999 pilot called Pyramid Rocks. Hosted by Bil Dwyer, the format likewise attempted to incorporate music into the game, but proved no more successful than the previous two attempts at reviving the series.[11]
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 as The New Dating Game or The Newlywed Game or The New Newlywed Game were the other two, with a pilot shot for the former series.) During the tapings that took place in June of that year at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York, 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 tapped as hosts of the pilots, with $50,000 announcer Alan Kalter returning, and Sony Pictures game show legend Ken Jennings served as a panelist in the pilots.[12]
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.[13] CBS ordered a third pilot on April 9, 2010.[14]Andy Richter was identified as a potential host.[15][16]
On May 18, 2011, TBS announced development of a possible new version of Pyramid, again to be hosted by Andy Richter.[17] It was later announced[citation needed] that the show was not picked up.
Another pilot, titled The Pyramid, was taped on June 16, 2012.[18] 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.[19] The series ran for 40 episodes before being cancelled later in the year.
On January 9, 2016, ABC announced a revival of the series, specifically the $100,000 format, had been greenlit and set to air during the summer of 2016. This version also marked the return of the show to New York City, where it had originally been produced in the 1970s. The first season comprised ten hour-long episodes, with Michael Strahan serving as host. Each episode consists of two full games. Two introductions and two closings are taped with ability to air either; as with Celebrity Family Feud and Match Game, each game is its own 30-minute episode, and the introduction and closing aired depends if one game is the first or the second game to air in a single 60-minute block.[20][21]
The series premiered on June 26 of that year, airing as part of ABC's 'Sunday Fun & Games' lineup at 9:00pm ET/8:00pm CT (along with the Steve Harvey-hosted Celebrity Family Feud and the Alec Baldwin-hosted Match Game).[22][23][24][25] On August 4, 2016, ABC renewed The $100,000 Pyramid for a second season.[26] On June 11, 2017, the show moved to 10/9 central in order to pair it up with the seed-funding reality competition show Steve Harvey's Funderdome along with the third season of Celebrity Family Feud. On August 6, 2017, ABC announced The $100,000 Pyramid was renewed for a third season.[27] On June 10, 2018, the show moved back to its regular 9:00pm ET time slot. This was also paired up with the fourth season of Celebrity Feud hosted by Steve Harvey, along with the third season of To Tell the Truth hosted by Anthony Anderson. In this format, the host opens each show introducing the celebrity guests, each of whom then introduces his or her partner/contestant by first name only.
Other personnel[edit]
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 substituted for each other on their respective series; other substitutes included Jerry Bishop, Rod Roddy, Bob Hilton, Charlie Tuna, 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 2002â04 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]
Du meter 7.30 crack. The original theme tune was 'Tuning Up' by Ken Aldin. In 1982, it was replaced by an original, similarly-styled composition by Bob Cobert, which was also used on the 1991 revival.[1] Barry Coffing and John Blaylock composed the theme and incidental music for the 2002â04 version, while Alan Ett composed a cover of Bob Cobert's 1982â91 theme for The Pyramid. Bleeding Fingers Music composed a separate cover of Cobert's theme for the 2016 version.
Gameplay[edit]
The Pyramid's gameboards, both in the main game and in the Winners' Circle bonus round, feature 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 is arbitrary. In the Winners' Circle, categories become progressively more difficult the higher they are on the board.
Main game[edit]
Two teams compete in the main game, each composed of a celebrity and a regular contestant.
Charles Siebert uses pantomime to describe 'lasso' on The $25,000 Pyramid in 1982.
At the beginning of the game, the teams are 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 is 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 conveys to the other clues to a series of items belonging to a category. At this stage, the clue-giver could use whatever language they wanted, with the exclusion of saying any word that was part of the correct answer (for example, using 'high up' for 'height'); if the clue-giver gave such a clue, they were buzzed and that answer would be forfeited. The clue-giver could also include visual gestures and other non-verbal elements, and could also lead the player towards saying part of the answer to get them to say the correct answer.
One point is scored for each item correctly guessed. If a word is passed, the giver could not go back to that word, but if the receiver knows the word later on and guesses it, the team still earns a point (no sound effect was played, in order to avoid a distraction). Since the 2002 Osmond version, a team that passes on any words could return to them if time permitted, but if a word is guessed correctly after it had been passed, it did 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 in November 1979, the time limit was increased to 35 seconds. The Donny Osmond-hosted 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, or conveying its essence, results in the word being thrown out (denoted by a rapid 'cuckoo' sound).
Originally, the celebrity gave the clues in both the first and third rounds, and the contestant in the second round. This soon changed to having the contestant decide whether to give or receive in the third round (except for the Osmond version, which used the original 'celebrity-contestant-celebrity' giving pattern). 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 Winners' Circle. In the 1970s, 1980s and 2016 versions, in the rare event that contestants were mathematically unable to at least tie their opponent before the opponent has had his/her last turn (or even rarer, before that point), the game ends and the remaining categories are left unplayed, unless one of them concealed a bonus.
During the later years of the ABC run, if either team achieved a perfect score of 21, it was worth a $1,000 bonus ($500 during the Junior Partner Pyramid era), later changed to a prize near the end of the run, while the 1977-78 season of the Cullen version likewise offered a $2,100 bonus for a perfect score.
Originally, if a tie occurred after the rounds were completed, the host gave the team who caused the tie a choice between two letters of the alphabet, and the team then played a round with seven words each beginning with that letter. The opposing team was then given seven words with the other letter. Tiebreaker rounds were played until the tie was broken, though the rules were later changed to award the victory to whichever team completed its own seven words faster, if both teams did so. In the 2016 Strahan version, if both teams achieve the same score, the team to do so in the shorter time is declared the winner, with a tiebreaker round being played if the teams match each other for both score and time.
Beginning in January 1984, if both teams managed a 'perfect game' by each scoring 21 points, the contestant whose team won the tiebreaker originally received a new car, but this was changed to a $5,000 cash bonus by September of that year. This bonus was also used on the 1980s incarnation of The $100,000 Pyramid.
Bonus Cards[edit]
Throughout the 1970s, a random category during the main game doubled as the 'Big 7', meaning that the contestant originally received a prize if all seven words were guessed correctly, but this was soon changed to a $500 cash bonus. On the Bill Cullen-hosted $25,000 Pyramid, the Big 7 payoff was $1,000 when it was first introduced during the second season, but this was later replaced by a 'Big Money Card' worth varying amounts of cash from $1,000-$5,000 (though the maximum amount was later dropped to $4,000); for the final season, the Big 7 returned, and was always played for a Chevrolet Chevette.
During the short-lived Junior Partner Pyramid era, there was no official bonus card; rather, each of the two teams selected one category from either of the day's two games to designate as their 'Bonus 7', which otherwise worked the same as the Big 7, right down to the $500 bonus. However, unlike any other version, all bonuses won in this manner counted towards a team's score for the day.
The short-lived $50,000 Pyramid used no bonus cards, but added a feature called 'The Player of the Week', in which the contestant who successfully conveyed or identified all seven answers in the fastest time during a main game round that week received a trip for two to Europe, and later returned to compete in the show's $50,000 tournament. If two players were tied during a particular show or week, the tied players would return at the beginning or end of an episode and play a standard tiebreaker round to determine a winner.
Similar to the earlier Big 7, a new bonus called the '7â11' was introduced in April 1983 for the CBS version, hidden behind one category in the first round; if all seven words were guessed, the contestant won an $1,100 bonus. Initially, the contestant could choose to play for either this bonus or $50 per correct guess, but this option was dropped from January 1985 onward in favor of the all-or-nothing approach.
Beginning in 1982, a random category in the second round was designated as the 'Mystery 7', in which the host did not reveal the topic of the category until after the fact, and correctly guessing all seven words awarded a prize. The Mystery 7 was initially shown to the teams as one of the six categories, but from April 1984-onward, it was hidden behind a category name. This is the only bonus used in the 2016 edition, during the second round of each half.
For a brief time in early 1983, the Mystery 7 was replaced by a format similar to the earlier 'Player of the Week' feature from The $50,000 Pyramid, in which the player who had the fastest main game round during the week would win a Greek cruise. However, this bonus was dropped after only three weeks, and the Mystery 7 reinstated.
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 from 30 to 25 seconds 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.
The Donny Osmond-hosted version had only one bonus: 'Super Six', which was featured in both games each day, and awarded the contestant a prize if the team managed to get all six words within the 20 seconds.
On the GSN version, there were no bonus cards, but sweeping a category awarded a $500 bonus and added $5,000 to the Winner's Circle bank (see below).
Winners' Circle[edit]
A contestant, restrained in her seat, gives clues to Kathy Najimy in the Winners' Circle on The $100,000 Pyramid in 2016.
The winning team from the main game plays 'The Winners' Circle,' in which the goal is to communicate six categories of increasing difficulty within 60 seconds, using only lists of words and phrases that fit them. During the show's original run on CBS from 1973 to 1974, hand gestures of any kind were permitted in this round. However, when the show moved to ABC in 1974, hand gestures became strictly forbidden, and all subsequent editions of the show included wrist straps attached to the chair to help contestants abide by this rule. One team member gives clues to the category currently in play, while the other tries to guess it. An illegal clue or hand gesture results in the category being thrown out, thus disqualifying the contestant from winning the grand prize; however, the contestant is still allowed to play the remainder of the Winners' Circle, either until time runs out or until the remaining categories have been correctly guessed. If all six categories are guessed before time runs out, the contestant wins the top prize; if not, he/she wins money for the guessed categories.[28][29][30] The clue-giver can pass on a category and then return to it after playing through all six, if time allows.
The values for individual categories during standard gameplay are shown in the table below. Category numbering proceeds across the bottom row of the pyramid (left/center/right), then the middle (left/right), and finally the single one at the peak.
Returning champions and winnings limits[edit]
On the 1970s daytime version, contestants were allowed to remain on the show until they were defeated or won the Winners' Circle. Under the $10,000 format, a contestant who won the Winners' 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 Winners' Circle. The syndicated versions featured no returning champions prior to 1985.
After the top prize on the 1970s daytime show was increased to $20,000, the Winners' Circle structure likewise changed, with a champion playing for $10,000 on their first attempt, $15,000 on their second attempt, and $20,000 for their third and all subsequent efforts. During the brief Junior Partner Pyramid era, a team's first visit to the Winners' Circle was worth $2,500, while the second was worth $5,000.
Million Dollar Pyramid Game Show
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 the short-lived 1981 version, the first Winners' Circle was worth $5,000; if the same player made it to the second Winners' Circle, it was played for a total of $10,000. This version also 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 the first of the two games on the episode played the Winners' Circle for $10,000. A contestant who won both games played the second Winners' Circle for a total of $25,000 (e.g., if a contestant won $10,000 in the first Winners' Circle, the second was worth an additional $15,000 to the contestant). On all versions from 1982 to 1991, 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 who won the higher amount in the Winners' Circle became champion (winnings from the various main game bonuses were not considered as part of the 'score' winnings). If both contestants won equal amounts of money in the Winners' Circle (including $10,000 wins), both returned on the next show.
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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.
On Pyramid, the goal was once again to try to win $25,000. However, this required a contestant to get to and win the Winners' 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 Winners' Circle was played for a base of $10,000. For each category that the contestant and celebrity swept in the front game, a $500 bonus was awarded to the contestant and an additional $5,000 was added to the potential prize, with the maximum prize for a trip to the Winners' Circle being $25,000 for each contestant.[31] Both Pyramid and The Pyramid did not have returning champions.
The 2016 ABC format consists of hour-long episodes, each containing two complete pairs of games. The contestant who wins the first game of a pair plays the Winners' Circle for a prize of $50,000. If the same contestant wins both games, he/she plays the second Winners' Circle for an additional $100,000, leading to a potential maximum total of $150,000.[32] Two new contestants compete in each half of an episode; there are no returning champions.
Tournaments[edit]
On The $50,000 Pyramid, tournaments started with eight past 'Players of the Week' competing over the course of a week. The quarterfinals were played on Monday and Tuesday, with two different contestants in each half, and the winner of each game would advance to the semi-finals after playing the Pyramid for $5,000. On Wednesday and Thursday, each match would have two semi-finalists playing two games against each other, with players winning one game playing for $5,000, and players winning both games in the same show playing for a total of $10,000 (as it was during regular play). The two players who won the most money would compete in the finals, while the losing contestants from the semi-finals competed in a 'wild card' match on Friday to determine who would join them. Starting the following Monday, two finalists played one game, and the winner played the Winners' Circle for $50,000. If the grand prize was not won, that player played the next game against the finalist who sat out the previous game, continuing in this manner throughout the week until someone won in the Winners' Circle. When playing for $50,000, an illegal clue immediately ended the round, and no money was awarded for each individual category.
On the 1985â91 version of The $100,000 Pyramid, the three contestants who completed the Winners' Circle in the shortest lengths of time qualified for a $100,000 tournament, which was held every few weeks. During the tournament, all front game bonuses were removed except the $5,000 bonus for breaking a 21â21 tie. The first contestant to complete the Winners' Circle won the $100,000 grand prize, ending the tournament. If neither contestant did so on a particular episode, the one who accumulated more money in the Winners' Circle returned on the next show to compete against the contestant who had not played on that episode (in the event of a tie, a coin toss determined who returned). If one of the three contestants won the $100,000 in the first Winners' Circle of an episode, the other two played against each other in the second half and that winner played for $10,000 in the Winners' Circle.
On the Osmond version, tournaments lasted for exactly three episodes, and rules varied depending on whether four or six champions had qualified. During a six-player tournament, each contestant's first attempt at the Winners' Circle was worth $25,000. If $25,000 was won in the first half and the same player returned to the Winners' Circle, that contestant played for an additional $75,000 and the tournament title. If the tournament ended with no players having won both Winners' Circles in one show, either the contestant who won $25,000 in the fastest time or the player who won the most money would have his or her tournament winnings augmented to $100,000. In a four-player tournament, the first two semi-finalists competed on day one and the other two semi-finalists on day two, with each Winners' Circle attempt worth $25,000. The top two winners then returned to compete in the finals, where each Winners' Circle victory was worth an additional $50,000, for a maximum payoff of $150,000 if any of the contestants managed a clean sweep.
Unlike the Clark and Davidson versions, the 'Super Six' bonus remained in play during the Osmond era tournaments and was played for larger prizes than usual.
International versions[edit]
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 a similar set and the same music package 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.
Home games[edit]
The first board game of The $10,000 Pyramid was released in 1974 by the Milton Bradley Company, with a total of eight editions produced through 1981. Beginning with the fourth edition, like its TV counterpart, the title and top payoff changed to The $20,000 Pyramid, while the final edition was titled The $50,000 Pyramid. However, due to concerns about players easily memorizing possible Winners' Circle subjects, the format of the board game's Winners' Circle endgame was changed to mirror that of the TV version's main game.[44]
Cardinal Games released a new home version of The $25,000 Pyramid in 1986,[45] this time using the actual Winners' Circle rules and format, which was also given to all contestants who appeared on both the daytime and nighttime versions for most of 1987. This version was reissued in 2000 by Endless Games,[46] which later released a new edition based on the Osmond version in 2003.[47]
25000 Dollar Pyramid Game
The $100,000 Pyramid, a video game adaptation, was released in 1987. Developed and published by Box Office Software, it was originally released for Apple II and then ported to DOS and Commodore 64.[48] Years later, Sierra Attractions released a new PC CD-ROM version of The $100,000 Pyramid in 2001,[49] which was followed by a DVD game from MGA Entertainment in 2006.
A version titled The $1,000,000 Pyramid was released by Ubisoft for the Nintendo Wii in 2011.[50]
References[edit]
Sources[edit]
External links[edit]
$25 000 Pyramid Online Game
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