Pyramid (game show)

Pyramid was an American television game show where contestants tried to guess a series of words or phrases, based on descriptions that were given to them, in the shortest amount of time. It shares with Jeopardy! the record for most Daytime Emmys for best game show — nine.

Broadcast history

Pyramid was created by Bob Stewart, the quiz-show producer who also invented To Tell the Truth, The Price Is Right and Password during his years at Goodson-Todman Productions before forming his own company. It went through several name changes over the years, with the title originally reflecting the top prize that contestants can win in that version.

The show debuted as The $10,000 Pyramid on March 26, 1973. It ran for one year on CBS before it was canceled. ABC picked up the show on May 6, 1974, and on January 19, 1976, the show was renamed The $20,000 Pyramid. A once-a-week nighttime syndicated version, called The $25,000 Pyramid, ran from September 12 1974 until September 1979. A network primetime celebrity half hour special, The All-Star Junior Pyramid, which aired on Sunday, September 2 1979 at 7:30pm (Eastern) and featuring Susan Richardson and Tony Danza playing the game for charity with young future stars from the new ABC shows debuting in the fall of that year (one of them on that particular episode was a youthful looking Rob Lowe), led to the daytime version reverting to a full-time Junior Partner Pyramid format featuring civilian adult-children teams (with no celebrities at all!) between Monday, October 1 and Friday, November 9 1979. A special Celebrity Junior Pyramid week followed suit with celebrity guests Susan Richardson, LeVar Burton and Michael McKean, but, beginning with the Monday, November 19, 1979 telecast, the daytime show went back into its normal $20,000 Pyramid format. ABC's daytime version ended its run on June 27, 1980. 1,808 telecasts had aired on both CBS and ABC.

After a short-lived syndicated revival, known as The $50,000 Pyramid, failed in 1981, the show returned to CBS as The $25,000 Pyramid on September 20, 1982. Within a few weeks, the show was retitled The New $25,000 Pyramid to avoid confusion with reruns of the 1974–79 Cullen version, which still appeared in syndication (the "New" was eventually dropped from the title on the January 28, 1985 episode [#608]).

The CBS version was a daytime mainstay until the last episode on December 31, 1987, but viewer demand caused CBS to bring the show back to its daytime schedule on April 4, 1988, after the game show Blackout failed in Pyramid's time slot. The revival only lasted until July 1 of that year, as CBS premiered its new version of Family Feud the following week. GSN has aired this version.

Daily syndicated versions aired from September 9 1985 to September 2 1988, and again from January 7 to December 6 1991, as The $100,000 Pyramid (this was the most famous incarnation of all the versions of Pyramid produced).

In the fall of 2002 Pyramid — without any dollar amount in the title — returned in syndication. Sony Pictures (the production company that currently owns the format rights) has announced it will not return for its third season, and through 2004-2005, will do reruns of its previous two seasons. PAX has picked up the show and is currently airing reruns.

Hosts

Dick Clark hosted all network versions, the syndicated $50,000 Pyramid, and the first $100,000 Pyramid. Bill Cullen hosted the 1974–79 version of The $25,000 Pyramid, and John Davidson hosted the 1991 revival of The $100,000 Pyramid.

Donny Osmond hosted the modern version of Pyramid.

Main game

Two teams, consisting of one celebrity player and one contestant, competed against each other. Six categories, each of which had a name pertaining to what that category was about, were placed on the pyramid-shaped game board. A contestant chose one of those categories, and after the host explained the subject of that category, the contestant was given 30 seconds to guess seven words, phrases, or names (20 seconds for six in the most recent version of Pyramid) using clues given by his/her celebrity partner. If any descriptions were deemed illegal by the judges — usually when all or part of the word or phrase was given — the clue was immediately thrown out and the contestant couldn't earn any points for it.

Once time had expired or the contestant guessed all of the necessary clues (whichever came first) the opposing team followed the same procedures.

Three rounds, with two categories per round, were played in the main game. While the celebrity gave the clues and the contestant received them in the first round, the roles were reversed in the second round — the celebrity received the clues. In the third round the contestant had the option to give or receive. If the score was tied after three rounds, tiebreaker rounds were played using words that begin with a letter of the alphabet.

The winner of the game played the Winner's Circle bonus round (see below).

Bonuses

One randomly-chosen category in each game contained a hidden bonus, which allowed the contestant to win additional cash or prizes if all of the clues were guessed correctly.

The 1970s versions featured the "Big 7," where contestants could win $500 for seven correct answers. The 1982–88 versions featured the "7–11," where contestants won $1,100 for seven correct answers in that subject, and the "Mystery 7," where contestants won a prize (most of the time for either a trip or a car) for seven correct answers without receiving the subject of that category from the host. The most recent version of Pyramid featured a "Super Six" in each game, where contestants won a prize for guessing all six clues correctly within the 20-second time limit.

The Winner's Circle

The Winner's Circle round, named for the circular structure around the chairs that the celebrity and contestant sat in, also featured a pyramid of six subjects: three on the bottom level, two in the middle, and one at the top. Each subject, however, was revealed one at a time, and whoever gave the clues (usually the celebrity) had to give a list of objects that fit into that subject. The subjects increased in difficulty toward the top of the pyramid.

Any descriptions other than a list of items resulted in immediate disqualification of that category. The strictness of the judging has varied over the years, but this generally included all of the following: using hand gestures (the cluegiver had arm straps to help discourage this), saying a key part of the answer (e.g. "a building" for "Things You Build"), using synonyms (e.g. clueing "Things That Are Attractive" with "a beautiful woman"), using long descriptive phrases (e.g. "the train on schedule" for "Things That Arrive"), and describing the category itself (e.g. "open your mouth I'll drill your teeth" for "Things A Dentist Uses") rather than naming items.

The start of the clock produced one of TV's (and Dick Clark's) most famous catch phrases: "Here is your first subject. GO!"

The contestant had 60 seconds to get to the top of the pyramid by guessing all six subjects correctly; doing so won the grand prize, which had changed with each incarnation of the show (some versions offered $10,000 for the first time a contestant reached the Winner's Circle and $25,000 for the second if the contestant won the first time). Contestants also won money for each correct subject if he or she failed to win the grand prize; the amount for each correct answer had also changed over the years, but more money was given for guessing more difficult subjects.

After the Winner's Circle was finished the contestant and opponent switched celebrity partners. A half-hour episode usually consisted of two main games and two Winner's Circle rounds. In the early years on occasion, if there was no time for the second bonus round, it would be played at the top of the next show.

Tournaments were frequently held on The $100,000 Pyramid where the three contestants who reached the top of the pyramid in the shortest amounts of time played until someone won the Winner's Circle, where $100,000 was awarded. The last version of Pyramid also held periodic tournaments where a contestant could win $100,000.

Versions outside the USA

Foreign editions have been produced as well, among them, The Pyramid Game in the United Kingdom, Pyramide in France and Germany, which was later called Hast Du Worte?.

External links

• SuperShow 8000: The Pyramid (an unofficial website)
• Official website of Pyramid on PAX
• $10,000 PYRAMID from Tim's TV Showcase – photos and links
• Game Show Utopia: The $25,000 Pyramid A page devoted to the 1970s syndicated version of the show starring Bill Cullen