The $100,000 Pyramid - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Discuss!

[DasFlavorPup]

What I liked:  

- No screwing with the original rules of the game: 7 words in 30 seconds, three times per round.

- They used the original theme song

- The trilons actually rotated instead of being flat digital screens (I love that little touch)

- Keeping the Mystery 7

- All the female celebrities, who were all pros at the game and terrific partners.

 

What I disliked:

- No 7-11 or other bonus in the first round

- The tiebreaker rules, plus no bonus faceoff for a perfect 21-21 round.

- Minor, but the first Winner's Circle categories in the first episode were obscenely easy.  Looks like just a one-time thing, though, since the remaining ones were much more difficult, but not too much so.

- The civilian giving the clues in the Winner's Circle.  I prefer the celebrity being the one giving the clues.

 

What sucked hind teat:

- Anthony Anderson.  Manic, loud, obnoxious, terrible player.  Never bring him back again.

Edited June 27, 2016 by DasFlavorPup

[opus]

I never thought about Anthony Anderson, but now I dislike him. 

Agree with the above about the tiebreaker.

[KLovestoShop]

Racist comments have absolutely no business on any show, and Anthony Anderson's comments to that poor contestant was wayyyy out of bounds.  I refuse to watch this show again because it's obvious that the producers of this show condoned his comments, otherwise they would have been deleted and they would have done it over. 

[Actionmage]

Likes:

*The feel of the original was evident, including the original theme

*Contestants can choose to give or receive the Winner Circle categories

*Neat vacation locale!

*The new viewscreens for the contestants/ celebrities

*Michael sitting down after the description of Viagra.

 

Dislikes:

*The dark stage with bright blue lighting; while not The Weakest Link or 500 Questions, it's dark, even during the "lighter" play. That's just me though.

*No tie-breaker with letters

*Too much screaming from the lady in the second half hour. I thought she was okay, but dang. I get after winning money, but after every category? (Not to take anything away from her play; she was a very good player.)

Definitely more good than bad, so I'm in for the rest of the run.

[dirtydi]

2 hours ago, opus said:

I never thought about Anthony Anderson, but now I dislike him. 

Agree with the above about the tiebreaker.

Strahan was getting pissed at him and rightly so.  These people are trying to win money that they need.  The other celebrities got that.

[opus]

38 minutes ago, dirtydi said:

Strahan was getting pissed at him and rightly so.  These people are trying to win money that they need.  The other celebrities got that.

Didn't he once, as the other team was playing, smack the woman's chair? I hope I'm not remembering that right.

[Racj82]

46 minutes ago, opus said:

Didn't he once, as the other team was playing, smack the woman's chair? I hope I'm not remembering that right.

He was shaking her chair because he knew they were about the lose. I don't take this stiff too seriously so it doesn't bother. I know money is involved but I'm just talking about the joking around part. I do think he was trying to play but he kept getting flustered. He's one of the best players on Hollywood game night.

I'm not even sure what the racist joke was supposed to be. I assume it was the bit about choosing sup for him. But, again, it was just playing around. Also, using racial humor doesn't mean racist imo. Almost every black comedian would be racist in that case. Just judging from me being a black man that watches a lot of black comedians make jokes.

[Skyfall]

3 revivals and likely three failures this year for ABC. They need to revive Hollywood Squares with Whoopi in the center square!

[nonnybaby]

Oh my God! The overall level of screaming on this show was very off-putting. The screeching woman in the second game was the worst. She was a good player, but when she and Rosie were going back and forth with their responses they were literally screaming their clues and responses AT each other and then she had to scream like a banshee every time she won. I bet that hers is not a quiet household!  

[rcc]

I never watched the original and didn't much like this version. 

[Racj82]

1 hour ago, Skyfall said:

3 revivals and likely three failures this year for ABC. They need to revive Hollywood Squares with Whoopi in the center square!

All three shows together won the night on network tv and basically retained the same ratings the whole night. So, not failures.

[KerleyQ]

What racist comments did Anthony Anderson make?  I don't remember any.  

Kathy and Rosie were great partners.  If I was ever to go on a game show with celeb teammates, they'd be at the top of my list.  Their half of the show was so much better than the first half.  To Kathy's partner in the second round, honey, bees.  Bees sting.  Wasps, hornets...  She really got stuck on the "ray" train of thought and just could not grasp the most obvious examples.  

[starri]

I really enjoyed this.  Kathy Najimy and Sherri Shepard were both great, and I don't even really like the latter.  And Strahan is a great host.

[jumper sage]

I thought Anthony Anderson was just dumb.  He never remembered the category during the game.  Hello?  Presidential pets?  Does Spot not ring a bell?  I loved when the guy made Anthony receive the clues.  That was hilarious.

Sherri was fantastic as was Rosie and Kathy.

Edited July 4, 2016 by jumper sage

[dirtydi]

19 hours ago, opus said:

Didn't he once, as the other team was playing, smack the woman's chair? I hope I'm not remembering that right.

Yes he did.

[Skyfall]

8 hours ago, Racj82 said:

All three shows together won the night on network tv and basically retained the same ratings the whole night. So, not failures.

I was talking Match Game, To Tell The Truth, and Pyramid. TTTT is already DSW and the two premieres last night will drop below a 1 quickly as well.

[Racj82]

1 hour ago, Skyfall said:

I was talking Match Game, To Tell The Truth, and Pyramid. TTTT is already DSW and the two premieres last night will drop below a 1 quickly as well.

Sure. I mean, I've seen nothing to suggest that and it has less competition with game of thrones done. Independent of whether or not I like the shows, there's been nothing to suggest failure. To tell the truth has nothing to do with this block of shows and doesn't mean anything towards the success of these shows. 

[Violet Penner]

Anthony Anderson was a terrible player, but I admit, I was laughing at how bad he was. Just soo bad. Reminded me of when Joey was on Pyramid on Friends. I can't remember the category, but when the contestant was miming "kiss" and he guessed "beaver!!" ... Just wtf?  

I will always miss Dick Clark, but Strahan wasn't terrible. 

[BW Manilowe]

On June 26, 2016 at 9:31 PM, DasFlavorPup said:

What I liked:  

- No screwing with the original rules of the game: 7 words in 30 seconds, three times per round.

- They used the original theme song

- The trilons actually rotated instead of being flat digital screens (I love that little touch)

- Keeping the Mystery 7

- All the female celebrities, who were all pros at the game and terrific partners.

 

What I disliked:

- No 7-11 or other bonus in the first round

- The tiebreaker rules, plus no bonus faceoff for a perfect 21-21 round.

- Minor, but the first Winner's Circle categories in the first episode were obscenely easy.  Looks like just a one-time thing, though, since the remaining ones were much more difficult, but not too much so.

- The civilian giving the clues in the Winner's Circle.  I prefer the celebrity being the one giving the clues.

 

What sucked hind teat:

- Anthony Anderson.  Manic, loud, obnoxious, terrible player.  Never bring him back again.

I've been around, & watching, since the original version with the late Dick Clark started (FYI they run repeats of The $25,000 Pyramid incarnation with Dick Clark at 10:30AM Eastern, Monday-Friday, on GSN, aka Game Show Network). Anyway, I think when they started on ABC (The $10,000 Pyramid), the celebrity was the only 1 who could give the clues in the Winner's Circle. Then, at some point after they moved to CBS & upped the prize money, that's when they changed to allow the "civilian" or the celeb to give the Winner's Circle clues. Maybe this week was just how the contestant & celeb wanted it, & they'll switch things up in the Winner's Circle next week & during the rest of the run. Since this was, basically, the Pilot of this incarnation & things can change after the Pilot's shot, I wouldn't necessarily be certain the "civilian" will always give the Winner's Circle clues.

[iMonrey]

During the heyday of the Dick Clark version, the contestant could choose whether to give or receive clues in the Winner's Circle. It's just that they usually (wisely) decided to receive than to give. It really depends on your level of confidence. Personally, I would prefer to give than to receive because you have better control.

The reason attempts to revive this show in that past have failed is because today's "celebrities" do not know how to play the game. The Donny Osmond version was painful to watch, as it was clear neither the celebrity guests nor the contestants were familiar enough with the game to have even practiced. On the original show with Dick Clark, the celebrities were well versed in game shows - many of them made their living primarily from appearing on game shows. And the contestants had clearly practiced their hearts out at home with friends and family before ever going on the show.

This iteration was a notch above recent revivals because both Rosie and Kathy were serious gamers and were laser-focused. Sherri Shepard was good too, but Anthony Anderson was terrible. He was more interested in being funny and getting a laugh than focusing, and I felt so sorry for his partners. It stinks when a contestant gets stuck with a terrible celebrity partner.

[Skyfall]

On June 27, 2016 at 9:58 PM, Racj82 said:

Sure. I mean, I've seen nothing to suggest that and it has less competition with game of thrones done. Independent of whether or not I like the shows, there's been nothing to suggest failure. To tell the truth has nothing to do with this block of shows and doesn't mean anything towards the success of these shows. 

All shows drop after premiere, that's all the suggestion you need.

[KerleyQ]

16 hours ago, iMonrey said:

This iteration was a notch above recent revivals because both Rosie and Kathy were serious gamers and were laser-focused. Sherri Shepard was good too, but Anthony Anderson was terrible. He was more interested in being funny and getting a laugh than focusing, and I felt so sorry for his partners. It stinks when a contestant gets stuck with a terrible celebrity partner.

The good thing there is that you aren't stuck with the terrible partner the whole show.  You know his partner was like "just one more round of questions and I'm done with him," while Sherri's partner was thinking "No!  I don't want to switch!"  

Side note: when Sherri is the preferred partner over you, you know you've done wrong, Anthony.  She is such an airhead, but, at least she was focused and trying to help her partners, instead of making it all about her.  And I generally like Anthony, but this was not a good fit for him. He's right in thinking people want the humorous moments, but he's wrong in thinking that they should be the focus. If he had cut his shtick down to less than 50% of what he was doing, he would have been fine.  But he was just too much "look at me! I'm the life of the party!!" and not enough trying to help his contestants win.    

[DasFlavorPup]

9 hours ago, KerleyQ said:

The good thing there is that you aren't stuck with the terrible partner the whole show.  You know his partner was like "just one more round of questions and I'm done with him," while Sherri's partner was thinking "No!  I don't want to switch!"

That's one thing earlier editions of this show got terribly wrong.  On the earliest versions, the $10K or $20K Pyramid, the contestant who lost the main game got sent home with no chance with the other celebrity, and after the Winner's Circle a new contestant would be brought in and the winner would have to play with the celebrity they weren't paired with in the earlier round.  If one of the celebrities that week was a terrible player compared to the other celebrity, then you'd be up shit creek if you didn't win the Winner's Circle on your first try.

[junemeatcleaver]

Wow, Robin Roberts wasn't very good.

I don't get why the contestants have to give the clues in the Winner's Circle.

[irisheyes]

Yeah, Robin's performance was brutal.  I think she just kept getting flustered about the time, and she couldn't focus. 

The two SNL actresses the first half hour were awesome.

[jumper sage]

Damnit! Now I have to keep stats on the celebs.  Robin Roberts was terrible, just horrible!  Mario was a bit better and was the "winner" between the two and should always give the clues.  He was great at giving clues but both he and Robin didn't seem to current on technology.

Who was worse, Robin or Anthony?

[opus]

1 hour ago, jumper sage said:

 

Who was worse, Robin or Anthony?

At least Robin was trying, so......

[jumper sage]

3 minutes ago, opus said:

At least Robin was trying, so......

I need stats people!  If Robin was worse and really trying and Anthony was just goofing off........????  I really don't think he was keeping the categories in mind at all.  He was an ahole too.

[TheGreenKnight]

I like Robin Roberts, so I was disappointed she was pretty bad at this. At least Mario Cantone picked up the slack, and both contestants got a term with him.

Like others, I wish the contestants had a choice to give/receive during Winner's Circle like the old version.

[opus]

59 minutes ago, jumper sage said:

I need stats people!  If Robin was worse and really trying and Anthony was just goofing off........????  I really don't think he was keeping the categories in mind at all.  He was an ahole too.

Oh, you're talking actual correct answers and such. I was just thinking effort and consideration of the civilian.

[gymratgrandma]

I am not a fan of Michael so I probably won't watch this often. I loved this game back in the day, but the host sets the tone and to me it fell flat 

[gymratgrandma]

On June 27, 2016 at 0:02 PM, Racj82 said:

All three shows together won the night on network tv and basically retained the same ratings the whole night. So, not failures.

It's early days yet. We will see if they can keep it up 

[Actionmage]

Quote

Like others, I wish the contestants had a choice to give/receive during Winner's Circle like the old version.

There may be a choice given to the contestants and they choose to give. It was like that on the daytime version.  Mr. Clark would ask on the way over whether the civilian wanted to give or receive, so you knew as they cut to ads. It is weird that I haven't heard the question, but that doesn't mean it isn't asked.  Eugene the Superfan would probably have massively wanted to give the clues in the Winner's Circle as it was a dream to get to the Winner's Circle. Doesn't mean they'd be great, but that's the chance.

 

In the first half hour's first round, I don't know why Rachel  Dratch and Christine weren't allowed to try for a perfect score? Yes, they only had to get 20 points, but iirc, they just needed one more for 21. Granted, not that Christine would've won anything extra, probably, but I would think that achieving a perfect score would be a point of honor/ bragging rights.

I was rooting for Rachel and Christine, but why would the judges walk back Christine's "memory" ding for the category 'Things You Remember" in the Winner's Circle? 

In the second half hour, I just could not believe that Robin Roberts could not figure out tomatoes for taco category.  Mario Cantone, who's rep kept Mr. Actionmage from watching that episode, was wonderful. Please invite him back! 

I was stuck as to how to more concisely describe Skype. A phone call over the internet? ( Apparently, you can use other platforms, but Eugene didn't seem to have Mario in the ballpark.)

Oh, and the roommate category? One description could have been 'because I can't make rent by myself."

I know, Monday morning quarterbacking.  I think the pull of Pyramid is that the viewer understands the frustrations of the game.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I am not a fan of Michael so I probably won't watch this often. 

I'm not a fan either but he's doing OK. When Dick Clark hosted he was careful to stay in the background and let the game be the star. You don't need a big personality to dominate this show, you just need someone to introduce the guests with minimal chit-chat.

Robin Roberts really was horrible but the contestants weren't very good either. "Why You Whisper" was such an easy one - just whisper the clues! She kept shouting BECAUSE YOU'RE IN A LIBRARY instead of whispering that. Duh.

[KerleyQ]

6 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I'm not a fan either but he's doing OK. When Dick Clark hosted he was careful to stay in the background and let the game be the star. You don't need a big personality to dominate this show, you just need someone to introduce the guests with minimal chit-chat.

Robin Roberts really was horrible but the contestants weren't very good either. "Why You Whisper" was such an easy one - just whisper the clues! She kept shouting BECAUSE YOU'RE IN A LIBRARY instead of whispering that. Duh.

This is definitely a more laid back hosting job than Family Feud and Match Game, so it's the one that best fits Michael.  All he needs to do is smile, say his scripted lines, and let the contestants and celebrity partners set the tone.  

I kept waiting for that contestant to say "because you don't want anyone to overhear your conversation."  That, along with "because you're in a library" should have been enough, especially if she delivered the clues in a whisper, as you suggested.  Some of them get so caught up in their original clue that they just can't get past it when it doesn't work for them.  It happened last week with "things that sting," when the contestant was just so stuck on "a ray," that they couldn't get to the obvious "bees."

[Mumbles]

Rachel and Ana were good, but if I had been a contestant, Rachel's excitability would have made me nervous.

Two weeks in, and the best celebrity so far, moneywise for the contestants, has been Sherri Shepherd. Good for her. 

[Racj82]

I would assume that one wouldn't whisper the hint because they want the person to hear the hint. If they get confused about why you doing that or can't hear you, it just makes it worse. 

[iMonrey]

Well you could do a "stage whisper" where you approximate the effect of whispering to get the point across. They did that sort of thing all the time on the original show. Sometimes pitch and vocal inflection are as important as the clues themselves, and it was especially true in this case. 

[MarkHB]

Michael never gave out the actual topic in the second "Mystery 7" category ("Do me a Solid" or something like that) this week, did he?

[Lovecat]

On 7/4/2016 at 0:28 PM, iMonrey said:

Robin Roberts really was horrible but the contestants weren't very good either. "Why You Whisper" was such an easy one - just whisper the clues! She kept shouting BECAUSE YOU'RE IN A LIBRARY instead of whispering that. Duh.

THANK you!  It's been a long time since I've seen an iteration of this show, but I *thought* you were allowed to play with inflection, tone, etc. as long as you didn't use your hands!  Oh, and the "Things a french fry would say" category would have been easy, too, with the addition of a hammy French accent:  " 'ere I am 'anging around with my friend zee 'amburger!  I am made of zee potatoes, and delicious deeped in ketchup!"  Easy peasy.

[Easy peasy for me to say, sitting on my couch of course.  I'd probably freeze up and go derp-de-derp-derp if I ever found myself in the winner's circle...though I *do* kick ass at Taboo on game night...]

[WendyCR72]

3 hours ago, Lovecat said:

" 'ere I am 'anging around with my friend zee 'amburger!  I am made of zee potatoes

The way this version has been going, however, I wonder if they would get the error sound because of "potato". Not explicitly in the answer, but it would give it away...

[sugarbaker design]

It's only been two episodes of course, but I've only seen dings for blatantly saying the word.  For example, for the subject "Why you get a roommate", contestant said 'because you have an extra bedroom'.  She got dinged for saying room.  Synonyms, thus far, are admissible.

Edited July 8, 2016 by sugarbaker design
because spelling matters.

[DasFlavorPup]

Martha Stewart isn't a bad player at all, but she is giving off an "I don't want to be here" vibe, like, more than she naturally does.

Snoop's pretty good at receiving clues, but all those toke hits do not a good clue giver make.  At least, he WAS good at receiving clues until that second Winner's Circle.  How he couldn't get "Things on a Roof" from "shingles" and "the chimney" is beyond me.  

Edited July 11, 2016 by DasFlavorPup

[Jaded]

The guy not picking up on the wing flapping clue and then the next clue Snoop gave "You do this to your wife." made me laugh out loud.

[opus]

On 7/5/2016 at 4:20 PM, MarkHB said:

Michael never gave out the actual topic in the second "Mystery 7" category ("Do me a Solid" or something like that) this week, did he?

I'm pretty sure he didn't give them both times tonight either.

[MarkHB]

1 hour ago, DasFlavorPup said:

Martha Stewart isn't a bad player at all, but she is giving off an "I don't want to be here" vibe, like, more than she naturally does.

Snoop's pretty good at receiving clues, but all those toke hits do not a good clue giver make.  At least, he WAS good at receiving clues until that second Winner's Circle.  How he couldn't get "Things on a Roof" from "shingles" and "the chimney" is beyond me.  

The "how dare you touch me" look on Martha's face when the woman gave her a high-five was priceless. Snoop actually offered his partner a high-give when they won.

38 minutes ago, opus said:

I'm pretty sure he didn't give them both times tonight either.

To quote Phil Hartman, "you are correct, sir!" (Apologies if you aren't a "sir" :)

[TheGreenKnight]

Martha Stewart and Snoop Dog were so bad. At least they were equally bad so one contestant didn’t have an unfair advantage over the other. Strahan looked like he was watching a trainwreck. Jeong got on my nerves because he didn’t seem to care about the contestants—especially when he lost that one woman the 7-11 by going ridiculously slow. The actress from My Wife and Kids/Martin wasn’t great, but she seemed to be invested in the contestants so I’m glad she was able to help one of them win in WC at the end.

[Mama No Life]

What the hell was up with the buzzer for "rubber ducks in the tub"?  The category was things that float, so I'm not sure why that was buzzed.  Strahan said something about how they can only list things but I didn't see that as a big difference??

The pyramid is the only one of the three on which people are serious about winning (the contestants, not the celebrities), so it bugs me more when the stars are incompetent.  I think Robin Roberts is the worst so far, followed quickly by Martha and AA.

[DasFlavorPup]

Generally, using a prepositional phrase in any category except the "What XXXX would say" variety will get you buzzed.  It's deemed too descriptive, I think.  "Foods with paprika" would get you buzzed for "Spicy foods", but just "paprika" would not.  That seems to be the line that was drawn sometime around the $20-25K Pyramid era.

Edited July 11, 2016 by DasFlavorPup