The $100,000 Pyramid - General Discussion

[Lovecat]

On 7/27/2016 at 2:20 AM, BW Manilowe said:

As far as I know, they do practice rounds--like celebs with each other & civilians with each other since potential partners aren't supposed to meet before the actual game. The week Martha Stewart & Snoop Dogg were on, ABC Tweeted this link from the show's Twitter & it's described, by them, as a practice round. I've watched it more than once; it's fun.

 

That's HILARIOUS (or should I say high-larious?).  IDK if Martha didn't catch on, or if she just has an outstanding poker face, but I just about died laughing when she was like, "It's the country code for the Czech Republic..." (who the hell knows that??) followed quickly by "Oh, 420, baby!" from Snoop.  A Good Thing indeed :)

[Jaded]

My local ABC station is showing The $100,000 Pyramid and Match Game this afternoon  in SD instead of HD.

Edited August 13, 2016 by Jaded

[DasFlavorPup]

Anybody else screaming "Swiss Army" at the screen for "Types of Knives"?  Or at least including the last name for "Names of First Ladies"?  The civilian just was not good at giving clues in the Winner's Circle.

Edited August 15, 2016 by DasFlavorPup

[dirtydi]

 A raft, a  flat tire: for things you inflate

[jumper sage]

Both games kind of sucked.  The celebs on the second half, which I have no idea who the are, really, really sucked.  The woman was really bad.

[rubaco]

I was annoyed with the contestants, especially the woman in the winner's circle who seemed to be on Valium, it took her so long to come up with clues. And then they ran out of time and Teri Polo was like, "Are you sure?" Yes, you only have 60 seconds, it's a timed game, you need to think and talk a hell of a lot faster than your partner was doing. Arrgh.

The male contestant annoyed me because he kept saying the same clue over and over, and it clearly wasn't working. You can't think of anything else?

I know, easy for me to say, sitting at home on the couch!

[iMonrey]

Melissa Peterman was actually very good, so it wasn't her fault neither contestant won the big bucks. That first woman was just wayyyyy too slow (as rubaco noted above, as though she were on Valium), and that second guy made a classic mistake by saying "a filled balloon." No you dummy, you don't inflate a filled balloon - you inflate an empty balloon. Or a flat tire. Steve Schirripa wasn't even that bad either (although I have no idea who he is) - he flubbed a few times but did manage to get 7 out of 7 at least once. 

But, oh - Zach Levi, my beloved Chuck . . . he sucked! Teri Polo wasn't great either. That second game was rotten, almost painful to watch.

[peeayebee]

I thought Zach Levi was good at times. I thought of all them were good at times. I did get so frustrated with the contestant who was so darn slow in the winner's circle. I understand speaking clearly and calmly, but that was ridiculous.

Steve Schirripa (from The Sopranos) pissed me off when he was giving clues for things with buttons. I think every one of them started with "You push the button... 

For Things You Inflate, I understand the guy's mind going blank and just not being able to think of anything but balloons. Melissa Petersen actually came up with a good one afterwards: your ego. I'd also say an air mattress and a bicycle tire.

Was it Zach who couldn't come up with a description for hotel? This is a case where you just give names of hotels. "The Hyatt, The Marriott", etc.

Although Teri Polo mostly bugged me, I thought it was funny when the guy was trying to get her to say Will Smith. She says, "Denzel Washington," and he says, "A black guy," then she insists, "Denzel Washington!" 

I thought Teri looked somewhat like Robin Wright. I guess it was the hairstyle.

[chitowngirl]

Things you inflate-an ego, an air mattress.  Knives-Bowie, serrated. So easy from the couch!!! But I can see where someone would get stuck. It seems obvious when giving the clues that that's all the receiver should need.

[peeayebee]

For knives I thought of cleaver. That seems like a pretty good one. There's also boning and paring. Maybe ginsu. Serrated is good.

[iMonrey]

Quote

For Things You Inflate, I understand the guy's mind going blank and just not being able to think of anything but balloons.

I get that too . . . but the problem is he kept emphasizing the exact opposite of what you would inflate: a filled balloon. An air-filled balloon. I think he was hoping "filled" would clue her in on "inflate" but he's actually painting an opposite picture of the one he wanted to, because you don't fill something that's already filled. An empty balloon is what you want to fill or inflate. Picture an empty balloon - what do you want to do with it? As opposed to a filled balloon - not something you want to inflate.

[Arcadiasw]

On Monday, August 15, 2016 at 5:57 PM, peeayebee said:

 

Although Teri Polo mostly bugged me, I thought it was funny when the guy was trying to get her to say Will Smith. She says, "Denzel Washington," and he says, "A black guy," then she insists, "Denzel Washington!" 

 

I love Michael’s reaction. His face said, "Really?" I would've said Fresh Prince. 

[Fable]

On 8/15/2016 at 5:57 PM, peeayebee said:

Steve Schirripa (from The Sopranos) pissed me off when he was giving clues for things with buttons. I think every one of them started with "You push the button... 

I enjoyed Steve Shirripa.  I thought he played a decent game, not the best but certainly not the worst.  I felt almost as bad for him as I did for his partner when he blew that Mystery 7.  To compound her losing a trip, it was a trip to Hawaii that she had previously stated was something she wanted to do with her winnings.  He looked horrified and embarrassed. 

[theatremouse]

On 8/15/2016 at 2:57 PM, peeayebee said:

I thought it was funny when the guy was trying to get her to say Will Smith. She says, "Denzel Washington," and he says, "A black guy," then she insists, "Denzel Washington!" 

I thought Teri looked somewhat like Robin Wright. I guess it was the hairstyle.

She also initially said "Tom Hanks" and then after the round ended noted she was thinking of Philadelphia, not Independance Day. So the sequence was more like:

C: He was in Independence Day

TP: Tom Hanks

C: A black guy

TP: Denzel Washington.

And then continuing to insist Denzel Washington. 

Dude should've just said "married to Jada Pinkett" if he couldn't come up with Fresh Prince, but I think he was so flummoxed by her being so off he panicked.

A lot of them seemed to panic and get stuck and be unable to switch gears when one line of clueing wasn't working. I can get repeating with the nod when you think they're super close, but those times in the winners circle when they got stuck with the nodding and repeating they were actually not really close so they just wasted the time.

For knives I would've gone: paring, cleaver, Swiss-army.

Edited August 22, 2016 by theatremouse

[Scott]

I still *really* hate the tie-breaker in this version.

[DasFlavorPup]

Dear Joy Behar,

You.  Are.  NOT.   FUNNY.

Not a great pair of episodes - Yvette Nicole Brown and Fred Willard were great players (Yvette particularly), but the civilians were all terrible and/or botched the Winners Circle (how that girl managed to botch "words that start with 'Z'" is mind-boggling, and IVORY SOAP for "things that are pure"), and none of the up-front games were very close.  

Edited August 22, 2016 by DasFlavorPup

[FormerMod-a1]

For "Words that start with Z", she started saying "A place where..." and I couldn't figure out why that was buzzed.  It was the wrong way to approach that, for sure, but how was it "illegal"?  I also think she misread "Things you put milk IN" at first as "Things you put IN milk".  For "Pure" - yes, Ivory soap, virgin, clean water...

[dirtydi]

1 hour ago, aquarian1 said:

For "Words that start with Z", she started saying "A place where..." and I couldn't figure out why that was buzzed.  It was the wrong way to approach that, for sure, but how was it "illegal"?  I also think she misread "Things you put milk IN" at first as "Things you put IN milk".  For "Pure" - yes, Ivory soap, virgin, clean water...

It is a describing clue, not a list.  The "where" is illegal.

[Racj82]

These people! If you have Yvette Nicole Brown on your team. You have one job! She'll hand a win on a silver platter if you use your brain.

I really, really hate it when celebrities mess up the mystery 7 by giving a illegal clue. I yell everytime.

[Arcadiasw]

Yvette was great. I lol at her apology to America. Fred Willard looked like he needed a break after he helped Carlos win the trip. Carlos was really bad in the Winner's Circle with Fred Willard. I hope they get better contestants next season. The second show wasn't that good.

10 hours ago, Racj82 said:

These people! If you have Yvette Nicole Brown on your team. You have one job! She'll hand a win on a silver platter if you use your brain.

I really, really hate it when celebrities mess up the mystery 7 by giving a illegal clue. I yell everytime.

Celebrities should pay for the trip when they goof.

[mtlchick]

Yvette needs to teach a class on how to play on a game show for both celebs AND civilians.

I didn't think Carlos did THAT bad in the first round (though I didn't realize you can't give synonyms for the Winner's circle) but insisting on walnuts for the second one...dude, it's not working, move on!

[sugarbaker design]

I thought Carlos was going to have to go through all 12 signs of the zodiac before Fred caught on.

[TheGreenKnight]

I knew Joy would have a problem with speed coming into this. The celebrity she was competing against was so much worse though. Yvette Nicole Brown was wonderful. She should be a recurring guest.

[iMonrey]

There seems to be a pattern each week where the weaker celebs and contestants appear in the second half hour and the stronger pairs appear in the first. None of the contestants in either half hour were very good though. Joy Behar wasn't too bad in the preliminary round but she sucked in the winner's circle.

I'm still trying to figure out if it's a requirement that the contestant give the clues in the winner's circle or if they just keep choosing that. In the original version the contestant had the choice but 99% of the time it was the celebrity who gave the clues. Of course, back then that was probably the wisest choice, because the "celebrities" that they used were professional game-show players and known for very little else. These days the celebrities aren't any better at it than the contestants. 

[sugarbaker design]

1 minute ago, iMonrey said:

I'm still trying to figure out if it's a requirement that the contestant give the clues in the winner's circle

It has to be, right?  I've watched every week and the contestant gives the clues in the big pyramid 100% of the time.

[peeayebee]

Yvette is so good. She looked really good, too (though she never looks bad). Maybe I've just missed her (and Community).

I was afraid that Fred Willard was going to be like one of his characters, kind of addle-brained. I'm glad I was wrong. 

Joy Behar was really annoying. I usually like her (the few times I've seen her on The View), but not here. Also, her mind isn't built for this game.

I didn't really enjoy any of the contestants. I think Carlos esp turned me off. 

It bugged me that Carlos was buzzed for using "saggy" in a clue (ruled as a synonym for droop), but one of the other contestants said "replicate handbag" in the Fake category. Wouldn't replicate be a synonym for fake?

 

6 hours ago, mtlchick said:

I didn't think Carlos did THAT bad in the first round (though I didn't realize you can't give synonyms for the Winner's circle) but insisting on walnuts for the second one...dude, it's not working, move on!

I think he just couldn't think of anything else and didn't want to sit there saying nothing. Armchair quarterbacking, I'd say, "Ice (or margarita ice), your opponents..." I can't think of any food. I don't think I'd say walnuts.

[theatremouse]

I may be wrong; I've not been briefed on the official rules, but I think here the difference is probably that sagging is a synonym for droop (did she say sagging or saggy? I thought the former, but my theory may fall apart already) because you can use adjectives/verbs in your listed things but the adjective/verb you use cannot be synonymous with the adjective/verb that is the clue. But "replica" is a noun, so it doesn't count for "fake". A replica is a not-original ergo fake thing, so fits in the list, hence not a synonym. I think she could've just said replica by itself and been ok too. It is tricky in the winner's circle.

For droop I'm probably a horrible person but I would've said "an unwatered flower, a tired eyelid, a stroke sufferer's face".

[littlecatsfeet]

For the "Things that are pure" category, I kept shouting "the driven snow"! That's a pretty old expression, though, don't know if it would have worked.

"Replica"  bugged me too.

I thought of "breasts" (old breasts?) for the things that droop, so I'm probably a horrible person as well :)

[paigow]

8 hours ago, littlecatsfeet said:

I thought of "breasts" (old breasts?) for the things that droop, so I'm probably a horrible person as well :)

Is Braless an illegal clue?

[peeayebee]

I think braless would be fine.

"The driven snow" is perfect for pure, but I too wonder if younger people (i.e., those younger than me) know that phrase anymore.

 

13 hours ago, theatremouse said:

For droop I'm probably a horrible person but I would've said "an unwatered flower, a tired eyelid, a stroke sufferer's face".

Those are great clues.

[BW Manilowe]

I did notice Michael remembered, in the first half, to tell what the Mystery 7 answers had in common (he's forgotten, in both halves, to do it the last few eps). But then after the Mystery 7 got bobbled in the second half, he forgot again.

[theatremouse]

I doubt it's that he forgot forgot. More likely, for time, they edited it out or just told him not to bother.

[how55]

"Braless breasts" you probably meant to say. Braless can't stand alone (sorry for the pun or whatever it is). 

I was a big, big fan of the old Pyramid, and am still a bit flummoxed over why "saggy" was buzzed.  I don't remember that a synonym was unacceptable. 

"Pure" used to come up fairly frequently on the big pyramid and if it was missed or time ran out, Dick Clark would inevitably come out & say "Ivory Soap" as a clue. It's not something I can recall seeing advertised a lot in recent years so people may not be familiar w/the slogan. 

I like trying to figure out what the Mystery 7 has in common, but wish that Michael would give it - it doesn't take that much time to read a brief description. 

[BW Manilowe]

I'm assuming everyone's told about this before taping starts, but Michael also doesn't explain about the "cuckoo" noise if you give part of the answer in the preliminary game.

And it's interesting how on this incarnation (& the new Match Game), the full names of the contestants aren't given, just their first names. I'm guessing it's because it could be very easy to find, & potentially harass, these people via the internet (if someone who watched was so inclined) these days--which wasn't a concern when these shows last aired (that I remember anyway).

Just stuff I've noticed, being able to watch old episodes of this (& Match Game) on GSN & compare the 2 versions.

[bybrandy]

Carlos?  Was it Carlos? Could only come up with one type of doughnut?   And that type was frosted?   Huh?

[peeayebee]

I get frustrated when contestants come up with only one clue or one really bad clue, yet I can relate to just drawing a blank. For donuts I'd start with cruller, bear claw, cream-filled, then raised, cake, frosted if the other person didn't get it yet.

[theatremouse]

Yeah, my order is definitely: cruller, bear claw, glazed, jelly, chocolate frosted and if they don't get it after that, ain't no helpin'.

I think to a certain extent though, avoiding that problem (getting stuck on exactly one thing) is sort of the long and short of how to be good at this game or not. If you can pivot, if you can recognize when one clue, or one approach to a clue isn't getting your partner there, can you word-associate enough to not just list more stuff that's almost the same as what you started with, but potentially list more stuff that might prompt the thought in a different way than whatever you were trying at first. People who can do that are good at the game. People who can't, won't be.

[MarkHB]

42 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

Yeah, my order is definitely: cruller, bear claw, glazed, jelly, chocolate frosted and if they don't get it after that, ain't no helpin'.

Dunkin' .  :)

(For those who may not know, years ago that chain had an actual "Dunkin' Donut," which was an Old Fashioned with a handle so it looked like a "Q".  They dropped those when they switched from the donuts being hand-cut and cooked in the individual stores to the commissary model, as they didn't work with their new machinery.)

[iMonrey]

Quote

Carlos?  Was it Carlos? Could only come up with one type of doughnut?   And that type was frosted?   Huh?

He also said "eclair" but yeah. Obviously not a big fan of donuts. Neither am I for that matter but I could have at least come up with "glazed."

[theatremouse]

3 hours ago, MarkHB said:

Dunkin' .  :)

(For those who may not know, years ago that chain had an actual "Dunkin' Donut," which was an Old Fashioned with a handle so it looked like a "Q".  They dropped those when they switched from the donuts being hand-cut and cooked in the individual stores to the commissary model, as they didn't work with their new machinery.)

I totally thought of that and then decided against it because I wasn't sure if it'd run afoul of the "describing, rather than listing" but you're right! They did have one that was named the "Dunkin' Donut" so it should not be buzzed, but that does not mean it would not be buzzed and then later maybe retracted. So I wouldn't risk it, were it me.

[Violet Penner]

Unless the rules are explained much more clearly to the contestants ahead of time (than they are to the audience), I think there are definitely times I would freeze wondering if something was an illegal clue.  Would "pink frosted with sprinkles" be an acceptable clue?

[chitowngirl]

"Pink frosted" would be fine. Adding the prepositional phrase "with  sprinkles" would not.

[BW Manilowe]

Just on the off chance anyone here might be interested, the show Tweeted earlier today that they're casting (looking for contestants) for the next season. The information is available here:

http://www.castingpyramid.com

[paigow]

23 hours ago, how55 said:

"Pure" used to come up fairly frequently on the big pyramid ...

Uncut Heroin; Uncut Cocaine

[Kromm]

How could Joy Behar NOT know a weave is fake after so many years of working with Whoopie?

[theatremouse]

You can make a weave out of real or artificial hair (or both); so it's fake in the sense that it's not the hair of the person who is wearing it, but, like wigs, could be made from real human hair. So, the only thing I can think of is Joy might not have been thinking "fake" in that sense?

Otherwise I got nuthin'.

Edited August 26, 2016 by theatremouse

[Kromm]

15 hours ago, theatremouse said:

You can make a weave out of real or artificial hair (or both); so it's fake in the sense that it's not the hair of the person who is wearing it, but, like wigs, could be made from real human hair. So, the only thing I can think of is Joy might not have been thinking "fake" in that sense?

Otherwise I got nuthin'.

Real hair or not, it is "fake" in reference to the head it winds up sitting on (as in "someone thinks it grew there but it did not"). 

Joy didn't follow any complicated thought process on it though. As strange as it is to contemplate I don't think she really knew what a weave is. In her mind I think it just equated to "hair style" at best, like "The Rachel" or "Mullet".

Edited August 27, 2016 by Kromm

[starri]

Well, Joy's intellectual capacity was spent on coming up with all her best stand up material that would have been fresh 40 years ago.  I honestly do like her, but while she may have been edgy 30 years ago, compared to Amy Schumer and Sarah Silverman, she should be in residence in Branson.

I really liked Yvette Nicole Brown.  Honestly, just put her, Rosie, and Kathy Najimy into regular rotation.

[sugarbaker design]

I thought Rex Lee might be the worst Pyramid player ever, but then Bridget Moyhahan had her turn.

[Arcadiasw]

Neicy Nash and Kevin Pollack were good except when he screwed the lady out of the trip to Hawaii. The male contestant Marc was really bad. I lol at Pollack's face when the guy said "a black person" for the tennis topic. Rex Lee was bad in the second Winner's Circle.