The $100,000 Pyramid - General Discussion

[theatremouse]

On 6/11/2017 at 7:42 PM, starri said:

I know Leslie Jones isn't everyone's taste, but she's just so joyous when she gets to do fun things like this. It's hard not to be swept up in it. 

What I really appreciate about her on all the game shows I've seen her on, and she illustrated it even more with this one, is she takes it SO SERIOUSLY that she is there to help these people win money that could be life changing to them. So then at the end when she seemed as overwhelmed as the contestant, it's just so sincere and so real. I also thought she was hilarious in between rounds as well, but even if she hadn't been especially funny, it's her personal investment in winning the game, not just because she's competitive and wants to win, but because she wants to win for the contestant that I find just completely delightful. But also her facial expressions are priceless.

[iMonrey]

Agreed - that's why I was initially worried about Jones. She's just so over-the-top manic I didn't know if she'd be a good fit for the show. But she really tried hard and did well for her contestant. She proved you can be entertaining and take the game seriously enough to help your contestant win money. There are too many celebrities that just seem to be winging it - I felt like she genuinely cared.

[jhlipton]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

She proved you can be entertaining and take the game seriously enough to help your contestant win money.

That is the ultimate celebrity -- someone who is entertaining off the game, but serious during it.  All 4 celebs had that this round -- Jones was just the best.

LL won 17-18 (meaning Leslie only missed 4); and Leslie also won 17-18.  Jennifer won her first (and color-coordinated) round 19-20 (Tom missed 2!!!) and tied her second at 18-18.  Overall, the losing teams missed 4+4+2+3 or 11 out of 82.  Very impressive!

[peeayebee]

This one didn't seem so challenging.  I was kind of bored by it -- both half-hours.

One thing that I think should have been buzzed was in the Winner's Circle when the contestant was giving clues for parts of a fire truck. At one point she said, "The red parts."

[dmeets]

^Agreed. Especially considering they buzzed the other contestant for saying "next to England" for Ireland because they both have land in the name.

[iMonrey]

I do think they gave them an awful lot of leeway in the winner's circle. Maybe there's been a mandate to make the game a little easier because it's not as exciting if they never win the big bucks. It's a shame . . . Dick Clark would never have stood for this!

[Mama No Life]

But the answer wasn't "parts of a fire truck", it was "Things on a Fire Truck".  So I was okay with the no buzz.

I do think they are allowing more leeway there....answers like "CLOSET"  instead of "Things in a Closet".    I do think the normal contestants were very good this round...esp the woman in the green dress. She knew exactly how to zero in.  If the guy with the seven year girlfriend hasn't gotten hung up on "Guest bed", which was confusing, he would have won. Jennifer Nettles was good.  She looked different....maybe a little plastic surgery.

[peeayebee]

I've already deleted it, but I thought it was "parts on a fire truck."

[MarkHB]

On 6/12/2017 at 0:53 PM, iMonrey said:

I expected Leslie Jones to be an utter train wreck on this thing but after a shaky start she turned out to be pretty decent. Not great but not terrible. (How can you not get "oil?" Vinegar and. Duh.)  I thought the clues in the winners circle were awfully easy, though, and that the judges were giving them much more leeway than they should have. When the clue is "things such-and-such would say" they should have to say that, not just a word. It annoys me when they answer with just one word and the judges give it to them. Also, on "kinds of tickets" I'm pretty sure they would have been buzzed on the original show for saying "concert ones, speeding ones."

And yet they didn't give a point for "smoke alarm" when the actual word was "smoke detector".. and the category was Things That Beep!  How many people actually go to the trouble of calling them "smoke detectors" except, perhaps, fire marshals?

I am glad that first woman won the $100k; she would have had 150 if she hadn't messed up in the first round.

[Irlandesa]

Minor quibble with the prize round "no show no dough" where the clues were professions you couldn't do from home.  I'm a librarian.  You can do that from home.  And don't mayors and the pope essentially live and work from the same building?

I think the flusters hit a few of the celebs and contestants today.  Joey Fatone was strong. 

[starri]

Sasheer and Bobby turned out to be pretty decent, Joey Fatone was great, and Lance is a complete idiot.

So, about what I expected.

[iMonrey]

Some of the clues were pretty tough, but for "things in a refrigerator" I would have gone with "the light bulb, the butter tray, the food storage drawers" instead of just naming foods. 

Lance Bass did totally screw up his first round, but he got better as he went along - at least he helped his contestant win the free trip by getting all seven. And some of those slip-ups were the contestants' fault. Neither contestant was very strong in the second show.

The hot dog costume was stupid and must have been pre-planned. They just happened to have that on hand? I don't think so.

[sugarbaker design]

14 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

And don't mayors and the pope essentially live and work from the same building?

I don't know about anywhere else, but in NYC the mayor lives in Gracie Mansion and works at City Hall.

[Arcadiasw]

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Some of the clues were pretty tough, but for "things in a refrigerator" I would have gone with "the light bulb, the butter tray, the food storage drawers" instead of just naming foods. 

 

The hot dog costume was stupid and must have been pre-planned. They just happened to have that on hand? I don't think so.

Exactly what I was thinking on the hot dog costume. 

For the refrigerator, I would've mentioned different foods but mention kitchen too. I think that would've helped. 

[theatremouse]

A kitchen isn't in the refrigerator though so, depending on exactly what you said, might be an illegal clue. I probably would've said "milk, vegetable crisper, ice maker, water dispenser".

On the "tuck in" one when dude kept saying shirt I was screaming at my TV "shirt tails, dude, not just shirt!" So then it was satisfying when Michael immediately said that after time ran out.

[jhlipton]

On 6/18/2017 at 11:41 PM, Irlandesa said:

Minor quibble with the prize round "no show no dough" where the clues were professions you couldn't do from home.  I'm a librarian.  You can do that from home.  And don't mayors and the pope essentially live and work from the same building?

How do you run a library from home?  Just curious.  The Pope lives and works in the Vatican -- but that's a large complex.  I think he lives in one building and works from another.  But he (and the mayor) could work from their place of residence, unlike a pilot or chauffeur.

On 6/19/2017 at 0:48 PM, iMonrey said:

The hot dog costume was stupid and must have been pre-planned. They just happened to have that on hand? I don't think so.

I thought so too for a moment, then realized that they had the entire ABC lot to get one from.  A hot dog suit is probably the least weird thing wardrobe has been asked for on the spur of the moment.

[Irlandesa]

11 minutes ago, jhlipton said:

How do you run a library from home? 

It depends on what the librarian's duties are.  A library director probably needs to be at the library.  An instruction librarian for the online division of a university could work from home.  A research librarian ( who runs searches for either the company where they work or freelance) can work from home.  A collection development librarian or metadata librarian could work from home.   Most of the time they don't because they may have other duties that need to be done in person but I know quite a few librarians who do.

But the people you see at a desk in a public or academic library?  Most aren't librarians.  Maybe one at the reference desk but most are doing other things behind the scenes.  And some of those things can and are done from home.

[jhlipton]

To be pedantic, the definition of "librarian" is "a person who works in a library".  They may not have the title of "Librarian", but, technically, even the people who shelve the books are librarians.  For that matter, a drone pilot could work from home, but that's not the common usage.

[MarkHB]

On 6/21/2017 at 11:07 PM, jhlipton said:

I thought so too for a moment, then realized that they had the entire ABC lot to get one from.  A hot dog suit is probably the least weird thing wardrobe has been asked for on the spur of the moment.

Not quite the "lot"; the show tapes in New York.

On 6/19/2017 at 2:04 PM, sugarbaker design said:

I don't know about anywhere else, but in NYC the mayor lives in Gracie Mansion and works at City Hall.

I don't know of many (or any) cities where the mayor lives at City Hall, tbh.  The vast majority probably live in their own homes; only a few in the US might have an official residence.

[jhlipton]

On 6/21/2017 at 11:07 PM, jhlipton said:

I thought so too for a moment, then realized that they had the entire ABC lot to get one from.  A hot dog suit is probably the least weird thing wardrobe has been asked for on the spur of the moment.

10 hours ago, MarkHB said:

Not quite the "lot"; the show tapes in New York.

The show is taped at the ABC Television Studio.  If they couldn't find a hot dog suit at the Studio, they're a block away from Lincoln Center, the Met and Julliard.  It wouldn't take long to find a hot dog suit, and I'm sure the two halves are not filmed one immediately after the other.  The point being, it might well not have been per-arranged, although the possibility certainly does exist.

[peeayebee]

The first half-hour was very enjoyable with two good celebrities and two good contestants. Everyone played well. I also like Bobby a lot.

The second half wasn't as good. Although it was "all in good fun," I didn't like Joey getting so happy about Lance falling behind. The hot dog costume bit was stupid.

In the Winners Circle, 'Famous Inventions' was pretty tough. I'm glad he finally got off of the lightbulb and electricity and said the cotton gin. But I don't know if there's any ideal clue that would work. The cotton gin, the printing press, the lightbulb, the telephone. *shrug*

[MarkHB]

I wonder if "the light bulb, the record player, the motion picture" would get it with "things Edison invented."  Of course, I've had a week to think about it.

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, MarkHB said:

I wonder if "the light bulb, the record player, the motion picture" would get it with "things Edison invented."  Of course, I've had a week to think about it.

The only thing I could think of is a progression of big inventions such as the printing press, cotton gin, light bulb, internet...etc.

[Mama No Life]

I REALLY don't like Erin Andrews.  Might have to pass on this one.

[DasFlavorPup]

Wow, Erin Andrews is annoying and terrible.  "Things that make you laugh" - the female contestant giving Erin Andrews a titty twister for biffing that last category.  The male contestant wasn't that great either, but the poor guy just cracked like an egg when paired with her and her blank stares - that was a painful second round to watch.

After that miserable 4-out-of-7 in the beginning, I thought Aaron Rodgers was going to be terrible, but he was pretty damn good.

I wonder what happened in that second bonus round - that was some weird editing right before Aaron Rodgers got the last subject.  Normally they don't cut away like that before the timer runs out.  

Edited June 26, 2017 by DasFlavorPup

[Mama No Life]

40 minutes ago, DasFlavorPup said:

Wow, Erin Andrews is annoying and terrible.  "Things that make you laugh" - the female contestant giving Erin Andrews a titty twister for biffing that last category.  The male contestant wasn't that great either, but the poor guy just cracked like an egg when paired with her and her blank stares - that was a painful second round to watch.

After that miserable 4-out-of-7 in the beginning, I thought Aaron Rodgers was going to be terrible, but he was pretty damn good.

I wonder what happened in that second bonus round - that was some weird editing right before Aaron Rodgers got the last subject.  Normally they don't cut away like that before the timer runs out.  

I'm not sure what cut away you're talking about...when the lady won 100K?  I didn't see anything...

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, DasFlavorPup said:

I wonder what happened in that second bonus round - that was some weird editing right before Aaron Rodgers got the last subject.  Normally they don't cut away like that before the timer runs out.  

It was a weird cut.  I guess they wanted to catch the moment when Aaron realized "bald" was what he was describing. (Mr. Clean, people?)

1 hour ago, DasFlavorPup said:

After that miserable 4-out-of-7 in the beginning, I thought Aaron Rodgers was going to be terrible, but he was pretty damn good.

Ironically, he was a great receiver but not as good when giving.

In the second pairing, I thought the wife was going to be stronger than the husband--and if it weren't for that disastrous Utah round, I still might think that.  But the contestant in that round, Jacob, was pretty terrific.

[Arcadiasw]

Add Falcon fans to the list of people who don't like Erin Andrews. Ouch. 

Slow start but Aaron Rodgers was the better player. I think he does well on game shows. Didn't he win celebrity jeopardy? 

[Racj82]

I wanted to leap through my tv when she messed up the trampoline/tambourine hint. Fucking read! Costing civilians trips! Terrible.

[Calvada]

Aaron Rodgers is extremely competitive.  I know, hardly surprising in a professional athlete.  But I think he wants to dispel the myth of the dumb athlete, and also he takes great pleasure in proving people wrong.   If you challenged him to a soufflé baking contest, he's most likely never made one ever in his life, but he would figure out how to do it and probably produce a winning soufflé!  After all, this is the guy who still has the letter from Purdue University that wished him "good luck with your attempt at a college football career."  [emphasis mine]  Things like that drive him to succeed, which you love if you're a Packers fan,.  So it does not surprise me he won on another game show.  

[StatMom]

That moment when the audience heard that the category "Melanious" was things associated with Melania Trump:  "Uggghhhh...."

[BW Manilowe]

On 6/16/2017 at 7:55 AM, Mama No Life said:

But the answer wasn't "parts of a fire truck", it was "Things on a Fire Truck".  So I was okay with the no buzz.

I do think they are allowing more leeway there....answers like "CLOSET"  instead of "Things in a Closet".    I do think the normal contestants were very good this round...esp the woman in the green dress. She knew exactly how to zero in.  If the guy with the seven year girlfriend hasn't gotten hung up on "Guest bed", which was confusing, he would have won. Jennifer Nettles was good.  She looked different....maybe a little plastic surgery.

They allowed "closet" because it was the key word they were looking for in the phrase on the board. They've done that since the Dick Clark era & he even explained on 1 of his episodes that there is a "key word" the judges look for in the winner's circle categories & as long as the person receiving the clues says that, it's acceptable; they don't have to say the entire phrase as written on the board (if it's multiple words).

Edited June 26, 2017 by BW Manilowe
To add a comment.

[iMonrey]

Wow, Erin Andrews was bad. Really bad. And shenanigans - shenanigans, I say! - on the leeway that lady got in the winner's circle! The category was "dinosaurs" and she said "prehistorical animals." Um, no! She actually gave a description, or clue, like she was in the preliminary round. She was supposed to list types of dinosaurs, like T-Rex or Brontosaurus, not describe what they are. That's totallly bullshit they let her have that. Then the next one was "things a baby says" and she said "I say goo-goo." Uh . . . that should have gotten buzzed too. They really just let her win. 

They seem to be pairing up "rival" celebrities this season in an attempt to amp up the competition. I don't like it because it makes it all about the celebs instead of the players. They don't need to make the game "more fun." Dick Clark always treated this game as though it were as serious as Jeopardy. It's not supposed to be like Match Game.

[BW Manilowe]

OK... When Aaron Rodgers won the money for the female contestant last night, 2 things bugged me about that bonus round:

1) For "Dinosaurs", the woman said "prehistoric animals"; she didn't give a list of even 1 type of dinosaur (heck, I could've at least given "Tyrannosaurus Rex" & "Triceratops"); in my opinion, that was at least a borderline illegal clue & either might've or would've been buzzed during the Dick Clark hosting era.

2) For "Things a Baby Would Say", she actually said "I say goo-goo and ga-ga.", instead of just listing the baby talk words. In the old days, that would've been a definite illegal clue because "say" was in the category phrase.

I think someone upthread said they were being a lot looser this season about what is(n't) legal in the winner's circle. I get it's a fluffy summer game show, & they do want the civilians to win the money, but last night--especially having watched the show from the beginning--I have to say I was disappointed they let 2 obviously illegal/close to illegal clues pass, resulting in big money wins.

@iMonrey: Great minds think alike... I'm pissed about the ignoring of the rules in the winner's circle when Aaron Rodgers was playing with that lady too.

Edited June 26, 2017 by BW Manilowe
To add a comment acknowledging a concurring opinion by a fellow poster.

[iMonrey]

That same lady got stuck on "things that make you laugh" and couldn't think of anything to say except "a funny joke." I thought comic strip, comedy show, funny movie, although "getting tickled" was perfect. Michael Strahan has been coming up with the "ideal" clues lately after the fact - I wonder if the writers feed them to him.

[Blissfool]

I had never heard of Italia Ricci before and now that i have, I am not a fan.  She tried to make her giggling a thing when it really isn't.  And I found it annoying. 

The second male contestant kiss the female on the top of the head as he made his way to the winner's circle. Weird.

[TheOtherOne]

I'm not really a fan of Aaron Rodgers (I could take him or leave him), but I didn't care for the way they were being so mean to him. The show is supposed to be fun. So unnecessary.

[Hpmec]

In the Dick Clark days, the "prehistoric animals" clue for "dinosaurs" given by a contestant in the winner's circle would have been immediately buzzed on. Clark was always careful to explain that the clue giver could ONLY list items that fit the category. Brontosaurus would  have been acceptable and appropriate. Prehistoric animals, which explains what dinosaurs were, would definitely not. I couldn't believe they let that go. In total agreement with iMonrey and BW Manilowe on that one. The baby talk thing was also buzzworthy. "Goo-goo, gaga" are things babies say, so ok. Prefacing the list with "I say" should not have been ok. Either the game has rules or it doesn't. If it does, players and judges need to abide by them. Oh, and Erin Andrews cost a contestant a trip because she can't read. That sucked. 

Edited June 27, 2017 by Hpmec

[iMonrey]

Quote

I'm not really a fan of Aaron Rodgers (I could take him or leave him), but I didn't care for the way they were being so mean to him. The show is supposed to be fun. 

Well I don't think they were being "mean" so much as playing up a "rivalry" between him and Erin Andrews. They were "smack talking" each other. I'm pretty sure that sort of nonsense was heavily encouraged by the producers. They seem to think it's more "fun" if the two celebrities are playing up a competitive rivalry. We didn't see any of that last season so it seems to be something new they're trying.

[TheOtherOne]

14 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Well I don't think they were being "mean" so much as playing up a "rivalry" between him and Erin Andrews. They were "smack talking" each other. I'm pretty sure that sort of nonsense was heavily encouraged by the producers. They seem to think it's more "fun" if the two celebrities are playing up a competitive rivalry. We didn't see any of that last season so it seems to be something new they're trying.

I didn't really see it as smack talking each other, since it was mostly Erin taking shots at Aaron, Michael joining in and slamming him at one point, and Aaron largely just sitting there laughing it off without retaliating (certainly not to the degree they were hitting him). It's not really a rivalry when it's completely one-sided, IMO.

[MooCat Pretzel]

If I were Erin Andrews, I would be contacting my money person and funding a trip to the Caribbean for her partner that she screwed by misreading the word and then misreading it again after Michael said something.  I watch this revamped show out of loyalty, but it just isn't the same.  Nobody knows how to play the game or at least play it well.  Because of it we have started recording the original (on GSN) on our DVR and watching old Dick Clark episodes when we have the time.  

[iMonrey]

The Dick Clark episodes still hold up well. Unfortunately, there are only a few year's worth in syndication, so I feel like I've seen them all repeatedly. 

This latest iteration is (unfortunately or not) the most faithful to the original. The syndicated relaunches with Donny Osmond and Mike Richards were abysmal. At least this one has the original format and music. They just don't have the type of celebrities that made their living off of games shows like they did back in the 60s and 70s. Where are all the Jo Anne Worleys, Fannie Flaggs and Soupy Sales of today?

[peeayebee]

On 6/25/2017 at 8:55 PM, Irlandesa said:

I guess they wanted to catch the moment when Aaron realized "bald" was what he was describing. (Mr. Clean, people?)

Doh! Mr Clean is a great clue. I was ironing as I watched, and the only names I could come up were Kojak/Telly Savalos and Yul Brynner, both of whom are probably not known to "kids these days." I know there are tons of famous bald men, but I was incapable of bringing them to mind.

Put me in the camp with the anti-Erin Andrews group. I didn't feel one way or the other about her, though maybe I was a bit more on the positive side. That has changed. I really couldn't stand how she kept up with the razzing of Aaron. Maybe the producers encouraged this, or maybe she just thought it would be funny, but it wasn't when Aaron wouldn't play along. It came across as bullying.

And then she had some major lapses during both clue giving and receiving. Geez.

 

On 6/25/2017 at 8:55 PM, Irlandesa said:

Ironically, he was a great receiver but not as good when giving.

Hey-OOOOoooh! Good one.

I'm not big on football, but I'm forever a fan of A-A-ron since he did Key & Peele.

The second game... I hadn't heard of either of the two actors. I never watched their shows. Anyway, I liked her, esp in the first round. 

[Irlandesa]

8 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

The second game... I hadn't heard of either of the two actors. I never watched their shows. Anyway, I liked her, esp in the first round.

I knew the husband from The Duff. Maybe he was too old to be a high school student but I loved the movie.

[jhlipton]

I thought Italia did pretty good (considering she was wearing her grandmother's dress).  She got hosed by Utah -- and her partner was not giving great clues.  "Up in the mountains, you go snow..."; "Another name for the Latter-Day Saints.. Brigham Young..." etc.

But Jacob, other than the weird kiss, was the star!

[theatremouse]

As soon as she said she was Canadian, should've been a tip off that the clues needed to be a bit more outside the box for her to get that stuff. I don't expect Canadians to know shorthand for Utah stuff.

[DasFlavorPup]

Cam Newton was decent in the main game (although I wanted to set fire to that stupid hat he was wearing), but holy cow was he awful in the winners circle - those were ridiculously easy topics and it took him forever to get some of them.  He was so bad at "Parts of a shirt" and "What guacamole would say" that I wanted to reach through my TV and smack him.  It was a pity, because I liked both civilian contestants in that game and it was a shame that neither of them won.

Brandon Marshall - he seemed nice, which is about the only positive thing I can say about him.  Oh, and at least he helped win the Mystery 7 - still, hope he never gets invited back.

 

As to the second game, Eric Decker biffed that first round so badly that I actually felt a teeny bit bad for the contestant, who really did not make a good first impression with me.  Preemptively declaring you're obnoxious doesn't make it ok to be obnoxious, although it turned out she wasn't as bad as I thought she was going to be.  Apolo Ohno was definitely one of the best celebrities they've had this season and I wouldn't mind seeing him on the show again.

[iMonrey]

I really dislike this gimmick they've been using this season, trying to pit two "rival" celebrities or athletes against each other. It feels very manufactured and it's been giving us some very weak players like Erin Andrews. Neither Cam Newton nor Brandon Marshall should have been invited on the show, both were pretty horrible. Marshall didn't seem to get the hang of it until the very end, even though I could see he was making the effort. Newton drove me crazy because he wasn't looking at his partner during the rounds, and visual cues are half the game.

And, once again, the judges were way too lenient in the winner's circle. "A pyramid formation" is not something a cheerleader would say. She should have been buzzed for that.

[ajsnaves]

Well how else is the Cheer Captain gonna call out for a Pyramid Formation without saying it?  But yeah, I agree on that one.  That can be a hard one to do without hand gestures too.  Then again Cam Newton was looking, so hand gestures would have been a waste on him anyway.

[Fable]

Apolo was pretty good, but the football players were abysmal.  I guess the overall scores didn't end up too badly, but it was cringe-worthy to watch.  At least Brandon managed to help his partner win the Mystery 7.  

Pyramid formation would have been alright, I think, if the clue was "let's do pyramid formation" as opposed to just pyramid formation.  

Edited July 10, 2017 by Fable