The $100,000 Pyramid - General Discussion

[peeayebee]

8 hours ago, iMonrey said:

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.

But the guy (or was it gal?) who said that also said, "Boys and girls..." where I think s/he was going for "boys and girls can be cheerleaders." But, yeah, the judges were too lenient.

I couldn't stand the football players, esp Cam Newton. I thought it was a good technique to look away when receiving the clues in the Winners Circle, since physical movements are verboten. Also, I can often think of an answer when I look away.

Apolo Ono was so good. I think I've seen him on another game show a while back, but I can't remember what. 

I don't like the gimmicky "dueling celebrities" either. Another thing I've been disliking lately is when the celebrity introduced his/her partner and says the person is amazing or talented or whatever. Stop that. You don't know. Just say the person's name. Keep it simple, stupid. (I know the show makes them do this.)

[Jaded]

I haven't watched an entire episode of this season's shows as of yet because they haven't really had any celebs on that I wanted to see. The night Erin Andrews was on I stopped and watched a couple minutes and switched the channel to something else. I wish the "celebs" would try to study the game and try to get a feel for the game beforehand so they could be better partners for the "civilians".

[iMonrey]

Quote

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

Exactly - or something like "let me get on top of the pyramid." Not just "A pyramid formation." That's something a cheerleader does, not something a cheerleader says.

Quote

 I wish the "celebs" would try to study the game and try to get a feel for the game beforehand so they could be better partners for the "civilians".

I accept that gone are the days of third-rate celebrities who made their living off game shows like in the 60s and 70s. But yeah - I'd rather they go after some really competitive celebs like Rosie O'Donnell and Kathy Najimy than go for rival pro athletes who can't play the game for crap. I'd much rather see some obscure celebrity I'd never heard of before if they can really play, than some football "star" they think will pull in viewers.

[opus]

On 7/10/2017 at 9:54 PM, peeayebee said:

But the guy (or was it gal?) who said that also said, "Boys and girls..." where I think s/he was going for "boys and girls can be cheerleaders." But, yeah, the judges were too lenient.

I couldn't stand the football players, esp Cam Newton. I thought it was a good technique to look away when receiving the clues in the Winners Circle, since physical movements are verboten. Also, I can often think of an answer when I look away.

Apolo Ono was so good. I think I've seen him on another game show a while back, but I can't remember what. 

I don't like the gimmicky "dueling celebrities" either. Another thing I've been disliking lately is when the celebrity introduced his/her partner and says the person is amazing or talented or whatever. Stop that. You don't know. Just say the person's name. Keep it simple, stupid. (I know the show makes them do this.)

I think AO hosted a game show too, but I can't remember which one.

[jhlipton]

1 hour ago, opus said:

I think AO hosted a game show too, but I can't remember which one.

He's one of the hosts on Spartan.  No other hosting gigs on Wikipedia.

[Jaded]

IMDB and Wiki has him listed as having hosted the GSN version of Minute to Win It.
 

[opus]

Thanks jhlipton and Jaded. (It was Minute to Win It I was trying to think of).

Edited July 13, 2017 by opus

[Sammich]

We had a brief power outage, so I missed the outcome with Dr. Ken and his contestant trying to win $100,000. Did she win it? Thanks!! 

[Irlandesa]

Neither Dave or Ken were terrific. Ken irritated me in the first round and also showed easy pitfalls to fall into since he got into "acting" the maladies instead of using his words.  In that last round, I do think Dave's co-star said "hawk" right with the buzzer. Even   If they deemed that she hadn't, they usually say something.  They just ignored it here.

Retta and Dr. Oz were better. Tiara and Retta played impressively together and I do think Tiara improved during her second trip to the winners' circle--although I also think those clues were easier.

 

1 minute ago, Sammich said:

We had a brief power outage, so I missed the outcome with Dr. Ken and his contestant trying to win $100,000. Did she win it? Thanks!!

No.  The second to last clue was Types of Crops (Farming) and they spent too much time on that.  I think the crops she chose to give as clues were a bit too similar but it was a hard category, IMO.  I think it'd be tough to know what would be acceptable, especially since farming was a sub-option.  They eventually passed but too late and they didn't get the last category either.

[iMonrey]

Good Lord, Ken Jeong was awful. He couldn't even think to point to his heart for "heartburn," all he did was grunt and make noises. And then the contestant was trying to get him to say "neon lights" and he comes up with "fountains?" WTF? If he was this awful before, they never should have invited him back.

Granted, "Crops" was a hard one in the winner's circle. After thinking about it for awhile, I decided the best approach probably would have been saying "Harvested corn, harvested wheat, harvested cotton," etc., in order to just move past "food" or "grains." "Appetizers" is a hard one too - you just list a lot of food, how do you get across that they are appetizers, specifically? She listed the right things (buffalo wings, mozzarella sticks) but I don't know how you get your partner to say "appetizers."

I kind of cracked up that one of the categories was "Characters in the Bible" (as opposed to "people in the Bible") - I wonder if they'll get any flack for that. I also thought "words that start with "her" was way too easy. 

[Jaded]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Good Lord, Ken Jeong was awful. He couldn't even think to point to his heart for "heartburn," all he did was grunt and make noises. And then the contestant was trying to get him to say "neon lights" and he comes up with "fountains?" WTF? If he was this awful before, they never should have invited him back.

That's pitiful especially since he's been on before. He obviously didn't give a shit if he did better this time. I've never found him to be that funny either.

[peeayebee]

Ken fell into the trap that a few people (both celebs and regulars) have, i.e., start giving clues in a particular way and then continue even thought it's the hard or wrong way. Here Ken was grunting and so forth. Dr Oz did the same thing. Sometimes people will just point or gesture and not speak. 

Anyway, I did enjoy both Ken and Dave. I thought both were funny. Retta was great, esp at pulling pop culture stuff out of the air and remembering names.

In the Winner's Circle with the first contestant, I loved when she said "knock knock" for types of jokes. That was great.

I don't know what would have worked for crops. I was thinking soy beans are a big crop these days. I wouldn't have said barley. Maybe, "Wheat, corn, soy beans, alfalfa..."  If the other person didn't get it by then, I just don't know.

As for appetizers, I didn't think that would be hard. "Cheese and crackers, nuts, pigs in a blanket, mini meatballs..."

Edited July 18, 2017 by peeayebee

[Fable]

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

As for appetizers, I didn't think that would be hard. "Cheese and crackers, nuts, pigs in a blanket, mini meatballs..."

I don't think I would have gotten that.  I would have called all those things snacks, but I don't think the word appetizer would have come readily to mind.  

[nonnybaby]

Monday morning quarterbacking here, but for the crops topic, it had farming in parentheses, which is weird. But if I had the presence of mind, I would have focused on that term because it seemed easier to describe... "tractor, plow, harvest, etc." 

[mattie0808]

Crops is a really challenging one...I think maybe it would help to get away from listing individual vegetables, but even then , all I've got is, "cotton, wheat, sugar, vegetables." Hmmm...

 

For appetizers, I think adding salad and soup to the list of things like potato skins might help?

[FormerMod-a1]

2 hours ago, mattie0808 said:

For appetizers, I think adding salad and soup to the list of things like potato skins might help?

I was thinking the same thing.  I even said so to the TV while it was airing.  :-P  "Soup!"  "Salad!" 

[jhlipton]

On 7/17/2017 at 1:58 PM, iMonrey said:

"Appetizers" is a hard one too - you just list a lot of food, how do you get across that they are appetizers, specifically? She listed the right things (buffalo wings, mozzarella sticks)

I also thought "words that start with "her" was way too easy. 

I think "Dr" Oz (I can't stand that quack) would PRIDE himself on not eating appetizers, so that was an extraq hurdle.

They've had "words that start with" for quite some time.

For the "ick" category (which I caught on to right away), I would have repeated the answers, stressing the ICK, so Ken would have an idea what to go for (Monday Morning Quarterback).

6 hours ago, mattie0808 said:

For appetizers, I think adding salad and soup to the list of things like potato skins might help?

I'm not sure if you'd get dinged for that, since soup and salad are usually in their own place on a menu. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

Monday morning quarterbacking here, but for the crops topic, it had farming in parentheses, which is weird. But if I had the presence of mind, I would have focused on that term because it seemed easier to describe... "tractor, plow, harvest, etc." 

The judges have been way too lenient on this sort of thing but I would hope they'd get buzzed for listing farm implements rather than crops. I think "farming" was in parenthesis because "things farmers plant" would have been acceptable answer. Saying "livestock," for instance, should not have been acceptable because that's not a crop. But I definitely think you could get away with saying "harvested soybeans, harvested corn" because it would get the celebrity thinking about planting/farming rather than just the list of grains.

[teebax]

On 7/17/2017 at 10:58 AM, iMonrey said:

Good Lord, Ken Jeong was awful. He couldn't even think to point to his heart for "heartburn," all he did was grunt and make noises. And then the contestant was trying to get him to say "neon lights" and he comes up with "fountains?" WTF? If he was this awful before, they never should have invited him back.

I can't stand him. The sight of him on my TV makes me dive for the remote. I did sit through the episode because I love Dave Foley, but Ken Jeong isn't funny and irritates me.

[jhlipton]

I had saved the Kathy Nijimy / Rosie O' Donnel game from last season, and thought Nijimy was one of the best celebs they've had.  And she was on fire again tonight!  Ali was excellent, too.

[Irlandesa]

I find it really interesting how the game playing talent can swing from round to round.  For instance, Miss "I don't know pop culture" Tova was so awful in the first round.  So awful.  But she seemed to be more on the same wavelength with Ali than she was with Kathy.  Of course, Ali also learned how to mime as part of giving clues.  The guy going against her was great, though.

And Cobie was another case of doing so well in the first game but she seemed to lose her confidence after she felt she screwed up "rice" in the 50K pyramid round.  She didn't perform nearly as well.  For a while there, I thought we were going to have the best game play of the season with Cobie and Ryan.  Ryan turned out to be excellent, though, and I would like to see him back.

[DasFlavorPup]

She shouldn't have felt bad about screwing up rice - wheat and whole wheat are TERRIBLE clues for kinds of rice, and that's totally on the contestant for not getting that category (on the same note, from an episode earlier this season, electricity IS NOT AN INVENTION.  DUH).  If there was someone who should have felt bad, it was Ryan, who despite being a great player, singlehandedly tanked his partners chances in the first round by flubbing "liposuction".

Edited July 24, 2017 by DasFlavorPup

[iMonrey]

How can you miss "types of rice?" For some dumb reason she kept saying "Jasmine." WTF? I've never heard of Jasmine Rice before in my life. Maybe I'm just sheltered. But that would have thrown me off completely, it would make me think of flowers or fragrances, not rice. Why not say "Uncle Ben's, Minute, Long Grain?"

It's still interesting to me that it's the contestant who gives the clues in the winner's circle, whereas it was the other way around 99% of the time back in the Dick Clark days. They had a choice back then but the celebrity almost always gave the clues, and I'm not even sure they have a choice in this version - it seems like it's mandatory the contestant gives rather than receives. I'm starting to wonder if that's because they want to make sure the "blame" goes onto the contestant rather than the celebrity partner if they screw up and give an illegal clue. It might be some kind of lawsuit-wary decision, so the contestant doesn't go away griping they would have won the grand prize had not the celebrity screwed them over.

[jhlipton]

4 hours ago, DasFlavorPup said:

She shouldn't have felt bad about screwing up rice - wheat and whole wheat are TERRIBLE clues for kinds of rice, and that's totally on the contestant for not getting that category (on the same note, from an episode earlier this season, electricity IS NOT AN INVENTION.  DUH).  If there was someone who should have felt bad, it was Ryan, who despite being a great player, singlehandedly tanked his partners chances in the first round by flubbing "liposuction".

Jasmine was a good clue; it's similar to the rice used in sushi.  Sorry, Michael, but I think "chicken fried" is descriptive.  I wonder if "Uncle Ben's" would have worked; basmati may or may not have.  Minute, long-grain and wild are good clues.

In Ryan's defense, "suck" and "suction" are too different words -- I wouldn't have expected to be dinged for it, and I think they got it wrong.

[how55]

I was always a big fan of the old '70s-'80s version of Pyramid. But, judging is way too loose here. How do they accept "Car" & "Volunteer" in Tom Hanks movies when they're looking for a specific title? 

[mtlchick]

I thought Cars was a huge leap to use for a Tom Hanks movie since he's a cameo voice only at the end.  Why not use Toy Story?

 

Only watched the first game but when Alex said he was a game show geek I thought it could go two ways; either he flames out completely or he makes good on it in spades. Thank God it was the latter. 

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, mtlchick said:

I thought Cars was a huge leap to use for a Tom Hanks movie since he's a cameo voice only at the end.  Why not use Toy Story?

Because the clue was "One-Word Movie Titles starring Tom Hanks" or something like that. Toy Story-2 words.

[Blissfool]

If the contestant would have won at both Winner's Circles, would her total winnings be $100k or $150k?

The guy should not have been buzzed for "suck". 

[MarkHB]

5 hours ago, Blissfool said:

If the contestant would have won at both Winner's Circles, would her total winnings be $100k or $150k?

The guy should not have been buzzed for "suck". 

$150k, which is awesome (I've seen it once or twice).  Even with inflation and taxes, that's serious change.

[jhlipton]

On 7/25/2017 at 2:41 AM, Blissfool said:

If the contestant would have won at both Winner's Circles, would her total winnings be $100k or $150k?

The guy should not have been buzzed for "suck". 

That happened on one of the last shows (I think the one with Kathy Nijimy).

[peeayebee]

I only got to watch part of the shows because my DVR went wacky and had to be replaced. :( Anyway, I saw a lot of both shows, but not the Winner's Circles. I liked all the celebrities, but who was the guy? 

[DasFlavorPup]

Kind of a disappointing night in the Winners Circle.  RuPaul was as delightful as I thought he was going to be, and David Arquette was as terrible as I thought he was going to be.  In fact, with the exception of RuPaul, the rest of the celebs were like a category from the Winners Circle for me, i.e.:

"Rachel Ray, Curtis Stone, David Arquette"

"... Things you kick.  People who annoy you.  People you want to punch.  People you want to see shot into the sun"

[Irlandesa]

I felt really bad for the black contestant in the first round.  I thought he was really good, especially in the Winners Circle where his clues were creative and from different types of subjects.  But the celebs he was working with weren't very good.  And some of those categories "dangerous things?"  That's so vague. 

[starri]

I know Rachael Ray is an airhead, but I didn't know that Curtis Stone would be even dumber.  Ru was as great as I thought he'd be, and David Arquette was as bad.  Plus, it was clear Ru's first contestant thought getting to meet him was almost as good as the money.

[iMonrey]

I am old enough to remember Charlie Weaver on The Hollywood Squares. I had forgotten he was David Arquette's grandfather though. And now that Arquette has gotten a little older I can definitely see a family resemblance. I think Arquette was trying his best (he and Courtney Cox produced the Celebrity Name Game show) but he was much better at receiving than giving. So was Rachel Ray. She was just too damn slow in thinking up the clues. I don't know why she didn't get buzzed for saying "The Big O" for Oprah Winfrey. You're not allowed to say "starts with this letter."

"Dangerous things" and "Things you weigh" are pretty tough categories. Michael had a good idea for the former with "a stuntman's job" but how do you get someone to say "things you weigh?" 

[peeayebee]

"Your options"? So, maybe starting with "Yourself, produce, some deli meats, your options..."

The dangerous category didn't seem that hard to me -- armchair quarterbacking -- but Jeremy, for once, was giving bad clues. I'd say, "Skydiving, driving too fast, a rabid dog, a rattlesnake, a gas leak..." 

To me a slug is a snail with a shell. That's the clue I would give for slug.

I don't know how fair it was to take away the point for shred since the judges gave her a "BING" when she said shedding. Difficult situation. And why didn't Michael tell RuPaul to look more closely at the word. Didn't Dick Clark used to do that when a clue-giver misread a word?

[TheOtherOne]

That second episode was excruciating, and I didn't think RuPaul was any less annoying than Curtis Stone in the first one. Seriously, how do you waste ten seconds on the sound a snake makes? "Eh-uh-oh-ah-eh-uh-uh-uh-a, a snake...does this....it's uh, the sound it makes."  Geez. Who goes to "things you put your butt on" before "chair?" And that museum one was a gimme. That was on him.

I hope none of these people come back. Those poor contestants (especially the guy in the first episode stuck with impossible final round categories).

[iMonrey]

Quote

I don't know how fair it was to take away the point for shred since the judges gave her a "BING" when she said shedding. Difficult situation. And why didn't Michael tell RuPaul to look more closely at the word. Didn't Dick Clark used to do that when a clue-giver misread a word?

Yeah, that was really on production for not catching it; as host, Michael should have been paying better attention when he saws that the celebrity was describing "shredding" instead of "shedding" but once the contestant said "shedding" and production gave it a pass and went on to the next word there was nothing Michael could do. 

[Lovecat]

21 hours ago, TheOtherOne said:

That second episode was excruciating, and I didn't think RuPaul was any less annoying than Curtis Stone in the first one. Seriously, how do you waste ten seconds on the sound a snake makes? "Eh-uh-oh-ah-eh-uh-uh-uh-a, a snake...does this....it's uh, the sound it makes." 

I think he may have had it in his head that you're not allowed to make sounds when giving clues.  That's the only reasonable explanation, because seriously, one good "sssssssss!" would've gotten the job done.

[peeayebee]

That reminds me -- One of the contestants had the word "humming" but hesitated to hum, instead describing it. I'm not sure she would have gotten buzzed for doing it.

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, Lovecat said:

I think he may have had it in his head that you're not allowed to make sounds when giving clues.  That's the only reasonable explanation, because seriously, one good "sssssssss!" would've gotten the job done.

 

3 hours ago, peeayebee said:

That reminds me -- One of the contestants had the word "humming" but hesitated to hum, instead describing it. I'm not sure she would have gotten buzzed for doing it.

Yeah.  I think it's really hard to tell with sounds.  One would think they could do ssssss but I wouldn't be 100% certain.

[Lovecat]

I would think that "ssssssss" would be ok, or just making a hissing/spitting sound way back in your throat, like a cat, but "hissssssss" would get buzzed, because it's essentially the word. Sam with a melodic "mm-mm-mm-mmmmmm" being ok for humming, but not "hummm-mmm-mmm-mmm."  It's a really fine line to walk, and probably hard to parse while you're in the heat of clue-giving!

[Guest]

For things in a museum, I would've said the Mona Lisa and a cafe, along with her good ones:  art and dinosaur bones.  I've never been to a museum with old statues.  

But jasmine and basmati were the first two types of rice I thought of.  

How come she couldn't say La-Z-Boy when they had Nike, Adidas...?  Or did she just mistakenly say 'easyboy'?  

For slug, could you say slimy thing that leaves a trail?  That was my thought.  

[peeayebee]

50 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

For things in a museum, I would've said the Mona Lisa and a cafe, along with her good ones:  art and dinosaur bones.  I've never been to a museum with old statues.  

Yeah, OLD statues was a bit off. Maybe Renaissance statues or marble statues. I would probably say something like, "Paintings, sculptures, historical items, mummies, a gift shop, guards..."

 

Quote

How come she couldn't say La-Z-Boy when they had Nike, Adidas...?  Or did she just mistakenly say 'easyboy'?  

Yes, I think she misspoke.

[Irlandesa]

58 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

For slug, could you say slimy thing that leaves a trail?

Slug wasn't in the final rounds, was it?  If not, I'd give clues like "another word for punching someone" or "another name for a big baseball hitter."

[peeayebee]

No, it wasn't in the final round. Unless the receiver has a brain fart, I think that saying "It's a snail without a shell" would be a good clue.

[DasFlavorPup]

Debi Mazar - how she can be so good at the most difficult type of category in the front game (proper names) and so UTTERLY incompetent every other time just boggled my mind.

As to the second game, decent enough celebrity gameplay and I have to give props to Jessie Palmer for clearly grasping what the Mystery 7 category was right off the bat and making the winning of the trip a breeze for the contestant, but holy shit was he giving off some serious douche fumes.  Didn't care for the male contestant in that game either - I got the sense he reeked of Axe body spray.

Edited August 7, 2017 by DasFlavorPup

[readster]

1 hour ago, DasFlavorPup said:

Debi Mazar - how she can be so good at the most difficult type of category in the front game (proper names) and so UTTERLY incompetent every other time just boggled my mind.

As to the second game, decent enough celebrity gameplay and I have to give props to Jessie Palmer for clearly grasping what the Mystery 7 category was right off the bat and making the winning of the trip a breeze for the contestant, but holy shit was he giving off some serious douche fumes.  Didn't care for the male contestant in that game either - I got the sense he reeked of Axe body spray.

I know what you mean. Debi went brain dead as the show kept going, I mean not knowing how to describe a rebound was too much.

[peeayebee]

I finally watched this ep. Debi Mazar definitely went brain dead. That was embarrassing.

How do you give clues for 'yelling'? I thought that was really hard.

I didn't know Jesse Palmer, but he reminded me of an actor... Scott Foley! Anyway, I thought he was a pretty good player.

It was strange that the contestant Phil didn't know how to frown.

[Irlandesa]

Jessie was a good player. 

I think for yelling, I thought the clues were pretty good.  But they could have said "name of a dog, Old---"

26 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

It was strange that the contestant Phil didn't know how to frown.

I thought he frowned.  But how he never thought to say "opposite of smile" is beyond me.