Review The 100, 000 Pyramid (1973-)

Doctor Omega

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Pyramid
is an American television game show franchise that has aired several versions domestically and internationally.

The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted March 26, 1973, and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series (most with a full title format matching the original series, with the title reflecting the top prize increase from $10,000, $20,000, $25,000, $50,000 to $100,000 over the years).

The game features two contestants, each paired with a celebrity.

Contestants attempt to guess a series of words or phrases based on descriptions given to them by their teammates.

The title refers to the show's pyramid-shaped gameboard, featuring six categories arranged in a triangular fashion.

The various Pyramid series have won a total of nine Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show, second only to Jeopardy!, which has won thirteen.

Dick Clark is the host most commonly associated with the show, having hosted every incarnation from 1973 to 1988, with the exception of the original version of The $25,000 Pyramid, which aired in weekly syndication from 1974 until 1979 and was hosted by Bill Cullen.

The $100,000 Pyramid
was revived for a brief 1991 run with John Davidson hosting.

In 2002, the series was revived as simply Pyramid, with Donny Osmond hosting for two seasons.

GSN's The Pyramid was hosted by Mike Richards and aired for a single forty-episode season before it was cancelled in 2012.

Reruns of The (New) $25,000 Pyramid are currently shown on GSN.

A revival of The $100,000 Pyramid debuted June 26, 2016, on ABC with Michael Strahan as host.




Broadcast history


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Dick Clark as host of "The $10,000 Pyramid".


The $10,000 Pyramid, with host Dick Clark, made its network debut on March 26, 1973 and was a ratings hit, sustaining its ratings even when episodes were delayed or preempted by the Watergate hearings.

A year later, the ratings temporarily declined (against the original version of Jeopardy! on NBC) and CBS canceled it.

The show was quickly picked up by ABC, and began airing on that network on May 6, 1974.

As per CBS custom at the time with celebrity game shows, three weeks of episodes for CBS were taped in Hollywood, at CBS Television City, Studio 31.

The remainder of the 1973–81 episodes originated in New York City at the Ed Sullivan Theater, moving to ABC's Elysee Theatre after Pyramid switched networks.


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Title card of the 1980s (New) $25,000 Pyramid.

On September 20, 1982, the series returned to the CBS daytime lineup as The $25,000 Pyramid, again with Clark as host, but now taped in Los Angeles full-time at CBS Television City's Studio 33 (currently used for The Price is Right, which recognizes it as the "Bob Barker Studio") and remained there for the entire run up until December 31, 1987.

On April 4, 1988, The $25,000 Pyramid returned to the CBS daytime schedule; the show's final episode aired on July 1.

The following Monday, the show was replaced by a revival of Family Feud hosted by Ray Combs.

The original $25,000 Pyramid and The $50,000 Pyramid were taped in the Elysee Theatre in New York, and the original version of The $100,000 Pyramid[9] taped at Studio 33 in Hollywood.

The revival of The $100,000 Pyramid, hosted by John Davidson, ran from January until December 1991 and taped in Studio 31.

Pyramid
, hosted by Donny Osmond, ran from September 16, 2002 to September 10, 2004 and was taped at Sony Pictures Studios.

The Pyramid
was taped at the CBS Studio Center.

Strahan's The $100,000 Pyramid is taped at the ABC Television Center in New York.

Later developments

Following CBS's cancellation of Guiding Light in April 2009, Pyramid was one of three potential series considered as a replacement for the veteran soap opera. (Let's Make a Deal and The Dating Game were the other two, with a pilot shot for the former series.)

During the tapings that took place in June of that year at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York (marking the franchise's return to New York after 28 years), the top prize was raised to a potential $1,000,000 with a tournament format similar to the $100,000 format.

Dean Cain and Tim Vincent were tabbed as hosts of the pilots, with $50,000 announcer Alan Kalter returning, and Sony Pictures game show legend Ken Jennings served as a panelist in the pilots.

CBS passed on Pyramid and opted to pick up Let's Make a Deal, hosted by Wayne Brady, as Guiding Light's replacement.

Several months later, in December 2009, CBS announced the cancellation of another long-running soap opera, As the World Turns.

Pyramid
was once again among the series being considered as a potential replacement.

CBS ordered a third pilot on April 9, 2010.

Andy Richter was identified as a potential host.

On May 18, 2011, TBS announced development of a possible new version of Pyramid, again to be hosted by Andy Richter.

It was later announced that the show was not picked up.

Another pilot, titled The Pyramid, was taped on June 16, 2012.

On July 12, 2012, GSN announced The Pyramid had been picked up and would premiere on the network on September 3, with Mike Richards hosting the show.

The series ran for 40 episodes before being cancelled later in the year.

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On January 9, 2016, ABC announced a revival of the series, specifically the $100,000 format, had been green-lit and set to air during the summer of 2016.

This version also marked the return of the show to New York City, where it had originally been produced in the 1970s.

The first season will comprise ten hour-long episodes, with Michael Strahan serving as host; due to the show's expansion to one hour, two games are played per episode.

In addition, this will be the second incarnation of Pyramid to air in prime time on the network (the first was the one-off All-Star Junior Pyramid in 1979).

The series premiered on June 26 of that year, airing as part of ABC's "Sunday Fun & Games" lineup at 9:00pm ET/8:00pm CT (along with the Steve Harvey-hosted Celebrity Family Feud and the Alec Baldwin-hosted Match Game).

On August 4, 2016, ABC renewed The $100,000 Pyramid for a second season.


SUNDAY, JUNE 11
10 pm $100,000 Pyramid (Season 2 premiere)



See also.......


https://www.imdforums.com/threads/celebrity-family-feud-2008.2579/


https://www.imdforums.com/threads/steve-harvey’s-funderdome-2016.2580/


https://www.imdforums.com/threads/the-gong-show-1976.2582/



 
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