Do you think that the 40 episodes of \'The Pyramid\' were better than two seasons of Donnymid? I do, and I think its a real shame that the show didn\'t do better for GSN.
Both had things I liked and things I didn\'t like.
Pyramid was okay, but the tournament format sucked, and I could\'ve done without the cutesy categories or efforts to make it about the celebs. However, it was an inoffensive enough way to spend 22 minutes. I liked that you had to win two Winners Circles to qualify for the tournament, and Donny was actually a pretty solid host. However, the tournament and inconsistent judging really don\'t sit right with me, and I would\'ve liked to have had a theme and set that didn\'t have such a rave-y feel to it.
The Pyramid corrected the judging and writing issues, but the celebrities were entirely hit or miss. When you can\'t even air an episode because the game play is so atrocious, there\'s a problem. Even though they were coached, at least Donnymid had some pretty decent celebrity players.
Still, advantage goes to the 2012 version, which stayed closer to the roots. Give me Donny\'s hosting and celebs, Mike\'s set/music, format, and judging. Both deserved at least another season with tweaks.
What Brandon said above.
With the help of some friends, blog viewers and individuals on Facebook, 100 people were surveyed from what went wrong with the GSN revival of Pyramid. The results are here.
With all due respect, the people who took your survey are insane, stupid or on drugs, or any combination of those. The thing that made The Pyramid worth watching at all was the fact that it WAS like the classic version. I can\'t possibly conceive what changes they would make (beyond getting celebrity players actually capable of playing the game) that could\'ve deviated from the classic format to improve the show.
With all due respect, the people who took your survey are insane, stupid or on drugs, or any combination of those.
Is it wrong that I lol\'d hard at this?
While GSN\'s version was certainly more accurate to the source material than Donnymid, it just didn\'t feel right. Like a cover version of a classic song that gets a few of the notes wrong. I liked how perfect 7s boosted the Winner\'s Circle jackpot (and I\'m probably in the minority on that opinion), but everything else felt awkward and forced. I was not fond of Mike Richards as host; he looked so ill at ease behind the podium; he looked like Pauly Shore in a suit.
But I\'d still take the 2012 version over Donnymid. That version had way too many problems: the overly-strict judging coupled with the bad writing, the 6-in-20 format that completely erased any margin for error, the need to win two games and two WCs to even get a sniff at the $100K, and the worst celebrity casting job the show has ever seen. (Pro-Tip: avoid casting celebrities for whom English is a second language for a game where being able to understand language at high-velocity is so critical.)
Neither was good. Give me Clark/Cullen.
While GSN\'s version was certainly more accurate to the source material than Donnymid, it just didn\'t feel right. Like a cover version of a classic song that gets a few of the notes wrong. I liked how perfect 7s boosted the Winner\'s Circle jackpot (and I\'m probably in the minority on that opinion)
You\'re not...I liked that as well.
Nice analogy, by the way!
I liked how perfect 7s boosted the Winner\'s Circle jackpot (and I\'m probably in the minority on that opinion)You\'re not...I liked that as well.
I\'m in that minority, too. (When I was imagining my own production, I had the idea to play for $1,000 times their main-game score, with a perfect score bumping it up to $25,000.)
Adding to what Loogaroo said, even the strict requirement for getting into the tournament wouldn\'t have been so bad if they had returning champions: If you don\'t get in today, just win the day and try again tomorrow.
Same here about 7-out-of-7 boosting the Winner\'s Circle payout. It rewarded doing very well in the front game.
the need to win two games and two WCs to even get a sniff at the $100K
Assuming 1) there wasn\'t a really bad celebrity booked that week (Estelle Harris comes immediately to mind) and 2) the Winner\'s Circle writers were feeling generous and using categories that actually had a chance to be guessed.
and the worst celebrity casting job the show has ever seen. (Pro-Tip: avoid casting celebrities for whom English is a second language for a game where being able to understand language at high-velocity is so critical.)
Lenny Krayzelburg comes immediately to mind. From what I gather (someone else could very likely fill in the details better than I), he did fine giving clues but had a very difficult time while receiving them and lost all ten games that week. Given everything I\'ve read and/or seen about Donnymid, I get the impression he was booked solely to keep anybody that taping day from getting into the tournament.
While GSN\'s version was certainly more accurate to the source material than Donnymid, it just didn\'t feel right. Like a cover version of a classic song that gets a few of the notes wrong.
I know it\'s an analogy, but they did that too...for the airings, whereas the actual tapings used the far superior 1982-91 theme. That kinda irked me because it felt like change for change\'s sake.
The thing that made The Pyramid worth watching at all was the fact that it WAS like the classic version.
...which may, in turn, have been the problem -- GSN was airing the 1980s Pyramid on the schedule for a good while before the 2012 version debuted, and it might have been overexposure to the franchise as a whole (and especially to what was arguably the high point of it) that resulted in low viewer turnout after a while.
I know of the celebrity issues and the like, I\'m not saying that (in fact, it\'s understandable that their skills wouldn\'t be up to par with the 1980s run, mainly since the last good version ended in 1991) -- what I\'m saying is that it might have been too much of a good thing, especially since having the 1980s Pyramid on the schedule resulted in an easier way to compare and contrast between the two shows.
tl;dr -- Give me 2012 over 2002-04 any day.
I know of the celebrity issues and the like, I\'m not saying that (in fact, it\'s understandable that their skills wouldn\'t be up to par with the 1980s run, mainly since the last good version ended in 1991)
I believe it lasted until 1992.
Lenny Krayzelburg comes immediately to mind. From what I gather (someone else could very likely fill in the details better than I), he did fine giving clues but had a very difficult time while receiving them and lost all ten games that week. Given everything I\'ve read and/or seen about Donnymid, I get the impression he was booked solely to keep anybody that taping day from getting into the tournament.
Or because that week was an Olympic champs week and the other celebrity was skier Picabo Street.
I liked how perfect 7s boosted the Winner\'s Circle jackpot (and I\'m probably in the minority on that opinion)You\'re not...I liked that as well.
I don\'t think that\'s nearly as much of a minority as my esteemed colleague thinks. I thought that was one of the new series\' best additions; it made the front game a whole lot more meaningful.
I know of the celebrity issues and the like, I\'m not saying that (in fact, it\'s understandable that their skills wouldn\'t be up to par with the 1980s run, mainly since the last good version ended in 1991)I believe it lasted until 1992.
Sort of. The last new ep aired in December 1991, but reruns continued until March.
Lenny Krayzelburg comes immediately to mind. From what I gather (someone else could very likely fill in the details better than I), he did fine giving clues but had a very difficult time while receiving them and lost all ten games that week. Given everything I\'ve read and/or seen about Donnymid, I get the impression he was booked solely to keep anybody that taping day from getting into the tournament.Or because that week was an Olympic champs week and the other celebrity was skier Picabo Street.
I\'m pretty sure that Bruce Jenner or Michael Johnson would\'ve answered their phones.
And that was true for the 7-11 and Mystery Seven for ten years of shows as well. (You didn\'t win $1,100/bonus prize, but let\'s go for $10,000) Did that bother you?
You know full well that happened far less frequently. Also, the level of play in the 80s was such that most of those resulted in a win of the bonus. GSN might have gotten there given some time.So? Sometimes it didn\'t. To his credit Dick wouldn\'t dwell on that. \"I\'m sorry you didn\'t win the bonus but we\'re off to the winner\'s circle.\"
With all due respectSo you\'re saying that he\'s deserving of respect?
\"With all due respect, the people who took your survey are insane, stupid or on drugs, or any combination of those... \"
I\'m sorry. The correct answer was \"IMAGINARY\".
So? Sometimes it didn\'t. To his credit Dick wouldn\'t dwell on that. \"I\'m sorry you didn\'t win the bonus but we\'re off to the winner\'s circle.\"You know full well that happened far less frequently. Also, the level of play in the 80s was such that most of those resulted in a win of the bonus. GSN might have gotten there given some time.
One of the things that hasn\'t been brought up is that the 7-of-7 would award the contestant $500 in instant cash. A contestant on the old shows who was on the ass end of two 21-21 games would be out the door with nothing but consolation prizes. At least now contestants could pick up some pocket money for their time, which is doubly nice when saddled with particularly lousy game players.
This right here. Not only for the reasons you mentioned, but many of today\'s shows (aside from Wheel/Jeopardy/Price) don\'t even offer the consolation prizes anymore. Yes, I\'d love to climb the Pyramid and win $10K+, but if I can walk out with $500 or $1,000 and memories, it largely offsets that one of the Turturro siblings couldn\'t play the game if you put a gun to their heads. :-P
Seriously, that at the very least, to say I got to participate is cool. To make a partial return on my air fare, hotel, and rental car is icing on the cake. ;-)
Just curious, in the Clark era, if for example going into the final turn of a game, the score was 19-14, and the bonus card was the only one left... I know that only getting six would give that team 20-19, and the win with it, but would they be allowed to try for the full 21 to get the bonus, or would they call the game once the win had been clinched?
I figure, logically, they should be allowed to try for the bonus... but I\'m guessing there was a reason for the \"Skinflint Stewart\" name as well.
I figure, logically, they should be allowed to try for the bonus...
They were. And IIRC, Dick would remind the audience to hold their applause, since the contestant was going for the big prize.
I figure, logically, they should be allowed to try for the bonus... but I\'m guessing there was a reason for the \"Skinflint Stewart\" name as well.It would be bad form of the highest order to deprive someone the chance to win a prize like that just because he or she was ahead by a point or two coming down the stretch. \"You\'ve won the game so don\'t bother with that last answer that would otherwise win you a car, let\'s go for $10,000!\" In what universe does that happen without a small riot?
To ask a question like that seems to have never watched a Clark Pyramid. The effing rule was even in place on Donnymid too! No excuse!
I figure, logically, they should be allowed to try for the bonus... but I\'m guessing there was a reason for the \"Skinflint Stewart\" name as well.
It would be bad form of the highest order to deprive someone the chance to win a prize like that just because he or she was ahead by a point or two coming down the stretch. \"You\'ve won the game so don\'t bother with that last answer that would otherwise win you a car, let\'s go for $10,000!\" In what universe does that happen without a small riot?
That exact scenario played out many times on \"Double Talk\". There was a $1,000 bonus item if you got all four on your turn. However, if you won the game with three or fewer, you didn\'t get the fourth item. Worse, that $1,000 counted as score money, so it was possible that two players would have one close game and one blow-out, and the person who lost the blow-out would return on account of it.
I know of the celebrity issues and the like, I\'m not saying that (in fact, it\'s understandable that their skills wouldn\'t be up to par with the 1980s run, mainly since the last good version ended in 1991)I believe it lasted until 1992.
The fact that John Davidson was the host makes me disagree with the statement that it was a \"good\" version.
Did that situation ever play out?
I\'m going off 26-year-old memories. I definitely remember one or more rounds where they didn\'t get the shot at the second bonus, but I can\'t say for sure that there was a game where that would have made the difference in who came back.
Also, I\'ve been told off-board that the rule was changed partway through the series\' run. (My guess is either the situation I described did play out, or an eagle-eyed staffer saw that they were about to face such a situation.)