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Pyramid (game show)
Encyclopedia
Pyramid is an American television game show
which has aired several versions. 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 to $100,000 over the years). The game featured two contestants, each paired with a celebrity. Players attempt to guess a series of words of 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 won a total of nine Daytime Emmy
s for Outstanding Game Show, second only to Jeopardy!
, which has won 11.
Dick Clark is the host most commonly associated with the show, having hosted most incarnations of it from 1973–1988; Bill Cullen
hosted a 1974–1979 syndicated version of The $25,000 Pyramid, while John Davidson
hosted a 1991 version of The $100,000 Pyramid. The most recent version (simply titled Pyramid) ran from 2002–2004 with Donny Osmond
as host.
on February 2, 1973. It was said the programming executives at the network liked only the second part of the proposed program's format, and suggested that Stewart rework it into another game. This eventually became the main game portion of Pyramid, featuring two civilian contestants, each partnered with a celebrity.
Stewart then reworked the game and presented another version to CBS, with a bonus round that featured a giant pyramid board (then with 10 subjects instead of 6) and a $10,000 cash prize which could be won in one minute. He made the point that offering such a large amount of money in such a quick fashion had not been done before on television. There was no second pilot episode taped, but a run-through presentation was made in front of the network executives, with Peggy Cass
and Bill Cullen
as the celebrities demonstrating the new Pyramid game format.
, 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 and CBS canceled it. The show was quickly picked up by ABC, and began airing 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. (Pyramid returned to California
for good beginning with the 1982 revival.)
The first thirty episodes (six weeks) which aired on ABC were taped at CBS' Ed Sullivan Theater
while a replica set was built at ABC's smaller Elysee Theater, known also as Studio TV-15. One reason may have been the size of the set (including the giant Pyramid board itself); also, and Pyramid historian William Padron had said that the CBS union staff objected to seeing their creations moved to an ABC studio. The first episode taped at ABC was broadcast on June 17, 1974 with June Lockhart
and William Shatner
.
A weekly syndicated nighttime version, known as The $25,000 Pyramid and hosted by Bill Cullen
, made its debut in September 1974, seen mostly on network-affiliated stations during the prime access time slot. This edition lasted until September 1979.
The network daytime version was a ratings success for ABC, usually ranked #3 among daytime game shows. On January 19, 1976, the show increased its top prize and was renamed The $20,000 Pyramid. However, ratings later began to slide, and ABC canceled the show on June 27, 1980.
For a six-week period from October 1 to November 9, 1979, the series became Junior Partner Pyramid, with the traditional celebrity-contestant pairings scrapped in favor of children teamed with their parents or other adult relatives.
From January 26 to September 4, 1981, the program returned to daily first-run syndication as The $50,000 Pyramid, with Clark as host. It was the final edition of the program to originate in New York City. This version included the first tournament structure and was later integrated into The $100,000 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 at CBS Television City
's Studio 33 (currently known as the Bob Barker Studio) and remained there for the entire run and the brief 1988 return. The new Pyramid debuted at 10:00 AM and for its entire run on CBS served as the leadoff program for the network's morning game show block, being paired with three different series as part of the lead-in hour for The Price Is Right
. The first series to share the hour with The $25,000 Pyramid was Child's Play
, which was hosted by former Pyramid host Bill Cullen and debuted the same day. In September 1983 that was replaced by Press Your Luck
, which was replaced by a new version of Card Sharks
in January 1986.
The word "New" was added to the title on November 8, 1982 (#0036). Clark explained that this was to differentiate between the current series and reruns of Cullen's $25,000 Pyramid that were still airing on certain stations. On January 28, 1985, "New" was dropped from the show's title. Later that year, in September 1985, a concurrent syndicated series premiered on local stations. This series was called The $100,000 Pyramid and featured a tournament format similar to that employed by The $50,000 Pyramid. Like its network counterpart, The $100,000 Pyramid quickly became a hit.
The $25,000 Pyramid ended its original run on December 31, 1987 and made way for a previously planned game show, the Bob Goen
-hosted Blackout
. However, after the new show went off the air after thirteen weeks, The $25,000 Pyramid returned on April 4, 1988 to serve as a fill-in until a new version of Family Feud
starring Ray Combs
was ready to premiere on CBS. Both the network and syndicated Pyramid series ended their runs shortly thereafter, with The $25,000 Pyramid ending on July 1, 1988 and The $100,000 Pyramid following it off the air on September 2, 1988.
Another series titled The $100,000 Pyramid, hosted by John Davidson
, appeared in 1991, and Pyramid, hosted by Donny Osmond
, ran from 2002–2004.
Even on versions where he didn't host, Dick Clark was still involved. He appeared on the Cullen and Osmond versions as a celebrity player, and offered pre-taped well wishes to Davidson on his version's premiere episode. At the time, Clark was hosting The Challengers
, which prevented him from returning for that version.
and the other by Tim Vincent
, were taped in New York. This was announced 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 which took place in June of that year, the top prize was raised to a potential $1,000,000.
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 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. Three pilots were taped on June 22 and 23. CBS once again passed on the series and made an announcement on July 21 that The Talk
, a program hosted by Julie Chen
(wife of CBS president Les Moonves) and similar in format to The View, instead took the time slot in October 2010.
On May 18, 2011, TBS announced development of a possible new version of Pyramid, again to be hosted by Andy Richter.
The game featured two teams, each composed of a celebrity and a civilian contestant
. At the beginning of the game, the teams were shown six categories, whose titles gave vague clues to their possible meaning (for instance, "I'm All Wet" might pertain to things found in the water). Once the category was chosen, its exact meaning was given (except in certain bonus situations where the meaning was not given and a cash/prize bonus won for completing all the clues). For up to 30 seconds, one player conveyed to the other clues to a series of items belonging to a category. One point was scored for each item correctly guessed. If a word was passed, the giver could not go back to that word, but if the receiver knew the word later on and guessed it, the team still earned a point. On the Osmond version, a team that passed on any words could return to them if time permitted, but if a word was guessed correctly after it had been passed, it would not count until the word was returned to and correctly guessed then.
Originally, on the CBS version, there were eight possible items in a category. This was reduced to seven when the show moved to ABC, and reduced again to six (in 20 seconds) for the Osmond-hosted version (the 2009 CBS pilot returned to the seven in 30 seconds format). The short-lived Junior Partner Pyramid format kept the seven words, but increased the time limit to 35 seconds. Using any part of the answer in giving a clue resulting in the item being disqualified. Originally, the celebrity gave the clues in the first and third rounds, and the contestant in the second round. Eventually, the team was given the opportunity to choose which player would give the clues in the third round. The teams alternated in the first two rounds, and the team with the lower score played first in the third round. Whoever had the higher score after three rounds advanced to the Winner's Circle. In the 1970s and 1980s versions, in the rare event that a player was mathematically unable to at least tie his or her opponent before the opponent has had his or her last turn (or even rarer, before that point), the game ended and the remaining categories were left unplayed. However, the eliminated player returned on the next game.
From 1976 to 1980, any player who scored a perfect 21 points received a $1,000 bonus on the daytime $20,000 Pyramid and a $2,100 bonus on the nighttime $25,000 Pyramid during the 1977–1978 season. Towards the end of the daytime edition, 21 points won a bonus prize (a color TV on the final episode).
If there was a tie
score at the end of the front games, a tie breaking round was played. The team that caused the tie was given a choice between two categories, each containing seven answers beginning with a certain letter of the alphabet. The other team played with whichever letter the first team did not pick. In the 1970s, the objective was to score as many words as possible within 30 seconds, with the score added onto the team's initial main game score and play continuing until the tie was broken, leading to rare occasions when a team's score passed the 40-point mark. In the 2002–2004 version, the score was also added onto the team's initial main game score, though each team had only 20 seconds to get as many words as possible, regardless of how much time the first team took to communicate all the words within their category.
Later in the 1970s syndicated version and on all subsequent versions, a best-of-seven tiebreaker was used. The earlier main game score was erased, and if the first team guessed all seven words within their allotted time, the opposing team had to guess seven words within the time it took the first team to get all seven, which meant tiebreakers almost always took just one round to complete (if both teams tied with less than 7, or if both teams took the same amount of time to complete, the score was again wiped clean and the next tiebreaker was played, though this rarely happened).
An illegal clue disqualified the category and ended the player's chance to win the large bonus. If other categories remained in the game, the smaller amounts could still be won and play continued until time ran out or until all the remaining categories had been guessed, at which point the smaller amounts accumulated and were added to the player's cash total. Illegal clues included giving a clue that was the essence of the category (i.e., the category itself or a direct synonym), describing the category itself rather than listing or naming items, clues that did not fit the category, rhymes and made-up expressions. When The $10,000 Pyramid moved to ABC, hand gestures became illegal (the clue giver had arm straps attached to his/her chair to discourage this). Clues in the Winner's Circle must also be concise. Prepositional phrases (excluding general use of the word "of"), forms of a key word, saying a key word, definitions and overly descriptive clues were also illegal.
Each category on the Pyramid paid as follows:
The award for a successful trip to the Winner's Circle varied on different versions of the show. On The $10,000 Pyramid, a successful player won that amount of money and retired from the game. For ABC's The $20,000 Pyramid, a player's first Winner's Circle was played for $10,000; however, this prize increased by $5,000 upon each successive trip to the Winner's Circle by that same contestant (up to ABC's maximum of $20,000) until won, at which point the contestant retired. Unlike the two-game format which became standard in later Pyramid versions, a player who lost one main game departed the show, and a new contestant was introduced following the winning contestant's attempt in the Winner's Circle.
During the Junior Partner Pyramid format, two teams competed in two games each day, with $2,500 awarded for winning the day's first Winner's Circle, and if the same team made it to the second one, it was worth $5,000. The team with the highest total, including $500 for a successful Bonus 7 category, returned the next day. The All-Star Junior Pyramid special awarded $10,000 for clearing the Pyramid.
On both versions of The $25,000 Pyramid, as well as The $100,000 Pyramid (during non-tournament play), a player's first trip to the Winner's Circle in a two-game episode was played for $10,000. If the same player won the second main game, his/her second attempt in the Winner's Circle was for a total of $25,000, regardless if their first attempt was successful.
On The $50,000 Pyramid, two contestants also competed in a two-game format for the entire show. The first Winner's Circle was worth $5,000, and similar to the $25,000 Pyramid, the player's second attempt in the same episode was worth a total of $10,000.
Originally, if there was no time for the second Winner's Circle, it would be played at the top of the next show. On the week-ending Friday episode, if the second game ended in a tie, the celebrities played the Winner's Circle and if won, their contestant partners split $5,000 between them. This procedure may have been instituted following a Monday show that started with a Winner's Circle in which the previous week's celebrity, Nipsey Russell
, returned just to play that round and then left. By the 1980s, games no longer straddled and every episode contained two main games and two Winner's Circles.
On The $25,000 Pyramid from the 1970s, if time was running short after the second game, the winning contestant received an additional $2,500. By the final season, the aforementioned best-of-seven main game tiebreaker had been instituted, eliminating the need for this rule.
During the 1970s syndicated version, if a player won a bonus prize, then went on to win the $25,000 top prize, the value of the bonus (either the additional bonus cash, or the value of the car offered during the final season) was deducted from the champion's total, leaving them with exactly $25,000. This version did not feature returning champions. On all versions from 1982 onward, all front-game bonus winnings remained intact in the event of a $25,000 win.
On the $25,000 and $100,000 versions of the show, the same two contestants competed for both halves of the episode. A player who won one of the two games on the episode played the Winner's Circle for $10,000. A player who won both games played the second Winner's Circle for a total of $25,000 (thus earning for example, $750 in the first Winner's Circle means the second was worth an additional $24,250 to the player). On all versions from 1982–1991, a player who won both games of an episode became the champion and returned on the next show. If each player won one game, the player with the higher total in the Winner's Circle became champion (winnings from the various front-game bonuses did not count). If the two players won equal amounts of money in the Winner's Circle (including $10,000 wins), both returned on the next show.
Contestants from 1982–1991 were allowed to remain on the show until defeated, lasting the maximum of five shows. Champions on the CBS revival also retired after exceeding the network's winnings limit. This was originally $25,000, but was increased to $50,000 on October 22, 1984 (#0542) and to $75,000 on September 29, 1986 (#1041). Players were allowed to keep a maximum of $25,000 in excess of the limit.
The Osmond version featured no returning champions. Contestants played the Winner's Circle for $10,000, with a second trip in the same show worth a total of $25,000 plus a berth in the $100,000 tournament. However, unlike earlier versions, both Winner's Circle rounds had to be won for the $25,000 and tournament spot.
The tournament started on a Monday, with four of the eight players competing, two against each other in the first game, and two more in the second. The winners of those games played for $5,000 in the Winner's Circle, with the losers being eliminated from further competition (and receiving a trip for two to Paris for participating in the tournament). On Tuesday, the remaining four qualifying contestants competed, with the winners again playing for $5,000 in the Winner's Circle and the losers eliminated.
On Wednesday, the two winners from Monday were brought back to play both games on that program. If one player won both games, that player would play for $5,000 in the Winner's Circle after his or her first win, and for $10,000 after his or her second win, and qualify to play in the first game on the Monday show of the second week of the tournament. If the two players split their games, each played for $5,000 in the Winner's Circle after their respective wins, and the player who won the most money in the Winner's Circle advanced to the next round of competition. If they tied, they played a tie-breaker in which one player selected either the top three subjects on the big pyramid or the bottom three, and tried to identify them from their partners' clues in a maximum of 30 seconds, with the fastest time winning. On Thursday, the two winners from Tuesday competed in this manner to determine the second player for the first game on the following Monday.
On Friday, the two losing players from Wednesday and Thursday were brought back, and they played in the above manner to determine one of the two players who played in the second game on the following Monday. (The loser on this program was eliminated from further play in the tournament.)
On the Monday show of the next week, the winner of the Wednesday show from the preceding week played in the first game against the winner from the Thursday show. The winner of this game went to the Winner's Circle and attempt to win $50,000 by getting all six subjects in 60 seconds; however, no consolation money was awarded if the attempt failed, and as such, an illegal clue ended the game immediately. If the winner of this first game on Monday failed to win the $50,000 in the Winner's Circle, he or she returned to the main game area to play the day's second game against the Friday winner of the preceding week. If the winner of that game failed to win the $50,000, the competition continued in this manner until someone finally won the grand prize.
The first player to win the Winner's Circle won $100,000 and ended the tournament. If this happened in the first game of the show, the two remaining players played the second game for a chance at $10,000. No bonus cards were in play during the tournaments, although the $5,000 bonus for a 21-21 tie remained in the 1980s version.
In a four-player tournament, contestants competed in single elimination with the first two semifinalists competing on day one and the other two semifinalists on day two. Each attempt at the Winner's Circle was worth $25,000. The top two winners then returned to compete in the finals, where each Winner's Circle victory that day was worth an additional $50,000.
Unlike the 1980s and 1990s syndicated versions, the Super Six remained in play during the tournaments, and offered considerably bigger prizes than regular episodes (such as a plasma screen TV or a trip to Paris
).
and Rob Reiner
were the celebrity guests on the debut week of The $10,000 Pyramid in 1973. On the premiere, Reiner won his contestant $10,000 in the very first playing of the Winner's Circle, but a clip used of the show's second win (also done by Reiner) from the first week was seen in opening montages thereafter. Lockhart was frequently seen as a guest during the 1970s, and Reiner appeared on two episodes of Cullen's show during its first season. Lois Nettleton
and Bill Cullen were the celebrities on the final week of the ABC version on June 23–27, 1980.
Several game show hosts and future hosts appeared as panelists, including Bill Cullen
, Geoff Edwards
, Nipsey Russell
, Betty White
, and Henry Polic II
. Clark and Cullen appeared as celebrity guests on each other's shows, and Clark also appeared on three episodes of the Osmond version.
Billy Crystal
holds the record for the fastest Winner's Circle win at 26 seconds on December 2, 1977. Though the episode itself was later destroyed, a clip of Crystal's entire record-breaking round was later shown on a 1979 episode that featured him and Sal Viscuso
.
Several contestants later returned to the show after becoming celebrities. These include Constance McCashin
(who appeared as a contestant on the Cullen version), Richard Kline
(contestant in July 1974), Mel Harris
(contestant in 1979 on the ABC version and again in 1985 on the syndicated version), Joel Brooks
(contestant in 1976), Kathy Najimy
(contestant in 1985), and Diane Amos (contestant in March 1986). Additionally, David Graf
won $10,000 with his partner Patty Duke
in 1979, and when the two were reunited as celebrities for a week in 1985, a clip of the big win was shown.
was the show's main announcer until he died of cardiac arrest
in 1979, although Jack Clark announced the special Los Angeles-based weeks on CBS in 1973. Alan Kalter
, Fred Foy
, John Causier, Dick Heatherton, Ed Jordan, and Scott Vincent
all substituted for Bob Clayton whenever he was absent. By 1980, Steve O'Brien was hired as the show's principal announcer for the ABC network daytime edition (as The $20,000 Pyramid), and O'Brien and Kalter then rotated announcing duties until 1981 when the last New York broadcast was produced and aired in syndication (as The $50,000 Pyramid).
When the show moved back to CBS Television City
in Los Angeles in 1982, Jack Clark returned as primary announcer. He remained in that position until 1985, with Rod Roddy
, Johnny Gilbert
, Jerry Bishop, and Charlie Tuna
serving as substitutes. After that Gilbert shared the announcing duties with Tuna, Bob Hilton
, Charlie O'Donnell
, and Dean Goss
on both the daytime series, and The $100,000 Pyramid.
When John Davidson took over in 1991 Johnny Gilbert returned as primary announcer. Dean Goss returned to substitute on occasion, and frequent panelist Henry Polic II
also announced. John Cramer announced for the 2002 Pyramid series' entire run.
most, if not all, of the tapes from the daytime Pyramid between 1974 and early 1978, with all episodes afterward existing. Three episodes from 1976, a full week of shows from October 1977 with William Shatner
and Leonard Nimoy
, and three early 1978 episodes circulate among private collectors.
The status of the show's first season on CBS (1973–1974) is unknown, since CBS did not wipe game shows. One 1973 episode circulates among collectors. Three episodes of the original CBS version exist in the UCLA Film and Television Archive (including the third episode), and 14 episodes taped in the fall of 1973 originating from CBS Television City
in Hollywood have aired on GSN
. GSN has also aired The $20,000 Pyramid (various episodes from 1978 and 1979), the CBS $25,000 Pyramid, and the $100,000 Pyramid. Both 1980s versions currently air on the network.
CBS Television Distribution
(originally Viacom
) owns the rights to the version hosted by Bill Cullen, and television distribution rights to the John Davidson version (whose ancillary rights are owned by StudioCanal
via the latter's acquisition of syndicator Orbis Communications). Reruns of The $50,000 Pyramid aired in 1982 on the CBN Cable Network, shortly before the premiere of the CBS revival. None of these versions have aired on GSN. The 2000s revival is intact, and has aired on GSN.
Sony, which controls the rest of the Pyramid library, also jointly owns GSN with DirecTV
.
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
which has aired several versions. 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 to $100,000 over the years). The game featured two contestants, each paired with a celebrity. Players attempt to guess a series of words of 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 won a total of nine Daytime Emmy
Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming...
s for Outstanding Game Show, second only to Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
, which has won 11.
Dick Clark is the host most commonly associated with the show, having hosted most incarnations of it from 1973–1988; Bill Cullen
Bill Cullen
William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...
hosted a 1974–1979 syndicated version of The $25,000 Pyramid, while John Davidson
John Davidson (entertainer)
John Hamilton Davidson, Sr. is an American singer, actor and game show host known for hosting That's Incredible!, Time Machine, and Hollywood Squares in the 1980s, and a revival of The $100,000 Pyramid in 1991....
hosted a 1991 version of The $100,000 Pyramid. The most recent version (simply titled Pyramid) ran from 2002–2004 with Donny Osmond
Donny Osmond
Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond is an American singer, musician, actor, dancer, radio personality, and former teen idol. Osmond has also been a talk and game show host, record producer and author. In the mid 1960s, he and four of his elder brothers gained fame as the Osmond Brothers on the long...
as host.
History
The original concept presented to CBS by creator Bob Stewart was a rough pilot presentation titled Cash on the Line taped at CBS' Ed Sullivan TheaterEd Sullivan Theater
The Ed Sullivan Theater, located at 1697-1699 Broadway between West 53rd and West 54th, in Manhattan, is a venerable radio and television studio in New York City...
on February 2, 1973. It was said the programming executives at the network liked only the second part of the proposed program's format, and suggested that Stewart rework it into another game. This eventually became the main game portion of Pyramid, featuring two civilian contestants, each partnered with a celebrity.
Stewart then reworked the game and presented another version to CBS, with a bonus round that featured a giant pyramid board (then with 10 subjects instead of 6) and a $10,000 cash prize which could be won in one minute. He made the point that offering such a large amount of money in such a quick fashion had not been done before on television. There was no second pilot episode taped, but a run-through presentation was made in front of the network executives, with Peggy Cass
Peggy Cass
Mary Margaret “Peggy” Cass was an American actress, comedian, game show panelist, and announcer.A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Cass became interested in acting as a member of the drama club at Cambridge Latin School; however, she attended all of high school without a speaking part...
and Bill Cullen
Bill Cullen
William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...
as the celebrities demonstrating the new Pyramid game format.
Broadcast history
The $10,000 Pyramid, with host Dick ClarkDick Clark (entertainer)
Richard Wagstaff "Dick" Clark is an American businessman; game-show host; and radio and television personality. He served as chairman and chief executive officer of Dick Clark Productions, which he has sold part of in recent years...
, 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
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
hearings. A year later, the ratings temporarily declined and CBS canceled it. The show was quickly picked up by ABC, and began airing 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. (Pyramid returned to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
for good beginning with the 1982 revival.)
The first thirty episodes (six weeks) which aired on ABC were taped at CBS' Ed Sullivan Theater
Ed Sullivan Theater
The Ed Sullivan Theater, located at 1697-1699 Broadway between West 53rd and West 54th, in Manhattan, is a venerable radio and television studio in New York City...
while a replica set was built at ABC's smaller Elysee Theater, known also as Studio TV-15. One reason may have been the size of the set (including the giant Pyramid board itself); also, and Pyramid historian William Padron had said that the CBS union staff objected to seeing their creations moved to an ABC studio. The first episode taped at ABC was broadcast on June 17, 1974 with June Lockhart
June Lockhart
June Lockhart is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s television, but with memorable performances on stage and in film too. She is remembered as the mother in two TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr...
and William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
.
A weekly syndicated nighttime version, known as The $25,000 Pyramid and hosted by Bill Cullen
Bill Cullen
William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...
, made its debut in September 1974, seen mostly on network-affiliated stations during the prime access time slot. This edition lasted until September 1979.
The network daytime version was a ratings success for ABC, usually ranked #3 among daytime game shows. On January 19, 1976, the show increased its top prize and was renamed The $20,000 Pyramid. However, ratings later began to slide, and ABC canceled the show on June 27, 1980.
For a six-week period from October 1 to November 9, 1979, the series became Junior Partner Pyramid, with the traditional celebrity-contestant pairings scrapped in favor of children teamed with their parents or other adult relatives.
From January 26 to September 4, 1981, the program returned to daily first-run syndication as The $50,000 Pyramid, with Clark as host. It was the final edition of the program to originate in New York City. This version included the first tournament structure and was later integrated into The $100,000 Pyramid.
CBS Television City
CBS Television City is a television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of North Fairfax Avenue...
's Studio 33 (currently known as the Bob Barker Studio) and remained there for the entire run and the brief 1988 return. The new Pyramid debuted at 10:00 AM and for its entire run on CBS served as the leadoff program for the network's morning game show block, being paired with three different series as part of the lead-in hour for The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right (U.S. game show)
The Price Is Right is an American game show which was created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Contestants compete to identify the pricing of merchandise to win cash and prizes. The show is well-known for its signature line of "Come on down!" when the announcer directs newly selected contestants to...
. The first series to share the hour with The $25,000 Pyramid was Child's Play
Child's Play (game show)
Child's Play is an American television game show in which adult contestants tried to guess words based on definitions given by children. The Mark Goodson-produced series debuted on CBS from September 20, 1982 at 10:30 AM Eastern/9:30 AM Central...
, which was hosted by former Pyramid host Bill Cullen and debuted the same day. In September 1983 that was replaced by Press Your Luck
Press Your Luck
Press Your Luck is an American television daytime game show created by Bill Carruthers and Jan McCormack. It premiered on September 19, 1983 on CBS and ended on September 26, 1986. In the show, contestants collected "spins" by answering trivia questions and then used the spins on an 18-space game...
, which was replaced by a new version of Card Sharks
Card Sharks
Card Sharks is an American television game show created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Two contestants compete for control of a row of oversized playing cards by answering questions posed by the host and then guessing if the next card is higher or lower in value than...
in January 1986.
The word "New" was added to the title on November 8, 1982 (#0036). Clark explained that this was to differentiate between the current series and reruns of Cullen's $25,000 Pyramid that were still airing on certain stations. On January 28, 1985, "New" was dropped from the show's title. Later that year, in September 1985, a concurrent syndicated series premiered on local stations. This series was called The $100,000 Pyramid and featured a tournament format similar to that employed by The $50,000 Pyramid. Like its network counterpart, The $100,000 Pyramid quickly became a hit.
The $25,000 Pyramid ended its original run on December 31, 1987 and made way for a previously planned game show, the Bob Goen
Bob Goen
Robert Kuehl "Bob" Goen is an American game show emcee and television personality, best known for his work on Entertainment Tonight between 1993 and 2004...
-hosted Blackout
Blackout (game show)
Blackout is an American game show that aired on CBS from January 4 to April 1, 1988. The pilot was hosted by former Entertainment Tonight anchor Robb Weller, but he was replaced for the series by Bob Goen...
. However, after the new show went off the air after thirteen weeks, The $25,000 Pyramid returned on April 4, 1988 to serve as a fill-in until a new version of Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
starring Ray Combs
Ray Combs
Raymond Neil "Ray" Combs, Jr. was an American comedian, actor, and host of the game show Family Feud on CBS and in syndication from 1988 to 1994.-Early life and career:...
was ready to premiere on CBS. Both the network and syndicated Pyramid series ended their runs shortly thereafter, with The $25,000 Pyramid ending on July 1, 1988 and The $100,000 Pyramid following it off the air on September 2, 1988.
Another series titled The $100,000 Pyramid, hosted by John Davidson
John Davidson (entertainer)
John Hamilton Davidson, Sr. is an American singer, actor and game show host known for hosting That's Incredible!, Time Machine, and Hollywood Squares in the 1980s, and a revival of The $100,000 Pyramid in 1991....
, appeared in 1991, and Pyramid, hosted by Donny Osmond
Donny Osmond
Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond is an American singer, musician, actor, dancer, radio personality, and former teen idol. Osmond has also been a talk and game show host, record producer and author. In the mid 1960s, he and four of his elder brothers gained fame as the Osmond Brothers on the long...
, ran from 2002–2004.
Even on versions where he didn't host, Dick Clark was still involved. He appeared on the Cullen and Osmond versions as a celebrity player, and offered pre-taped well wishes to Davidson on his version's premiere episode. At the time, Clark was hosting The Challengers
The Challengers (game show)
The Challengers was an American syndicated game show from Ron Greenberg Productions, Dick Clark Productions, and Buena Vista Television. The show was hosted by Dick Clark. The show premiered on September 3, 1990 and ended on August 30, 1991...
, which prevented him from returning for that version.
Later developments
In 2009, two pilots for a new version of the game, one hosted by Dean CainDean Cain
Dean Cain is an American actor. He is most widely known for his role as Clark Kent/Superman in the popular American television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.-Early life:...
and the other by Tim Vincent
Tim Vincent
Tim Vincent is a Welsh actor and television presenter who was a presenter on the popular children's programme Blue Peter between 1993 and 1997...
, were taped in New York. This was announced following CBS's cancellation of Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
in April 2009. Pyramid was one of three potential series considered as a replacement for the veteran soap opera (Let's Make a Deal
Let's Make a Deal
Let's Make a Deal is a television game show which originated in the United States and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The show is based around deals offered to members of the audience by the host. The traders usually have to weigh the possibility of an offer being...
and The Dating Game
The Dating Game
The Dating Game is an ABC television show that first aired on December 20, 1965 and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s...
were the other two, with a pilot shot for the former series). During the tapings which took place in June of that year, the top prize was raised to a potential $1,000,000.
CBS passed on Pyramid and opted to pick up Let's Make a Deal, hosted by Wayne Brady
Wayne Brady
Wayne Alphonso Brady is an actor, singer, comedian and television personality, known for his work as a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and as the host of the daytime talk show The Wayne Brady Show...
, 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
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
. Pyramid was among the series being considered as a potential replacement. CBS ordered a third pilot on April 9, 2010. Andy Richter
Andy Richter
Paul Andrew "Andy" Richter is an American actor, writer, comedian, and late night talk show announcer. He is best known for his role as the sidekick of Conan O'Brien on each of the host's programs: Late Night and The Tonight Show on NBC, and Conan on TBS...
was identified as a potential host. Three pilots were taped on June 22 and 23. CBS once again passed on the series and made an announcement on July 21 that The Talk
The Talk (U.S. TV series)
The Talk is a talk show created by actress Sara Gilbert, who also serves as the executive producer. The show premiered on October 18, 2010, and airs on CBS as a part of CBS Daytime...
, a program hosted by Julie Chen
Julie Chen
Julie Suzanne Chen is an American television personality, news anchor, and producer for CBS. She has 16 years of newscasting experience. She is best known for co-anchoring CBS's The Early Show, alongside Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez. She has been the host of the U.S. version of Big Brother...
(wife of CBS president Les Moonves) and similar in format to The View, instead took the time slot in October 2010.
On May 18, 2011, TBS announced development of a possible new version of Pyramid, again to be hosted by Andy Richter.
Front game
The Pyramid's gameboards, both in the main game and in the Winner's Circle bonus round, featured six categories arranged in a pyramid, with three categories on the bottom row, two on the middle row, and one on the top. In the main game, a category's position on the board was not an indicator of its difficulty. In the Winner's Circle, categories became progressively more difficult the higher they were on the board.The game featured two teams, each composed of a celebrity and a civilian contestant
Contestant
A contestant is someone who takes part in a competition, usually a professional competition or a game show on television. The participants competing against each other have to go through rounds...
. At the beginning of the game, the teams were shown six categories, whose titles gave vague clues to their possible meaning (for instance, "I'm All Wet" might pertain to things found in the water). Once the category was chosen, its exact meaning was given (except in certain bonus situations where the meaning was not given and a cash/prize bonus won for completing all the clues). For up to 30 seconds, one player conveyed to the other clues to a series of items belonging to a category. One point was scored for each item correctly guessed. If a word was passed, the giver could not go back to that word, but if the receiver knew the word later on and guessed it, the team still earned a point. On the Osmond version, a team that passed on any words could return to them if time permitted, but if a word was guessed correctly after it had been passed, it would not count until the word was returned to and correctly guessed then.
Originally, on the CBS version, there were eight possible items in a category. This was reduced to seven when the show moved to ABC, and reduced again to six (in 20 seconds) for the Osmond-hosted version (the 2009 CBS pilot returned to the seven in 30 seconds format). The short-lived Junior Partner Pyramid format kept the seven words, but increased the time limit to 35 seconds. Using any part of the answer in giving a clue resulting in the item being disqualified. Originally, the celebrity gave the clues in the first and third rounds, and the contestant in the second round. Eventually, the team was given the opportunity to choose which player would give the clues in the third round. The teams alternated in the first two rounds, and the team with the lower score played first in the third round. Whoever had the higher score after three rounds advanced to the Winner's Circle. In the 1970s and 1980s versions, in the rare event that a player was mathematically unable to at least tie his or her opponent before the opponent has had his or her last turn (or even rarer, before that point), the game ended and the remaining categories were left unplayed. However, the eliminated player returned on the next game.
From 1976 to 1980, any player who scored a perfect 21 points received a $1,000 bonus on the daytime $20,000 Pyramid and a $2,100 bonus on the nighttime $25,000 Pyramid during the 1977–1978 season. Towards the end of the daytime edition, 21 points won a bonus prize (a color TV on the final episode).
If there was a tie
Tie (draw)
To tie or draw is to finish a competition with identical or inconclusive results. The word "tie" is usually used in North America for sports such as American football. "Draw" is usually used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations and it is usually used for sports such as...
score at the end of the front games, a tie breaking round was played. The team that caused the tie was given a choice between two categories, each containing seven answers beginning with a certain letter of the alphabet. The other team played with whichever letter the first team did not pick. In the 1970s, the objective was to score as many words as possible within 30 seconds, with the score added onto the team's initial main game score and play continuing until the tie was broken, leading to rare occasions when a team's score passed the 40-point mark. In the 2002–2004 version, the score was also added onto the team's initial main game score, though each team had only 20 seconds to get as many words as possible, regardless of how much time the first team took to communicate all the words within their category.
Later in the 1970s syndicated version and on all subsequent versions, a best-of-seven tiebreaker was used. The earlier main game score was erased, and if the first team guessed all seven words within their allotted time, the opposing team had to guess seven words within the time it took the first team to get all seven, which meant tiebreakers almost always took just one round to complete (if both teams tied with less than 7, or if both teams took the same amount of time to complete, the score was again wiped clean and the next tiebreaker was played, though this rarely happened).
Bonus cards
A number of bonus cards were used during the front games, offering cash or a prize if the team correctly guessed all of the answers in a particular category.- Big 7: Debuting on December 23, 1974 (but in 1975 during the second season of the Cullen version), the Big 7 was originally worth a trip but soon changed to $500. The Cullen version originally used the Big 7 with a payoff of $1,000, but in the third season, the prize was renamed Big Money Card and offered a random payoff between $1,000–$5,000, in multiples of $1,000. The range was lowered to $1,000–$4,000 during the 1977–1978 season and changed to a car in the 1978–1979 season.
- Bonus 7: During the short-lived Junior Partner Pyramid format, each team chose one category during either of the day's two games to designate as their Bonus 7, which otherwise worked the same way as the Big 7 (including the $500 payoff). However, one notable difference was that the bonus money counted towards a team's final total for the day, the only time in Pyramid history this occurred.
- Mystery 7: Debuting with the CBS revival in 1982, the Mystery 7 was played in game two and awarded the contestant a bonus prize for guessing all seven words in a category whose exact meaning was not explained until gameplay was over. It was used as a category title for the first two years, but starting on April 23, 1984 (#0412), it was concealed behind one of the categories and only revealed when that category was chosen. In 1991, the Mystery 7 was used in the second game on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday shows, and in the first game on Tuesday and Thursday shows.
- 7-11: Debuting on April 11, 1983 (#0144) the 7-11 was played in game one each day for a bonus of $1,100; originally, contestants could either go for the money or play it safe and take $50 per word, but few teams chose the latter option and it was dropped on January 21, 1985 (#0604). Both the 7-11 and Mystery 7 were carried over into The $100,000 Pyramid, except that they were not featured during tournament play. During the four all-celebrity weeks that aired in 1987, the 7-11 was played in both rounds. In 1991, the 7-11 was used in the first game on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday shows.
- Double Trouble: Debuting on January 8, 1991 (#002, always played on Tuesday and Thursday shows), contestants won $500 for guessing seven two-word phrases in 45 seconds. When it appeared, there were two such categories in one game (always appearing on the second row) and each team was required to play one of them.
- Gamble for a Grand/Trip: Debuting on April 15, 1991 (#071) and replacing the 7-11, a contestant could choose to give up time in one round to guess all seven answers in only 25 seconds to win a $1,000 bonus or a vacation. From October 22 to November 28 (#136–#165, the last six weeks before the final tournament), it replaced the Mystery 7 on Tuesday and Thursday shows.
- Super Six: Debuting in 2002 and replacing all previous bonuses, the Super Six appeared in both games on every show with a prize awarded for getting all six. For the second season (minus tournaments and all-celebrity weeks), the Super Six in game two usually featured a home viewer sweepstakes. A home viewer who logged on to the show's website to enter was chosen at random, and some of these players were heard live via telephone. If the studio players finding the Super Six got all six answers, the player at home won the same prize. If not, the home player got the Pyramid home game that was in stores at the time.
Other bonus elements
- 21-21 Tiebreaker: Although 21-21 ties were common by 1984, beginning on January 16 (#0342) of that year, the contestant who broke the 21-21 tie received a new car, theirs to keep regardless of whether they won or lost that day. This was changed on October 22, 1984 (#0542) to $5,000. In addition, the 21-21 tiebreaker was the only bonus used during tournament play on the first $100,000 version. On the aforementioned all-celebrity weeks, the team who won the money split it between their charities. This bonus was not in effect on either the 1991 or 2002–2004 versions.
- Player of the Week: On The $50,000 Pyramid and from February 7 to 25, 1983 (#0099–#0113) on The New $25,000 Pyramid, a trip for two to Europe was given to the player who achieved the fastest main game time during the course of the week (plus a qualifying spot in the $50,000 tournament during 1981); in 1983, this was a trip to Greece. The bonus was retired in 1983 when it was realized that a champion would have to be disqualified if their reign carried over from one week to another.
Winner's Circle
The Winner's Circle included a larger pyramid, also composed of six boxes. Each box contained a category, such as "Things You Plan" or "Why You Exercise", and were revealed one at a time. One player (usually the celebrity, though the contestant always had the option to give or receive except in the first season of Donny Osmond's version) gave a list of items to the other player, who attempted to guess the category to which all of the described items belonged. Each category was worth a small amount of money and correctly guessing all six categories in 60 seconds won the top prize.An illegal clue disqualified the category and ended the player's chance to win the large bonus. If other categories remained in the game, the smaller amounts could still be won and play continued until time ran out or until all the remaining categories had been guessed, at which point the smaller amounts accumulated and were added to the player's cash total. Illegal clues included giving a clue that was the essence of the category (i.e., the category itself or a direct synonym), describing the category itself rather than listing or naming items, clues that did not fit the category, rhymes and made-up expressions. When The $10,000 Pyramid moved to ABC, hand gestures became illegal (the clue giver had arm straps attached to his/her chair to discourage this). Clues in the Winner's Circle must also be concise. Prepositional phrases (excluding general use of the word "of"), forms of a key word, saying a key word, definitions and overly descriptive clues were also illegal.
Each category on the Pyramid paid as follows:
| Version | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
| The $10,000/$20,000/$50,000/Junior Pyramid | $50 | $100 | $200 | |||
| The $25,000 Pyramid (1970s) | $100 | $200 | $300 | |||
| All-Star Junior Pyramid Special | $100 | $250 | $500 | |||
| Junior Partner Pyramid (1979) | $100 | $125 | $150 | $175 | $200 | $250 |
| The (New) $25,000/$100,000 Pyramid | $50 | $100 | $150 | $200 | $250 | $300 |
| Pyramid (2002–2004), regular gameplay | $200 | $300 | $500 | |||
| Pyramid, six-player tournament/four-player semifinals | $500 | $1,000 | $2,500 | |||
| Pyramid, finals match of a four-player tournament | $1,000 | $2,500 | $5,000 | |||
The award for a successful trip to the Winner's Circle varied on different versions of the show. On The $10,000 Pyramid, a successful player won that amount of money and retired from the game. For ABC's The $20,000 Pyramid, a player's first Winner's Circle was played for $10,000; however, this prize increased by $5,000 upon each successive trip to the Winner's Circle by that same contestant (up to ABC's maximum of $20,000) until won, at which point the contestant retired. Unlike the two-game format which became standard in later Pyramid versions, a player who lost one main game departed the show, and a new contestant was introduced following the winning contestant's attempt in the Winner's Circle.
During the Junior Partner Pyramid format, two teams competed in two games each day, with $2,500 awarded for winning the day's first Winner's Circle, and if the same team made it to the second one, it was worth $5,000. The team with the highest total, including $500 for a successful Bonus 7 category, returned the next day. The All-Star Junior Pyramid special awarded $10,000 for clearing the Pyramid.
On both versions of The $25,000 Pyramid, as well as The $100,000 Pyramid (during non-tournament play), a player's first trip to the Winner's Circle in a two-game episode was played for $10,000. If the same player won the second main game, his/her second attempt in the Winner's Circle was for a total of $25,000, regardless if their first attempt was successful.
On The $50,000 Pyramid, two contestants also competed in a two-game format for the entire show. The first Winner's Circle was worth $5,000, and similar to the $25,000 Pyramid, the player's second attempt in the same episode was worth a total of $10,000.
Originally, if there was no time for the second Winner's Circle, it would be played at the top of the next show. On the week-ending Friday episode, if the second game ended in a tie, the celebrities played the Winner's Circle and if won, their contestant partners split $5,000 between them. This procedure may have been instituted following a Monday show that started with a Winner's Circle in which the previous week's celebrity, Nipsey Russell
Nipsey Russell
Julius "Nipsey" Russell was an American comedian, best known today for his appearances as a guest panelist on game shows from the 1960s through the 1990s, especially Match Game, Password, Hollywood Squares, To Tell the Truth and Pyramid...
, returned just to play that round and then left. By the 1980s, games no longer straddled and every episode contained two main games and two Winner's Circles.
On The $25,000 Pyramid from the 1970s, if time was running short after the second game, the winning contestant received an additional $2,500. By the final season, the aforementioned best-of-seven main game tiebreaker had been instituted, eliminating the need for this rule.
Returning champions and winnings limits
On the 1970s daytime version, contestants were allowed to remain on the show until they were defeated or won the Winner's Circle. Under the $10,000 format, a player who won the Winner's Circle was allowed to keep all earlier winnings. Under the $20,000 format, the player's total was merely augmented to the amount won in the Winner's Circle. The syndicated versions featured no returning champions prior to 1985.During the 1970s syndicated version, if a player won a bonus prize, then went on to win the $25,000 top prize, the value of the bonus (either the additional bonus cash, or the value of the car offered during the final season) was deducted from the champion's total, leaving them with exactly $25,000. This version did not feature returning champions. On all versions from 1982 onward, all front-game bonus winnings remained intact in the event of a $25,000 win.
On the $25,000 and $100,000 versions of the show, the same two contestants competed for both halves of the episode. A player who won one of the two games on the episode played the Winner's Circle for $10,000. A player who won both games played the second Winner's Circle for a total of $25,000 (thus earning for example, $750 in the first Winner's Circle means the second was worth an additional $24,250 to the player). On all versions from 1982–1991, a player who won both games of an episode became the champion and returned on the next show. If each player won one game, the player with the higher total in the Winner's Circle became champion (winnings from the various front-game bonuses did not count). If the two players won equal amounts of money in the Winner's Circle (including $10,000 wins), both returned on the next show.
Contestants from 1982–1991 were allowed to remain on the show until defeated, lasting the maximum of five shows. Champions on the CBS revival also retired after exceeding the network's winnings limit. This was originally $25,000, but was increased to $50,000 on October 22, 1984 (#0542) and to $75,000 on September 29, 1986 (#1041). Players were allowed to keep a maximum of $25,000 in excess of the limit.
The Osmond version featured no returning champions. Contestants played the Winner's Circle for $10,000, with a second trip in the same show worth a total of $25,000 plus a berth in the $100,000 tournament. However, unlike earlier versions, both Winner's Circle rounds had to be won for the $25,000 and tournament spot.
The $50,000 Pyramid
On The $50,000 Pyramid, the player with the fastest time in the front game during that week was called "The Player of the Week", won two round-trip tickets to Europe, and qualified for the $50,000 tournament. There were two such tournaments held during the run; the first starting on March 23, 1981 and the second starting on May 25, 1981. For the front game there were no bonus cards. The $50,000 Pyramid was unusual in that the clock in its main game counted up, from 00 to 30, to facilitate "The Player of the Week" scoring.The tournament started on a Monday, with four of the eight players competing, two against each other in the first game, and two more in the second. The winners of those games played for $5,000 in the Winner's Circle, with the losers being eliminated from further competition (and receiving a trip for two to Paris for participating in the tournament). On Tuesday, the remaining four qualifying contestants competed, with the winners again playing for $5,000 in the Winner's Circle and the losers eliminated.
On Wednesday, the two winners from Monday were brought back to play both games on that program. If one player won both games, that player would play for $5,000 in the Winner's Circle after his or her first win, and for $10,000 after his or her second win, and qualify to play in the first game on the Monday show of the second week of the tournament. If the two players split their games, each played for $5,000 in the Winner's Circle after their respective wins, and the player who won the most money in the Winner's Circle advanced to the next round of competition. If they tied, they played a tie-breaker in which one player selected either the top three subjects on the big pyramid or the bottom three, and tried to identify them from their partners' clues in a maximum of 30 seconds, with the fastest time winning. On Thursday, the two winners from Tuesday competed in this manner to determine the second player for the first game on the following Monday.
On Friday, the two losing players from Wednesday and Thursday were brought back, and they played in the above manner to determine one of the two players who played in the second game on the following Monday. (The loser on this program was eliminated from further play in the tournament.)
On the Monday show of the next week, the winner of the Wednesday show from the preceding week played in the first game against the winner from the Thursday show. The winner of this game went to the Winner's Circle and attempt to win $50,000 by getting all six subjects in 60 seconds; however, no consolation money was awarded if the attempt failed, and as such, an illegal clue ended the game immediately. If the winner of this first game on Monday failed to win the $50,000 in the Winner's Circle, he or she returned to the main game area to play the day's second game against the Friday winner of the preceding week. If the winner of that game failed to win the $50,000, the competition continued in this manner until someone finally won the grand prize.
$50,000 winners
| $50,000 Winner # | Contestant | Celebrity Partner | Original Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Colleen Messina | Soupy Sales Soupy Sales Soupy Sales was an American comedian, actor, radio-TV personality and host, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children's television show, Lunch with Soupy Sales; a series of comedy sketches frequently ending with Sales receiving a pie in the face, which became his... |
April 3, 1981 (#50; 2nd round) |
| 2nd | Tony Reitano | Anita Gillette Anita Gillette Anita Gillette is an American actress, most notable for her work on Broadway and as a celebrity guest on various game shows.... |
June 4, 1981 (#94; 2nd round) |
The $100,000 Pyramid
On both versions of The $100,000 Pyramid, the three or four players who won the Winner's Circle in the shortest time during a given period of shows (7 to 10 weeks on the Dick Clark version, and 6 or 7 weeks on the John Davidson version) returned on later episodes to compete in a tournament. The players alternated in a round-robin, with two players competing each day and the third player replacing the loser of that episode in the next one, if neither player won the Winner's Circle that day. In the event of a tie, a coin toss was used to determine who returned on the next show.The first player to win the Winner's Circle won $100,000 and ended the tournament. If this happened in the first game of the show, the two remaining players played the second game for a chance at $10,000. No bonus cards were in play during the tournaments, although the $5,000 bonus for a 21-21 tie remained in the 1980s version.
1980s winners
| $100,000 Winner # | Contestant | Celebrity Partner | Original Air Date | Total Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Mahaffey | Shelley Smith | November 22, 1985 (#055; 1st round) | $119,450 |
| 2 | Andy Culpepper | Brian Mitchell Brian Stokes Mitchell Brian Stokes Mitchell is an American stage, film and television actor. A powerful baritone, he has been one of the central leading men of the Broadway theatre since the early 1990s... |
February 6, 1986 (#099; 2nd round) | $113,250 |
| 3 | Patty Geiger | Mary Cadorette Mary Cadorette Mary Therese Cadorette is an American actress best known for playing John Ritter's live-in girlfriend, flight attendant Vicky Bradford on the short-lived 1984 Three's Company spinoff, Three's a Crowd.... |
May 9, 1986 (#145; 2nd round) | $122,800 |
| 4 | Cheryl Reinwand | Audrey Landers Audrey Landers Audrey Landers is a German American actress and singer, who is probably best known for her role as Afton Cooper in the television drama series Dallas and her role as Val Clarke in the film version of A Chorus Line.- Early years :... |
September 18, 1986 (#199; 2nd round) | $150,800 |
| 5 | Denise Bumbliss | Shelley Smith | November 6, 1986 (#234; 2nd round) | $118,600 |
| 6 | Mary Monte | Lauri Hendler Lauri Hendler Lauri Hendler is an American actress, best known for her role as the middle child Julie Kanisky on Gimme a Break!Her television guest appearances include CHiPs, Lou Grant, Three's Company, Magnum, P.I., Mr... |
January 26, 1987 (#281; 1st round) | $123,600 |
| 7 | Marilyn Evans | Linda Kelsey Linda Kelsey Linda Kelsey is an American television actress.Kelsey's professional career began with stage appearances in her home of Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her good looks and striking mane of red hair winning her success that ultimately landed her in Los Angeles in 1972, with appearances in small roles... |
May 5, 1987 (#332; 2nd round) | $147,600 |
| 8 | M.G. McCormick | Barry Jenner Barry Jenner Barry Francis Jenner is an American actor.He had early roles on two daytime programs, as Tony Cooper on Somerset and as Evan Webster on Another World , where he was involved with Olive Gordon in an infamous storyline plot to kill long-time character John Randolph... |
September 11, 1987 (#375; 2nd round) | $133,650 |
| 9 | Debbie Seppien | Markie Post Markie Post Marjorie Armstrong "Markie" Post is an American actress, best known for her roles as bail bondswoman Terri Michaels in The Fall Guy on ABC from 1982 to 1985, as public defender Christine Sullivan on the NBC sitcom Night Court from 1985 to 1992, and as Georgie Anne Lahti Hartman on the CBS sitcom... |
November 5, 1987 (#414; 2nd round) | $129,400 |
| 10 | Keefe Ferrandini | Nathan Cook Nathan Cook Nathan Cook was an American actor. His eldest brother, Edward Cook was a ballet dancer and choreographer in Europe. He is survived by one sister and a younger brother.... |
January 19, 1988 (#457; 1st round) | $122,450 |
| 11 | Tracy Trench | David Garrison David Garrison David Gene Garrison is an American actor. His primary venue is live theatre, but he may be more widely known for his numerous television roles, particularly that of Steve Rhoades on Married... with Children... |
March 29, 1988 (#507; 1st round) | $121,100 |
| 12 | Carrie Etheridge | Teresa Ganzel Teresa Ganzel Teresa Ganzel is an actress, comedienne, and cartoon voice-over actress.-Career:Teresa Ganzel was best known as a recurring cast member of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, having replaced the late Carol Wayne as the Matinee Lady in the popular "Mighty Carson Art Players" skits... |
August 31, 1988 (#548; 2nd round) | $119,100 |
1991 winners
| $100,000 Winner # | Contestant | Celebrity Partner | Original Air Date | Total Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Teresa Mueller | Adrienne Barbeau Adrienne Barbeau Adrienne Jo Barbeau is an American actress and the author of three books. Barbeau came to prominence in the 1970s as Broadway's original Rizzo in the musical Grease, and as Carol Traynor, the divorced daughter of Maude Findlay in the sitcom Maude... |
February 21, 1991 (#034; 1st round) | $114,600 |
| 2 | Kris McDermott | Robin Riker Robin Riker Robin Riker is an American actress. She has guest-starred in a number of notable television series, including The Rockford Files, M*A*S*H, The A-Team, Airwolf, Murder, She Wrote, Sliders, Malcolm in the Middle, Pyramid, Six Feet Under, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch among other... |
April 12, 1991 (#070; 1st round) | $147,750 |
| 3 | Peggy Belski | Barry Jenner | May 30, 1991 (#104; 2nd round) | $115,700 |
| 4 | Melia Kline | Stuart Damon Stuart Damon Stuart Damon is an American actor. He is known for thirty years of portraying the character Dr. Alan Quartermaine on the American soap opera General Hospital, for which he won an Emmy Award in 1999.... |
October 17, 1991 (#134; 1st round) | $127,800 |
| 5 | Baron Harris | Adrienne Barbeau | December 6, 1991 (#170; 1st round) | $124,800 |
Pyramid
On the Osmond version, the rules were changed drastically to being played between either four or six players who won $25,000 in their initial appearance (which, due to the above requirements and a lack of returning champions, made qualification difficult), with two tournaments played each season. During a six-player tournament, each contestant's first attempt at the Winner's Circle was worth $25,000. If $25,000 was won in the first half and the same player returned to the Winner's Circle, that contestant played for an additional $75,000 and the tournament title. If the tournament ended with no players able to win both Winner's Circles in one show, either the contestant who won $25,000 in the fastest time or the player who won the most money had his or her tournament winnings augmented to $100,000.In a four-player tournament, contestants competed in single elimination with the first two semifinalists competing on day one and the other two semifinalists on day two. Each attempt at the Winner's Circle was worth $25,000. The top two winners then returned to compete in the finals, where each Winner's Circle victory that day was worth an additional $50,000.
Unlike the 1980s and 1990s syndicated versions, the Super Six remained in play during the tournaments, and offered considerably bigger prizes than regular episodes (such as a plasma screen TV or a trip to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
).
Celebrities
June LockhartJune Lockhart
June Lockhart is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s television, but with memorable performances on stage and in film too. She is remembered as the mother in two TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr...
and Rob Reiner
Rob Reiner
Robert "Rob" Reiner is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and political activist.As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence as Archie and Edith Bunker's son-in-law, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, on All in the Family. That role earned him two Emmy Awards during the 1970s...
were the celebrity guests on the debut week of The $10,000 Pyramid in 1973. On the premiere, Reiner won his contestant $10,000 in the very first playing of the Winner's Circle, but a clip used of the show's second win (also done by Reiner) from the first week was seen in opening montages thereafter. Lockhart was frequently seen as a guest during the 1970s, and Reiner appeared on two episodes of Cullen's show during its first season. Lois Nettleton
Lois Nettleton
Lois June Nettleton was an American actress of film, stage, and television. She was Miss Chicago of 1948 as well as a semifinalist at that year's Miss America Pageant.-Early years:...
and Bill Cullen were the celebrities on the final week of the ABC version on June 23–27, 1980.
Several game show hosts and future hosts appeared as panelists, including Bill Cullen
Bill Cullen
William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...
, Geoff Edwards
Geoff Edwards
Geoffrey Bruce Owen "Geoff" Edwards is an American television actor, game show host and radio personality. Over the past decade and a half, he has been a writer and broadcaster on travel. He was born in Westfield, New Jersey....
, Nipsey Russell
Nipsey Russell
Julius "Nipsey" Russell was an American comedian, best known today for his appearances as a guest panelist on game shows from the 1960s through the 1990s, especially Match Game, Password, Hollywood Squares, To Tell the Truth and Pyramid...
, Betty White
Betty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...
, and Henry Polic II
Henry Polic II
Henry Polic II is a stage, screen, and voice actor best known for his role as Jerry Silver in the American 1980s television series Webster, as well as his frequent game show appearances on such series as Super Password and The $100,000 Pyramid...
. Clark and Cullen appeared as celebrity guests on each other's shows, and Clark also appeared on three episodes of the Osmond version.
Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
holds the record for the fastest Winner's Circle win at 26 seconds on December 2, 1977. Though the episode itself was later destroyed, a clip of Crystal's entire record-breaking round was later shown on a 1979 episode that featured him and Sal Viscuso
Sal Viscuso
Sal Viscuso is an American actor.His most notable role was as the uncredited, unseen P.A. system announcer in the long-running TV series M*A*S*H. He also made several one-shot appearances as other characters throughout the series, usually as a patient at the 4077th...
.
Several contestants later returned to the show after becoming celebrities. These include Constance McCashin
Constance McCashin
Constance McCashin is an American actress.McCashin was born in Chicago. She is best known for her role as Laura Avery Sumner on the prime time drama Knots Landing, which she played from the show's debut in 1979 until 1987 when the character died of a brain tumor and her funeral was the basis of...
(who appeared as a contestant on the Cullen version), Richard Kline
Richard Kline
Richard Kline is an American actor and television director. He is best known for playing the sleazy neighbor and used car salesman, Larry Dallas, on the sitcom, Three's Company.-Early life:...
(contestant in July 1974), Mel Harris
Mel Harris
Mel Harris is an American actress.-Personal life:Harris was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the daughter to Mary Michael "Mike", a high school science teacher, and Warren Harris, a university football coach...
(contestant in 1979 on the ABC version and again in 1985 on the syndicated version), Joel Brooks
Joel Brooks
Joel Brooks is an American actor, known for his roles in My Sister Sam, Six Feet Under, The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green and Phil of the Future...
(contestant in 1976), Kathy Najimy
Kathy Najimy
Kathy Ann Najimy is an American actress, most notable as Olive Massery on the television series Veronica's Closet, Sister Mary Patrick in Sister Act and the voice of Peggy Hill on the animated television series King of the Hill. Prior to her film work, she was best known for two Off Broadway shows...
(contestant in 1985), and Diane Amos (contestant in March 1986). Additionally, David Graf
David Graf
Paul David Graf was an American actor, best known for his role as Sgt. Eugene Tackleberry in the Police Academy series of films...
won $10,000 with his partner Patty Duke
Patty Duke
Anna Marie "Patty" Duke is an American actress of stage, film, and television. First becoming famous as a child star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16, and later starring in her eponymous sitcom for three years, she progressed to more mature roles upon playing Neely...
in 1979, and when the two were reunited as celebrities for a week in 1985, a clip of the big win was shown.
Announcers
Bob ClaytonBob Clayton
Bob Clayton was an American television game show announcer and host of several shows...
was the show's main announcer until he died of cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
in 1979, although Jack Clark announced the special Los Angeles-based weeks on CBS in 1973. Alan Kalter
Alan Kalter
Alan Kalter is an American television announcer from New York City. He is best knownas the announcer for the Late Show with David Letterman since September 5, 1995.-Career:...
, Fred Foy
Fred Foy
Frederick William Foy was an American radio and television announcer, who used Fred Foy as his professional name. He is best known for his narration of The Lone Ranger...
, John Causier, Dick Heatherton, Ed Jordan, and Scott Vincent
Scott Vincent
Scott Vincent was an American radio and television announcer and news anchor.Scott Vincent was a staff announcer for nearly 25 years at ABC's flagship owned-and-operated station WABC-TV in New York. He distinguished himself in his first assignments for WABC Radio with a show that outstripped DJ...
all substituted for Bob Clayton whenever he was absent. By 1980, Steve O'Brien was hired as the show's principal announcer for the ABC network daytime edition (as The $20,000 Pyramid), and O'Brien and Kalter then rotated announcing duties until 1981 when the last New York broadcast was produced and aired in syndication (as The $50,000 Pyramid).
When the show moved back to CBS Television City
CBS Television City
CBS Television City is a television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of North Fairfax Avenue...
in Los Angeles in 1982, Jack Clark returned as primary announcer. He remained in that position until 1985, with Rod Roddy
Rod Roddy
Robert Ray "Rod" Roddy was an American radio and television announcer. He is primarily known for his role as an offstage announcer on game shows. Among the shows that he announced are the CBS game shows Whew!, Press Your Luck and The Price Is Right. On the latter two, Roddy appeared on camera on...
, Johnny Gilbert
Johnny Gilbert
John L. "Johnny" Gilbert III is an American show business personality who has worked mainly on television game shows. Originally a nightclub singer and entertainer, he has hosted and announced a number of game shows from various eras, dating as far back as the 1950s...
, Jerry Bishop, and Charlie Tuna
Charlie Tuna
Charlie Tuna is the stage name of Art Ferguson , a radio personality based in Los Angeles, California currently working at KRTH-FM....
serving as substitutes. After that Gilbert shared the announcing duties with Tuna, Bob Hilton
Bob Hilton
Robert "Bob" Wesley Hilton is an American television game show personality. He hosted The Guinness Game, a revival of Truth or Consequences and the 1990 revival of Let's Make a Deal, and announced on several other shows....
, Charlie O'Donnell
Charlie O'Donnell
Charles John "Charlie" O'Donnell was an American radio and television announcer, primarily known for his work on game shows...
, and Dean Goss
Dean Goss
Dean Goss is an American disc jockey who has also had several announcer roles on television game shows. As a disc jockey, he has been employed by several radio stations in California, including KCBQ San Diego from 1976 to 1979 and KFRC 99.7 in San Francisco...
on both the daytime series, and The $100,000 Pyramid.
When John Davidson took over in 1991 Johnny Gilbert returned as primary announcer. Dean Goss returned to substitute on occasion, and frequent panelist Henry Polic II
Henry Polic II
Henry Polic II is a stage, screen, and voice actor best known for his role as Jerry Silver in the American 1980s television series Webster, as well as his frequent game show appearances on such series as Super Password and The $100,000 Pyramid...
also announced. John Cramer announced for the 2002 Pyramid series' entire run.
International versions
Versions have been also produced in countries outside of the United States:| Country | Name | Host | Channel | Air Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Australia |
Pyramid | Shura Taft | Nine Network Nine Network The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia... |
September 1, 2009 |
 Canada |
Pyramide | Sébastien Benoit | Radio-Canada Télévision de Radio-Canada Télévision de Radio-Canada is a Canadian French language television network. It is owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, known in French as Société Radio-Canada. Headquarters are at Maison Radio-Canada in Montreal, which is also home to the network's flagship station, CBFT-DT... |
April 28, 2008–April 22, 2011 |
 Chile |
Contrareloj | Esperanza Silva Coco Legrand |
Canal 13 Canal 13 (Chile) Canal 13 , is the second oldest television station in Chile. It is owned by Luksic Group associated with the Papal Catholic University of Chile. Its inaugural transmission took place on August 21, 1959... |
|
 Egypt |
الهرم El Haram |
Moufida Sheeha | ERT 2 ERTU The Egyptian Radio and Television Union , Ittihād al-Idhā‘ah wal-Tilīfizyūn al-Miṣrī), is the public broadcaster of Egypt, operated by the Egyptian government... |
May 16, 2009 |
 Estonia |
Püramiid | Teet Margna | TV3 TV3 (Estonia) TV3 is a commercial television channel targeted at an Estonian language audience owned by Viasat . It was founded in 1996 after two recent television stations, EVTV and RTV joined.... |
March 4, 2006 |
 Early Modern France |
Pyramide | Patrice Laffont | France 2 France 2 France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô... |
1991–2003 |
 Germany |
Die Pyramide | Dieter Thomas Heck | ZDF ZDF Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues... |
1978–1994 |
| Hast Du Worte? | Jörg Pilawa Thomas Koschwitz |
Sat.1 Sat.1 Sat.1 is a privately owned German television broadcasting station. Sat.1 was the first privately owned television broadcasting station in Germany, having started one day before RTL Television.... |
1996–1998 | |
 Indonesia |
Kuis Piramida | Ronnie Sianturi | RCTI RCTI RCTI is Indonesia's first privately owned television network and is based in West Jakarta. RCTI broadcasts Indonesian Idol as well as sinetron , films, news and current affairs, reality shows and religious programs... |
|
 Israel |
שחק אותה Sahek Otah |
Yigal Shilon Dudu Topaz |
Channel 1 Channel 1 (Israel) Channel 1 is one of the oldest television channels in Israel and one of five terrestrial channels in the country... |
1983–1984 |
| הפירמידה Ha Pyramida |
Channel 2 Channel 2 (Israel) Channel 2 is an Israeli commercial television channel.- History :In 1990, after 13 years of deliberations, the Knesset passed a law that paved the way for the establishment of commercial television in Israel. The goal was to enhance pluralism and create competition. Channel 2 began broadcasting on... |
2002 | ||
 Italy |
Pyramid | Enrico Brignano | Rai Due Rai Due Rai 2 is one of the three main television channels broadcast by Italian public television company RAI alongside with Rai 1 and Rai 3. Rai 2 first started transmissions on November 4, 1961... |
December 3, 2007 |
 Poland |
Piramida | Hubert Urbański Hubert Urbanski Hubert Kirył Urbański is a Polish actor, journalist and presenter of TVN.Urbański studied at Warsaw XIX lyceum of Warsaw Insurgents , and then at the University of Warsaw, where he studied Hindi philosophy... |
Polsat Polsat Polsat is Poland's second biggest television channel, founded on December 5, 1992 and owned by Zygmunt Solorz-Żak.Polsat belongs to the Polsat Group , which also owns other channels:*Polsat HD*Polsat 2 International*Polsat News*TV Biznes... |
|
 Russia |
Пирамида Piramida |
Ivan Urgant Ivan Urgant Ivan Andreevich Urgant is a Russian television personality, showman, and an actor.Ivan Urgant was born in Leningrad in a family of actors Andrey Urgant and Valeriya Kiseleva.... |
Russia 1 | May 16, 2004–March 20, 2005 |
 Singapore |
The Pyramid Game | Samuel Chong Benedict Goh Darryl David |
Channel 5 | late 1990s |
 Turkey |
Piramit | aTV ATV Turkey atv is a nationwide TV channel in Turkey, founded in 1993. atv is one of the most widely watched TV channels in Turkey. atv is an acronym of Actual Television.Since 2007 atv is owned by Çalık Holding.- Shows :News Programming* atv Ana Haber... |
1994–1995 | |
 United Kingdom |
The Pyramid Game The Pyramid Game The Pyramid Game was a United Kingdom game show based on the American format of the same name that was originally shown on ITV from 1981 to 1984 then 1989 to 1990 hosted by Steve Jones, then revived by Challenge in 2007 hosted by Donny Osmond.... |
Steve Jones | ITV ITV ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK... |
1981–1984 1989–1990 |
| Donny's Pyramid Game | Donny Osmond Donny Osmond Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond is an American singer, musician, actor, dancer, radio personality, and former teen idol. Osmond has also been a talk and game show host, record producer and author. In the mid 1960s, he and four of his elder brothers gained fame as the Osmond Brothers on the long... |
Challenge | 2007 | |
 Venezuela |
Match 4 | Juan Manuel Montesinos | Venevision Venevisión Venevisión is one of Venezuela's largest television networks and a Venezuelan cable and terrestrial television network, which is owned and presided over by Gustavo Cisneros... |
1980s |
 Vietnam |
Kim tự tháp | Chi Bảo | HTV7 | April 30, 2005–2008 |
Episode status
ABC wipedWiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
most, if not all, of the tapes from the daytime Pyramid between 1974 and early 1978, with all episodes afterward existing. Three episodes from 1976, a full week of shows from October 1977 with William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
and Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....
, and three early 1978 episodes circulate among private collectors.
The status of the show's first season on CBS (1973–1974) is unknown, since CBS did not wipe game shows. One 1973 episode circulates among collectors. Three episodes of the original CBS version exist in the UCLA Film and Television Archive (including the third episode), and 14 episodes taped in the fall of 1973 originating from CBS Television City
CBS Television City
CBS Television City is a television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of North Fairfax Avenue...
in Hollywood have aired on GSN
Game Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
. GSN has also aired The $20,000 Pyramid (various episodes from 1978 and 1979), the CBS $25,000 Pyramid, and the $100,000 Pyramid. Both 1980s versions currently air on the network.
CBS Television Distribution
CBS Television Distribution
CBS Television Distribution is a global television distribution company, formed from the merger of CBS Corporation's two domestic television distribution arms CBS Paramount Domestic Television and King World Productions, including its home entertainment arm CBS Home Entertainment...
(originally Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
) owns the rights to the version hosted by Bill Cullen, and television distribution rights to the John Davidson version (whose ancillary rights are owned by StudioCanal
StudioCanal
StudioCanal is a French-based production and distribution company that owns the third-largest film library in the world...
via the latter's acquisition of syndicator Orbis Communications). Reruns of The $50,000 Pyramid aired in 1982 on the CBN Cable Network, shortly before the premiere of the CBS revival. None of these versions have aired on GSN. The 2000s revival is intact, and has aired on GSN.
Sony, which controls the rest of the Pyramid library, also jointly owns GSN with DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
.