"This is the $25,000 Pyramid"...NOT!
Randy Amasia
"Mark Wahlberg -- he used to host a t**k s**w."
- CBS Page to a 40-something
To paraphrase TPiR 25:
"It's bad!
It's really bad!
It's really, really bad!
It's awful!"
Carl "Rialtus" Knecht and I attended this evening's taping of
Pilot "A."
The game resembles classic Pyramid in that contestants and
celebrities give and receive clues in a variety of
enigmatically-labeled subjects. Or, in the words of of Mark
himself, it's "In the theme of the $10,000 Pyramid."
And speaking of themes, the new theme made me want to break out
in the Macarena.
Sorry, John, it was shot in Studio 56, home of The Pat Sajak
Show.
<ROUND 1>
The first six subjects were:
I'M OK
YOU'RE MARY KAY
LOVE MILLI VANILLI'S
SHAQ GREATEST HITS
LET ME BE ON I'VE GOT A DON'T HAVE A
TOP FOR A CHANGE SHIRLEY JONES COW, MOM
Each subject was represented by one of six "Pyramid Players"
(probably comedians on the Improv/Laugh Factory circuit), each
sitting behijnd a podium with their subject. Yes, you read that
right, six celebrities. I thought they were gonna ask me to
"Get ready to match the stars."
Each of the contestants picks a subject. The celebrity who
represents that subject joins the contestant center stage and
proceeds to describe 7 items in 30-seconds, just like we're used
to. So far, so-so. If the contestant gets 7/7, they get a
prize.
This is not a Mystery 7, this is for *any* 7/7. How many times
has Pyramid had a perfect game?
I guess the answers and the points will be added in Post,
because we didn't see 'em on the studio monitors.
Carl: "This could grow on me."
Randy: "Like a mole? A cancer?"
Round 1 ended 19 - 12. But round 2 can change everything.
<ROUND 2>
They play the end-game, but with all six celebrities. Each
contestant has 60-seconds to convey a subject to as many of the
Pyramid Players ("Remember how much you liked The Gong Show with
recurring guests? You'll get to love these Pyramid Players like
a family!") as possible -- if you have time remaining after #6,
you start all over again at the bottom. Each time the
contestant is successful, they earn 5 points and $100. And yes,
Mark and the audience counted out the money, just like on Chuck
Woolery on Scrabble.
<ROUND 3>
Kinda like round 1, except that there were only 3 subject in
play.
The player behind at the end of round 2 goes first. The
contestant picks a lucky subject/Pyramid Partner [if (s)he wins,
this is the Pyramid Player that will give the list) and has :60
to convey the items on the list, but they do it round-robin
style, like on StYD. Each correct answer is worth 10 points.
The leader at the end of round 3 goes on to...
(scroll down)
<FINAL PYRAMID ROUND>
It's the Winners Circle (more like a Winners Nook -- more later)
that you know and love. Six subjects, sixty seconds. Monitors
instead of trilons (flippy boxes). Each correct answer is worth
$200. Heck, why not? The first subject was "Soft Things"; the
top subject was "Romantic Movies." No increase in difficulty.
<NOTES, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER>
Staging: The contestants, when not in play, were stationed
stage left, the playing area was center stage, the Pyramid
Players and categories were upstage from center, and the Winners
Circle was stage left downstage.
The Winners Circle looked more like a Winnres Arch or Winners
Nook.
They dumped the pyramid-shaped logo for some 90s thing that
looked like it belonged on a web browser. Carl described it as,
"Something out of A Current Affair."
The set was done in beige w/ brown and green highlights.
In the round 1 of the main game, if you pass, you can come
back(!)
Round 2, one correct subject was "THINGS A BABY SITTER SAYS."
You would expect, based on past experience, that merely saying
"baby Sitter" would be enough. Nope! No "ping!" until J. Karen
(One of the Pyramid Players) actually said, "Things a Baby
Sitter says." She initially said, "Things a Baby Sitter does"
but that wasn't enough. She then kept repeating "Baby Sitter,"
but Noooooo!
During the playing of the main game on all previous versions of
Pyramid, the camera stayed on a static shot for all :30. Not so
here. The director kept taking back and forth.
During one stop-down, Mark entertained the audience by flipping
a hat into the air and having it land on his head, then
balancing the beak of the hat on his nose. He proudly announced,
"That's how I got the gig."
No "doot-doot-doot" during the end-game.
No clock on the screen.
No "$25,000" on top of the Pyramid.
No light bulbs.
They kept the cuckoo!
Just before shooting a pick-up, Mark bragged how strict they are
in the judging. Not two minutes later, the Pyramid Partner
gives an illegal clue and it goes right past the judge(s).
Final quote:
The warm-up guy (George) was telling us what a wonderful show it
is and added, "If you do not agree then to hell with you!"
Se ya there, George.
RATING:
OIn Randy's ANalytic ASSessment (Randy's AN ASS) scale:
-2.236 0 +2.236
| | |
...............................
"The $25,000 Pyramid" gets (INSERT SCRABBLE LETTER SEARCH SFX
HERE)
-2.236 0 +2.236
| | |
...............................
^
|
-1.282
It's better than Big Deal, but only becasue there's no animal
cruelty.
Any questions, feel free to ask.
--
Randy Amasia
-----
Keeper of the un-celebrity Whew! official rules page
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/8105/whewrulz.htm
bma...@mail.sgi.net
Randy Amasia wrote:
>
> "Mark Wahlberg -- he used to host a t**k s**w."
> - CBS Page to a 40-something
>
> To paraphrase TPiR 25:
>
> "It's bad!
> It's really bad!
> It's really, really bad!
> It's awful!"
>
PLEASE tell me this is a really early April Fool's joke.
The Beatmaster
John Saponaro
Randy Amasia wrote:
>
> Each subject was represented by one of six "Pyramid Players"
> (probably comedians on the Improv/Laugh Factory circuit), each
> sitting behijnd a podium with their subject. Yes, you read that
> right, six celebrities. I thought they were gonna ask me to
> "Get ready to match the stars."
I assume this is a REAL pilot for an acutal PYRAMID revival. Didn't
they learn anything from Jack Barry's attempt to have celebrities
represent categories in THE JOKER'S WILD?
Randy Amasia
Would that I could, but I can not. :-(
--
Randy Amasia
-----
Keeper of the un-celebrity Whew! official rules page
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/8105/whewrulz.htm
bma...@mail.sgi.net wrote in article
<329292...@mail.sgi.net>...
> Randy Amasia wrote:
> >
> > "Mark Wahlberg -- he used to host a t**k s**w."
> > - CBS Page to a 40-something
> >
> > To paraphrase TPiR 25:
> >
> > "It's bad!
> > It's really bad!
> > It's really, really bad!
> > It's awful!"
> >
>