Most appearances on Pyramid

[Jay Temple]

Having learned that the three days that Soupy Sales and Carol Channing did to finish out the CBS run were just that, rather than a five-day stint not fully broadcast, I had to adjust a count I did a couple years ago. The five people with the most appearances are:

198 Nipsey Russell
196 Soupy Sales (Thinking he'd done five with only three broadcast, I had the two men tied.)
172 Vicki Lawrence
170 Adrienne Barbeau
160 Jo Anne Worley
These figures count each half-hour show separately.

Also, it means that Carol Channing is tied for fourth place for the fewest shows done in the Bob Stewart era. Third place is a tie between Gabe Kaplan, Freddie Prinze and John Ritter, who each did two episodes of the Cullen 25 and nothing else.

[chrispw1]

Aren't there about four months of missing data from the 1973-74 CBS version since TV Guide wasn't listing celebrities due to watergate. I wonder if Vicki Lawrence or Adrienne Barbeau appeared on that version, I'd think there is a good chance they would have since they were both starring on CBS shows at that time. The earliest appearance listed for Vicki was September 1975 and Adrianne's first appearance in December 1974.

[Ian Wallis]

Aren't there about four months of missing data from the 1973-74 CBS version since TV Guide wasn't listing celebrities due to watergate.

There are.  There's a lot of data from the first year that is missing.  In fact, in the last episode from TVCity (which has been run on GSN), Dick states who next week's stars are going to be back in New York, and they weren't the ones listed in TVGuide.  Can't remember off-hand who they were, but I think Tony Randall may have been one of them.

[mmb5]

I found listings via NewspaperArchive for three of the missing ones:

4/9-13: Michelle Lee, Jack Klugman
4/16-20: Jack Cassidy, Pat Carroll
5/21-25: Luci Arnaz, Mel Torme


--Mike

[Jay Temple]

[quote name=\'mmb5\' post=\'170574\' date=\'Nov 26 2007, 07:06 PM\']
I found listings via NewspaperArchive for three of the missing ones:

4/9-13: Michelle Lee, Jack Klugman
4/16-20: Jack Cassidy, Pat Carroll
5/21-25: Luci Arnaz, Mel Torme


--Mike
[/quote]
Thanks for the info! Dick Clark mentioned a week that I assume is part of that gap, in which Tony Randall and Jack Klugman faced each other. Mel Tormé was listed in the Parade of Celebrities in 1987, but this was the first time I'd seen a listing for him.

ETA: And I knew that Lucie Arnaz had appeared that year because she helped Joel Brooks win $10,000, and they faced each other on the $25KP in 1988.

[pyrfan]

Here's some info not found in TV Guides that might change your tabulations. Keep in mind ahead of time that I don't know how much of this info you already know, so forgive me if I'm being redundant. Hope it helps!

1. Jo Anne Worley also played a week of the CBS 10K against Ed Asner in August of 1973, according to a reliable source. One of the Broadway columns in August (maybe "The Lyon's Den") makes reference to a comment Jo Anne made at the taping. This adds 5 days to her tally.

2. Adrienne Barbeau played a week of the 20K against Jack Carter in early 1977, so that's 5 more appearances for her. The all-time biggest New York winner (until the 50K came along) started her first of 15 trips to the Winner's Circle this week.

3. Nipsey Russell played a week of the 20K against Connie Francis in the summer of 1977, which makes 5 more appearances for him. Incidentally, he won every game that week.

Here's the breakdown I came up with, factoring all this in:

Nipsey Russell: 197 appearances
CBS 10K: 5
10/20K: 80
syndie 25K: 8
50K: 10
CBS 25K: 69
100K #1: 25
100K #2: 0
Donny: 0

Soupy Sales: 197 appearances
CBS 10K: 7
10/20K: 110
syndie 25K: 10
50K: 10
CBS 25K: 35
100K #1: 20
100K #2: 5
Donny: 0

Jo Anne Worley: 192 appearances
CBS 10K: 14
10/20K: 79
syndie 25K: 10
50K: 15
CBS 25K: 54
100K #1: 15
100K #2: 5
Donny: 0

Vicki Lawrence: 172 appearances
CBS 10K: 0
10/20K: 30
syndie 25K: 6
50K: 0
CBS 25K: 88
100K #1: 30
100K #2: 15
Donny: 3

Adrienne Barbeau: 169 appearances
CBS 10K: 0
10/20K: 65
syndie 25K: 6
50K: 5
CBS 25K: 45
100K #1: 35
100K #2: 10
Donny: 3

If anyone's interested in a breakdown of this info by weeks, lemme know. This doesn't take into account possible pre-emptions for holidays in 1978 and 1979. I'll have to check TV Guides for those years.

To answer a question asked earlier, the announced celebs for the week they returned to New York in November 1973 were Lucie Arnaz and Tony Randall. Interestingly, TV Guide only lists them as playing for one day that week, but an e-mail friend who was in the studio saw the whole five days being taped.

Thanks to the Newspaper Archive, I was able to piece together some more info regarding celeb appearances in the summer of 1973. Jack Klugman and Tony Randall's week was taped on June 27th, and it most likely aired 2 1/2 weeks later. (Earlier tapings aired a week and a half later, but Watergate pushed the air schedule a week behind by the summer.) Others who were opponents that summer and early fall were Cicely Tyson and Edward Albert (taped in early July), Fannie Flagg and Bill Cullen (late July/early August), Anne Meara and Dick Shawn (early August), the aforementioned Worley and Asner, Peggy Cass and Joel Grey (early September), and Shelley Winters and Jack Carter (early September -- with Jack, as mentioned elsewhere on the board, winning all 10 games).

Others who played that summer and early fall, though opponents are not known so far, were Charles Nelson Reilly and McLean Stevenson, with Bernadette Peters and Milt Kamen playing sometime during the first year, too, though it might not have been until 1974. It's also highly likely that Pat Carroll and Rita Moreno made second appearances that summer, based on clips of opening wins, and that Betsy Palmer was a last-minute replacement for Cloris Leachman as Dick Shawn's opponent in May. (Cloris would reschedule and tape her week, against Larry Blyden, a few weeks later.) One more listing that I stumbled across was that Anita Gillette and Bill Cullen were opponents on January 28, 1974, but it's not known yet if that day spilled over from the previous week.

Love this thread!


Brendan

[lobster]

[quote name=\'pyrfan\' post=\'172957\' date=\'Dec 23 2007, 11:07 PM\']

Nipsey Russell: 197 appearances
CBS 10K: 5
10/20K: 80
{etc}
[/quote]

wow
do you have data on how many times each of them went to the top of the pyramid?
if so, who's the leader?  If I were to guess, I'd say not Nipsey, as I never really found him to be the ultimate clue-giver and he often seemed to get flustered when a contestant wasn't "getting it" .. but I could be wrong just by his sheer number of appearances...

LObs

[pyrfan]

[quote name=\'lobster\' post=\'172962\' date=\'Dec 24 2007, 12:25 AM\']

wow
do you have data on how many times each of them went to the top of the pyramid?
if so, who's the leader?  If I were to guess, I'd say not Nipsey, as I never really found him to be the ultimate clue-giver and he often seemed to get flustered when a contestant wasn't "getting it" .. but I could be wrong just by his sheer number of appearances...

LObs
[/quote]

On the subject of the most wins in the Circle, I can only speak with any real authority about the L.A. years, and even then, my info is slightly incomplete. (Didn't you just hate when USA pre-empted "Pyramid" for golf or tennis?) But for 1982-1991, here's the (slightly incomplete) top 10:

1. Charlie Siebert: 32 wins (at least)
2. Earl Holliman: 31
3. Vicki Lawrence: 30 (at least)
4. Shelley Smith: 26 (at least)
5. Richard Kline: 23
6. Adrienne Barbeau: 21
7. LeVar Burton: 20 (at least)
    Markie Post: 20 (at least)
    Martha Smith: 20
    Mary Cadorette: 20


And for you New York "Pyramid" fans, here are stats on how many times other frequent NY players won the Circle in L.A.:

Nipsey Russell: 19
Dick Cavett: 15 (at least)
Lois Nettleton: 14
Jo Anne Worley: 9
Soupy Sales: 5
Clifton Davis: 4 (at least)
Lynn Redgrave: 4
Anita Gillette: 3
Bill Cullen: 3 (at least)
Rita Moreno: 3 (at least)
John Schuck: 3 (at least)


The big surprise on this list is the comparatively lackluster performances of Soupy Sales, who was easily the biggest money-winner in the New York years, giving away over a quarter of a million dollars in 8 years. (Thanks to Mark Guerra and William Padron for this info.) His first four times on the show in L.A. produced no big wins, though he did have 10 close calls. On his fifth visit, though, he made up for it, winning $10,000 three times (including twice in one show, and one of those was with 29 seconds left on the clock) and a $5,000 tiebreaker.

On a related topic, there are at least three celebs who have cracked the half-million mark in money-winning between 1973-1991. Two of them are neck and neck for the top spot. Anybody want to hazard some guesses?


Brendan

[Ian Wallis]

To answer a question asked earlier, the announced celebs for the week they returned to New York in November 1973 were Lucie Arnaz and Tony Randall. Interestingly, TV Guide only lists them as playing for one day that week, but an e-mail friend who was in the studio saw the whole five days being taped.

Thanks for the info Brendan.  I have all TVGuides from that time but it's frustrating when so much celebrity info just isn't there.  I know that real-life (Watergate) prevented that from happening, but even when TVGuide listed the celebrities that summer they frequently weren't correct.  At least the newspaper archives are giving us more information from that sketchy period.  Too bad more tapes didn't exist...that were generally available, that is!

[Fedya]

I think Henry Polic II took two contestants to the top in $100K tournaments, so he'd be a first guess

Shelley Smith won a tournament as well, if memory serves (beating LeVar Burton).

[Kevin Prather]

[quote name=\'Fedya\' post=\'173221\' date=\'Dec 26 2007, 08:37 PM\']
I think Henry Polic II took two contestants to the top in $100K tournaments, so he'd be a first guess

Shelley Smith won a tournament as well, if memory serves (beating LeVar Burton).
[/quote]
Shelly Smith won two $100K tournaments, as did Adrienne Barbeau. I don't believe Henry did though.

[pyrfan]

Oops. Did a quick recalculation, and I have to change a few numbers on that list I submitted the other day. Here's the updated list of the most wins in L.A., which means the top 10 now becomes the top 11, thanks to a 5-way tie for 7th place:

1. Charlie Siebert: 32 wins (at least)
2. Earl Holliman: 31
3. Vicki Lawrence: 30 (at least)
4. Shelley Smith: 26 27 (at least)
5. Richard Kline: 23
6. Adrienne Barbeau: 21
7. LeVar Burton: 20 (at least)
    Markie Post: 20 (at least)
    Martha Smith: 20
    Mary Cadorette: 20
    Nipsey Russell: 20


Brendan

[knagl]

[quote name=\'Fedya\' post=\'173221\' date=\'Dec 27 2007, 12:37 AM\']
I think Henry Polic II....he'd be a first guess[/quote]
That would have been my guess, too.