Author Topic: "Pyramid Rocks"? (Read 4520 times)

chad1m · « **on:** May 21, 2009, 08:57:31 PM »

While doing some searching on the original show in Google Image Search, I found this image, which led me to this very cheap demo. It looks to be pilot called Pyramid Rocks, a musically-themed version of Pyramid produced for VH1 by Scott Sternberg, according to other information on that site. "Celebrities" are Riki Rachtman and Ellen Cleghorne and hosted by the great Bil Dwyer. Judging by Riki's references to WCW, this is from about 1999 to 2000.

The format appears to be faithful to the original Pyramid, except:
- All categories are musically related, as one would expect.
- A perfect 21 gains you an extra bonus prize
- No singing (Sort of odd for a music based show, but makes sense for licensing.)
- The end game is played for $5,000.

It only goes into the first round of game one, but it's certainly not a bad idea, at least in my opinion. I did a search through the board and ATGS and absolutely nothing came up in results. My guess is this was developed in the wake of Rock & Roll Jeopardy's success. Does anyone have any earthly idea about this?

mmb5 · « **Reply #1 on:** May 21, 2009, 09:03:25 PM »

Discussed a while ago.

chad1m · « **Reply #2 on:** May 21, 2009, 09:04:25 PM »

Gotcha. I just did a search for "pyramid rocks".

J.R. · « **Reply #3 on:** May 21, 2009, 09:30:01 PM »

[quote name=\'mmb5\' post=\'216281\' date=\'May 21 2009, 08:03 PM\']Discussed a while ago.[/quote]
Carson Daly? No wonder it was doomed to fail.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #4 on:** May 21, 2009, 09:35:34 PM »

Looking at the set, I guess Donnymid had to recycle as many of those criss-cross girders as they could.

clemon79 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 21, 2009, 09:55:35 PM »

The Winner's Man-Cave is a hoot, too.

That said, you could do a lot worse than Bil Dwyer as a Pyramid host.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #6 on:** May 22, 2009, 12:54:26 AM »

Dorky observations:

-The mention of Jennifer Love Hewitt's Time of Your Life pegs this at fall-1999 (Time was a very short-lived spinoff from ~~Republican~~ Party of Five). The female contestant also mentions Sting's "new album" (I'm assuming Brand New Day), released in Sept. 1999. In that case, Bil was only a few months removed from some Fox Sports game show called Ultimate Fan League, which might explain why he seems so ill at ease compared to his later projects (I thought he did pretty well with the GSN I've Got a Secret.

-The set's actually somewhat decent (TRANSLATION: It doesn't look like a damn rave minus the glowsticks). If this is fall '99, then it was prolly a bit too soon to fully emulate Millionaire, despite Bil's Regis-esque tie. And yeah, the Winner's Man Cave is odd...and very misplaced.

-The interaction and game play seemed very...awkward, and the celebs immediately found other ways to describe some of the musical terms (i.e. the dances). Not a problem, but you've just turned Rock Pyramid into plain Pyramid (not a bad thing). It wasn't bad, per se, but I could see why it didn't get picked up...

BTW, did they ever find a working vehicle for Ellen Cleghorne?

clemon79 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 22, 2009, 01:00:23 AM »

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'216296\' date=\'May 21 2009, 09:54 PM\']BTW, did they ever find a working vehicle for Ellen Cleghorne?[/quote]
Several, as it happens.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #8 on:** May 22, 2009, 03:34:09 AM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'216297\' date=\'May 22 2009, 01:00 AM\'][quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'216296\' date=\'May 21 2009, 09:54 PM\']BTW, did they ever find a working vehicle for Ellen Cleghorne?[/quote]
Several, as it happens.
[/quote]
Well played.

catnap1972 · « **Reply #9 on:** May 22, 2009, 08:39:01 AM »

TRILONS?!?

That alone was the nail in the show's coffin. Everyone knows you need bigass 50" plasma screens that lift, rotate, tilt, and dance. NOTHING else will do!

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #10 on:** May 22, 2009, 11:26:20 AM »

Around this time there was also an effort to do a rock version of Family Feud. And of course Rock & Roll Jeopardy ended up airing for a couple of seasons.

parliboy · « **Reply #11 on:** May 22, 2009, 11:40:38 AM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'216297\' date=\'May 22 2009, 12:00 AM\'][quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'216296\' date=\'May 21 2009, 09:54 PM\']BTW, did they ever find a working vehicle for Ellen Cleghorne?[/quote]
Several, as it happens.
[/quote]
Where's a screencap of Sally Knorp when you need one?

bwood · « **Reply #12 on:** May 22, 2009, 11:43:35 AM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'216311\' date=\'May 22 2009, 11:26 AM\']Around this time there was also an effort to do a rock version of Family Feud. And of course Rock & Roll Jeopardy ended up airing for a couple of seasons.[/quote]

So the official title was "Pyramid Rocks". I always called it "Rock and Roll Pyramid".

I was just thinking about "Rock Feud" the other day. My fiance and I watch "Rock and a Hard Place" or DirecTV and I was thinking that if they wanted to do a "Rock Feud" pilot or series today, they could totally borrow the set from "RaaHP" and not have to change a thing.

EDIT: Same site has a pilot for a show called "Hype" hosted by David Leisure of "Empty Nest" fame. HERE

Jay Temple · « **Reply #13 on:** May 22, 2009, 03:27:01 PM »

I was glad to see two things that Donnymid didn't have, the trilons and the celebrities entering. Unless you're Bill Cullen or Stephen Hawking, walk on stage, darn it!

tvmitch · « **Reply #14 on:** May 22, 2009, 04:00:53 PM »

It's a damn shame that Bil Dwyer hasn't been tasked to host a solid show lately. He and Kiernan are two of the most underrated/underused hosts out there.

/Eggcrates!
//Poorly-lit eggcrates!