Third Time's a Charm? Pyramid in Development for TBS

[Johnissoevil]

For those who say Donnymid was "broken," just remember the Woolery and Wahlberg pilots from 1996 and 1997.  Those two should be (and probably are) thankful they didn't end up landing a regular job hosting such a mangled version of the game.  I'll take Donnymid over either of those two pilots anyday.

[TimK2003]

It saddens me that we're all automatically dismissing "don't book hire crappy celebrities Contestant & Celebrity Coordinators."

Fixed it For 'ya.

[TLEberle]

For those who say Donnymid was "broken," just remember the Woolery and Wahlberg pilots from 1996 and 1997.  

The pilot versions didn't make it to TV. Pyramid did, and I'm not going to cut the show slack because it could have been much much worse.

[Neumms]

What's boring about it? I think the interesting thing about the front game is the tightrope of "will the team get to 21" and then "who will win the tiebreaker", waiting to see who will fall off the tightrope first.

That is the interesting thing, and it happened, what, once a week? It's just not that compelling a game. "Password" and "Taboo" are the same game but with enough challenge to be interesting. Donnymid tried to make it more challenging with the time limit, but it was too frantic. I think it would be great if the front game were handled as simply a qualifying round, a la the Fastest Finger. Maybe you go up the big Pyramid a number of times, like Million-Dollar Password. Then we're getting into a reimagining.

[Jimmy Owen]

First thought is to leave the show as it was in the Clark/Cullen eras.  But if they want to strech it out to an hour, play it the same way as 80's Pyramid, with a little more time for kibitzing, but the top players of the day would go to a final Winner's Circle, for a chance at whatever they determine will be the title of the show. ($500,000 Pyramid?)  So there would be three Winner's Circles per day.  The third one a commercial break after the second one.

[Neumms]

But if they want to strech it out to an hour, play it the same way as 80's Pyramid, with a little more time for kibitzing, but the top players of the day would go to a final Winner's Circle, for a chance at whatever they determine will be the title of the show. ($500,000 Pyramid?)

Actually, that's one more thing Donnymid got right. Get the dollar amount out of the title. It rings hollow if they only play for it twice a year, and if it's not $1,000,000 it's not impressive enough.

[Neumms]

Another idea...I recall that in rehearsals for the original $10,000 version, there were 10 categories and it was too much to get through in 60 seconds, so Bob Stewart covered the bottom level with a plank. What if they made it 10 categories in 90 seconds? Then it's more of the fun part of the show, especially if it's an hour. Or, if it's an hour and there's one grand prize round at the end each day, maybe that once it's 10 boxes, with an incredibly theatric rising set display to add the bottom level.

[JasonA1]

I can't help but feel these posts are answering the question "what if you HAD to change Pyramid" rather than "what would improve Pyramid?" We don't really know how the "old" show would perform in a modern circumstance, because practically every time they've gone back to the well, something changes.

-Jason

[Neumms]

It saddens me that we're all automatically dismissing "don't book crappy celebrities" as a potential solution.

Mind you, I understand why that is. But it's sad that we're accepting it, however implicitly.

There's crappy as in how badly they play and crappy as in they're not celebrated nor are they entertaining. The former they can avoid if they take proper care in selection and rehearsal. The latter is different.

It's hard to do regulars when you don't have a panel of nine or six or even four. "What's My Line?" did great for almost a decade with the same four every week, but the rotating chair(s) gave it necessary spice as time went on. (IGAS was okay with the same four because there was something goofy every week by nature of the show.) Even if it was Vicki Lawrence and Dick Cavett every day on Pyramid, it would get tiring after a while.  They need to have a pool of some size to draw from, or else avoid the issue with teams of strangers.

[Dbacksfan12]

Donnymid tried to make it more challenging with the time limit

I thought this was done because of commercial pacing. (Saved them two minutes).

[clemon79]

There's crappy as in how badly they play and crappy as in they're not celebrated nor are they entertaining. The former they can avoid if they take proper care in selection and rehearsal. The latter is different.

The latter I could give a rip about, too, if they can play the game. If they discover that one of the minor characters from Insert Safe Obscure Sitcom Here is a good Pyramid player, I'm fine with booking the living crap out of them. Star power is wayyyyy down on my list of requirements for a good Pyramid booking.

[Otm Shank]

For the celebrities, there should be some "oh yeah, that guy" factor, which was a little easier when there was a three-channel universe. Because the talent pool has become an immense lake, some of the reality bottom feeders become the low-hanging fruit for the casting department. Since the game is the star, the talent players cannot be "A" list stars that outshine the program, but also cannot have the "Z" list who think their wattage is much more than it is.

It takes work to find the good personality and good game player, both for the celebrity and the contestant. Unfortunately, television has tried to do more with less, and casting producers are young and hired on short-term contracts. They are doing this as a credit, because they know they will be looking for a job, in some cases, before the show hits the air.

[clemon79]

but also cannot have the "Z" list who think their wattage is much more than it is.

If they can play the game well and give moderately good TV, why not?

The celebrity on Pyramid serves one very important purpose, in two parts: They are a) a partner for the contestants that the contestant doesn't personally know, which fixes the inside-knowledge we-had-this-for-dinner-last-night clue problem, and they do this as b) paid talent, and therefore are removed from the money-winning equation and have no vested interest in the outcome of the game.

That's all. I really don't think star power enters into it in any meaningful way, except to let the viewer figure out who the players and who the partners are. Fer God's sake, two regulars on '80s Pyramid were secondary characters on My Sister Sam.

[BrandonFG]

I'm not really worried about the number of channels or star power. Although cable/satellite has grown immensely since the Clark shows went off in 1988, there were still some cable regulars back in the day as well (Stuart Pankin of HBO's Not Necessarily the News comes to mind).

And I'm sure you could find a mix of secondary sitcom names and I Love the x0s or Comedy Central Roast commentators/regulars who are capable of giving/receiving clues, yet still just recognizable enough. And going with Chris's point, we could rattle off quite a few celebrities from the 80s version that weren't necessarily big names then or now.

As far as gameplay, I'd prefer to see it remain a half-hour show, mainly because it gives the runner-up from game 1 a second chance if their partner sucks. I also like the idea of four categories instead of six, to allow for a looser structure.

Don't know if this was suggested but if the show runs for an hour, I'd make it more like the 70s network versions, except three matches. Two contestants in the first, another two in the second. The winners of those two games each play a Winner's Circle for $20,000, then face off in a championship third match, with the winner going to a bigger Winner's Circle (say $30,000 to make it a "$50,000 Pyramid"). I don't really care about dollar values right now, and I know this gives the unfair advantage that the 70s version, used. The only other alternative I could think of was do three matches, and make it best of 3, but then you have a pointless third match if there's a sweep.

[Neumms]

The celebrity on Pyramid serves one very important purpose, in two parts: They are a) a partner for the contestants that the contestant doesn't personally know, which fixes the inside-knowledge we-had-this-for-dinner-last-night clue problem, and they do this as b) paid talent, and therefore are removed from the money-winning equation and have no vested interest in the outcome of the game.

That's all. I really don't think star power enters into it in any meaningful way, except to let the viewer figure out who the players and who the partners are. Fer God's sake, two regulars on '80s Pyramid were secondary characters on My Sister Sam.

Star power might enter into it, it being a television program and all. If the only people you can drum up and who can play passably are secondary characters on a #40-rated sitcom, that may be holding you back. Especially with the affable Andy Richter as host, the teams of strangers thing might be attractive. Partly because they DO have a vested interest in the outcome.