"$100,000 Pyramid" primetime this summer on ABC

[Nick]

The tiebreaker as it is now sticks out with the weird explanation and the dramatic reveal. If the count-up bothers you that much, start a clock at 30 for the first team. and let that be the maximum time, a la the 99 second time on Scrabble. If they somehow crash and burn and can't score 3 farking points with Words That Begin With This Letter, the other team simply has to tie in less than the 30 seconds. I'm not going to worry about the one-in-a-million "they also got 2 in exactly 30 seconds" situation.

Fair enough.  Perhaps I should have said a count-up clock would stick out, but just about anything would be better than what they've got.

Although, really, I'd go back to the standard best-out-of-7-in-30-or-less since, y'know, it's got a proven track record.

[clemon79]

Although, really, I'd go back to the standard best-out-of-7-in-30-or-less since, y'know, it's got a proven track record.

Well, obviously, so would I, but their complaint is that they don't have time for a regular tiebreaker because we need to waste that minute on Michael rolling his eyes at someone making fun of his gapped teeth. So I'm trying to streamline it and minimize the possibility of either team having to play out the full time.

[SuperSweeper]

Thoughts from last night...

Either the game has been watered down a ton, or Fred Willard was much better than I expected.

I'm pretty sure that we're not going to see a celebrity give in the Winner's Circle this season.  Are we sure that they were even given the option?

The less said about the second half-hour, the better.  I don't think I've ever seen as many illegal clues given as I did in those 30 minutes.

[chad1m]

Are we sure that they were even given the option?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Contestants are allowed to give or receive, but are encouraged to give because they've had more time to practice the game than the first-season celebrities, and giving "keeps the game in their hands" so if an illegal clue is given, it's not because of the celebrity.

[TimK2003]

Thoughts from last night...

Either the game has been watered down a ton, or Fred Willard was much better than I expected.

I'm pretty sure that we're not going to see a celebrity give in the Winner's Circle this season.  Are we sure that they were even given the option?

The less said about the second half-hour, the better.  I don't think I've ever seen as many illegal clues given as I did in those 30 minutes.

I was surprised that Fred Willard was so subdued on last nights episode.  He played well, but I thought he would be a little more animated.

The 1st Winners Circle in the first half hour was somewhat heartbreaking -- knocking on the door of at least a civilian WC record time but slipped up on the top subject.  I was definitely wishing that he won it all, as he was truly a contestant that liked the game, knew the game, wanted to win the game, and was truly likeable.

I'm glad that my wife and I were muting the gameplay in the second hour and playing the rounds ourselves.  Even without the sound on most of the time, Behar looked as dumb as a box of rocks on many occasions...But then again,...

[Fedya]

I wasn't paying close enough attention, but were Fred and Yvette introduced already seated?

Behar looked as dumb as a box of rocks

And as we learned from Melissa Peterman last week, rocks are what you throw at people.

[jjman920]

Either the game has been watered down a ton, or Fred Willard was much better than I expected.

I was happy that he did well. Both he and Martha are pretty up there. It makes me wonder the oldest known celebrity to appear on any version.

I'm pretty sure that we're not going to see a celebrity give in the Winner's Circle this season.  Are we sure that they were even given the option?

A celebrity will give this season.

I hope they change their minds and relax on the suggestions. I think there have been some celebrities this season who would've been great giving in the Winner's Circle. I suppose they knew they might not get the best celebs out of the gate for the first primetime version of the show, but I don't think it's that necessary.

[BrandonFG]

I was happy that he did well. Both he and Martha are pretty up there. It makes me wonder the oldest known celebrity to appear on any version.

I was actually going to say Bill Cullen in the 80s version, but I had no idea Fred was 76. Come to think of it, Betty White was 80 when she did Donnymid.

I'm pretty sure that we're not going to see a celebrity give in the Winner's Circle this season.  Are we sure that they were even given the option?

A celebrity will give this season.

I hope they change their minds and relax on the suggestions. I think there have been some celebrities this season who would've been great giving in the Winner's Circle. I suppose they knew they might not get the best celebs out of the gate for the first primetime version of the show, but I don't think it's that necessary.

This reminds me of a comment the late Randy Amasia made years ago. I mentioned that I would want to give for the reasons Chad explained. Randy countered (and we've seen this several times during the current run) that you can give stellar clues, and the celebrity still draw a blank. The guy who infamously said "Your wife" for THINGS YOU HIT actually had decent clues prior to that, but Natasha Lyonne just sat there. There was another guy in the first few episodes who even Michael admitted gave excellent clues.

Joy's partner during the second WC is another example, although she sat there flustered for a couple seconds. That's something I notice happening a lot more during this run.

[TLEberle]

The only solution I can think of is to allow the contestant to both give and receive in the winner's circle, but it's a team game.

[SuperSweeper]

I don't mind the contestants giving on most occasions (seriously, how did you make it to the WC if you have Joy Behar give the clues?), but it's been frustrating over the last two weeks to see both Melissa Peterman and YNB receive and then see no one win the big money.

Also, I am now automatically wary of any celebrity who says that they played the game at home as a child...

What was the average number of Winner's Circle wins per week in the Clark era?  2?  3?

[clemon79]

I wasn't paying close enough attention, but were Fred and Yvette introduced already seated?

They were. I got the feeling that Fred isn't moving especially quickly these days and might have asked to skip the walk-out.

[clemon79]

This reminds me of a comment the late Randy Amasia made years ago. I mentioned that I would want to give for the reasons Chad explained. Randy countered (and we've seen this several times during the current run) that you can give stellar clues, and the celebrity still draw a blank. The guy who infamously said "Your wife" for THINGS YOU HIT actually had decent clues prior to that, but Natasha Lyonne just sat there. There was another guy in the first few episodes who even Michael admitted gave excellent clues.

Okay, but that isn't especially insightful...the celebrity can ALSO give excellent clues and it's just a subject you happen to blank on that day.

All you can really do is ascertain who is more likely to give excellent clues and then hope for the best. As Travis said, it's a team game.

In the WC, I'm giving every single time and I'm confident that gives me the best chance of winning, and that is regardless of the person in the chair across from me.

[Mr. Matté]

I wasn't paying close enough attention, but were Fred and Yvette introduced already seated?

They were. I got the feeling that Fred isn't moving especially quickly these days and might have asked to skip the walk-out.

I too noticed the Bill Cullen-like intro but there were some shots of Fred walking over to the Winners Circle; he was indeed moving a little slower than others (and as stated is 76 so perfectly understandable).

The only solution I can think of is to allow the contestant to both give and receive in the winner's circle, but it's a team game.

Some people are bad at that too:


Also on I think the third W/C where the contestant started to give a way-off clue on the easy first-box, I still don't get why they buzzed her right away even though she didn't get much of any clue out from that. The 80s judge did the same to David Graff on the "States ending in 'O'" on his "It's between--" clue.

[chad1m]

Also on I think the third W/C where the contestant started to give a way-off clue on the easy first-box, I still don't get why they buzzed her right away even though she didn't get much of any clue out from that. The 80s judge did the same to David Graff on the "States ending in 'O'" on his "It's between--" clue.

In both instances, they weren't giving a list of words, they were giving descriptions of words, which isn't what the subject is looking for. I assume in both cases, they were fearful of saying "Z" and "O," even though it's okay.

[Unrealtor]

The less said about the second half-hour, the better.  I don't think I've ever seen as many illegal clues given as I did in those 30 minutes.

And even with that, I noticed at least one case of a clue giver giving enough of the sound at the start of the word before catching themselves that I assumed that they would be zapped for it, but they weren't.

I too noticed the Bill Cullen-like intro but there were some shots of Fred walking over to the Winners Circle; he was indeed moving a little slower than others (and as stated is 76 so perfectly understandable).

I was expecting the full Bill Cullen treatment until he stood up to walk to the Winner's Circle. It looked like he had to steady himself on his partner for the step down from the platform, so doing the reverse could easily have made the usual entry a no-go.