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

[PYLdude]

More to the point, though, if they would be shopping Pyramid for syndication I'd guess it would be as a replacement for FABlife, no? Especially on the stations that didn't pick up RightThisMinute like the ABC O&O cluster did?

Most likely. Would be fun to see it on a daily basis again.

And how.

[Flerbert419]

They also did two opens to the show: the first was for primetime, and the second was for a potential daytime pickup. It seems they are shooting more shows than were ordered, so they can choose the best ones to air in primetime. The remaining episodes could then be used for a new daytime game.

Hm, this wasn't what I heard when I attended. Although there was a brief discussion of how great it would be if the show was picked up for daytime, the alternate opening was to put the two shows together to make the hour block. There is a different opening if it is the first show of the hour or the second.

There were a number of scenarios that came up during gameplay that were handled perfectly...except one, but I suppose in today's world there isn't much you can do about it.

Flagging this until such a time when you're at liberty to discuss it.

Since this was already shared I suppose I can discuss it now - they have eliminated any additional rounds for ties in the maingame and instead whoever got to their score in the least amount of total time advances to the Winner's Circle.

[BillCullen1]

Hm, this wasn't what I heard when I attended. Although there was a brief discussion of how great it would be if the show was picked up for daytime, the alternate opening was to put the two shows together to make the hour block. There is a different opening if it is the first show of the hour or the second.

Since this was already shared I suppose I can discuss it now - they have eliminated any additional rounds for ties in the maingame and instead whoever got to their score in the least amount of total time advances to the Winner's Circle.

On Point 1, the alternate opening has the celebs already seated at their desks. It's a shorter intro.  On Point 2, that does eliminate time restraints for the game. I wondered how they would handle a tie-breaker. Plus I read here that contestants are encouraged to give the clues so if they give an illegal clue, it's on them. On the two shows I saw, the contestants gave clues all four times in the WC. The two male celebs were Randall Park and Dr. Ken. Both shows were exciting. 

[golden-road]

Since this was already shared I suppose I can discuss it now - they have eliminated any additional rounds for ties in the maingame and instead whoever got to their score in the least amount of total time advances to the Winner's Circle.

Wait, so the scores arent wiped, no choice of letters, just whichever team achieved their score in the smaller time won?

[jjman920]

There were a number of scenarios that came up during gameplay that were handled perfectly...except one, but I suppose in today's world there isn't much you can do about it.

Flagging this until such a time when you're at liberty to discuss it.

Since this was already shared I suppose I can discuss it now - they have eliminated any additional rounds for ties in the maingame and instead whoever got to their score in the least amount of total time advances to the Winner's Circle.

Yeah, this is what I wanted to disclose when I first posted, but opted against it.

Since this was already shared I suppose I can discuss it now - they have eliminated any additional rounds for ties in the maingame and instead whoever got to their score in the least amount of total time advances to the Winner's Circle.

Wait, so the scores arent wiped, no choice of letters, just whichever team achieved their score in the smaller time won?

Yes. Michael explained the situation, who had the better time and they went off to the winner's circle. During the break when I saw it, Michael walked to the audience and explained how the old tiebreaker rules (the ones from the 80s) used to work and that they've changed it because of the time they have. Also, when I saw it (on 4/17), he said it was the first tie they had since they began. Don't know if he said that just for us, because he doesn't know when these will air, or if it actually was the first tie they had.

While I'm here, I don't know if it was mentioned in this thread, but when I went to the Rosie/Kathy taping it was only supposed to be one show. However, apparently Rosie and Kathy enjoyed doing the show much that they decided to do another show on the spot. After a 20 minute turnaround, in which Tom Kelly kept us entertained with mock games of Pyramid and The Dating Game (where I won that $20 I mentioned), they filmed the 2nd episode,  pickups and all, in about 35 minutes. I was very impressed. My family and I had worried that if it ran long we'd jeopardize making it in time for the bus back to Baltimore (a non-issue since the damn thing ended up being late), but decided we'd rush after the taping. We were very happy that we didn't have to rush.

[TLEberle]

How is it handled? Do they just reveal who the winner is? (The Australian junior version handled this by increasing the value of each right answer and awarding bonus points for each second remaining.) I can't imagine that it goes well to say "You both have 21 points, the team that did it in the faster time was Tom and Harry, let's go to the winner's circle!"

[aaron sica]

I can ask a question that in no way will spoil anything............At my taping there was a "Pyramid Superfan" who had a $100K Pyramid jacket from the Davidson era. I wonder if said person is here on the forum!

[clemon79]

I can't imagine that it goes well to say "You both have 21 points, the team that did it in the faster time was Tom and Harry, let's go to the winner's circle!"

I suspect that's exactly how they do it, and it does sound pretty unsatisfying (especially with how exciting a well-played tiebreak can be), but I understand needing to fit for time. What might be slightly better is (prior to the last round) "Tom, you need five in 18 seconds or less to win a tiebreaker, or six to win. Describe to your partner these...." And then just slap a graphic up on-screen during that read explaining the total-time thing.

[Pyramid80]

I can ask a question that in no way will spoil anything............At my taping there was a "Pyramid Superfan" who had a $100K Pyramid jacket from the Davidson era. I wonder if said person is here on the forum!

Not sure if he is or not, but I can ask him.

[TLEberle]

How is it that a game show that has eight minutes of actual game play (plus the set-up and cool down periods, so ten minutes-ish) cannot bear to squeeze in another minute of content, especially when that content is frequently the most exciting part of the enterprise? Even Jeopardy has thirteen minutes of game time.

[BrandonFG]

How is it that a game show that has eight minutes of actual game play (plus the set-up and cool down periods, so ten minutes-ish) cannot bear to squeeze in another minute of content, especially when that content is frequently the most exciting part of the enterprise? Even Jeopardy has thirteen minutes of game time.

I think if it were an hour-long show, and not two 30-minute episodes, it's more feasible, esp. if it uses one of the "Best of Three" formats proposed upthread.

I'm guessing a standard episode is 20-21 minutes; considering how rushed 80s episodes were with tiebreakers (and with an extra minute or two of actual show), I can understand why they eliminated it here.

[clemon79]

How is it that a game show that has eight minutes of actual game play (plus the set-up and cool down periods, so ten minutes-ish) cannot bear to squeeze in another minute of content, especially when that content is frequently the most exciting part of the enterprise? Even Jeopardy has thirteen minutes of game time.

First off, to say "eight minutes of actual gameplay" is as disingenuous as saying that an NFL game is only 11 minutes long when you only count the time from hike to whistle. Is it a true statement? Yes. Does it accurately depict the running time of the total content of the program? In no way.

It's real simple: a half-hour of television has more ad time in it than it did 30 years ago. I don't like it, but I get it. And note that the tiebreaks were dicey enough time-wise on the Clark show; Dick would have to rush like hell when there was one. So if they say "we would like to play two full segments in a half-hour, like they did in the '80s," (and I thoroughly laud them for that decision) something has to give, and the first thing that gives is the thing they don't have to deal with all the time, because honestly without that one thing, BECAUSE of them rigid nature of the actual game content, the show becomes infinitely easier to time out to get where they need to be.

[TLEberle]

Please note that I did add on the time for set-up and for applause and discussion after a round of game play to an estimate of ten minutes.

Not knowing specifically how they're handling it, all I can do is guess given who the EP is. There's lots of situations where there might end up being a tie for banked time, and even a tie for zero banked time. There's the possibility that someone could win the Mystery Seven prize on their last go but not win the game because their bank isn't big enough. I think it would be a fine compromise if there's no bonus on the last turn that the final round is timed to reduce the timer so that the "banked time" would be enough to win, or the team loses 21-20. I hope they were clever enough to do that.

(For some reason I thought Michael Davies was in charge of this. Guess not.)

[parliboy]

Please note that I did add on the time for set-up and for applause and discussion after a round of game play to an estimate of ten minutes.

Not knowing specifically how they're handling it, all I can do is guess given who the EP is. There's lots of situations where there might end up being a tie for banked time, and even a tie for zero banked time.

There is.  But since they're running digital, if it's that close, they can stop down for five minutes, plug the time codes into an excel spreadsheet, and have an answer to a 60th of a second.  And I am willing to bet that they have other tiebreakers in place (like highest score on the last round, for example).

[aaron sica]

It's real simple: a half-hour of television has more ad time in it than it did 30 years ago

Oh, absolutely! Ever go to the YouTubes and watch an old game show with the original commercials? Some do, some don't..personally, l like them. Well, sometimes it's no more than 2 commercials and back again to the show we go.