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

[MSTieScott]

I'm going to disagree on the "clowning" analysis. At no point while watching the moments of levity did I think, "Just get back to the game already!" I thought the tangents were of a reasonable length and a welcome addition -- after all, I like to watch people actually having fun on a game show. It always felt uncomfortable when Dick Clark would forcibly steer the conversation back toward the game because he was worried about bringing the show in on time.

Do I like the current tiebreaker? Not really. But I suspect that no one really likes the current tiebreaker -- it's a concession they had to make so the show wouldn't run long. It would have been equally as bad, in my opinion, to institute the traditional tiebreaker and then speed through the Winner's Circle to make up the time.

I do agree that the constant rules recitations grew tiresome, but this is a show which hadn't been seen outside of cable for over ten years, which is long enough that casual viewers needed to be reminded of how things work. Every "new" game show moves more slowly in its first season because of this. Watch early episodes of Millionaire -- it takes forever for Regis to tell us how the game is played. Pyramid will probably be able to streamline some of that next season now that the show is in the public eye again.

[Unrealtor]

I feel like there was a lot of time spent in the second half of each episode repeating (usually verbatim) the rules explanations that were already given in the first half. Between that and the "I'm the biggest Pyramid fan ever" and "What would you do with the money?" pieces, I suspect that there's enough slack that you could fit in one old-school tiebreaker per hour without having anything feel too rushed. But if you ever have two front-game ties in the same half hour or a lot of tiebreakers in a batch of episodes, you're screwed.

One advantage the 80s version had over the current one was that they had five days to get the celebrity's plugs in whenever there was time to spare, whereas the current one has to get them in on the one-and-only appearance.

[Nick]

I'm going to disagree on the "clowning" analysis. At no point while watching the moments of levity did I think, "Just get back to the game already!" I thought the tangents were of a reasonable length and a welcome addition -- after all, I like to watch people actually having fun on a game show.

I would agree if it was the contestants being allowed to go on tangents.  The celebs dominated over the contestants in the personality department, which was really a shame because a lot of the contestants had really interesting backstories I wish had been given a greater chance to develop.

It would have been equally as bad, in my opinion, to institute the traditional tiebreaker and then speed through the Winner's Circle to make up the time.

I'd rather that.  If you're not going to record live-to-tape, it at least forces you to act live-to-tape.

I do agree that the constant rules recitations grew tiresome, but this is a show which hadn't been seen outside of cable for over ten years, which is long enough that casual viewers needed to be reminded of how things work. Every "new" game show moves more slowly in its first season because of this. Watch early episodes of Millionaire -- it takes forever for Regis to tell us how the game is played. Pyramid will probably be able to streamline some of that next season now that the show is in the public eye again.

Point well taken, but it took how many years on the current incarnation of Feud before they realized they didn't need to explain the rules to Fast Money every single show?  The current industry doesn't paint a picture of hope that they'll come to the realization that viewers catch on quickly.

I feel like there was a lot of time spent in the second half of each episode repeating (usually verbatim) the rules explanations that were already given in the first half.

That's what happens when you piece together two half hours taped on different days.

To that end, one thing I would like to see in season two is an effort to ensure such things as the same word never coming up in the front game in both halves of an hour show.  If I remember correctly, Bob Stewart's rule was a two-week minimum rest before content could be recycled.  If my math is right, that means you'd need 1,680 different words to fill ten hourlong shows.  A tall order for the writers, but not impossible by any means.

But if you ever have two front-game ties in the same half hour or a lot of tiebreakers in a batch of episodes, you're screwed.

Or you just edit down the blabber and stick to the game.

I haven't got the technology handy to perform this experiment, but I dare say in each hourlong show, you could easily trim 3-4 minutes of content without sacrificing any gameplay and still keep a decent amount of interplay.  Considering how double tiebreakers under CBS rules were extremely rare, I doubt they really need to worry about getting pressed for time on multiple tiebreakers.

[TimK2003]

I feel like there was a lot of time spent in the second half of each episode repeating (usually verbatim) the rules explanations that were already given in the first half.

Remember that these are two episodes "interwoven" into a single hour seamless time-slot.  If and when they decide to break these down to individual 30 minute episodes in reruns on ABC, GSN, etc..., the redundancy will not look as awkward.  And like a previous poster said, if you have been living on "Rabbit Ears" or have been GSN-less on cable for a good many years, you may not be keen on all the Pyramid rules as us older "get off my lawn" folks are.

[TLEberle]

I don't think most people care about how someone will spend money they don't have because the vast majority of people will spend it the same way. On today's episode of $25k, roughly ten seconds were spent on "bills or fun?" and that was enough. As for the celebrities getting to plug whatever project they're working on, isn't that what social media is for, or "From Trapper John M.D/Quincy"?

[BrandonFG]

Although I thought they spent too much time on the celebrities, one thing I did kinda like about Donnymid was, while John Cramer intro'd the celebrities and their projects at the top of the show, you'd also get their names/TV shows displayed on screen during interviews. I say "kinda" because they displayed the name every single time they showed the celebrity outside of game play. However, it still worked because, if I joined a game in progress and don't recognize "that girl who used to be on that show with the guy and the dog", at least CG triggers my memory.

I dunno why, but it kinda bugs me that there's not a lot of CG in this version; I loved how the 70s-90s versions showed the stars' names as they walked onto the set. I'm equally bugged by them not flashing $50K/100K...showing the confetti animation at the top of the Pyramid isn't the same IMO.

It's a very minor nitpick, it's just the little things, I suppose.

[TLEberle]

The reason that the show is remembered fondly is that it was done so well on all counts. I get what you're putting down about the CG element, especially if you recognize, say for example Peri Gilpin from Frasier, but don't know why she'd be on Pyramid 15 years after that show ended.

[Otm Shank]

One issue with the old tiebreaker that could have been smoothed out in the digital age was letter selection. Everything was based on slow, clear enunciation and the teams had to closely pay attention to the instructions -- sometimes in the exciting aftermath of a buzzer beater or near miss.

A solution I though might work would be to put the tiebreaker letters on the category board in the upper 3 boxes. (Yes, 3.) This could facilitate an edit better by having a cutaway, and it would give visual reinforcement to players and the audience. Also, by offering 3 letter choices, the second team could have a selection from the remaining 2, and the other one gets recycled for another game.

There certainly was room to trim, and from the shows I was in the audience for, they did cut down a some of the chatter.

[CJBojangles]

Although I thought they spent too much time on the celebrities, one thing I did kinda like
I dunno why, but it kinda bugs me that there's not a lot of CG in this version; I loved how the 70s-90s versions showed the stars' names as they walked onto the set. I'm equally bugged by them not flashing $50K/100K...showing the confetti animation at the top of the Pyramid isn't the same IMO.

This. I'm not saying I want "TRIP TO BELIZE" flashed on-screen every show, but it just feels a little empty not having anything on the screen during a big money win. The "WINNERS" graphic is very well done, however.