Author Topic: VH1 Heads Up (Read 2868 times)

uncamark · « **on:** February 05, 2004, 04:16:22 PM »

VH1's currently airing a special called "When Standup Comics Ruled the World," the third in this series (the first two being "Metal" and "Supermodels") that is another dip into the "I Love..." well of clips and comments, in this case about the 70s and 80s glory days of standup. This time, instead of snarky comments from C-listers, the commentators are the standups that plied the trade back then and the people that knew them.

What's on topic about this show is that during a segment about how aspiring comics lived in New York during the 70s, after Richard Lewis talks about living in a squalid apartment in Newark, Robert Wuhl ("Batman," "Arli$$") says that he was lucky in the money department because he won $10,000 on "Pyramid." And we then see the climatic moments in the Winner's Circle with Sandy Duncan giving the clues that won him the money. Clip is rather poor tech quality in sound, but it seems that most "$20,000 Pyramid" shows extant have that problem (guessing late 70s, because that's the only shows available).

The show next airs Saturday morning--Here's VH1's web site page for the show. And thank me for helping you avoid that Norah Jones splash page (nothing against Norah, I just don't like splash pages for web sites like VH1's).

BrandonFG · « **Reply #1 on:** February 05, 2004, 04:20:22 PM »

[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Feb 5 2004, 04:16 PM\'] What's on topic about this show is that during a segment about how aspiring comics lived in New York during the 70s, after Richard Lewis talks about living in a squalid apartment in Newark, Robert Wuhl ("Batman," "Arli$$") says that he was lucky in the money department because he won $10,000 on "Pyramid." And we then see the climatic moments in the Winner's Circle with Sandy Duncan giving the clues that won him the money. Clip is rather poor tech quality in sound, but it seems that most "$20,000 Pyramid" shows extant have that problem (guessing late 70s, because that's the only shows available).
[/quote]
I caught that last night, and had a "techincal" question so to speak.

At the end of the clip, they chryoned $10,000 on the screen, in what looked like a different font. Was that an actual $20K font, or was VH-1 just throwing in a little cheesy game-show effect?

uncamark · « **Reply #2 on:** February 05, 2004, 04:28:17 PM »

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Feb 5 2004, 04:20 PM\'][quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Feb 5 2004, 04:16 PM\'] What's on topic about this show is that during a segment about how aspiring comics lived in New York during the 70s, after Richard Lewis talks about living in a squalid apartment in Newark, Robert Wuhl ("Batman," "Arli$$") says that he was lucky in the money department because he won $10,000 on "Pyramid." And we then see the climatic moments in the Winner's Circle with Sandy Duncan giving the clues that won him the money. Clip is rather poor tech quality in sound, but it seems that most "$20,000 Pyramid" shows extant have that problem (guessing late 70s, because that's the only shows available).
[/quote]
I caught that last night, and had a "techincal" question so to speak.

At the end of the clip, they chryoned $10,000 on the screen, in what looked like a different font. Was that an actual $20K font, or was VH-1 just throwing in a little cheesy game-show effect?[/quote]
That was standard for "$20,000 Pyramid" Winner's Circle wins, since on that show, if you won one front game, you played for $10,000. Two front games, $15,000. Three or more, $20,000. They needed the graphic to emphasize how much the player won, since the sign over the pyramid just said "$20,000."

Once you won the Winner's Circle, you retired undefeated, as in the original "$10,000 Pyramid." And you had a new opponent every game, so you had to keep winning front games to get another shot at the Winner's Circle. You did get to keep any other Winner's Circle or Lucky 7 wins when you won the Winner's Circle.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #3 on:** February 05, 2004, 04:36:48 PM »

[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Feb 5 2004, 04:28 PM\'] That was standard for "$20,000 Pyramid" Winner's Circle wins, since on that show, if you won one front game, you played for $10,000. Two front games, $15,000. Three or more, $20,000. They needed the graphic to emphasize how much the player won, since the sign over the pyramid just said "$20,000."
[/quote]
Oh no, no...I knew that much...what I was saying was the font looked different than the standard Helvetica that they used on the show. It looked more like a (looks at yearbook fonts) Franklin Gothic. Looking at some early Pyramid wins (from intros), I don't think they chyroned the graphic till later in the run (c. 1977 or 78), which led me to think VH-1 had something to do with it, just for fun. :-/

mcd · « **Reply #4 on:** February 05, 2004, 06:10:25 PM »

Quote

Robert Wuhl ("Batman," "Arli$$") says that he was lucky in the money department because he won $10,000 on "Pyramid." And we then see the climatic moments in the Winner's Circle with Sandy Duncan giving the clues that won him the money. Clip is rather poor tech quality in sound, but it seems that most "$20,000 Pyramid" shows extant have that problem (guessing late 70s, because that's the only shows available).

Interesting. On a specific episode of Arli$$, Wuhl's character (Arliss Michaels, strangely enough) is watching "his" win on The $20,000 Pyramid (the TV he in watching on is too small to see anything definite) he has on tape. The character says he used the money he won on the show to start his career as an agent.

I believe it was the episode where he thought he had colon cancer.

Interesting indeed.

Thad Dixon · « **Reply #5 on:** February 05, 2004, 09:46:40 PM »

[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Feb 5 2004, 04:28 PM\']Once you won the Winner's Circle, you retired undefeated, as in the original "$10,000 Pyramid." And you had a new opponent every game, so you had to keep winning front games to get another shot at the Winner's Circle. You did get to keep any other Winner's Circle or Lucky 7 wins when you won the Winner's Circle.[/quote]
Um, no you did not. Not from what I've heard, anyway. What I've heard is once you won the Winner's Circle (regardless of if it was for $10K, $15K, or $20K), you lost any previous winnings.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #6 on:** February 05, 2004, 10:34:03 PM »

[quote name=\'mcd\' date=\'Feb 5 2004, 07:10 PM\'] On a specific episode of Arli$$, Wuhl's character (Arliss Michaels, strangely enough) is watching "his" win on The $20,000 Pyramid (the TV he in watching on is too small to see anything definite) he has on tape. [/quote]
Oh, no, it's quite definite that the guy in the clip is "Arliss". My guess is that it's Wuhl's personal copy that he's held onto all these years. Probably recorded it on an early Betamax or something.

uncamark · « **Reply #7 on:** February 06, 2004, 12:35:07 PM »

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Feb 5 2004, 04:36 PM\'][quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Feb 5 2004, 04:28 PM\'] That was standard for "$20,000 Pyramid" Winner's Circle wins, since on that show, if you won one front game, you played for $10,000. Two front games, $15,000. Three or more, $20,000. They needed the graphic to emphasize how much the player won, since the sign over the pyramid just said "$20,000."
[/quote]
Oh no, no...I knew that much...what I was saying was the font looked different than the standard Helvetica that they used on the show. It looked more like a (looks at yearbook fonts) Franklin Gothic. Looking at some early Pyramid wins (from intros), I don't think they chyroned the graphic till later in the run (c. 1977 or 78), which led me to think VH-1 had something to do with it, just for fun. :-/[/quote]
I really don't give VH1 that much credit--it has to be the original graphic.