Author Topic: 22 Years Ago This Week... (Read 10465 times)

AH3RD · « **on:** September 20, 2004, 06:01:35 PM »

Naw...best make that "22 Years Ago Today..."!

SEPTEMBER 20, 1982

CBS Television honored the daytime premieres of 2 Great Game Shows: The $25,000 Pyramid and Child's Play!

The $25,000 Pyramid, a new edition of the game show created by Bob Stewart and hosted by Dick Clark, returned to CBS-TV @ 10:00am EDT (after an 8-year absence!), with Constance McCashin and Robert Mandan as the guests for the premiere week, and episodes now videotaped at CBS Television City Studio #33, situated @ 7800 Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles, CA.

The origin of the series eminated on Monday, January 26, 1981, an almost-full 6 months after the demise of The $20,000 Pyramid on ABC; on that date, a brand new syndicated version, The $50,000 Pyramid, distributed by Chicago-based CPM, Inc., made its debut throughout the country. This was the Pyramid which introduced the "round-robin style tournament" format of the series, something which would also be employed for the $100,000 version (more on that later). The unfortunately short 5-month life of $50,000 Pyramid that resulted can be attributed to a great many factors, but the most obvious are the couple of elements which made it old-hat: the set, which was a hackneyed reworking of the old $20,000 set, and the omnipresent theme, Ken Aldin's "Tuning Up," which had been the main theme of Pyramid for some 8 years and by this time sounded as if it were a scratchy record played on AM radio. Therefore, when it was decided to revive Pyramid for network TV, a few alterations were made: Spice up the musical theme! Revamp the set! Move the show to new digs! But keep Dick Clark as host!!! This new format was workable, and so it was that The $25,000 Pyramid went on to thrill new viewers as well as its old fans.

Almost 2 months later, on Monday, November 8, 1982, the show became The New $25,000 Pyramid to avoid confusion with the same-titled 1974-79 Bill Cullen syndie primetime version; the "New" was removed from the title effective the January 28, 1985 episode (#608). That same year, the success of the CBS Daytime version yielded a daily nighttime version, The $100,000 Pyramid (syndicated originally by 20th Century-Fox Television), which debuted on on various stations Monday, September 9, 1985 with debut guests Vicki Lawrence and Brian Mitchell.

Contd...

AH3RD · « **Reply #1 on:** September 20, 2004, 06:05:32 PM »

After 6 years, The $25,000 Pyramid aired for the 1,404th and final time on CBS Daytime television on Friday, July 1, 1988. By this time, the show had renewed the format of the opening montage of past winners, one which had been long a staple on Pyramid during the '70s. The final 2 celebrity guests were Robin Riker-Hasley and Charlie Siebert. And, sadly, neither of the civilian contestants reached the top of The Pyramid in this final telecast! This was actually the second cancellation of The $25,000 Pyramid; when CBS first dropped it on New Year's Eve, 1987 (with guests Anne Marie Johnson and Robert Hegyes), after 5 years and 1,339 shows, its replacement, the Bob Goen-hosted Jay Wolpert Production Blackout, left much to be desired. So, by popular demand, The $25,000 Pyramid returned to CBS after 13 weeks, thus making it the only game show in TV history to be replaced by another game and then in return replace that same game!

Rumor had it that CBS revived The $25,000 Pyramid as only filler while Mark Goodson Productions' revival of Family Feud starring Ray Combs was being groomed for its premiere, which occurred the following Monday, replacing Pyramid. This was the second time that The Feud has replaced the timeslot of a cancelled Pyramid; the first happened in June 1980, after The $20,000 Pyramid completed a 7-year run on ABC.

The nighttime $100,000 Pyramid stayed humming in syndication for 2 months until calling it quits after 3 years and 545 shows on Friday, September 2, 1988, thus bringing down the curtain on the Pyramid chapter for the 1980s.

Child's Play, which premiered on CBS directly after @ 10:30am EDT, was a neat Mark Goodson-created game kid's/adult's game played similarly to Pyramid, hosted, ironically, by former Pyramid emcee Bill Cullen! Two contestents, one a champion, face off. In Round 1, three definitions are played, each with a maximum of three children (who were recorded on videotape that was being shown onscreen to the contestents) giving each definition. The first person to guess is the challenger or the player who didn't correctly guess in the final round. Each correct answer is one point.

Contd...

AH3RD · « **Reply #2 on:** September 20, 2004, 06:06:25 PM »

Then, a "Fast Play" round is played with a kid giving a definition, and a player buzzing in to guess; correct answers are worth 2 points. The player with the most points when time runs out wins the game and $500. The maximum time a player can stay on the game is 5 days straight.

Through its one-season run on CBS Daytime (September 20, 1982-September 16, 1983), Child's Play had two different endgames, with the switch being made in Spring 1983: in the "Triple Play" end round (September 1982-May 1983?) the contestent has to guess six definations, they pick one of three definations written by some of the children who appeared earlier on in the show. If incorrect, they pick a definition for the same word by another child. Getting 6 correct definitions in 45 seconds wins $5,000, if not they win $100 per correctly guessed definition. In the "Turnabout" end round (May?-September 1983), an inverted version of its predecessor, the champion has to convey words to five children on stage who had previously appeared on the program in the frontgame definitions. Getting 7 right answers is worth $5,000, if not, $100 per word.

Child's Play was the first ever Mark Goodson Production without Bill Todman (who, sadly, was 3 years dead at the time; fellow CBS games The Price Is Right and TattleTales and other G-T games would follow suit in changed names). Also, it was Bill Cullen's final game show for Goodson after 30 years emceeing games for the company (as well as his next assignment following his 1980-82 stint on rival NBC's Blockbusters).

(Sources Of Info: The "Pyramid" Game Show's Years In New York City; The Child's Play Page [inactive])

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #3 on:** September 21, 2004, 09:26:55 AM »

Quote

Child's Play had two different endgames, with the switch being made in Spring 1983: in the "Triple Play" end round (September 1982-May 1983?)

Very good review. From watching GSN reruns a few years ago, I'm pretty sure the second bonus game started at almost exactly the half-way mark in the show's run, which would put it in a late February-early March time frame.

zachhoran · « **Reply #4 on:** September 21, 2004, 09:53:47 AM »

Aaron didn't do a review of Take my Word for It or So You Think You Got Troubles, the two syndicated classic also debuting this week or last in 1982.

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #5 on:** September 21, 2004, 09:54:29 AM »

"Child's Play" became a viewing habit for me for a while on CBS. I think it suffered from having a set that was too dark, though that may have been due to the demands of the video monitor. Probably the only game show announced by CNN's Fred Saxon. Jeff Cohen, Breckin Meyer and Tara Reid went on to do movies.

Don Howard · « **Reply #6 on:** September 21, 2004, 10:04:23 AM »

So while hosting Child's Play, Bill Cullen was hosting a show positioned on CBS both before and after a show that he had hosted in an earlier incarnation.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #7 on:** September 21, 2004, 10:08:28 AM »

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Sep 21 2004, 09:54 AM\'] "Child's Play" became a viewing habit for me for a while on CBS. I think it suffered from having a set that was too dark, though that may have been due to the demands of the video monitor. [/quote]
Interesting you should mention that. One of the treasures I now have in my Cullen Collection is a set of dozens upon dozens of color Child's Play slides. I'm having a slight problem getting them scanned, though, because my pretty simple, automatic home scanner keeps recognizing them as negatives rather than color images, probably because the dominant background is so dark. I'm working around it, but it's tedious.

Don Howard · « **Reply #8 on:** September 21, 2004, 10:10:05 AM »

[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Sep 21 2004, 08:53 AM\'] Aaron didn't do a review of Take my Word for It or So You Think You Got Troubles, the two syndicated classic also debuting this week or last in 1982. [/quote]
He also didn't do a review of Soap World, a Jack Barry/Dan Enright production which used the theme to Break The Bank. Likewise, he didn't do a review of The New Odd Couple which co-starred Demond Wilson, who was in a cubicle for some episodes of The Hollywood Squares.

aaron sica · « **Reply #9 on:** September 21, 2004, 10:18:09 AM »

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Sep 21 2004, 10:04 AM\'] So while hosting Child's Play, Bill Cullen was hosting a show positioned on CBS both before and after a show that he had hosted in an earlier incarnation. [/quote]
To me, it always seemed odd to see Bill on a CBS show. The shows I primarily remember him in were all on NBC (Blockbusters, Chain Reaction, Hot Potato)..Even the syndicated $25,000 Pyramid aired on an NBC station here (WGAL-8)....

tvwxman · « **Reply #10 on:** September 21, 2004, 10:19:16 AM »

[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Sep 21 2004, 08:53 AM\'] Aaron didn't do a review of Take my Word for It or So You Think You Got Troubles, the two syndicated classic also debuting this week or last in 1982. [/quote]
Classics? What are you smoking?

SRIV94 · « **Reply #11 on:** September 21, 2004, 10:26:39 AM »

[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Sep 21 2004, 09:18 AM\'] To me, it always seemed odd to see Bill on a CBS show. The shows I primarily remember him in were all on NBC (Blockbusters, Chain Reaction, Hot Potato)..Even the syndicated $25,000 Pyramid aired on an NBC station here (WGAL-8).... [/quote]
Not unprecedented, though. He did do PASS THE BUCK for the Tiffany Network (insert gratuitous joke about their news operation here). This is just one example--a detailed listing of other examples is not necessary (subtlety is my forte ;-) ).

Doug

zachhoran · « **Reply #12 on:** September 21, 2004, 10:30:02 AM »

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Sep 21 2004, 09:10 AM\'] [quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Sep 21 2004, 08:53 AM\'] Aaron didn't do a review of Take my Word for It or So You Think You Got Troubles, the two syndicated classic also debuting this week or last in 1982. [/quote]
He also didn't do a review of Soap World, a Jack Barry/Dan Enright production which used the theme to Break The Bank. Likewise, he didn't do a review of The New Odd Couple which co-starred Demond Wilson, who was in a cubicle for some episodes of The Hollywood Squares. [/quote]
Soap World was syndied by King World, shortly before they began syndicating a nighttime version of a fledgling NBC daytime game show

The New OC co-starred John Schuck, whose game show appearances included $10K, $20K, Cullen $25K, Clark $25K, and Davidson $100K Pyramid, 70s and 80s Crosswits, Password Plus, and Marshall and Davidson Squares.

zachhoran · « **Reply #13 on:** September 21, 2004, 10:31:28 AM »

[quote name=\'tvwxman\' date=\'Sep 21 2004, 09:19 AM\'] [quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Sep 21 2004, 08:53 AM\'] Aaron didn't do a review of Take my Word for It or So You Think You Got Troubles, the two syndicated classic also debuting this week or last in 1982. [/quote]
Classics? What are you smoking? [/quote]
Sarcasm, that's what I'm smoking

Don Howard · « **Reply #14 on:** September 21, 2004, 10:32:42 AM »

[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Sep 21 2004, 09:30 AM\'] The New OC co-starred John Schuck [/quote]
John Schuck also co-starred on McMillan & Wife starring Rock Hudson, who died in 1985, the same year as the premiere of Headline Chasers.