Author Topic: More Pyramid trivia (Read 4654 times)

Jay Temple · « **on:** April 02, 2009, 09:58:57 PM »

Just something I pieced together by converting text to spreadsheet. The following pairs have appeared together on three or more different versions of Pyramid:

Adrienne Barbeau & LeVar Burton (20, Cullen 25, 50)
Peggy Cass, Nipsey Russell (10, 20, Cullen 25)
Vicki Lawrence & Clifton Davis (20, Cullen 25, Davidson 100)
Melody Thomas Scott & David Graf (Clark 25, Clark 100, Davidson 100)
Jo Anne Worley & Bill Cullen (10, 20, Clark 25)
Jo Anne Worley & Soupy Sales (four: 10, 20, Cullen 25, 50)

pyrfan · « **Reply #1 on:** April 03, 2009, 12:54:10 AM »

[quote name=\'Jay Temple\' post=\'211944\' date=\'Apr 2 2009, 09:58 PM\']
Just something I pieced together by converting text to spreadsheet. The following pairs have appeared together on three or more different versions of Pyramid:

Adrienne Barbeau & LeVar Burton (20, Cullen 25, 50)
Peggy Cass, Nipsey Russell (10, 20, Cullen 25)
Vicki Lawrence & Clifton Davis (20, Cullen 25, Davidson 100)
Melody Thomas Scott & David Graf (Clark 25, Clark 100, Davidson 100)
Jo Anne Worley & Bill Cullen (10, 20, Clark 25)
Jo Anne Worley & Soupy Sales (four: 10, 20, Cullen 25, 50)
[/quote]
Slight correction: Barbeau and Burton were opponents on the Clark 25, not the Cullen. Surprisingly, LeVar never did the Cullen 25.

Brendan

Winkfan · « **Reply #2 on:** April 03, 2009, 06:43:43 PM »

I don't know if this counts, but among the Pyramid shows in my collection, I noticed that Martha Smith and Earl Holliman were partnered on $100kP two separate occasions: Oct. 1986 and Oct. 1987. Also, Betty White and David Graf faced off once on $100kP in Oct. 1987 (that week is coming up on GSN, by the way); and the following year, they teamed up again on $25k P when it was briefly brought back on CBS.

Confused?

Cordially,
Tammy

Scrabbleship · « **Reply #3 on:** April 03, 2009, 06:50:26 PM »

Every single time Patty Duke appeared on $100K Pyramid (both Clark and Davidson), she was paired with David Graf (for whom she helped win $10K on the $20K Pyramid).

Jay Temple · « **Reply #4 on:** April 04, 2009, 12:57:59 AM »

[quote name=\'pyrfan\' post=\'211965\' date=\'Apr 2 2009, 11:54 PM\']Surprisingly, LeVar never did the Cullen 25.[/quote]
Also noteworthy to me: he didn't do any version after he joined the cast of ST:TNG. I always wondered if he suddenly thought he was too good for game shows, when Shatner, Nimoy and his co-star Michael Dorn didn't seem to feel that way.

[quote name=\'Winkfan\' post=\'212056\' date=\'Apr 3 2009, 05:43 PM\']
I don't know if this counts, but among the Pyramid shows in my collection, I noticed that Martha Smith and Earl Holliman were partnered on $100kP two separate occasions: Oct. 1986 and Oct. 1987. Also, Betty White and David Graf faced off once on $100kP in Oct. 1987 (that week is coming up on GSN, by the way); and the following year, they teamed up again on $25k P when it was briefly brought back on CBS.

Confused?

Cordially,
Tammy
[/quote]
That brings me to something else I'd put together. The following pairs did 20 hours of Pyramid together (that is, four full weeks):
Martha Smith & Earl Holliman (25): 2 weeks on $25K, 3 on $100K
Lois Nettleton & Sal Viscuso: 4 weeks on $20K
Markie Post & Charlie Siebert: 3 on $25K, 1 on $100K, all in 1985, including the week that just aired
Vicki Lawrence & Charlie Siebert: 2 $25K, 2 $100K
Teresa Ganzel & Nathan Cook: 1 $25K, 3 $100K
Lois Nettleton & Nipsey Russell: 1 $20K, 3 $100K

Of note here is the fact that none of these pairs is part of my earlier list. Worley & Sales' four versions included Cullen 25, which did not give them five shows.

Also, these people did the most weeks of 100K without appearing in a tournament:
Martha Smith (7)
Lois Nettleton (6)
Lynn Herring (5)
Nipsey Russell (5)
Susan Ruttan (5)
Soupy Sales (5)
Betty White (5)

Jay Temple · « **Reply #5 on:** April 04, 2009, 12:26:24 PM »

Something else I put together on a whim ... These pairs' appearances spanned the greatest amount of time.

1. Vicki Lawrence & Clifton Davis, 9/20/77 (25)-1/10/91
2. Adrienne Barbeau & Clifton Davis, 4/26/76 (20)-5/15/87 (100)
3. Jo Anne Worley & Bill Cullen, 3/3/75-3/15/83
4. Lois Nettleton & Nipsey Russell, 8/13/79 (20)-5/20/88 (100)
5. Anita Gillette & Dick Cavett, 1/9/78 (20)-1/3/86 (25)
(Obviously, reruns have not been figured into this.)

Robert Hutchinson · « **Reply #6 on:** April 13, 2009, 10:05:48 PM »

[quote name=\'Jay Temple\' post=\'212088\' date=\'Apr 4 2009, 12:57 AM\'][quote name=\'pyrfan\' post=\'211965\' date=\'Apr 2 2009, 11:54 PM\']Surprisingly, LeVar never did the Cullen 25.[/quote]Also noteworthy to me: he didn't do any version after he joined the cast of ST:TNG. I always wondered if he suddenly thought he was too good for game shows, when Shatner, Nimoy and his co-star Michael Dorn didn't seem to feel that way.[/quote]
Wasn't he still doing Reading Rainbow at the same time? Perhaps he was too busy for game shows.

PYLdude · « **Reply #7 on:** April 14, 2009, 12:16:28 AM »

[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' post=\'213074\' date=\'Apr 13 2009, 09:05 PM\']
[quote name=\'Jay Temple\' post=\'212088\' date=\'Apr 4 2009, 12:57 AM\'][quote name=\'pyrfan\' post=\'211965\' date=\'Apr 2 2009, 11:54 PM\']Surprisingly, LeVar never did the Cullen 25.[/quote]Also noteworthy to me: he didn't do any version after he joined the cast of ST:TNG. I always wondered if he suddenly thought he was too good for game shows, when Shatner, Nimoy and his co-star Michael Dorn didn't seem to feel that way.[/quote]
Wasn't he still doing Reading Rainbow at the same time? Perhaps he was too busy for game shows.
[/quote]

Before, during, and after.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #8 on:** April 14, 2009, 12:35:47 AM »

[quote name=\'Jay Temple\' post=\'212088\' date=\'Apr 4 2009, 12:57 AM\']Also noteworthy to me: he didn't do any version after he joined the cast of ST:TNG. I always wondered if he suddenly thought he was too good for game shows, when Shatner, Nimoy and his co-star Michael Dorn didn't seem to feel that way.
[/quote]
I know that's just your speculation, but I think it's a bit harsh, even if it's true. One thing actors who reach a certain level of success have to consider is how decisions they make affect their ongoing careers. And an unfortunate truth is, especially by the 80s, it was harder to be taken seriously as an actor if you were "known" for doing game shows. Even if he still loved doing them, choosing not to do them (for a while anyway, he came back to do Weakest Link with some other Trekkers) may just have been a career move and not a new found snobbish attitude.

clemon79 · « **Reply #9 on:** April 14, 2009, 01:22:27 AM »

I've said this before: based on the project's LeVar has been working on and his willingness to be a guest on freakin' geek-tech podcasts (Leo Laporte's and Jason Calicanis's, for example) I'm thinkin' I'm gonna disregard the "snob" theory.

Scrabbleship · « **Reply #10 on:** April 14, 2009, 06:56:22 AM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'213093\' date=\'Apr 14 2009, 12:35 AM\']
[quote name=\'Jay Temple\' post=\'212088\' date=\'Apr 4 2009, 12:57 AM\']Also noteworthy to me: he didn't do any version after he joined the cast of ST:TNG. I always wondered if he suddenly thought he was too good for game shows, when Shatner, Nimoy and his co-star Michael Dorn didn't seem to feel that way.
[/quote]
I know that's just your speculation, but I think it's a bit harsh, even if it's true. One thing actors who reach a certain level of success have to consider is how decisions they make affect their ongoing careers. And an unfortunate truth is, especially by the 80s, it was harder to be taken seriously as an actor if you were "known" for doing game shows. Even if he still loved doing them, choosing not to do them (for a while anyway, he came back to do Weakest Link with some other Trekkers) may just have been a career move and not a new found snobbish attitude.
[/quote]

Don't forget that he did Celebrity Jeopardy too sometime around 1995, after ST:TNG ended.

Besides, there wasn't that much overlap between ST:TNG and any of the Pyramids. Or any show in the Star Trek universe and the Pyramids actually.

TheFlea · « **Reply #11 on:** April 14, 2009, 01:45:20 PM »

In regards to LB not doing game shows while he was on ST:TNG, I'm definitely inclined to agree with those taking the softer stance. Remember, Shatner and Nimoy did pretty much the same thing after 1978, when the Star Trek movie franchise took off. Shatner last appeared on Pyramid in 1978 (on a nighttime episode), and didn't do a game show again until he played half a game of Wheel of Fortune in the late 1990s (thanks for correcting me Kevin!) - a gap of around 20 years. He clearly doesn't mind doing them now, even though he doesn't need the money/work the way he did in the 70s. From 1978-1991, however, he was consistently either filming or promoting a new movie, and from 1982-86, he was concurrently starring in a successful TV series (TJ Hooker). Thus, even if he'd wanted to do game shows, he wouldn't have had much time to fit them in. I imagine the same goes for LB - he likely was just too busy to find time to appear on them.

[quote name=\'Scrabbleship\' post=\'213099\' date=\'Apr 14 2009, 06:56 AM\']
[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'213093\' date=\'Apr 14 2009, 12:35 AM\']
[quote name=\'Jay Temple\' post=\'212088\' date=\'Apr 4 2009, 12:57 AM\']Also noteworthy to me: he didn't do any version after he joined the cast of ST:TNG. I always wondered if he suddenly thought he was too good for game shows, when Shatner, Nimoy and his co-star Michael Dorn didn't seem to feel that way.
[/quote]
I know that's just your speculation, but I think it's a bit harsh, even if it's true. One thing actors who reach a certain level of success have to consider is how decisions they make affect their ongoing careers. And an unfortunate truth is, especially by the 80s, it was harder to be taken seriously as an actor if you were "known" for doing game shows. Even if he still loved doing them, choosing not to do them (for a while anyway, he came back to do Weakest Link with some other Trekkers) may just have been a career move and not a new found snobbish attitude.
[/quote]

Don't forget that he did Celebrity Jeopardy too sometime around 1995, after ST:TNG ended.

Besides, there wasn't that much overlap between ST:TNG and any of the Pyramids. Or any show in the Star Trek universe and the Pyramids actually.
[/quote]

Kevin Prather · « **Reply #12 on:** April 14, 2009, 03:52:50 PM »

[quote name=\'TheFlea\' post=\'213117\' date=\'Apr 14 2009, 10:45 AM\']
Shatner last appeared on Pyramid in 1978 (on a nighttime episode), and didn't do a game show again until the Star Trek addition of Weakest Link in 2001 - a gap of 23 years.[/quote]
Not quite. He was on WoF in the 90s, albeit for only half an episode.

Allstar87 · « **Reply #13 on:** April 14, 2009, 05:34:22 PM »

[quote name=\'Kevin Prather\' post=\'213135\' date=\'Apr 14 2009, 03:52 PM\']
He was on WoF in the 90s, albeit for only half an episode.
[/quote]

Half an episode?

Why just a half?

Kevin Prather · « **Reply #14 on:** April 14, 2009, 06:31:57 PM »

[quote name=\'Allstar87\' post=\'213141\' date=\'Apr 14 2009, 02:34 PM\']
[quote name=\'Kevin Prather\' post=\'213135\' date=\'Apr 14 2009, 03:52 PM\']
He was on WoF in the 90s, albeit for only half an episode.
[/quote]

Half an episode?

Why just a half?
[/quote]
He had another engagement, so he had to leave the taping early. At least, that's what was said on air.