The $20,000 Pyramid ***studio master taping*** (1976) PT. 1 (A)

[269848]

I only wish other network studios could find their master tapes and KEEP them instead of getting rid of them(what a stupid practice that was!). We need more game show magic,classicswise.

[Mcnzlea]

The $20K ploy was to make the world stop and to rob every hourglass of its sand at precisely 2:00 PM Eastern Daylight/Standard Time.

In other words, it went up against the second halves of CBS' "As The World Turns" and NBC's "Days Of Our Lives".

The opening with clips of past big winners was great to watch as well.

[SueBeaWho]

SEE, we knew back then that hemp is used to make rope LOL! Or should I say we "dug" it? HAHAHA

[tyrese3745]

That was the week of the Bi-Centennial Birthday Celebration, right?

[ny20258]

Ironically, the first celebrity to give away $20,000 when the show raised the stakes was Clifton Davis playing against Loretta Swit in February 1976.

[blozier2006]

just curious, does anyone know when the change was made from the red to blue set?? i prefer the red set

[gameshowluvr86]

The change took place the week of 12/15/75-12/19/75 (it was still The $10,000 Pyramid at the time also). The celebrities were Carol Lawrence and Clifton Davis. :-)

[colBoh]

I wonder... Why did they REALLY raise the top prize? Don't say "inflation", because $10,000 is still a treasure trove in 1976. You think it had something to do with the nighttime "$25,000 Pyramid"?

[Tubewings]

Probably (to The $25,000 Pyramid one).

[secondchance1977]

Could have. But by 1976, there were other game shows giving away $10,000.

[whammy850]

I'd say it had to do with the general augmentation of prizes of daytime game shows of the time. Now You See It had a progressive jackpot that grew to $15K and $20K regularly, Let's Make a Deal had the $20,000 Super Deal, The Moneymaze and Big Showdown had a $10,000 top prize, and the list goes on. In the midst of it all, Pyramid no longer stood out in the crowd. By '76, it was time for a change.

[GarfieldnPyramid]

Are the clips at the beginning from ABC $10k episodes?

[gameshowluvr86]

Well, considering that the five, octagon-shaped pylons in the background were still red, I'd say yes. :-)

[fkd1963]

LOVE THIS SHOW!!!! I wish they would put out a DVD of the show a la MATCH GAME. And cheers to the NYC show; I always preferred it to LA.

[funderburkebobby]

[Robert Clayton Male Announcer] This Is The $20,000 Pyramid Today's Special Guest Are Loretta Swit And Clifton Davis And Here's Your Host Dick Clark!

[mjhunt1]

Does anyone know the name of the second celebrity in the second win of the opening?

[gameshowluvr86]

Yep, that's Jo Anne Pflug. She was Chuck Woolery's second wife from 1974 until 1980. Jo Anne has also made appearances on Match Game during the '70s. :-)

[mhmrules]

Good Clues Clifton!

[palmercomm]

My money's on Hot Lips.

[wmbrown6]

It looks like ABC used a new version of Vidifont at this point, based on the way Helvetica looked vs. Chyron's variations.

[tncookies]

Clifton Davis is also known for singing the calypso tune, "See Sam sit in the sun sipping soda" on The Electric Company. Sensational!

[MsTexas73]

Also want to add that Clifton Davis was also a songwriter...he penned the lyrics to the Jackson Five's Never Can Say Goodbye and Looking Through The Windows.

[gameshowluvr86]

Are you serious? That's one of my favorite Jackson 5 songs!

[MsTexas73]

Yes Clifton Davis penned both songs.

[gameshowluvr86]

Awesome...

[MsTexas73]

Funny one of the things I vividly remember about $20000 Pyramid was the way the theme song went *different form 25K and 100K Pyramid...and that Loretta Switt was on there OFTEN.

[storrs19]

Most pre-1978 Pyramid shows were wiped (erased) so this is a real treat to see. Either a Studio Master tape or someone lucky enough to have a VCR in 1976 (they did exist then). I would say the former as the quality is very good once the show gets running. Thanks so much for posting this as I love the original Pyramid. Once they moved to Los Angeles I just didn't care much for it. I wonder if the weekly $25,000 Pyramid hosted by Bill Cullen still survives in a vault somewhere?

[gameshowluvr86]

You didn't like The New $25,000 or $100,000 Pyramids? Those were like the best ever! Cmon... you gotta love '80s Pyramid. ;)

[storrs19]

THey were alright but the players got so good at the game it got boring at times. I liked it when it was still fresh and the people ahd to work harder. There were alot of 21-21 ties as the Pyramind moved into the lat 1980's. Plus, I have always been a fan of tv shows that originated from New York as that was the first base of operation for most shows.

[tvpirate05]

I will say that the 80s Pyramid is one of the most solidly-produced game shows of all time. However, I love how the NY audience always got into the game a lot more, esp. after a win. There's a clip on this site with Barbara Feldon and a gentleman who couldn't get "Elizabeth Taylor's Husbands". The audience's emotion after the buzzer went off was priceless.

[secondchance1977]

This does look like VCR quality. I have this episode, though I dont know if its a copy of someone who recorded this or the original.

[Hondo20132]

This was a studio copy, according to the trading lists.

[ReuWil]

Right, but it is a copy of the copy on a VCR tape.

[vnisanian2001]

Anne Meara & Nipsey Russell were the celebrities on the week that the curtain on the back of the Winner's Circle changed to blue (February 20-24, 1978 to be exact).

Also, don't forget that Dick Clark's podium wouldn't stay blue for long. Soon, it would revert back to its original orange color scheme, before finally settling onto its new one.

[gameshowluvr86]

The podium went back to orange? Are there pictures of this anywhere on the Internet?

[vnisanian2001]

I read about the podium temporarily going back to orange from William A. Pardon (you know who he is?). He's an expert on the New York City era of Pyramid. I don't have any pictures of it, sorry.

[secondchance1977]

I have a picture of it with Bill Cullen.

[Ivoryface]

Also on this Pyramid money amount in the title, if one team comes up with 21 points the civilian racks up an additional $1000, now if the civilian wins the $10,000 in the Winner's circle, that person is retired but keeps all the previous winnings in addition to the $10K, same goes for winning the $15K, but the $20,000 win deletes all of your previous cash winnings as far as I know.

Now what celebrities of the week was when the backwall behind the big Pyramid board went blue from orange?

[megamanj2004X]

thanks to the ABC Winnings Ceiling in place.

[palmercomm]

ABC was cheap back in the day. (Especially considering how much you could win on TPIR and other game shows back in the mid 70's.)

[megamanj2004X]

A vintage 1976 $20K Pyramid ep.! Thanks, gameshowlurv1 This was a couple years before the backwall behind the big pyramid turned blue to match the set.