The $20,000 Pyramid ***original ABC broadcast*** (1978) PT. 1 (B)

[Noveltooner]

Comparing experiences of attending "The $20,000 Pyramid" in New York and "The $25,000 Pyramid" in Hollywood: In L.A. winners received polite applause with screams coming from family and friends. In the Big Apple, the house just EXPLODED!!!

[gameshowluvr86]

@Noveltooner You've seen "Pyramid" in LA? Nice!! How was it? :-)

[Noveltooner]

@gameshowluvr86 The set was certainly superior and spacious, just as the original "The $10,000 Pyramid" was at the Ed Sullivan Theater. I found the pyramid itself a bit of a downer as there was really nothing distinguished about it and it just blended in a non-descript version with the rest of the set. Even in the smaller scaled-down Elysee in New York, that gold pyramid, particularly at the show's opening was eye-catching and exciting.

[Noveltooner]

@gameshowluvr86 The original theme music gave it a sense of size. No one at Fairfax (Television City) seemed really overwhelmed with it's laid-back paraphrase. Even Dick Clark seemed far more toned down than he did in New York. The first taping did have a $10,000 win with Constance McCashin, but all that came out of the audience was a laid-back "oh, that's nice" type of applause. Like most TV studio's 33 is smaller in person but much larger than the Elysee.

[gameshowluvr86]

@Noveltooner Have you ever seen any episodes of "The $100,000 Pyramid" in person? That had to be a little more exciting... Last question, I promise... LOL. :-)

[Noveltooner]

@gameshowluvr86 However, the Sullivan stage dwarfs it in size and although I never got to see an actual taping of "The $10,000 Pyramid" there, I did get to see the set on a personal tour. This was one time the wide-angle enhancement of the TV cameras was not necessary; the pyramid was HUGE and there was plenty of space on the set. I understand they had to kind of squash everything into studio 31 at Fairfax during the show's 2-week visit there.

[Noveltooner]

@gameshowluvr86 The first two pilots of "The $1,000,000 Pyramid" were shot at Kaufmann Astoria Studios in New York (where Drew Carey hosted "Power of 10") The set was rather dull for such a large space, but they were just pilots. However, they brought back the original theme, as did the third pilot shot at 33 in Hollywood. They were all rejected in favor of doing "Let's Make a Deal" as a 1-hour show. I never saw "The $100,000 Pyramid" as it was still a year away.

[gameshowluvr86]

@Noveltooner One more question, do you remember what happened during the commercial breaks? :-)

[Noveltooner]

@gameshowluvr86 In Hollywood, Jack Clark held a pleasant little Q & A, much like he did at "Eye Guess." It had to be carefully timed, however, as the L. A. shows had the neat, rehearsed precise lead-ins with the theme music. Also, under Bruce Burmester, the shows never ended in the winner's circle, even after a win. The New York shows were much more relaxed, yet energetic.. Bob Claytonalso had a Q & A, with many a question about "Concentration."

[Noveltooner]

Edythe Chan came up to the audience to select members to interview as possible contestants (in L. A., prosepctive contestants inquired by mail). Dick Clark sipped his water while bantering with players and crew and occasionally fielded a question or two from the audience. One time the show was stopped in its tracks during the break as a woman who had just won $15,000 in the first game suddenly went into labor; Lois Nettletion picked up on it right away.

[Noveltooner]

With "organized chaos" in an aura of the bizarre out of an "I Love Lucy" episode, several of the stage crew members flagged down a cab at the corner of 7th Ave. & 58th St. to pick her up in front of the Elysee. As tape had stopped entirely, it had to be carefully edited so that the commercials would fit in precisely. When I returned for the afternoon taping of the last 2 shows of the week, Dick Clark let everyone know on the air that she had given birth to a healthy baby boy .

[kingofallwhites]

I like the way the theme is here better.

[TheFrankenstein72]

God Bless Soupy Sales. Truly missed his great comedic talent.

[secondchance1977]

RIP Soupy Sales.

[bronto5]

What does a word that compays the essence of the answer mean in pyramid?

[colBoh]

The "essence" of the answer is the important part, what the contestant must say in order to score, leaving out words like "the", "and", "or", "to", and the like. In other clips on YouTube, JoAnne Worley gets away with saying "to" for WALL-TO-WALL, and Jamie Lee Curtis says "of" for FOURTH OF JULY.

[gameshowluvr86]

Yup yup!

[Tubewings]

Robert Urich at the start of the opening, and I believe that's Adrienne in the second part of the opening. Am I right?

[gameshowluvr86]

Indeed it is! :-D

[eci4r]

the red sox are in boston

[colBoh]

Adrianne was half-right-- the WHITE Sox are in Chicago.

[DorvellTStewart]

Who's this announcer?

[gameshowluvr86]

Bob Clayton. :) He was the original voice of the show from 1973 through 1979.

[SlideItEarl]

I love the NYC Pyramids' opening montages. It sounds like the second contestant in the montage says, "Great God Almighty" when she wins!

[gameshowluvr86]

I know, right? That would TOTALLY be my reaction to winning $20,000... ;)

[UmedaRaton]

Opening Montage Celebrities are Robert Urich (I think) and of course Adrienne Barbeau. I have an opening on a tape somewhere from this week as well. The opening celebrities were Elaine Joyce and Soupy Sales (with a funny contestant reaction!), leading into the intro for the "special challenge match" between Adrienne and Soupy. If I can find the tape somewhere, I'll try and get it on YouTube as a video response to this!

[gameshowluvr86]

OMG, you gotta upload it! :D

[builttrainer]

gameshowluvr86 is my new hero. the 20,000 pyramid is my all-time favourite game show, with the best theme song on earth. thank you so much for making these available to check out.

[phatalbert73]

The 70's theme song owns the one from the 80's!!!

[269848]

@builttrainer This is one of my fave classics. If Mr.Clark should go to that big AB and Pyramid studio in the sky, GSN should do a long marathon of Pyramid shows. I would record them ALL. I would've had these eps if my now ex-friend would've taped them for me.

[gamshwfan]

The big 7 was defanitley a prototype to what became the bonuses in the later years; since it was daytime $500 was decent for a bonus. Soupy and ADrienne are okay players but I think today the civilian players rule the day. Not saying it's terrible but just an observation.

[gameshowluvr86]

Big 7 was like the '70s predecessor to the '80s 7-11.