Playing out to 21 is not a new thing. Remember the bonus that $20k used for a perfect 21. So having someone play for the perfect score that way is nothing new.

That doesn't make it a good idea. Far as I'm concerned, there's a reason they didn't use that on the '80s show.

"Aw, you only got 20 points! But, um, look on the bright side, you won the game and you'll still be playing for $25,000 instead of ONE MEEEELION DOLLARS..."

Nope. Not a good idea.

Jay's idea sounds too WoF like in regards to winning $1M. I'll stick with the basic $10K/$25K regular games & the $100K tourneys. I don't NEED $1M!

I actually agree with you. I don't think there's a good $1M mechanism that works in daytime. Nevertheless, they're gong to do it.

Here's a thought: Beat Billy Crystal's all-time WC record for the Mil.

I guess returning to the basics is out of the question. I would've at least approached it as:

- a bonus for a perfect 21
- a $5,000 bonus for a tiebreaker
- a 10K/25K standard WC
- a $100,000 or $250,000 Final (no strings attached)

Is a million truly necessary for a regular series, or are they touting this as the pilot?

There's no way they could be thinking the million as the aggregate of what you'd win in each stage along the way, is there?

I agree that the $1M makes the process WTC ... even for someone who comes up with quite complex ideas.

$1 million seems to be the point at which people pay attention nowadays. It's like a CEO search. Want the best and brightest? Offer a lot of dough.

Here's another suggestion. After two rounds worth 10 and 25 (if you go to the circle twice), the top player of the day goes for a 3 in :15 (two bottom boxes, one top) end game. Get all three in fifteen seconds and win a million. Impossible? Maybe, but you don't want to give it away too often. All self-contained in a neat hour-long package.

If I had to take a stab at it, knowing how things go these days and all involved and that stuff, I'd imagine that it would be a simple money chain format that may or may not involve some form of risking what you have to progress forward, as well as (given that the audience has to submit head shots before being picked) having an audience-in-the-round setup. Asking the audience to submit head shots is the easiest way to pick the pretty people to have their face on camera and shove the fugly people in the back where no one can see them. I'd rather see some form of a tournament, but I'm expecting a money ladder.

Is two full games (I assume 7-answer categories) and one :15 mini-mid enough to fill an hour?

But is :15 enough time? That's one second slower than Crystal pace, but what level of subjects would you use? I would think the first could be of bottom-row ease, but the last two need to be super-tough.

Not if they don't want to be mocked mercilessly.

Wait....was Donny's Pyramid piloted as Million Dollar Pyramid, or just the $100K Pyramid?

There was a $1M, IIRC as an NBC primetime pilot. I wanna say Jason Alexander might've been tapped for that one.

ETA: Apparently, Sony wanted to do a daytime (syndie) version for $100K, then primetime for $1 mil. From November and December 2000.

I think however way you slice it, it's gonna be tough to give away $1 million dollars for the following reasons:

1) If you do go a multi-week qualifying period with a Million Dollar Tournament of the top players, is there gonna be any guarantee that the show will NOT get canceled before they reach the tourney weeks??

13 weeks minimum used to be the norm (and wasn't Blackout the last 'short-lived' game show on CBS daytime???), but will CBS be as quick to pull the plug on a CBS Daytime show as they would a floundering primetime show?

2) How many "Good" celebrities are there out there who:

A) Can play the game consistently well?
B) Are willing to be a celebrity contestant on a daytime show, with the possibly of being a semi-regular?
C) Can be recognized without a chryon with their name & show being put on the screen every 3 minutes?

Donnymid had shown who is in the 21st Century "celebrity pool", for the most part, and how qualified they are (although those responsible for the categories and judging are equally to blame). Not to mention how we have seen how well the "celeb pool" can play Slow-Motion Pyramid (aka $1M Password).

Not to sound like a Debbie Downer, but those who are going to be creating the show, even for a smaller daytime audience, are gonna have to work their arses off to make this show fly. It probably won't take much for affiliates to preempt MDPyr for a higher-rated syndicated show if the network's offering is losing to MyNetwork in midday.

In Saginaw, the show will probably end up on the My Network digital subchannel anyway. They are currently clearing Guiding Light at 10am, rather than the co-owned CBS affil. As far as identifying the celebrities, if the stars resist name tags, maybe CBS could supply that info to the on-screen listing services and you could find out who they are with a touch of the remote. If you want celebs familiar to daytime audiences, the cast of GL is in town and available.

Len Berman could host.

<Mid-Michiganders>It might be my wishful thinking, but with the prominence of a big title coming back, maybe they can move Tyra to 9 and simply keep that horrid Better Mid-Michigan show on the My channel, if it's still around in the fall.</Mid-Michiganders> I don't get the subchannel on my DirecTV (they say it's bandwith issues), so anything to keep it on the main channel would be awesome.

I was hoping for Wayne Cox.

Isn't Tyra moving to The CW in the Fall? If it is, maybe TV5 could move Dr. Phil to 10am and then the new shows at 3pm. But as you said, it is wishful thinking.

Ooo. You sir, are correct. So there we go. Empty space at 10 am, filled by the Pyramid/Deal/Dating (pick two) block which goes there anyway.

:)

Though if the cast of GL were all that familiar to viewers there wouldn't be a slot opening up for Pyramid.

Didn't one of the posters get an appointment to attend a runthrough at the Embassy Row offices? If so, any details?

It was a commenter at Buzzer and there hasn't been much follow up.

I got an e-mail from Onset Productions, the company giving out the tickets. A photo is required, but it will not help or hurt your chances of getting tickets. Also, nobody but the "casting directors" see your photo. Hmmm . . .

I tried calling Embassy Row and left a couple of voice mails. No response so far.

As I near my 45th birthday, I wonder if I would be given consideration as a contestant if I can play the game well.
Since the contestants are being "cast" for this "job", I wonder if the speed limit age I'm approaching will work against me.
The Ohio to New York commute would not inconvenience me in the slightest.

Per the ticket website, the 4 Pilots will be taped next Tuesday and Wednesday, at Kaufman Astroria Studios. It says the audience will be on Camera, so it would appear we are looking at a Power of 10 type / Password type set. I'm starting to wonder if they will use remnants of the Power of 10 / Password Sets (as they both taped at Kaufman Astoria) to save money on the Pilots. I was hoping Mr Davies would avoid that look for Pyramid, but it may not be the case.

Is anyone planning on attending any of the tapings in person ? It would be great to hear about them !

Not saying you're wrong, but that's a pretty big leap. The audience was on camera for Win, Lose or Draw, for example. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if "audience will be on camera" is a pretty standard disclaimer for just about any game show.

With the very specific dress instructions on the website, I'd be very surprised if its a disclaimer. Mr. Davies loves those dark, round sets. Not something I wanted to see with Pyramid. I hope I am wrong !

Hopefully, someone will attend the taping, and we will hear some details next week.

Somehow, I'm imagining the worst and that they might just have the contestants standing (like MDP).

I really hope I'm wrong.

I didn't mind it. It would've been more awkward in that setting to sit. You could be much more animated and celebratory after a win on your feet.
And can we pleeease try to hold off on making rash judgments when we haven't even seen one iota of the product? A lot of us did that with MDP and a lot of us were surprised and enjoyed the show.

Having the contestants switch from sitting to standing on Jeopardy! doesn't seem to have hurt the program at all since its 1984 return.
If that's the "worst" thing this program does, we're in for a jolly good show.

Well now that a location and phone number have been posted, I'll give it the old college try. I'll report back to the committee if I get in.

I have my spot reserved for the 3:30 Tuesday taping. Will give a report when I return.

Trust me, I'm not going to base any part of my judgment a possible Pyramid return on whether they stand or sit. I'll be more happy that the show is back.

Ditto. It would be nice if the show will be taped in HD. Given that it's being taped in Astoria, I doubt it.

Since it's only a Pilot, it's no biggie if it's not taped in HD, as the Pilot episodes are unlikely to be broadcast. Maybe we can hope to see the Pilots on YouTube ? :). However, if Pyramid goes to series, I am fairly certain that Kaufman Astoria, and the Video company that's used (I believe they bring in a Mobile truck for TV), has the ability to shoot in HD.

If both go in HD - great - but the only thing I see across CBS that's HD in the morning is TPiR, if I recall correctly. I'd rather have a show *play* well first, then be in HD second.

Interesting quote from Ken-Jen's blog: "I have to leave for the airport in a few minutes for New York and a game show thing I’m not sure if I’m allowed to mention."

Perhaps he'll be a celebrity player on the Pyramid pilot?

Any exciting news yet regarding the pilot?

I just returned from the Kaufman-Astoria Studios (or as the show said, CBS Studios in New York) me recap my trip to The $1,000,000 Pyramid. I'm just going to start off by saying, Pyramid is Back... forget about Donnymid! Recap and link to set pics follow:

FORMAT:
Intro
Meet contestants
Categories
Round 1
COMMERCIAL
Winner's circle 1
COMMERCIAL
Round 2
COMMERCIAL
Winner's Circle 2
END

Host: Tim Vincent (Access Hollywood/Millionaire guest host)
Did a capable job... relied on prompter a lot; chalk it up to being day one. His British accent caused a couple of pick-ups to be done, a couple in particular included when a category was Mamma Mia (he said Ma-Ma Mia, and the other with a description of a category being homophones (he would say Homo-phones and picked it up as ha-ma-phones).

Announcer: Alan Kalter?? (just assuming... never heard the announcer, but Tim thanked "Alan" (spelled like that) at the top of each show and since Kalter is based in NYC, I'm taking a logical guess)

Music: Sounded like the classic $100,000 Pyramid theme to me (in the little snippets I heard, plus Susie Essman kept singing it)

Celebs: Susie Essman (both shows), Jessie Metcalf, Ken Jennings - All did a pretty good job. Jessie was a little slow at first, but became better as the game progressed - I had heard that the earlier tapings included Caroline Rahe and Norm McDonald


SET:
It's a lot like it was in the 80s/1990 version. Differences include: Audience is now seated along the sides behind the host and game-play area. Winners Circle and Category board now move in from the side of the stage to center stage when needed. No "Light bulbs" but a lot of neon that sort of reminded me of Super Password; the main colors are white, purple, orange, and blue. During the Winner's Circle, the lights under the actual circle are Red, and comign in from commercial it chases red and white underneath. There are wood tones in the contestant desks and host lecturn. On the host's lecturn, is the $1,000,000 Pyramid logo (take the classic Pyramid logo and put in $1,000,000).
TRILONS for the main pyramid... the category pyramid has just screens in which the categories slide in to. When a category is picked, a stagehand slides the classic yellow pyramid on red background in during game play.
During the show, the stage is pretty bright with blues, purples, and oranges. Lights go down a bit during the Winner's Circle to mostly reds
In the intro, the "wings" from both sides of the pyramid come together to form a door in front of the big pyramid. The winner's circle flies in from off stage, doors open, and celebs walk out from either side (Essman was on the left side each time, and the males came from the right). Vincent came in from either side.

Game Play:
Classic 7 in :30 format. Judging seemed pretty normal. The Coo-Koo sound effect is back. When I was watching the monitors, it looked like a classic episode of Pyramid. Timer at top center in LCD-type and clue in Times font across the desk. The only in game bonus is the 7-11 during the first round. No bonus in the 2nd round. Celeb and contestant alternate in first two turns, then can choose giver/receiver in the last.

Winner's Circle: Nothing crazy... same classic style. Clock at top, category in a box at the bottom. Same classic camera angle too. Contestant and celeb choose who can give or receive.
Dollar Values:
$750
$400 $500
$100 $200 $300
From what I could figure out was that the 1st trip was $25,000.... 2nd was for and additional $50,000. Returning champs - I think - a contestant won both times in taping 1, was back in taping 2 and Tim mentioned she had already taken home a big amount. How to get the million? The players are trying to earn a spot in the "League of Champions" to compete in a million dollar touney.

Notes: This excites me. I expected to see Donnymid Pt. II. This is classic Pyramid folks, right down to the set, music, and logo! I hope CBS picks this up and it enjoys a great run. The tapings ran long... they said arrive at 3:30 and to not be late, at 3:30 there were about 15 people in line... I think production folks had to find people off the street to come in. We didn't get in the studio until about 4:30. When we got in, they reshot a Winner's Circle w/ Caroline Rhea, in which the contestant won. That contestant didn't return for the next "show", which makes me question how long a person stays. But other than that, it was a fantastic afternoon/evening!

Want to see pics? Go here.

Okay, seeing the set lit up makes it look SO much better. :)

/the drill
//the spit-sink
///the laughing gas
////the receptionist
/////the free toothbrushes
//////one friggin' "M"

Yeah, I'm going to Bed Bath and Beyond. Anybody need anything?

/Just saw the pics
//I'm speechless
///Side note: I love the scoreboards and how they look like the play clock at many newer NFL stadiums
////Def. seen it in games played at The Linc

I wonder if the set without lights... what I call the "Dentist's Office' is what the Beyond part is like!! It looked like they did a lot of Ikea shopping.

It beats the hell out of the warehouse surplus shopping they did for Donnymid. Thanks for the pics! :-)

The "stadium" seating reminds me of Barris's Treasure Hunt...

My goodness someone gets it.

Question...do you know if the classic ticking sound was used in the Winner's Circle? I wouldn't think it would be live in-studio, but you never know.

/Needs a little bit more work on the set (details), but yeah...keep that general set = win.

My faith in this revival has gone up at least ten-fold.

VERY AWESOME! Thanks for sharing, MitchJoseph2004! :-P

The only in-studio sounds I could hear were a buzzer, bell, and coo-koo. Seeming that they've pretty much kept everything else intact sound-wise, I'd expect it to stay around.

-Mitch

I would be VERY interested to know more about the writing...I'm a little worried that something fairly easy like "Things at a Dentist's Office" is at the top of the board. Donnymid could have shot on the original Clark set and Tom Cruise's Friggin' Dentist would have still broken the show. But yes, it's a good sign.

From what I can remember while watch, it seemed like the writing could use some work. I think they were trying to produce some winners for the pilot.
Main game writing was ok, there were only about 5 times out of 12 turns that saw a perfect 7 score.

Well, gang, based on the photos of the set and the description of game play, it seems that those involved in this incarnation of Pyramid do "Get It"®.

Now here's hoping that the original Pyramid concepts still in play get the approval by CBS with no Donnymid-ish changes.

Well, there's "it needs to be harder" and "it needs to not have compound crap like "cave wall."" Harder can be done more easily than avoiding the latter.