The Game Show Thread!

[SFK]

And bell, let me take this opportunity to thank you for my current sig. I got a swift elbow in the ribcage the night I busted out laughing when I read that in one of your posts, I could not contain myself. If you don't like it, I'll glady remove it though, I should have asked first.

[SFK]

I think it's funny that Aisha Tyler of all names is in the Pyramid Pilot. But you had me at Betty White. Actually, I don't like that they're standing, they did a lot of standing when CBS did those game show nights that Betty was on, it seems more rushed and less intimate. I hope the set isn't all black and computer screened like so many of the newer generation shows. It looks cheap, too slick, and uninviting. I miss some gold old fashioned orange and mustard carpeting.

[bellcurve]

LOL! Thanks for the shoutout. I mean really..."Say It Now"?! Did Daytime Network Execs not learn a thing from crap Regis/Kathie Lee ripoffs like "The Mike and Maty Show"?

The Pyramid Pilot taped in New York last year used vibrant colors, had the retro-looking set and even the trillions at the Winners Circle instead of the video monitors like Donny Osmond's 2002 reboot.

They always have time to rework it and tell them to sit their asses down.

[DRW50]

Do faded talk show hosts from other countries ever work out when they move somewhere else? You don't hear about Australia loving Arsenio Hall, do you?

Anyway, that title is awful. It's like Edward R. Murron if he were into bondage.

[bellcurve]

LOL.

[DRW50]

Oh crap, that's Murrow. Blame lack of sleep...

If they're going to have a random Australian on the show then they should have Dame Edna.

[Bright Eyes]

I absolutely LOVE Rove McManus. He's hilarious.

[All My Shadows]

I think "Say It Now" is supposed to be a play on "See It Now," the old 50s news show. It annoys the [!@#$%^&*] out of me, and I don't know why. It's like their trying to show off. "See, we have this long, LUGGERIOUS! history, and we love to wank it every now and make ourselves feel like we're a part of something special."

Daytime is screwed, man. Absolutely screwed. Games and soaps. Games and soaps! That's all I want in the daytime (besides talk shows right afterward).

[bellcurve]

Apparently, the new pilot with Andy Richter will look nothing like the pilot they taped in NY. And the rules are a little different and apparently, they will call the Winner's Circle "The Endgame"

I'm also reading from the comments posted that they've gone to plasma screens instead of the trillions and that the clues are presented on plasma screens displayed side by side in a semi-circle.

And forgive Alex Davis' douchery in this article. LOL. I like reading his stuff but those who are not used to his style might be offended.

http://buzzerblog.flashgameshows.com/pyramid-pilot-as-good-as-you-can-hope-for/

Per BuzzerBlog:

UPDATE: HollywoodJunket filled a bit more of the rules in. They have included a new feature to the show called “Double Down”. A team behind can call to use Double Down to have words twice as difficult for two points per word instead of one. The opposing team may then elect to use Double Down if desired. Also, by the description of “grand prize of $25,000″, I’m guessing that your total, if you win the day’s final, will be augmented to $25,000. No confirmation yet. Still hunting for pictures of the set since people seem to be pretty intrigued by that.

The rules for the new pilot for Pyramid are out and, really, it’s as good as you can hope for. Info is, as always, from HollywoodJunket.com. Yesterday we announced that Mo Rocca and Betty White were two of the celebrities playing. Two others were Aisha Tyler and Rachel Harris. Andy Richter hosts.

People got a boner last year, for reasons I’m still not quite sure of, about the classic looking set. It’s been assured, repeatedly, that the new Pyramid looks nothing like anything has before and that people now stand. That’s a point that even Michael Davies, the executive producer, brought up to the audience during briefing. I have no idea why that matters whatsoever beyond to appease and warn only the most hardcore of fans. But again I ask who really cares as long as the game works. And it does work as well as you can hope for in an hour long format.

It’s essentially the classic Pyramid format. Two contestants play a game of word identification against each other. It’s played in the same three rounds as the classic, where people guess up to seven words in 30 seconds. In the second round you can win a prize by correctly getting all seven. The winner plays the end game, at least in the old version dubbed the Winner’s Circle, for $10,000. The contestant has sixty seconds to get as many items from the final Pyramid as possible. Consolation money will be given away if they can’t climb the Pyramid.

Another game with two other contestants is played for $10,000. The two winners will then face off against each other for one final game where the winner will play for $25,000. No word on a tournament or returning champs or anything like that. So there we are. Really, in an hour long format it’s as good as you can hope for.

The game works and costs a hell of a lot less, it seems, than when they shot this as The $1,000,000 Pyramid last year. I’m hoping for a tournament to infuse a tiny bit of cash into this, though. $25,000 is a fantastic prize, but it’s been around since the 80s and given how hard it is to win I really can’t see it doing any mammoth harm doing the occasional $100,000 tournament. But either way, you can’t ask for much more than what we’re being given with this.

What do we think? Excited?

[bellcurve]

Here's the info about the set from HollywoodJunket.com:

CBS shot a new pilot yesterday of classic game show, PYRAMID hosted by Andy Richter (Conan O’Brien) on the Sony Studio Pictures lot in Culver City.

After a nostalgic reel of past “Pyramid” shows was shown, Executive Producer, Michael Davies opened the day’s filming by stating that they chose to keep the game play the same because, “why mess with perfection”, and that “Pyramid” is the “greatest game show in television history”. The new set, he stated, is without an actual physical pyramid. Producers chose to display the pyramid via seven surrounding screens. That new feature, along with “bringing the show to it’s feet” (contestants and celebrities stand rather than sit) is what he explained has entered PYRAMID into the 21st century.

Special celebrity guests for the two pilot episodes were: Moe Rocca, and Rachel Harris for the first show, and Betty White and Aisha Tyler for the second one, although they were shuffled around for a third show. Producers shot a variation of outcomes and combinations of celebs and contestants, for what I’m guessing, to edit together the best of possible shows to present to CBS.

Man, I really attempted to give Michael Davies the benefit of the doubt on this one, especially considering the pics that came out of the pilot taped in NYC. It doesn't matter to me that they lowered the prize money on this new pilot or even that the contestants and celebs stand at the podium, but for God's sake, why are they so hellbent on fixing what isn't wrong? I can deal with plasma screens, but to not even have them arranged in a Pyramid-like fashion just seems so tacky and exactly the reason why Donnymid tanked so hard. I'll still watch this new version of Pyramid if it makes it to air, but it just seems like this goes against the retro-feel CBS wanted for Let's Make a Deal.

It could have been notes from Les Moonves or Bloom to modernize the show from the last pilot, but that doesn't make sense to me since everything on their lineup is a throwback, including Y&R and especially B&B.

[All My Shadows]

Donnymid at least had pyramids where there were supposed to be pyramids.

The standing up is gonna turn this into Pyramid meets Body Language. Betty White's gonna stand for an hour show? Really?

It's all a bunch of pointless changing for no reason. I do like the game play, though. Very simple and easy to understand.

[bellcurve]

The standing doesn't bother me, but the position of the clues does. Why are they even calling it Pyramid if the clues are in a semi-circle?

And it doesn't matter if we don't have the original theme back, but please bring back that suspense driven Winners Circle clock music. That's all I care about.

[All My Shadows]

I'm still avoiding Minute to Win It like the plague (really, I'm avoiding Guy "Fyetty"), but I've checked out ABC's Downfall. I'm sick of the single-player primetime game shows, but this one is okay. The "Let's toss this crap off a roof!" thing is weird and unnecessary (eh, I guess it's necessary to keep people's attention...simply eliminating the prizes would be too boring for most), but I like the set up of the game. Throwing the stuff off the roof is way too distracting for the contestants, though. In all the episodes I've seen, once the big things go off the roof, the contestants are just sitting there watching that instead of answering the questions.

Chris Jericho is not surprisingly a REALLY good host and seems pretty intelligent. And he's fit as [!@#$%^&*], too.

[bellcurve]

Hopefully Downfall is on the ABC Website so I can look at it soon.

Minute to Win It is just silly.

[alphanguy74]

Oh, CRAP. I should ahve known they'd shoot a new one and f*ck it up. Brilliant, absolutely BRILLIANT to shoot a new pilot of Pyramid with no Pyramids. How smart of them. Last years' was the perfect balance, updated... yet the same for the most part. Can't these bastards grasp the concept of BRAND RECOGNITION????!!!! Doesn't the continued sucess of WOF tell them ANYTHING? and look as at what a groundswell of positive feedback they got when people saw the pics and short clips from last year's pilot.. are they thinking.. "Everyone liked the pilot last year, so let's do something totally opposite!" WTF are these people doing? Why do these morons think they can totally change everyhting about a show that was successful and have poeple like it? do you see general mills saying.. "Oh, wer'e going to bring Cheerios into the 21st century and make them square.. and theyr'e going to be made out of corn now, and not oats". No Wonder the networks lose all their market share, the dumbass, limp-dicked little fools.