Pyramid (franchise)
Pyramid is an American game show franchise that has aired several versions domestically and internationally. The show was developed by Bob Stewart. The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted on March 26, 1973,[7] and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series. Most later series featured a full title format matching the original series, with the title reflecting an increasing top prize. The game features two contestants, each paired with a celebrity. In the game, the contestants and celebrities attempt to identify words or phrases through clues given by their teammates. The title refers to the show's pyramid-shaped gameboard, featuring six categories arranged in a triangular fashion. The various Pyramid series have won a total of nine Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show, second only to Jeopardy!, which has won 13.
This article is about the U.S. game show. For the Australian game show, see Pyramid (Australian game show).Pyramid
Mike Gargiulo
Bruce Burmester[4]
Paul Nichols
Bob Loudin
Paul Overacker
Rich DiPirro
Bob Clayton
Jack Clark
Steve O'Brien
Alan Kalter
Johnny Gilbert
Charlie O'Donnell
John Cramer
JD Roberto[5]
Brad Abelle
Ken Aldin
Bob Cobert[4]
Barry Coffing
John Blaylock
Alan Ett
Scott Liggett[6]
Bleeding Fingers Music
Bob Cobert
United States
English
1,211 (1973–1988)
40 (2012)
92 (2016–present)
- Bob Stewart
- Vin Rubino
- Constance Schwartz
- Michael Strahan
Anne Marie Schmidt
Sande Stewart
Francine Bergman
Jane Rothchild
David Michaels
Erin Perry[4]
Stephen Brown
Cathy Cotter
John Ricci Jr.
Jonathan Bourne
22 minutes (1973–2012)
44 minutes (2016–present)
Bob Stewart Productions
(1973–1988)
Basada, Inc.
(1973–1974, 1978–1981, 1986–1988)
20th Century Fox Television
(1985-1988)
Stewart Tele Enterprises
(1991)
Columbia TriStar Domestic Television
(2002)
Sony Pictures Television
(2002–2004, 2012, 2016–present)
Embassy Row (2012)
GSN Originals
(2012)
SMAC Productions (2016–)
Carolco Television Productions
(1991)
The $10,000 Pyramid:
CBS (1973–1974)
ABC (1974–1976)
The $20,000 Pyramid:
ABC (1976–1980)
The $25,000 Pyramid:
Weekly syndication (1974–1979)
The $50,000 Pyramid:
Daily syndication (1981)
The (New) $25,000 Pyramid:
CBS (1982–87, 1988)
The $100,000 Pyramid:
Daily syndication (1985–1988, 1991)
Pyramid:
Daily syndication (2002–2004)
The Pyramid:
GSN (2012)
The $100,000 Pyramid:
ABC (2016–present)
March 26, 1973 –
present
Dick Clark is the host most commonly associated with the show, having hosted the network daytime version from 1973 to 1980 (which moved from CBS to ABC in 1974, and increased its namesake top prize from $10,000 to $20,000 in 1976) and The (New) $25,000 Pyramid from 1982 to 1988 on CBS. Clark also hosted two weeknight syndicated versions, The $50,000 Pyramid in 1981 and The $100,000 Pyramid from 1985 to 1988 (concurrent with the daytime show).
Bill Cullen hosted the first weekly nighttime version of The $25,000 Pyramid from 1974 to 1979. John Davidson hosted The $100,000 Pyramid in 1991, and Donny Osmond hosted a version simply titled Pyramid from 2002 to 2004; both aired five episodes per week. Game Show Network's The Pyramid, hosted by Mike Richards, who was an executive at format owner Sony Pictures Television, aired a single forty-episode season in 2012.
The current incarnation of The $100,000 Pyramid debuted June 26, 2016, on ABC with Michael Strahan as host. It has aired on Sunday nights during the summer months since, completing its fourth season in September 2019. On November 20, 2019, the series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on May 26, 2021.[8][9][10][11] On January 6, 2022, The $100,000 Pyramid renewed for a sixth season and the show moved from New York to Los Angeles.[12][13] The sixth season premiered on July 10, 2022 and ran until August 28, 2023. The seventh season premiered on September 28, 2023.[14][15]
Conception[edit]
Television producer Bob Stewart developed The $10,000 Pyramid in 1973. The show's format was adapted from an unsold television pilot Stewart had filmed earlier titled Cash on the Line.[42]
Personnel[edit]
Bob Clayton was the series' original announcer and performed these duties until his death in 1979. Alan Kalter and Steve O'Brien shared the primary announcer role until The $50,000 Pyramid ended production in 1981. Substitutes included Fred Foy, John Causier, Dick Heatherton, Scott Vincent, and Ed Jordan.
When the series was revived and production moved to California in 1982, Jack Clark became the announcer and held the position until 1985. Johnny Gilbert became the primary announcer for The $25,000 Pyramid while Charlie O'Donnell took the job for The $100,000 Pyramid when it launched that fall. Both Gilbert and O'Donnell substituted for each other on their respective series; other substitutes included Jerry Bishop, Rod Roddy, Bob Hilton, Charlie Tuna, and Dean Goss. In 1991, Gilbert and Goss were both featured announcers and frequent panelist Henry Polic II also announced for several weeks.[4] John Cramer announced the 2002–04 version, and JD Roberto announced The Pyramid (2012). The 2016 ABC primetime version is announced by Brad Abelle.
Mike Gargiulo directed through 1981, with Bruce Burmester replacing him until the end of the 1991 version.[4]
The original theme tune was "Tuning Up" by Ken Aldin. In 1982, it was replaced by an original, similarly styled composition by Bob Cobert, which was also used in 1991.[4] Barry Coffing and John Blaylock composed the theme and incidental music for the 2002–04 version, while Alan Ett composed a cover of Bob Cobert's 1982–91 theme for The Pyramid. Bleeding Fingers Music composed a separate cover of Cobert's theme for the 2016 version.
Home games[edit]
The first board game of The $10,000 Pyramid was released in 1974 by the Milton Bradley Company, with a total of eight editions produced through 1981. Beginning with the fourth edition, like its TV counterpart, the title and top payoff changed to The $20,000 Pyramid, while the final edition was titled The $50,000 Pyramid. However, due to concerns about players easily memorizing possible Winners' Circle subjects, the format of the board game's Winners' Circle endgame was changed to mirror that of the TV version's main game.[54]
Cardinal Games released a new home version of The $25,000 Pyramid in 1986,[55] this time using the actual Winners' Circle rules and format, which was also given to all contestants who appeared on both the daytime and nighttime versions for most of 1987 and select 1988 episodes. This version was reissued in 2000 by Endless Games,[56] which later released a new edition based on the Osmond version in 2003.[57]
The $100,000 Pyramid, a video game adaptation, was released in 1987. Developed and published by Box Office Software, it was originally released for Apple II and then ported to DOS and Commodore 64.[58] Years later, Sierra Attractions released a new PC CD-ROM version of The $100,000 Pyramid in 2001,[59] which was followed by a DVD game from MGA Entertainment in 2006.
A version titled The $1,000,000 Pyramid was released by Ubisoft for the Nintendo Wii in 2011.[60]