Some Details on the New Pyramid
Wednesday June 17, 2009
Earlier this month, I posted that tickets were available for the taping of the Pyramid revival that CBS is considering for syndication in the fall. One of our community members, Jason, was able to get tickets, and he attended the filming yesterday. Fortunately for us, he was able to share a few details of the game!
First, the format is similar to The $10,000 Pyramid in that there are seven items per category, with 30 seconds on the clock for each. If a contestant makes it through the first round to the Winner's Circle, they earn $25,000. If they get back to the Winner's Circle in the second round, they win $50,000 more. And of course, the game is called $1,000,000 Pyramid, so you can guess what the ultimate prize is. Jason says the set was also a throwback to the Dick Clark days of Pyramid.
Celebrities on hand for the taping were Ken Jennings, Susie Essman, Jesse Metcalfe, Caroline Rhea, and Norm MacDonald.
Now, we have a bit of a question mark over who the host of the show is. Jason says that he thought the host's name was Vincent Reynolds, and that he's a British TV presenter. If anyone else was at the taping and knows who this fellow is, please let us know.
(Update: In the comments section below, we've been alerted that the host is quite possibly Tim Vincent, who's been on Access Hollywood here, and used to host the children's program Blue Peter in the U.K. He also hosted the pilot for GSN's Chain Reaction.) We have confirmation of Tim Vincent as host now - check out these photos from the set!
Update #2: I'm hearing that the host for the second session of taping this week will be someone completely different, so it looks like production is taking this seriously, leaving options open should the series be picked up. That's good news!
Taping for the show was Tuesday of this week, and there's another one being held this Friday. Note, if you have tickets for today's session, it's been rescheduled for Friday according to OnSet Productions. After that, we must wait to see if they pass muster. If the show is green-lit, we can look forward to another casting call, as well as more audience tickets being available. I'll keep you posted! In the meantime, if you have more info on the pilot tapings, or have questions you'd like to ask Jason, please feel free to post in the comments section. Also, if you're attending the second session, please drop me a line if you'd like to share the details. Thanks for the scoop, Jason!
Update #3: Thanks to Chad Mosher for spotting this ad on Craigslist, which says the host for Friday will be former Superman Dean Cain. Interesting choice! If you want to attend, click on that link to the ad - they're offering a $20 payment per audience member.
First, the format is similar to The $10,000 Pyramid in that there are seven items per category, with 30 seconds on the clock for each. If a contestant makes it through the first round to the Winner's Circle, they earn $25,000. If they get back to the Winner's Circle in the second round, they win $50,000 more. And of course, the game is called $1,000,000 Pyramid, so you can guess what the ultimate prize is. Jason says the set was also a throwback to the Dick Clark days of Pyramid.
Celebrities on hand for the taping were Ken Jennings, Susie Essman, Jesse Metcalfe, Caroline Rhea, and Norm MacDonald.
Now, we have a bit of a question mark over who the host of the show is. Jason says that he thought the host's name was Vincent Reynolds, and that he's a British TV presenter. If anyone else was at the taping and knows who this fellow is, please let us know.
(Update: In the comments section below, we've been alerted that the host is quite possibly Tim Vincent, who's been on Access Hollywood here, and used to host the children's program Blue Peter in the U.K. He also hosted the pilot for GSN's Chain Reaction.) We have confirmation of Tim Vincent as host now - check out these photos from the set!
Update #2: I'm hearing that the host for the second session of taping this week will be someone completely different, so it looks like production is taking this seriously, leaving options open should the series be picked up. That's good news!
Taping for the show was Tuesday of this week, and there's another one being held this Friday. Note, if you have tickets for today's session, it's been rescheduled for Friday according to OnSet Productions. After that, we must wait to see if they pass muster. If the show is green-lit, we can look forward to another casting call, as well as more audience tickets being available. I'll keep you posted! In the meantime, if you have more info on the pilot tapings, or have questions you'd like to ask Jason, please feel free to post in the comments section. Also, if you're attending the second session, please drop me a line if you'd like to share the details. Thanks for the scoop, Jason!
Update #3: Thanks to Chad Mosher for spotting this ad on Craigslist, which says the host for Friday will be former Superman Dean Cain. Interesting choice! If you want to attend, click on that link to the ad - they're offering a $20 payment per audience member.
Comments
I heard from another source that the host is actually Tim Vincent of Access Hollywood.
That’s funny – Tim Vincent was the first guy I thought of when I got Jason’s e-mail about the show! I’ll update the post – thanks Whammypower.
Are my eyes deceiving me? Are they actually using trilons for the pyramid, instead of video displays?
Cool!
I’m the one who actually took those pictures and put them online. And yes, they are trilons. Here is my full review from the taping I attended yesterday:
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!
Mitch, thanks for chiming in! Your pictures are terrific, and we appreciate the in-depth details. It all sounds absolutely terrific! I’m so glad they didn’t revert to Donnymid v2.0.
Interesting info about the million dollar tournament. I wonder how often that will run?
Hey everyone, sorry about not getting the name of the host right. When I went to the taping I could never get anyone to tell me the full name of the host. And I misunderstood when I talked to him I hope Tim Vicent never sees this and meets me again, he’d probably be annoyed at me.
I really wish I brought my camera to the taping, I got to meet the Game Show King, Ken Jennings himself. I just wish I got a picture with him.
Wonderful! (sarcasm) they’re paying people to be in the audience now. I would love to be paid to go back but I have work on Friday! Arg!
I love that the set pays homage to the Dick Clark era Pyramids without mimicking them exactly, like John Davidson’s show…or doing a 180 like Donny’s. The set looks a little small in these pics, but it probably looks larger on video.
But to be honest, the trilons aren’t really working for me. I’d almost rather see CGI trilons that animate (mimic turning, maybe even have the individual blocks fly into place to begin the game). And I think the “$1,000,000″ at the top of the Pyramid could stand to be bigger…but these are minor gripes. I’d expect some tweaking if the show goes to series. It’s great that they showed respect for what made the original work so well.
I like that the coo-coo, logo and themes survived, too. Does the host say “Here is your first subject…go!”?
All in all, I like what I see here. I hope it gets picked up!
Link’s already dead, ad’s been taken down.
Since they are taking applications for this show now…anyone know when/where I can get tickets to see it?
Hi Matt – Onset Productions will likely be handling tickets for this one. I’ll be keeping an eye out for dates, and will post when they’re available.
As far as I know, the taping schedule hasn’t been released yet.