Pyramid (game show)

Pyramid was an American television game show where contestants tried to guess a series of words or phrases, based on descriptions that were given to them, in the shortest amount of time. It has won nine Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show, second only to Jeopardy!, which won its 10th in 2005.

The Winner's Circle

The Winner's Circle round, named for the circular structure around the chairs that the celebrity and contestant sat in, also featured a pyramid of six subjects: three on the bottom level, two in the middle, and one at the top. Each subject, however, was revealed one at a time, and whoever gave the clues (usually the celebrity, but the contestant always had the option of giving or receiving) had to give a list of objects that fit into that subject. The subjects increased in difficulty toward the top of the pyramid.

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Any descriptions other than a list of items resulted in immediate disqualification of that category (signaled by a buzzer, which is also use to indicate that time expired). The strictness of the judging has varied over the years, but this generally included all of the following: using hand gestures (the cluegiver had arm straps to help discourage this), saying a key part of the answer (e.g. "a building" for "Things You Build"), using synonyms (e.g. clueing "Things That Are Attractive" with "a beautiful woman"), using long descriptive phrases (e.g. "the train on schedule" for "Things That Arrive"), and describing the category itself (e.g. "open your mouth I'll drill your teeth" for "Things A Dentist Uses") rather than naming items. Using hand gestures were allowed for a short time in the early CBS days and during special weeks in which the contestants were blind.

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The start of the clock produced one of TV's (and Dick Clark's) most famous catch phrases:

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"Here is your first subject. GO!"

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The contestant had 60 seconds to get to the top of the pyramid by guessing all six subjects correctly; doing so won the grand prize, which had changed with each incarnation of the show:

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• The original version offered $10,000 as its top prize. If won the contestant retires undefeated with the $10,000 and any other winnings to that point.
• By 1976, the top prize offered was $20,000. The contestant who went to the Winner's Circle the first time played for $10,000; the second time for $15,000 and the third and subsequent times for $20,000. Players in this version continued up to five days or until defeated.
• In the 1981 syndicated version the first trip to the Winner's Circle was worth $5,000 and the second time was worth $10,000.
• From 1982 on, and during the syndicated 1974-79 version, the first trip to the Pyramid was worth $10,000 and the second $25,000.

The first Winner's Circle win occurred on the first broadcast in 1973, when Rob Reiner successfully used the clue "A doughnut" for "Things With A Hole". Interestingly, when Dick Clark was playing as a celebrity player on the syndicated $25,000 Pyramid, he had trouble with the same exact subject, and eventually came up with the same clue Reiner used earlier when time was running out, resulting in a $25,000 win.

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If the top prize was not won, the contestant was awarded $50 for the bottom subjects, $100 for the middle subjects, and $200 for the top subject. The syndicated version's awards were $100, $200, and $300 respectively. From 1982 to 1991, the first subject was worth $50, and increased in value by $50 for each subject up to $300 for the top subject. In the 2002-2004 version, the bottom three subjects were worth $200, the middle two $300, and the top subject $500.

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In most versions, each subject was displayed on a trilon that concealed the name of the subject, the dollar amount (if the contestant guessed that subject correctly), and a pyramid (if an illegal clue was given or if the subject was unused). The 2002-2004 version used television monitors instead.

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In the early years on occasion, if there was no time for the second bonus round, it would be played at the top of the next show. On the week-ending Friday episode, if there was no winner from the main game, the celebrities would play the winner's circle themselves which, if won, would split $5,000 to both contestants.

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On The $50,000 Pyramid, the player with the fastest time in the front game for the week played in the $50,000 tournament. The field of eight contenders was narrowed down to three in the first week of the tournament.

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Tournaments were frequently held on The $100,000 Pyramid where the three contestants who reached the top of the pyramid in the shortest amounts of time played until someone won the Winner's Circle, where $100,000 was awarded. The last version of Pyramid also held periodic tournaments where a contestant could win $100,000.

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