The $10,000 Pyramid


Aired
CBS Daytime, March 26, 1973 - March 29, 1974 & ABC Daytime, May 6, 1974 - January 16, 1976
Number of episodes
242 (CBS); 431 (ABC)
Run time
30 Minutes
Host
Dick Clark
Announcers
Bob Clayton (1973-1976) Jack Clark (1973)
Origination
The Ed Sullivan Theater (CBS-TV Studio 50) New York, New York (1973-1974) CBS Television City (Studio 31) Hollywood, California (1973) ABC Television Center (The Elysee Theater: TV-15) New York, New York (1974-1976)

This is chronicling the original version of The $10,000 Pyramid.

Game Format[]

Main Game[]

Two teams, each consisting of a celebrity guest and a studio contestant, attempted to guess a series of items relating to different categories within a short time limit based on clues given by their partners. The show's title referred to its pyramid-shaped game boards, both in the main game and in the bonus round, featuring six categories arranged in a triangular fashion. As always in the main game, each category's title was cleverly written in order to give team members a vague idea of what it was about (ex: "Loosen Up" - things that are stiff; "Made Public" - things that are used by the public; "The Woodsman" - things that a carpenter uses). Some categories also involved famous people, which contestants and celebrities both dreaded. Each team played each category in alternating order (their choice), and for each category, one person on the team had 30 seconds to describe eight (later seven) items relating to that category to their partner. Teams scored 1 point for each correct answer (for a maximum of 8 [later 7] points); if they passed on a word, they could not come back to it, but if the receiver guessed it right after it was passed, the team still earned a point for it. The clue giver could use voice inflections and hand/body movements while describing a word, but they could not say the actual word or any other part of it or else they would lose out on that potential point score (originally accompanied by a buzzer, later a "cuckoo" sound effect). For the first two categories, the celebrities gave the clues, then the contestants gave the clues for the next two, and then for the final two, teams decided among themselves who would give or receive clues (the team that was trailing usually got first pick between the last two categories). The team in the lead after the sixth category moved on to the Winner's Circle.

Big 7[]

When the show moved to ABC, a special item called the Big 7 was hidden behind one category in either game. The team that exposed the Big 7 had 30 seconds to get all seven and win $500. This originated as a trial run during the week of November 18-22, 1974, in which a team would designate a category as the Big 7, and guessing all the answers correctly won a trip. It was eventually made permanent in early 1975. In situations where a team didn't all earn 7 points to win on the very last category or they won the game automatically, if the very last category concealed the Big 7, the team was allowed to play the category all the way out to try and win the $500.

Tie-Breaker[]

If the game ended in a tie, the game shifted into a tie-breaker situation. The team that caused the tie had a choice between two letters leaving the other for the other team. Both teams had 30 seconds to get as many of the seven items beginning with their letter(s) as they can. The teams continued building on their scores using the tie-breaker categories. This cauised an achievement of very rare high scores. Extra ties kept the game going, and as soon as the tie was broken, the game was over.

The team with the most points won the game.

Winner's Circle[]

The Winner's Circle essentially reversed the process: one member of the winning team had 60 seconds to describe six categories of increasing difficulty to their partner by listing items relating to each category. Contestants always had the option of whether they wanted to give or receive clues in the Winner's Circle, but celebrities usually gave the majority of the time. Regardless of who gave the clues, there were strict rules involving the types of clues players could not give in the Winner's Circle (see below):

Clue givers could not use their hands (their chair had special straps attached to the arms to prevent them from doing so)
Clue givers could not give away any part of the category itself or the essence thereof
Clue givers had to use a short and concise list of clues; they could not use clues that were overly descriptive
Clue givers could not use synonyms or prepositional phrases
Clue givers' clues had to relate to the category itself

If the clue giver gave an illegal clue at any time, the category in play was thrown out, thus disqualifying the contestant from winning the grand prize. However, if this happened with time left on the clock and with unrevealed categories yet to be played, then the team was allowed to play the remainder of the Winner's Circle until time ran out or until the remaining categories were all correctly guessed. The three categories on the bottom row were worth $50 each, the next two were worth $100 each, and the final category was worth $200. If the team got all six right before the time expired, then the contestant partner won $10,000.

Winning the $10,000 retired the player from the show; otherwise they played in the next game with the other celebrity.

Trivia[]

The original title for the show was Cash on the Line, and featured a very different format.
The theme song used for this version of Pyramid was "Tuning Up" by Ken Aldin.

International Versions[]

Main Article: Pyramid/International

Merchandise[]

Board Games[]

Milton Bradley (1974 & 1976)[]

Games from this incarnations were released in three editions (NOTE: the 2nd edition font was in red and blue colors).

Photos[]

Set Pics & Host[]

Theatre Building[]

Tickets[]

Print ad[]

Press[]

Article[]

Header[]

Episode Status[]

14 of 15 Hollywood episodes exist, and were shown on GSN. Three episodes exist in Black & White at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. The Friday episode from the premiere week in March 1973, one from June 1973, and another from December 1973, also exist.

Video[]

$10,000_Pyramid_with_Rob_Reiner_&_June_Lockhart_-_1973_Premiere_Week — $10,000 Pyramid with Rob Reiner & June Lockhart - 1973 Premiere Week

Links[]

The $10,000 Pyramid fan page