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Post by mike on Jan 24, 2020 0:26:59 GMT -5
Week of June 30, 1986:
Celebrity players for the week were Jo Anne Worley and Nipsey Russell, both of whom had played "Pyramid" within the show's first two months in 1973. Surprisingly, the two stars - among the most frequent players in the New York era - had never played the game against each other before. With both of them having 14 years' playing experience, it was even more surprising that, again, there were no big wins this week.
Nipsey and returning contestant Lynn had a close call in Monday's first round, scoring $750 after Lynn missed THINGS THAT ARE CLUMSY. Nipsey and new player Jimmy tried to match that in the next round but stopped at $500.
Lynn won the next four games, earning $300, $550, $750 (missing THINGS IN A GLOVE COMPARTMENT), and $500. Tuesday's show was notable because Dick Clark read part of a letter from a reader who tried to give Dick a system to add the winner's circle money easier. There was a special moment in Wednesday's show when Nipsey prefaced picking the category COME ON DOWN with "In honor of our late, great Johnny O.," referring to legendary "Price Is Right" announcer Johnny Olson, who had passed away the previous year.
Because there was alternate programming scheduled for Friday, July 4th, Thursday was the last show of the week. Jo Anne and new contestant Cindy won $600, during which Jo Anne got buzzed on INDEPENDENCE DAY THINGS (JULY 4) for saying "the Declaration of Independence." In the week's final round, Lynn had one more close call, winning $750 after leaving THINGS THAT ARE HOOKED on the board. She left the show with $5,200, a trip to Hawaii, a computer, and a video camera, making her the lowest-scoring undefeated champion in the L.A. years...but it certainly wasn't for a lack of trying or good game play.
Interestingly, of the seven winless weeks of "The $25,000 Pyramid," four of them occurred in 1986 - in fact, three of them in the last seven weeks. Granted, Jo Anne and Nipsey had the excuse of a short week, but there was no denying that there was a slight slump going on. How soon would it be broken?
Tallies for the week: Jo Anne - 4 games, $5,700; Nipsey - 4 games, $3,400.
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Post by mike on Jan 24, 2020 0:32:54 GMT -5
I do not remember who posted the following post, but I thought it was fun:
Here are my eight most memorable main games of Pyramid:
8. Sandy Duncan & Kay Johnson 11, Edward Asner & Marilyn Holly, 6 (Day 3 of 5, air date uncertain due to pre-emptions) After one turn, Edward and Marilyn trailed 6-2. After two, they trailed 11-4. On future versions of the show, they would have needed a perfect round to force the other team to have a third turn. At this time, though, there were eight items per category. Dick simply told them, "Please get all of them. That'll really help." For their final turn, the category was people who address the public. To describe "a dictator," Edward said, "Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini," and Marilyn said, "leaders." When their time ran out, they had only six points for all three rounds. Edward asked, "Did we get ten or eleven?" The only other times that I can recall seeing a team get four points in two turns, the last two categories were unnecessary except for bonus cards, and even then I didn't see them finish the third turn with only 6 points.
7. 3/11/03, Lana Parilla & Joe Thornton 5, Mark Curry & Sabrina Stoddard 4 Because of the format change, it's hard to be sure whether Mark and Sabrina had a worse game than Edward and Marilyn. Lana and Joe, however, have to be the worst team that ever won a game. It looked like it would be a lopsided game when Mark and Sabrina began the game with one point, but Lana and Joe only got three. In their second turns, each team had yet another single-point round. Mark's attempt to describe opera prompted Donny to quip, "Mark, you're a great comedian, but don't ever try opera." Mark and Sabrina had their best round yet when they chose the Super 6, doubling their score to 4 and forcing Lana and Joe to actually play their sixth category. In the only non-embarrassing round of the game, they got "Cher" in three seconds.
6. 12/5/74 (New York air date for the $25K), Bernadette Peters & unknown opponent v. Edward Asner & Constance McCashin No, the Cullen Pyramid didn't do a celebrity edition. Constance McCashin appeared as a civilian contestant. The second game had so many tie-breakers that they didn't have time to play the Winner's Circle, so Constance was awarded $2,500. As an aside, I remember seeing that show, and I remember an incident that I'm almost certain came from that night's only Winner's Circle. Constance was unable to get Edward to say the second category, THINGS IN HELL. Afterward, he said he just didn't want to say the word. At the time, I didn't realize he was joking! (Note: I remember joining the show in progress around the same time and not recognizing the female celebrity. I would have recognized Peggy Cass, the other celeb who faced Asner that season. If I've combined two episodes, feel free to set me straight. I'm going off memories from 39 years ago!)
5. 4/2/04, Sherri Shepherd & Amy Hamblin 12, Eric Roberts & Lars Petersen 11 This has to be the greatest comeback ever. Sherri and Amy led off with 0--on the Super 6, no less. Eric and Lars got 5. Sherri and Amy followed up with two perfect rounds and "back into" a win. (I can't find any confirmaton for a daytime $25K game that I would swear up and down that I saw. Ed Begley and his partner got 1 on their first turn. Ed said, "You don't think we can win this, do you?" The game went 1-5, 8-10, 15-15, and Ed and his partner won in a tie-breaker. Eric's comeback was more impressive, but Ed's optimism made his more enjoyable.)
4. 1/21/86 ($100K), Vicki Lawrence & Ellen Gerstell 35, Dick Cavett & Sarah McConnell 33. The scoreboard didn't show that, of course. Vicki and Ellen started the game by getting the 7-11. Later, with $5,000 at stake for a perfect game tie, the judges determined that the two teams had gotten their tiebreaker 7's in exactly the same time, 20 seconds. In a second tie-breaker, Vicki and Ellen went first and took 20 seconds once again. That was only enough time for Dick and Sarah to get 5. For just this game, Ellen ended up with $16,100.
3. 6/12/78, Nipsey Russell & Ann Quisling 43, Sandy Duncan & Bill Mesnick 42 They played a total of seven categories. The game took so long that they had to rush the second game, and that Winner's Circle led off the next day's show.
2. 7/4/75 Lucie Arnaz 45, Anson Williams 44. This has basically the same story as the previous entry, with the same effect on the show. This time, however, the show was on a Friday, so Monday's show began with the winner of Game 2 at the Winner's Circle with Adrienne Barbeau.
1. 4/21/80 Candace Early & Ann Davis 35, Grant Goodeve & Barbara 35 They played five consecutive perfect rounds each in the second game. By rule, they started a new game the next day. They played to another 21-21 tie. (After Ann finished her second turn, Dick told her that she had just played nine consecutive perfect rounds.) Two more tie-breakers made it 28-28 and 33-35. If viewed as a single game, this would be a final score of 70-68!
HONORABLE MENTION: It's only an Honorable Mention because it's not a complete game, but Terry Lester and his partner once won a $5,000 tie-breaker, then $10,000, in the second game of a show. That made her the returning champion, and in their first turn, he won her $1,100. That's three consecutive rounds of some sort where he won money for her.
DISHONORABLE MENTION: I have the game but I don't remember when it happened ... On the CBS $25,000 Pyramid, the score was tied at 14 after two turns. The judges were uncertain about a call for the team who went second. The other team went first and made it 21-14. Except it wasn't. While the fifth category was being played, the judges determined that the other team shouldn't have gotten the point on one item. The game ended with a score of 21-13. Whatever the reason, I don't remember it as the worst decision the judges ever made, just the worst way of handling it. If the score was 14-13, then the second team should have had the choice of categories. For all we know, the unplayed category might have been names.
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Post by mike on Jan 24, 2020 0:47:00 GMT -5
24 years ago on The $25,000 Pyramid
Well, now that GSN has aired all five episodes of Christmas week 1985, now would be a good time to do a recap for this week of shows (Brendan, I hope you don't mind if I do this. In fact, I might even want to take over for you one day when it comes to doing recap threads for both 80's Pyramid editions).
The week of December 23, 1985, the celebrity guests on "The $25,000 Pyramid" were, for her first and only appearance on any version of Pyramid, "Airwolf's" Jean Bruce Scott and Jay Johnson. This was Jay's last appearance on any version of "Pyramid". Prior to this week, he had done the $20,000 version three times, the $50,000 version one time, and this version three times. He ended his "Pyramid" appearances with a bang, and you'll see why as this week goes along.
All week long, the set was decorated for Christmas. This was one of three times the show did that (the other two were in 1986, also on this version, and in 2003 with Donny Osmond).
Monday's episode had returning champion Attorney Diane Stanfield (her last day) going up against new contestant, Medical Technologist Becky Butler. In the first Winner's Circle, which Jean and Becky took, Becky only earned $150. Jean got buzzed for giving too much information over the subject "PARTS OF A REFRIGERATOR". They never saw the last subject. Jay and Becky took the second winner's circle, but Becky only managed to earn $700. They skipped the first subject "THINGS IN A PARADE", and the last one "THINGS ON AN ESTATE". By the end of it all, Becky was $850 richer, and Diane left with $33,000, a car and a trip to Sweden. This episode ended with Diane giving an Iowa shirt to Dick.
Tuesday's episode (Christmas Eve) had Becky going up against mother-of-two Sandy Iganhoff. Jay took both Winner's Circle rounds. In the first one, Becky had a close call and only earned $750, missing the last subject "THINGS THAT SOAK". In the second one, Sandy had what was one of the closest, if not THE closest $10,000 win ever in the shows' then 12-year history (the last subject was "ANYTHING WITH SEEDS"). It was even shown again during the post-game wrap-up. Becky left with $2,700.
Wednesday's episode (Christmas Day) had Sandy go up against new mom Nancy Kramer. Jean took the first winner's circle. Jean did noticeably better this time around, but only managed to win $750 for Nancy; she was unable to get Nancy to say "THINGS ON A DESK". Nancy made it to the second winner's circle round after winning the 19-19 tiebreaker, this time with Jay. Jay hit the $25,000 for Nancy, after going back to turn over the $50 box that they skipped, which was "WRITING IMPLIMENTS". This episode was a great Christmas present for both Nancy (a $25,000 win and a 1986 Toyota automobile) and Sandy (who left with $10,000 and a trip to London).
New contestant, Painting Contractor, Warren Meyer was the challenger on the Thursday episode. Like the Tuesday episode, Jay took both games, but only earned $250 for Nancy in the first endgame (saying "rails for "PARTS OF A RAILROAD", and skipping "WHY YOU TAKE A TEST", "THINGS IN GEORGRAPHY", AND "THINGS THAT ARE SHEER"). For the second one with Warren, Jay skipped over "THINGS THAT MAKE MUSIC", "THINGS WITH A TRUNK", and "THINGS AT A BUFFET (SMORGASBORD). The last subject was not revealed. Warren left with $150.
On the Friday episode, Nancy's opponent was ESL teacher Danette Rowe, who was back due to a technicality from three months ago. During the first category of the episode, the cameraman accidentally pushed the wrong button, and took a shot of Jay and Nancy, when it should have taken a shot of Jean and Deanette. Jay took the first Winner's Circle, but couldn't get Nancy to say the $300 box, which was "THINGS THAT TAKE PLACE OUTDOORS". The judges wouldn't even allow "outings" for "outdoors". The 10th and final game for the week was won by Jean and Nancy, in what would be Jean's 3rd and final visit to the Winner's Circle. Jean had a close call with "KINDS OF VACCIATIONS".
This was the first time in 24 years since its original airing on CBS that this week of shows has aired in its entirety, and in spite of my recent complaints about GSN (which I'll save for another time), I still can't thank them enough for at least having the courtesy to show all 5 episodes from this week. This week of shows never aired on USA Network, and it's unclear as to why it never did, but some have speculated that it was due to a celebrity clearance issue with Jean. If that's actually true, then I guess she deserves some appreciation for having a change of heart. While she obviously could have done so much better in the endgame (even though she did improve somewhat during the second and third go-arounds), she seemed to play fine for the most part in the frontgames, though there were a few instances where she seemed to stumble a bit, or sometimes end up taking up too much time giving the clues. But overall, I wouldn't consider her the worst female Pyramid player of all time. That spot is reserved for the likes of Connie Francis, Barbara Bosson, and Melanie Wilson.
As for Jay, he played just as well as he did the last time he was on the show with Florence Henderson, if not better. Overall, this was a pretty fun week, with a few close calls, an extremely down to the wire moment, and a $25,000 win on the 25th of December, of all days.
Final tallies for the week: Jean (3 games; $1,650), Jay (7 games; $40,900)
Next week's match: Anita Gillette Vs. Dick Cavett
Happy Holidays to all you 80's "Pyramid" fans out there (especially you Brendan!)
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Post by mike on Jan 24, 2020 1:01:48 GMT -5
Back to $100,000 pyramid
The week of November 25, 1985, "Night Court's" Markie Post made her second visit to "The $100,000 Pyramid," and LeVar Burton made his first appearance on this version. This was the first week of regular game play after the $100,000 tournament, so no one was qualified for the new tournament as of yet.
On Monday's game, homemaker Andi Roteson challenged the returning champ, newlywed Cheryl McMahon. Cheryl took both games, and in a big way. In the first round, she and LeVar won $10,000 when she guessed top category THINGS THAT ARE STEEP with 15 seconds left on the clock. This 45-second mark made Cheryl the first possible entry in the second $100,000 tournament. She and Markie hit the big board for $25,000 in the next round when she went back and guessed $200 box THINGS YOU SHOW. This was Markie's second $25,000 win of this series.
Administrative assistant Jeff Morgan was the new player on Tuesday, but Cheryl won both games again. She only scored $300 each time, though. In the first round, she and LeVar missed middle categories THINGS WITH A HOST (HOSTESS) and THINGS THAT ARE TENSE and never saw the top box. In the second round, she and Markie missed top boxes THINGS YOU CHECK, SOMEONE WHO WEARS AN APRON, and THINGS THAT ARE BARRICADED.
Waitress Debbie Tenant became the only player to win a game against Cheryl in Wednesday's first round. She and Markie almost hit for $10,000, but they missed $200 box IT HAPPENED IN THE '70s. In Cheryl's last try in the winner's circle, she scored $500, missing $250 box HOLLOW THINGS and never seeing the top box. This brought her final total to $45,150, and a trip to New Zealand, placing her at number 23 on the list of biggest winners for this version of the show and at 56 on the list of all-time winners. She also won an impressive 9 out of 10 games.
On Thursday, the new player was cantor Patti Lindsky. LeVar and Debbie won the first game and racked up $650, missing $100 box WORDS THAT END IN "O" and $300 box THINGS YOU CURB. Patti tried for $10,000 in the next round, but LeVar got buzzed on $200 box THINGS THAT BLISTER for saying "Hot pavement on your feet." They got the rest of the board, though, and this $850 secured Patti's return the next day. Debbie left the show with $2,600 and a home computer.
On the last day of the week, teacher Peggy Bouwens won both games. She and Markie won $650 in the first round missing $100 box "TERMS IN BRIDGE" and never seeing the top box. In the week's final round, Peggy and LeVar scored $500, missing $250 box THINGS THAT ARE SHREDDED and never seeing the top box. Patti left with $1,950 and a trip to Rio de Janeiro. So far, Peggy had won $2,250, and she would return the following Monday.
The week started out like gangbusters, with LeVar and Markie each winning big on Monday, but they couldn't sustain that momentum throughout the week. I will say that the categories this week were a little harder than usual. Maybe they had a backlog of toughies left after the tournament.
Final tallies - Markie: 5 games, $30,600; LeVar: 5 games, $3,400.
Next week's match: Teresa Ganzel vs. Nipsey Russell.
MY ADDITION: The Friday 11/29/85 episode is the one with the double-tiebreaker in the first game. I read the second game had a tiebreaker as well. Parts of the episode on youtube were removed due to a Sony crackdown. But, the double-tiebreaker and some other parts survived. If anyone has the full episode and posts it on dailymotion or facebook, I would most appreciate it.
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Post by mike on Jan 24, 2020 1:04:10 GMT -5
The week of December 2, 1985, Teresa Ganzel and Nipsey Russell made their first appearances on "The $100,000 Pyramid." This was the only time that Nipsey was introduced as being from "Your Number's Up." In fact, he was unable to be on the daytime version of "Pyramid" while he was hosting "Number" because it aired opposite "Pyramid."
On Monday's show, video store clerk (and future "Super Password" champ) Michael White challenged the returning champ, teacher Peggy Bouwens. Nipsey and Peggy took the first game and won the $10,000, getting top category THINGS THAT BALANCE with 21 seconds left on the clock. This 39-second time put Peggy in the $100,000 tournament, along with Cheryl McMahon at 45 seconds. Peggy and Teresa almost won the $25,000 in the next round, but $200 box THNGS YOU WEIGH stopped them at $800.
Student and new mother (and former "Match Game" champ) Susan Koehler was the new player on Tuesday. She and Teresa won the first game and got the $10,000 in 43 seconds, the top box being THINGS THAT YOU JOIN. This now meant that there were three people qualified for the tournament and that Cheryl's 45 seconds would be the time to beat. Susan and Nipsey tried for $25,000 in the next round but missed top boxes THINGS WITH SEAMS and THINGS THAT ARE SERVICED. Peggy went home with $15,250.
Seamstress and secretary Nancy Richiger was the new contestant on Wednesday's game. She and Teresa had a tough time in the first round, so much so that Nipsey and Susan didn't have to play the final category on the board. Nipsey and Susan won $500 in the winner's circle, missing $250 box THINGS IN A BASKET and never seeing the top box. In the next round, Nancy and Nipsey also scored $500, missing $250 box THINGS THAT ARE TINTED and not seeing the top box. Since it was a tie, both contestants would return the next day.
In the first round on Thursday, Nipsey and Susan hit the bank for $10,000, winning on final category THINGS UP FRONT. Teresa and Susan almost had a $25,000 win in the next round, but they missed top box THINGS THAT ARE EXTENDED. Nancy left with her $500.
On the last day of the week, pharmaceutical salesperson Bill Barnett challenged Susan, but Susan took both games again. In the first round, she and Nipsey won another $10,000 when she guessed top box THINGS THAT ARE REGISTERED with 19 seconds left on the clock. This shaved her record time down to 41 seconds. In the last round of the week, Susan and Teresa earned $500, missing top boxes THINGS YOU INITIATE and THINGS THAT ARE FRAYED. Bill went home with $1,100 in bonus money. So far, Susan had won $33,250 and a Hawaiian trip/cruise, and she would return on Monday.
While Teresa certainly didn't have a bad week, giving away $10,000 on the Tuesday show, it was Nipsey who really was on a hot streak, winning the $10,000 three times this week. This was the best week he would ever have on the nighttime version. He and Teresa would play against each other one more time, on the daytime version in June of 1987.
Final tallies - 4 games, $13,150; Nipsey: 6 games, $34,800.
Next week's match: Didi Conn vs. Howard Morton.
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Post by vahan on Jan 24, 2020 1:35:17 GMT -5
Mike, one of the recaps you posted (the Christmas Week) is actually mine. I remember doing it in Brendan's style, and he wondered if his clone wrote that.
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Post by pyramidfan on Jan 24, 2020 10:50:26 GMT -5
The post about Constance McCashin's "$25,000 Pyramid" episode as a contestant is incorrect on a couple of counts:
1. The female celebrity was Peggy Cass, not Bernadette Peters.
2. There were so many tiebreakers, the tie was never broken, so the $2,500 cash prize was split between Constance and her opponent.
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Post by ivoryface86 on Jan 24, 2020 15:24:10 GMT -5
AFAIK, There were stations in which they aired Barry Jenner's first overall Pyramid appearances after his $25,000 Pyramid appearances aired(in which he was welcomed back), his first week of $25,000 Pyramid appearances was the first to have the 4-inch mics on the main game desks, but this is where the viewers are confusing, his first overall week of Pyramid appearances still had the amplifiers on the main game desks(too bad Yahoo! Groups never recapped what was his first overall week of appearances, but has been rerun several times before Yahoo! Groups even existed). I wonder how Toni finished her 5-episode run on May 28, 1986, I don't think she had a big win in the WC IIRC.
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Post by ivoryface86 on Jan 24, 2020 15:34:30 GMT -5
Now, mike or Brendan, I wonder if you can recap how well Paul Feig did? AFAIK, he won $25,000 with Lois Nettleton on the July 23 show, but what about his 3 other episodes? Also, does anybody here can do the recaps for the August 19-23 and August 26-30, 1985 weeks of the $25,000 Pyramid since Yahoo! Groups never really put any recaps for those 2 weeks but luckily GSN aired them in more recent years.
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Post by mike on Jan 24, 2020 23:40:34 GMT -5
Mike, one of the recaps you posted (the Christmas Week) is actually mine. I remember doing it in Brendan's style, and he wondered if his clone wrote that. OK. Thank you for letting me know. You indeed did a wonderful job. I need to emphasize that my cut and pasting was rushed and haphazard, so I did not always record the author or other associated information. But, I figure it can't hurt to post what I have. Obviously, if you or Brendan or anyone else saved more posts, I hope they will be posted here.
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Post by pyramidfan on Jan 25, 2020 10:40:58 GMT -5
Mike, one of the recaps you posted (the Christmas Week) is actually mine. I remember doing it in Brendan's style, and he wondered if his clone wrote that. Obviously, if you or Brendan or anyone else saved more posts, I hope they will be posted here. I've got most of them saved in .txt form. I'll start a whole other thread and re-post them in order.
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Post by mike on Jan 25, 2020 17:13:16 GMT -5
Obviously, if you or Brendan or anyone else saved more posts, I hope they will be posted here. I've got most of them saved in .txt form. I'll start a whole other thread and re-post them in order. Thank you so much. I am looking forward!
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Post by ivoryface86 on Jan 25, 2020 22:56:01 GMT -5
Now Vahan, I think the November 1987-July 1, 1988 episodes of the $25,000 Pyramid were treated better in more recent years than it did during the green-ball era years of GSN, for one thing, in more recent years, when the Mystery 7 bonus prizes were won, they showed the Mystery 7 bonus prizes and we hear the details of the Mystery 7 bonus prizes before GSN starts its credit crunch(though now they show the fee plugs in the credit crunch). In the green-ball era years, they abruptly omit the Mystery 7 bonus prizes and they showed a segment at warp speed(I believe the time compressions were brand new once LMAD and Press Your Luck reruns arrived just to butcher the viewers back then).
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Post by ivoryface86 on Jan 30, 2020 22:44:09 GMT -5
Now Brendan, can you tell me who Toni's opponent was for the May 28, 1986 episode and what was the Mystery 7 bonus prize that day? And for the July 2, 1986 episode, who was Lyn's opponent and what was the Mystery 7 bonus prize on that episode? BTW, I love to see the recaps for the July 7, 1986-May 1, 1987 episodes posted as well as the April 15-19, 1985 week of episodes, back when the $25,000 sign looked darkened although the rest of the WC area is lightened and Jack Clark was among the available announcers.
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Post by ivoryface86 on Jan 30, 2020 22:53:55 GMT -5
Oh and Vahan, I found out that the week of May 6-10, 1985 had all the closing credits(except for the fee plug company listing) updated to the font text to look exactly like the one we're seeing when displaying the week's celebrity guests and in the main games. And as I thought, January 28, 1985 was when they dropped "New" from its title and the reveal of the first subject in the WC now "raises" on-screen the millisecond after the vane-numbered clock shows up.
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