Pyramid (partially found unaired pilots of American game show; 1973-2012)

A image from the Cash On The Line pilot.

Status: Partially Found

Pyramid is an American game show that was created by Bob Stewart and started airing in 1973 as The $10,000 Pyramid on CBS and was hosted by Dick Clark and would go on to spawn several memorable incarnations over the years. The show currently airs on ABC as The $100,000 Pyramid with Good Morning America anchor Michael Strahan since 2016. Over the years when the show was off the air, there have been numerous failed attempts to bring back the show and all of them had pilots recorded and mostly have never been seen by the public.

Format

Two teams of one celebrity and one civilian try to describe seven things in 30 seconds from a pyramid of six subjects. The team with the most points gets to go to the winner circle which is similar to the main game but one member of the team faces the pyramid while the other member faces away from the pyramid and the member facing the pyramid must give a list things in a subject without saying any part of the subject. If the person facing away from the pyramid says the subject they win the money that subject hides. If they do six subjects in 60 seconds or less, they win the amount of money that is displayed on top of the pyramid.

This is the typical format for many of the incarnations, however the format can vary.

Name	Tape Date	Status	Info
Cash On The Line	February 1-2, 1973	Lost	Before the show premiered as The $10,000 Pyramid, it was originally called "Cash On The Line" and was hosted by Dick Clark. The winner circle noticeably has 15 subjects and not 6 and was possibly changed to 6 possibly due to it being very difficult.
Pyramid	November 19, 1996	Lost	The pilot was hosted by Mark L. Walberg (the announcer from Shop Til' You Drop) and had a very different format. Instead of two teams, it was two celebrities playing the game and six celebrities have their own category and the celebrity playing the game must select a celebrity with the category they have and must describe a list of things that fits a subject in the category, they rotate the clue giving role throughout the 60 seconds, if they get all 10 in 60 seconds or less they win $100. The winner circle is the same as it was in the past and if all six subjects were gotten in 60 seconds or less, they win $25,000 (if they don't get it in 60 seconds or less, they win $200 for each correct subject).
Pyramid	November 16, 1997	Lost	The same format as the one from 1996 but was hosted by Chuck Woolery and if you win the winner circle once, you win $10,000 and if you win the second time, you win $25,000 All that exists of the pilot are these screenshots.
Pyramid Rocks	1999 (unknown)	Partially Found	This pilot ditched the format of the previous two and returned to the original format of two teams of one celebrity and one civilian and the clues were music oriented (much like Rock & Roll Jeopardy) but the winner circle amount was $5,000. It was hosted by Bill Dwayer
The $100,000 Pyramid, The $1,000,000 Pyramid	December 6, 2000	Partially Found	Hosted by Donny Osmond. The format remains the same as it was in the past. The only thing thats different is you could go to the winner circle up to five times and every amount (The $100,000 Pyramid is first trip $10,000, second trip $15,000, third trip $20,000, forth trip $25,000, fifth trip $30,000, adding up to $100,000 and The $1,000,000 Pyramid is every trip is worth $125,000). The show would get picked up in 2002 as simply Pyramid with Osmond as host and the original format with only two trips to the winner circle.
The $1,000,000 Pyramid	June 16 & 19, 2009	Partially Found	The format remained the same as it was in the past and the main focus of the three pilots is the tournament this version would've did. It was much like the $100,000 tournament in the last 1980's, the top four players with the highest score and the top four players with the fastest winner circle time would've competed in the tournament. The first pilot was hosted by Lois & Clark actor Dean Cain and used the 1970s theme and the last two was hosted by Tim Vincent and used the 1980s theme.
The $25,000 Pyramid	April 9, 2010, June 23, 2010 or May 18, 2011	Partially Found	Format is the same and the 1980s theme was used. Late Night With Conan O'Brien announcer Andy Richter was the host.
The $500,000 Pyramid	2010 (unknown)	Existence Unconfirmed	Though unconfirmed, in the clip of The $25,000 Pyramid pilot, there is a graphic showing the show's logo and the first amount it shows is $500,000. Leading to speculation that a $500,000 tournament was in the works for this version and a pilot was shot for the tournament.
The Pyramid	June 16, 2012	Partially Found	On June 16, 2012, Game Show Network shot four pilots for a new verison of the show and the format remained the same only except when one of the teams gets all seven clues in 30 seconds it adds $5,000 to their teams winner circle amount. The show was picked up for 40 episodes, premiering in September 2012 and ending as month later. The pilot used the 1980s theme and a different contestant introduction.

Video

Clips from the 2009 pilot.

See Also

• The $1,000,000 Pyramid (lost early build of Wii game based on American game show; 2011)
• Pyramid (partially found Bob Stewart game show; 1973-1980)
• The $100,000 Pyramid (lost 22-minute versions of ABC revival of Bob Stewart game show; 2020)

External Links

• The Bob Stewart Wiki page for the 2009 pilot. Retrieved 28 Jul '20