From Television City in Hollywood...this is...
Yes, it was bound to happen eventually. In today's world of "Mo' Money Syndrome," even classic game shows are being revived as million-dollar spectaculars. Today, I propose to you a million-dollar revival of the greatest game show format of all time: The Pyramid. Below, you will see a vision of a big-money revival that is modern enough for today's viewers, and reminiscent enough of the classic $100,000 Pyramid older generations and game show enthusiasts have already grown to love.
Game play:
The front game:
The front game of the $1 Million Pyramid is played virtually exactly like the front game of its predecessor, the $100,000 Pyramid. Two teams of a celebrity and a civilian choose from a board of six topics, each with seven words or phrases to describe, and attempt to convey. One member sees the words and phrases, and gives clues to his or her partner.
The clue giver is restricted in some of the clues he or she may give. Here are examples of illegal clues.
1) Using any part of the essence of the answer will result in the word being thrown out. For example, using the word "microscope" while describing "telescope" would be deemed illegal.
Abbreviations which utilize any part of the essence of the answer are not allowed. For example, "FBI" could not be said to convey "Investigation."
Using the word "in" for "Mother-in-law," for example, would not qualify as using the "essence" of the answer.
When a clue giver's partner has said a portion of the answer, the clue giver may use that portion in his or her clues without penalty. For example, the following is a legal exchange for the word "Apple cider."
"Spicy liquid from a fruit..."
"Apple juice."
"It's like apple
juice, but spicier."
"Apple cider."
2) Indicating the spelling of a word is illegal. For example, clues such as "It starts with an S" or "It has seven letters" are not allowed.
3) Conveying a rhyming word, such as "It rhymes with 'goat'," is not allowed.
Pyramid is a game of phonetics. Therefore, spelling does not count. "Knee high" is a correct guess for the word "Nehi," for example.
During the main game, bonus games will arise, just like previous incarnations. The 7-11, where a perfect 7 out of 7 nets $1,100, and the Mystery 7, where a perfect 7 out of 7 nets a bonus prize.
After all six categories have been played, the team with the highest score moves on to the Winner's Circle. In the event of a tie, a tie breaker is played, and whoever scores the highest wins. In the event of a re-tie, time is taken to account.
The Winner's Circle:
The winning team gets to play the Winner's Circle. In the Winner's Circle, the clue giver of the team is presented with six categories, and must convey the category to his or her partner by listing items that pertain to the category. For example, good clues for "Things that are made of metal" include "coins," "pop cans" and "cymbals."
A clue giver is restricted in some of the clues he or she can give.
1) The clue giver may only list items that pertain to the category, one at a time.
2) The clue giver may not use descriptive or prepositional phrases in his or her clues. For example, "A bowl of soup" is not acceptable for "Lunch items."
3) The clue giver may not use the answer's essence, or any synonym of the answer's essence, in his or her clues. "A pitcher's ball" is not acceptable for "Things that are thrown." "A microorganism" is not acceptable for "Things that are microscopic."
4) The clue giver may not use any abbreviations that utilize the answer's essence. "The D.J." is not acceptable for "Things at a disco," because "D.J." stands for "disc jockey."
5) No visual aid may be used accept for nodding and facial expressions.
A contestant's first trip to the Winner's Circle is worth $10,000. Once that contestant has won the $10,000, his or her next return is worth $20,000, no matter when that happens. When the contestant has won the $20,000 Winner's Circle, his or her next trip is worth $30,000. Once that is won, the contestant next trip is worth $40,000. This leaves a potential of $100,000 to be won, in addition to the individual category money.
Once a contestant has won his or her $40,000 pyramid, or has played 5 shows, whichever comes first, that contestant is retired until the next series.
If a contestant does not win the Winner's Circle, they win consolation money, seen above.
At the end of a day, whichever contestant has won the most money in the Winner's Circle will be invited to return on the next show as reigning champion. If both players win a Winner's Circle apiece, that would be considered a tie, even if one player's Winner's Circle had a higher prize (e.g. a $20,000 win vs. a $10,000 win.) In the event of any tie, both players would return as champion.
The $1,000,000 Finals
After 50 episodes, the season's four fastest winners in the Winner's Circle, and the four highest winners of the season (not counting those already qualified), are invited back for a $1,000,000 knockout tournament. Players are seeded as follows.
| First Quarterfinal: #1 fastest time | First Semifinal: Semifinalist #1 | $1 Million Final: Finalist #1 |
| First Quarterfinal: #4 biggest winner | ||
| First Semifinal: Wildcard #1 | ||
| Second Quarterfinal: #3 fastest time | Second Semifinal: Semifinalist #2 | $1 Million Final: Finalist #2 |
| Second Quarterfinal: #2 biggest winner | ||
| Third Quarterfinal: #2 fastest time | Second Semifinal: Semifinalist #3 | |
| Third Quarterfinal: #3 biggest winner | ||
| Fourth Quarterfinal: #4 fastest time | Third Semifinal: Semifinalist #4 | $1 Million Final: Finalist #3 |
| Fourth Quarterfinal: #1 biggest winner | ||
| Third Semifinal: Wildcard #2 | ||
The matches are scheduled as follows:
Day 1 - Quarterfinal 1 and 2
Day 2 - Quarterfinal 3 and 4
Day 3 - Semifinal 1 (Wildcard #1 is the highest scorer among non-winners.)
Day 4 - Semifinal 2
Day 5 - Semifinal 3 (Wildcard #2 is the second highest scorer among
non-winners.)
Day 6 - The beginning of the $1 Million Finals. The finals continue until the $1 million is won.
The $1 million is projected to be won by day 10.
During the quarterfinals, each trip to the Winner's Circle is
worth $25,000.
During the semifinals, each trip to the Winner's Circle is worth
$50,000.
During the finals, each trip to the Winner's Circle is worth $1
million.
Once the $1 million is won, the tournament is complete. If the $1 million is won in the first Winner's Circle of a day, the last round will be played by the two other finalists for a $25,000 trip to the Winner's Circle.
The $1,000,000 Pyramid promises to be a fun and exciting follow-up to one of the greatest and most solid game show formats of all time. I wish you much fun playing The $1,000,000 Pyramid!