I'm a sucker for game shows. Just turn the television on and I could probably watch the Game Show Network cable channel for hours.
I always thought "The $10,000 Pyramid" (and its later reincarnations) should have been called "The Game Show That Wouldn't Die". The original creator, Bob Stewart, had a wonderful concept for a game and the current revival hosted by Donny Osmond captures the original rather well.
There are a list (pun intended) of things I'm not totally happy about with the revival:
1. Contestants have only one episode to win some cash instead of the maximum of 5 episodes.
2. The weekly episodes have various celebrities instead of two celebrities for the entire week.
3. With some exceptions, the judges on the revival are a little bit more lenient when people give clues in the Winner's Circle. Perhaps because the answers are more wordy?
4. I prefer Dick Clark and even the late Bill Cullen over Donny Osmond. When someone mentions the name Donny Osmond, you either love him or hate him. There's no grey area with him.
Now having said this, I still like the show because:
1. A quicker First Round (Name 6 clues in 20 seconds instead of 7 clues in 30 seconds).
2. A number of celebrities and contestants have done a good job of giving clues creatively which always made it a fun show to watch and play along.
3. Even after watching 30 year old repeats of "Pyramid" I still get excited when contestants get to the top of the pyramid. It can be very spine-tingling to see if two contestants can be on the same wavelength and if they are successful, the contestant can win $10,000, $25,000 or $100,000.
4. Donny Osmond does not overshadow the concept of the game. I believe he realizes he's not the show, the game is the show. From a person who was never a fan of the Osmonds, Donny has done a good job as host.
I have no idea if the show is doing well but I hope "Pyramid" will last a few seasons.
Update (June 2006): Sony Pictures Television cancelled "Pyramid" after two seasons. PAX-TV aired the program after its cancellation.
