$10,000 Pyramid question/help

[rob79]

I was going through some of my old VHS tapes and came across a tape full of episodes of the $10,000 Pyramid I taped off GSN several years back when they were doing those "retro Saturday nights" where they would run a marathon of an old game show. Here's were I need help. At the beginning of one of the episodes, where they do the tease leading in--in one of the Winner's Circle vignettes the contestant wins the $10,000 and the celeb guest was none other than Bob!!! (yep, Bob Barker).

I was wondering if anyone could help determine the actual week/year Bob appeared on the $10,000 Pyramid. The only information I can provide that could even offer a smidgeon of help in this (if any) is that Jack Clark did the announcing at this time. If anyone could help satisfy my curiousity it would be greatly appreciated.

[Rlotpir1972]

They had VHS tapes back in 1973?!  Betamax tapes, maybe.  To answer rob79's question, GSN only has a handful of episodes of "The $10,000 Pyramid" and none of them involves Bob Barker as a celebrity on that show to my knowledge.  The only game show hosts/celebrities on that show that DID appear includes...Charles Nelson Reilly (Match Game panelist), Gene Raybern (Match Game host), Bill Cullen (Three on a Match host)...just to name a few.  If you have the clip, please bring it ASAP.  I want to see it.

[Ccook]

If Jack Clark was announcing, it was during one of its visits to Hollywood (the show's regular origination was the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City and the announcer there was Bob Clayton). They did at least two visits during the CBS run. If our downtown library still has old TV Guides, I can find out, but it'll still be dicey--not all weeks of TV Guide gave celebrity guests lists due to the staggered scheduling of the Watergate hearings.

[padron3141]

I was going through some of my old VHS tapes and came across a tape full of episodes of the $10,000 Pyramid I taped off GSN several years back when they were doing those "retro Saturday nights" where they would run a marathon of an old game show. Here's were I need help. At the beginning of one of the episodes, where they do the tease leading in--in one of the Winner's Circle vignettes the contestant wins the $10,000 and the celeb guest was none other than Bob!!! (yep, Bob Barker).

I was wondering if anyone could help determine the actual week/year Bob appeared on the $10,000 Pyramid. The only information I can provide that could even offer a smidgeon of help in this (if any) is that Jack Clark did the announcing at this time. If anyone could help satisfy my curiousity it would be greatly appreciated.

In all of the time that The $10,000 Pyramid (and its updated dollar amount versions) had been produced in the 1970's and on the air, plus through some extensive research that I did back in 1999 for my essay article on the show's early years for Kris Lane's web page, Bob Barker has never been a celebrity guest on the program.  Other game show emcees like Geoff Edwards, Garry Moore, Gene Rayburn and Larry Blyden had done Pyramid during its early years, plus Bill Cullen and Dick Clark played the game too.

As a matter of recall, Barker was probably not a real fan of the show, because when he was a guest in 1976 on the Dinah! talk show with actress Caren Kaye, he gave a very sour reply about Kaye was talking of her memories of being a Pyramid contestant in front of host Dinah Shore and him.  Barker's deadpan reply was that his mother actually only watched Hollywood Squares.  Keep in mind that The Price Is Right on CBS-TV was competing with The $10,000 Pyramid on ABC-TV during the 1974-1975 television season in the same time slot but only in the Pacific Time Zone at 2:00pm.

Also, when the 1976 Daytime Emmy Award for Best Game Show went to The $20,000 Pyramid, and with Anne Marie Schmitt (studio producer and Bob Stewart's wife) accepting the trophy, Barker as the awards show host tried to weasle the award away from Schmitt, but would return it if she guessed the actual retail price of it to get it back.  Obviously, Barker may have not realized that Bob Stewart created the original Price Is Right concept in the 1950's, and that his wife was standing right in front of him.

[WarioBarker]

Although Xanfan's $10,000 Pyramid listings are nearly-complete (minus the aforementioned Watergate episodes' listings), Bob isn't listed.

GSN reran the 14 episodes taped at Television City which aired in November 1973. The Barker footage would have to be before that, then. Since clips were usually taken from recently-taped episodes, it's probably from the June-October "Watergate" period.

What might help is whether the top of the pyramid "juts" into the bottom of the "$10,000" sign. I'm pretty certain those are the New York episodes, as a replica set was built minus the "jut" in Television City.

I could be wrong, however.

In all of the time that The $10,000 Pyramid (and its updated dollar amount versions) had been produced in the 1970's and on the air, plus through some extensive research that I did back in 1999 for my essay article on the show's early years for Kris Lane's web page, Bob Barker has never been a celebrity guest on the program.

However, there's a lot of missing info. I've read your essay, Will, and it's very informative and good.

But Rob, could you please post the clip in question?

Barker was probably not a real fan of the show, because when he was a guest in 1976 on the Dinah! talk show with actress Caren Kaye, he gave a very sour reply about Kaye was talking of her memories of being a Pyramid contestant in front of host Dinah Shore and him. Barker's deadpan reply was that his mother only watched ollywood Squares. Keep in mind that The Price is Right on CBS was competing with The $10,000 Pyramid on ABC during the 1974-1975 television season in the same time slot but only in the Pacific Time Zone at 2:00pm.

He probably acted like that since the shows were competing...

When the 1976 Daytime Emmy Award for Best Game Show went to The $20,000 Pyramid, and with Anne Marie Schmitt (studio producer and Bob Stewart's wife) accepting the trophy, Barker as the awards show host tried to weasel the award away from Schmitt, but would return it if she guessed the actual retail price of it to get it back. Obviously, Barker may have not realized that Bob Stewart created the original Price is Right concept in the 1950's, and that his wife was standing right in front of him.

...But there's no excuse whatsoever for this. If Barker knew what he was doing in this instance (he knew that Schmitt was Stewart's wife and that Stewart created Price), this blatantly shows that he had an ego from the start.

[padron3141]

Although Xanfan's $10,000 Pyramid listings are nearly-complete (minus the aforementioned Watergate episodes' listings), Bob isn't listed.

GSN reran the 14 episodes taped at Television City which aired in November 1973. The Barker footage would have to be before that, then. Since clips were usually taken from recently-taped episodes, it's probably from the June-October "Watergate" period.

What might help is whether the top of the pyramid "juts" into the bottom of the "$10,000" sign. I'm pretty certain those are the New York episodes, as a replica set was built minus the "jut" in Television City.

I could be wrong, however.

However, there's a lot of missing info. I've read your essay, Will, and it's very informative and good.

But Rob, could you please post the clip in question?

He probably acted like that since the shows were competing...

...But there's no excuse whatsoever for this. If Barker knew what he was doing in this instance (he knew that Schmitt was Stewart's wife and that Stewart created Price), this blatantly shows that he had an ego from the start.

Thank you for the kind words about my essay on the NYC Pyramid, which was done at the time as a labor of love.  As for Barker's ego, particularly centering around the Daytime Emmy Awards, it got even worse.  When he was disqualified for his nomination as Best Game Show Host in 1979, he publicly told of this while he was hosting the awards show that year, and then wrote about in an article in the weekly New York magazine.

Barker then said on-air to move forward from this, but I knew by watching his gripe on TV first hand (and the tape of it is in the files of the Paley Center for Media) that he was smarting and a bit angry inside.  By the way, Bob Stewart was in the audience for that ceremony, and he gave a not-too pleased look while sitting there after hearing what Barker said on the air. 

When it was announced that Dick Clark won the award instead (but he was a no-show though), Barker joking said, that if possible, that Clark could leave the Emmy at the bookcase in his home that he had reserved space for.  Egad, Barker even gave out on live TV his own home address too!

[WarioBarker]

Thank you for the kind words about my essay on the NYC Pyramid, which was done at the time as a labor of love.

You're welcome. And I mean it, as well - I learned a lot about the 1973-1981 era from your essay. And the new CBS Pyramid is returning to the franchise's roots - not only the classic set, logo, theme, and trilons in the Winner's Circle(!), but taping in New York. Sort of "back to the start", I guess.

As for Barker's ego, particularly ... the Daytime Emmy Awards, it got even worse. When he was disqualified for his nomination as Best Game Show Host in 1979, he mentioned this while he was hosting the awards show that year ... then said on-air to move forward from this. But I knew by watching his gripe first-hand (and the tape of it is in the Paley Center for Media) that he was smarting and a bit angry inside. ... Stewart was in the audience for that ceremony, and he gave a not-too pleased look while sitting there after hearing what Barker said on-air.

Wow. Just...wow. Was Stewart in the audience of the ceremony when Bob was mocking his wife? I'm sure he wanted to kick Bob's a** for both of those incidents.

When it was announced that Clark won the award instead (but was a no-show), Barker jokingly said that, if possible, Clark could leave the Emmy at the bookcase in his home that he had reserved space for ... even gave out on live TV his own home address!

I honestly don't think Bob was joking, considering his behavior before and since. Peter Marshall once quipped on The Hollywood Squares around this point when Clark made an appearance - "Dick Clark, always a pleasure... You beat me out for the Emmy this year. Boo!" - the main difference is that Marshall was known to joke around like that and has a lot of respect for Clark, while Barker is egotistic and probably didn't get along with his fellow game-show hosts too well.

And it doesn't help Bob (or me, in my ever-diminishing respect of his behind-the-scenes behavior) that he had a bad case of ego (or "Dawsonitis", after the first host of Family Feud) before his wife died...and even showed it on-camera. There's honestly no excuse for that.

[padron3141]

You're welcome. And I mean it, as well - I learned a lot about the 1973-1981 era from your essay. And the new CBS Pyramid is returning to the franchise's roots - not only the classic set, logo, theme, and trilons in the Winner's Circle(!), but taping in New York. Sort of "back to the start", I guess.

Wow. Just...wow. Was Stewart in the audience of the ceremony when Bob was mocking his wife? I'm sure he wanted to kick Bob's a** for both of those incidents.

I honestly don't think Bob was joking, considering his behavior before and since. Peter Marshall once quipped on The Hollywood Squares around this point when Clark made an appearance - "Dick Clark, always a pleasure... You beat me out for the Emmy this year. Boo!" - the main difference is that Marshall was known to joke around like that and has a lot of respect for Clark, while Barker is egotistic and probably didn't get along with his fellow game-show hosts too well.

And it doesn't help Bob (or me, in my ever-diminishing respect of his behind-the-scenes behavior) that he had a bad case of ego (or "Dawsonitis", after the first host of Family Feud) before his wife died...and even showed it on-camera. There's honestly no excuse for that.

Again, thanks for your kind words that you did enjoyed reading my web essay article on the NYC Pyramid, and I am pleased that you were able to learn just about al  the show's early beginnings.  I wrote that piece because I mainly wanted to tell about the show itself from those glory days in a semi-biographical way, showing that it did had a very interesting life that too many of its or other game show fans might have not been aware of. 

I was able to give that story with many of my own experiences connected with the program, which included not only watching the show on TV in first-run broadcast, but to seeing in person as a regular studio audience member there (February 1975-January 1981) at ABC's Studio TV-15 in Manhattan.  The NYC Pyramid had always been a very influential TV game show in my personal life, and will continue to do so.

Now...as for the diss given to Anne Marie Schmitt (Bob Stewart's wife) by Bob Barker in 1976 at the Daytime Emmy Awards, Stewart was not there at the ceremony because he was home sick with a cold.  I would not be surprised if Stewart was not amused by the antics of Barker, and Stewart would probably had verbally (and loudly) chewed out Barker on his remarks.  By the way, Stewart in a 1997 interview given to the Emmy Award Organization Video Archive thought Barker to him was pretty much more like a straight man as a host.

As for Barker getting along with other hosts, he seems to have some praise towards Bill Cullen and Dick Clark, whom they have worked together on some projects such as a Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony in the early 1990's (and there is a picture of Clark and Barker together in the Priceless Memories bio).  He has written that he likes Gene Rayburn, Alex Trebek and Bert Convy, and had become a fan of Tom Bergeron, as he stated at the GSA's.  But as having really close friendships with these and other hosts plus game show producers (except from the Ralph Edwards organization), I do not believe he really does.

[jzion12345]

I was able to give that story with many of my own experiences connected with the program, which included not only watching the show on TV in first-run broadcast, but to seeing in person as a regular studio audience member there (February 1975-January 1981) at ABC's Studio TV-15 in Manhattan.  The NYC Pyramid had always been a very influential TV game show in my personal life, and will continue to do so.

Wait a minute...wasn't Pyramid taped in the Ed Sulivan Theater during its New York run?

[goldroadfanatic]

When the show was on CBS, it was taped at the Ed Sullivan Theater.  When the show moved to ABC, it was taped at the Ed Sullivan Theater until the smaller set at ABC's studio was completed (The CBS union staff objected to seeing their work move into a competing network's studio), where it remained throughout the rest of its New York run.

[mrbrown2195]

They had VHS tapes back in 1973?!  Betamax tapes, maybe.

rob79 taped them when they aired on GSN, which was not around in 1973.

Betamax wasn't introduced until 1975; VHS wasn't introduced until the following year. U-Matic was around, though.

[padron3141]

When the show was on CBS, it was taped at the Ed Sullivan Theater.  When the show moved to ABC, it was taped at the Ed Sullivan Theater until the smaller set at ABC's studio was completed (The CBS union staff objected to seeing their work move into a competing network's studio), where it remained throughout the rest of its New York run.

I might add that it was thirty-five years ago this week when it happened on Monday, June 17, 1974 that the first episode produced and taped at ABC's Studio TV-15 on West 58th Street in Manhattan of The $10,000 Pyramid was aired on that date.  The celebrity guests for that show and for the rest of the week were June Lockhart and William Shatner.  A clip of William Shatner with his civilian partner winning at the big pyramid can be found in that 3-minute pitch film to sell the Bill Cullen-hosted $25,000 Pyramid for syndication, and it was from that initial week out of the former home of The Dick Cavett Show.

The last continuing player of the ABC daytime version done at Sullivan, where it was its 30th episode for the network taped there, became one of the two players in the first front game played at TV-15 with the new, smaller set at a cost of $80,000.  The story about that CBS union situation with the new set needed to be built at ABC came from announcer Bob Clayton himself, when during an audience warm-up at a taping session in February 1975.