The $100,000 Pyramid with Michael Strahan – Season Five

[GameShowKid]

Great to have the classic game show (and one of my favorites) back for another season. Can you believe it’s been two years? .

Congratulations to Ryan for winning $50K. That was a great clue for Types of Drivers: “A road raged one”.

And fantastic, down-to-the-last-second $50K win for Kiki, a great player. I always get more excited when a player has to come back to a passed subject to get the big win. Excellent clues for Sun Protection Items (“thick cream”, “zinc” – I would have thrown in “a shade”). She almost won an additional $100K (I said "a near-sighted man" while she was saying the correctly buzzed "near-sighted people" for People Who Wear Glasses. More great clues for Things With Lanes though: "a road" & "a bowling alley".

Hey, both Mystery “7” trips were won!

No comment on “Climax”.     And would you have accepted “Multiplication” for “Multiply”? I would have; it is a variation of the word and it also has t-i-p in sequence.

Leah was another great player, but I definitely could understand why she was buzzed for saying “Joey” for Parts of a Kangaroo. I thought of “hula” for Types of Hoops and “carried water” for Things in a Bucket.

[goldroadfanatic]

Here's a cool fact, Ryan, the $50,000 winner in the first half of the show, is one of my coworkers!

After my appearance in Season 4, Ryan was inspired to try out for the show. When he let me know of his journey to the Winner's Circle, I helped coach him by using material from my copy of The $25,000 Pyramid board game, as well as the current version's home game. I had hoped he got on, and when I saw the first previews, I got very excited. I was even more excited to see him win big!

Once again, the word "bucket" foils another Pyramid player. This time, in the Winner's Circle.

The first Winner's Circle in the second half was the closest I've seen in years. What a great win from Kiki!

That clue to describe "climax" makes my description of "Horny" to Leslie Jones last season look quite tame.

The last Winner's Circle was painful to watch, as Kiki got disqualified for saying "Nearsighted People" for "People Who Wear Glasses." I would have said "Steve Urkel, Drew Carey, Sally Jessy Raphael, Benjamin Franklin, Buzzy Cohen, and some optometrists." Still, $62,500 plus the Mystery 7 is a good day's work.

Both games ended in tiebreakers, which was quite exciting to see.

Overall, this was a great way to bring Pyramid back after over a year's hiatus, and I can't wait to see more wins!

[PGS25]

Crutches: "I help you move around when you break your leg."
Bucket: Coloniel Sander's Chicken, Jack and Jill's Water, beach sand, collected shells.
Pacific: "I'm the ocean on the west coast of the United States.
Drivers: Uber, Lyft, Doordash.
Cinnamon: I'm the spice associtated with apples, and part of a brand of toast cereal.
Sun: Coppertone, Banana Boat, Ray-Ban, umbrella, shady tree
Eggs: Scrambled, Over Easy, Hard Boiled.
Lanes: Highway, Bowling Alley, A bank's Drive thru.

Total cash won: $123,000. A good start, but there's always next time for a $100,000 win.

[jude_este]

After almost 20 months, it is great to have Pyramid back on our screens. And it was also great to see your coworker on the show tonight goldroadfanatic too.

Here's what I would have said in the Winner's Circle.

From the Rosie O’Donnell and Nate Berkus games:

Things in a bank: money, tellers, safety deposit boxes
Things in a bucket: chicken, cleaning products, rainwater
Brands of Soap: Irish Spring, Zest, Old Spice
Things You Sleep with: your significant other, your cellphone, your pet.

From the Roy Wood Jr and Michael Kosta games:

Types of Trees: Sycamore, Magnolia, Elm
Sun Protection Items: Umbrella, Hat, Shades
Parts Of a School: auditorium, library, cafeteria
Things With Lanes: Bowling, road, a swimming pool

[SeaBreeze341]

Great show indeed.  Nice atmosphere, and a lot of money won. 


Sucks that it ended in painful loss toward what I thought would be a $100,000 win.  ["And that's why you always have the contestants receive the clues instead of giving them!" - Yours truly as a pathetic in the moment viewer].  Nonetheless, Kiki did great in the main game and in the winner's circle.  Felt at ease in a spot that is very difficult.  I would've said shades too.  Would've said hat, visor, shades, visor, hat, shades in that order in repeating it.  That, IMO would've done it for Kiki

[plinkostick1]

I never understood why the rules are so strict on this show (always has been). There's really no reason multiplication shouldn't count for multiply. Is it because multiplication is a noun and multiply is a verb? Who cares, you certainly wouldn't accept it as a clue so why isn't it close enough for an answer.

The word Joey isn't kangaroo, would baby, man, human or woman be an illegal clue for something with "people"? If they're saying joey isn't "part" of a kangaroo, it's a separate kangaroo then fine but I think that's a dumb rule as well. I think a few seasons ago it was "woodwind instruments" and the guy said trombone and it was illegal because that's not a woodwind. It's not a quiz show, maybe it's not a good clue but it shouldn't be illegal.

It's the only game show I know of that errs on the side of having contestants lose as often as possible.

And I'm not sure the show needs to be as vulgar but perhaps that's being petty.

[urbanpreppie0004]

 

It's a word game...rules are specific and have been since it's inception.

[GameShowKid]

I never understood why the rules are so strict on this show (always has been). There's really no reason multiplication shouldn't count for multiply. Is it because multiplication is a noun and multiply is a verb? Who cares, you certainly wouldn't accept it as a clue so why isn't it close enough for an answer.

The word Joey isn't kangaroo, would baby, man, human or woman be an illegal clue for something with "people"? If they're saying joey isn't "part" of a kangaroo, it's a separate kangaroo then fine but I think that's a dumb rule as well. I think a few seasons ago it was "woodwind instruments" and the guy said trombone and it was illegal because that's not a woodwind. It's not a quiz show, maybe it's not a good clue but it shouldn't be illegal.

It's the only game show I know of that errs on the side of having contestants lose as often as possible.

And I'm not sure the show needs to be as vulgar but perhaps that's being petty.

I would have accepted "multiplication" for "multiply", but I can understand the decision of the current "powers that be". They were looking for that particular word. And it's not that tough to get: "You don't divide, add, or subtract, you..." Here the word "multiplication" doesn't fit or follow.

I think the kangaroo ruling was fair. A joey is not a part of a kangaroo. That's a leading clue that doesn't fit the subject.

By the way, I'm not a fan of the crude/vulgar content either.

[plinkostick1]

It's a word game...rules are specific and have been since it's inception.

Fair, but other word games (Password) seem to have clearer rules. With this one it's always "too close", considered an "exact" synonym or the popular "conveys the essence of the answer" which is fairly subjective. Frankly I think password is too lenient sometimes like when someone will essentially sing an entire versus of a song using portions of a single word clue. Inflection is allowed but at a certain point you're essentially using a multi word clue. I guess my point is password usually allows the borderline clues/answers (at least Super and P+) but Pyramid generally doesn't.

[SeaBreeze341]

Meh.  I think the rules are fine.  Pyramid is worth more money for the players, but still, you have to earn it.  It can be confusing on Pyramid but the game is tough enough regardless unlike Password which isn't as strict.

I'm okay with it even though one's discretion can wreck a contestant's chance at victory.  It's still rather rare; whenever a clue is DQ'ed, more often than not that player was losing anyway.  Regardless of how unfair it might seem, the rules are the rules

[GameShowKid]

On the June 2 episodes: To borrow a phrase from another game show, Chris Redd and Dr. Oz, you are the weakest links!

Given the domination of Michelle and Rachel in the first half of the first show, there was time for an explanation of the Winners’ Circle rules. What a great clue for Things in a Box, especially for a SNL alum: “Justin Timberlake’s private parts”. I immediately said “The Titanic” for Things That Sink. Congrats to Michelle on the $50K win, and she passed and came back to win.

And more congrats to Brad; FANTASTIC clue for Things That Are Hungry: “A board game hippo”. $50K for you!

Did Oprah pay for all of the name mentions in the second half hour?

And Lindsey: You get $50K (and a trip to St. Lucia)! Very good clues for Types of News: “Daily” & “The Nightly”. All I could think of before they got it was “Bad”.

I immediately thought of “stocks" and "baseball cards" for Things That Are Traded.

[PGS25]

Lotion: Gold Bond, Cetaphil, Vaseline, Jergens
Sink: Rotten egg, Quicksand, Torpedoed boat, Titanic
Office: Desks, Computers, Water cooler, Lobby
Butcher: "I cut meat at the supermarket or meat market".
Flowers: Rose, Daisy, Tulip, Dandelion
Gymnastics: Balance beam, Pommel horse, Floor exercises, Parallel bars
Chicken: Fried, Shake n' Bake, Cacciatore, Cordon Bleu
Donate: Transplanted organ, Charity money, Goodwill clothing, Christmas toys

Total cash won: $159,500. Season total: $282,500. Still waiting for a $100,000 win. Not happy right now.
I would like to know the logic and thought process that went into the 1st half of the 2nd game with Oprah.
Dr. Oz and Chris should never come back.

[jude_este]

Rachel Dratch is insanely good, while Chris Redd and Dr. Oz were just terrible at the game and should not be asked back. And also, I believe that Oprah Winfrey as the first clue in every category in the second game's first half was a first for Pyramid.

What I would have said in the Winner’s Circle in the Rachel Dratch vs Chris Redd games:

Lotion Brands: Jurgens, Gold Bond, Aveeno
Things in a box: pizza, personal belongings, holiday presents
Parts of An Office: the conference room, the receptionist’s section, the breakroom
Things That Are Hungry: board game hippos, yourself, a fussy baby

What I would have said in the Winner’s Circle in the Dr. Oz vs Daphne Oz games:

Types of Flowers: daisy, bluebonnet, sunflower
Types of News: local, podcasts, nightly
The Simpsons characters: Edna Krabappel, Ned Flanders, Bart
Things You Donate: money, clothes, toys

[PGS25]

You can't say "Sunflower" Jude, you would have been buzzed.

[jude_este]

You can't say "Sunflower" Jude, you would have been buzzed.

My bad as I fell into a trap with that flower.