03Sep2012
“Millionaire” and “The Pyramid” Debut Today; Write Your Reviews
The 2012 game show season has officially started! Today, both Who Wants to be a Millionaire (syndication) and The Pyramid (GSN) will debut. This is the eleventh syndicated season for Millionaire and the first season for The Pyramid. We’re very excited for Millionaire because one of our readers, Adam Marchese, will be appearing on the show this afternoon. We wish him enormous amounts of luck and we’ll let you know how he does tomorrow. It’s also Labor Day, though, so we’re not going to be around today. However, we still want to know what you think. Be sure to watch and comment with your reviews, thoughts, and feelings about both shows. We also hope you have a great Labor Day.
Photo courtesy Valleycrest Productions Ltd.
I can sum up today pretty easily. EVERYONE HERE is SUPER excited for “Pyramid!” Big YAY to “Millionaire,” too! Good luck Adam! :D
I hope you did well, Adam. Who knows, since sometimes syndicated shows like to start the season with a bang as they can easily air out of taping order, maybe you are a 6 figure winner (by that I mean $100,000 or $250,000, knowing how impossible it is to win higher than that on the show nowadays.
I absolutely love the new Millionaire set. The new screen looks stunning in HD. Everything looks so modern. It’s a darn shame though the first contestant went home with $1,000… he started very well. Adam did OK, but I was hoping it wouldn’t be this soon a contestant would ask the audience on the wrong question having to waste that lifeline and jumping the question. Not the best performances, but I’m excited for the new season!
I’ve been looking forward to the premiere of Millionaire for quite a while & they’re not even showing it because of some PGA tournament! :-/
Set on Millionaire looks great! Contestants had average performances. Millionaire was very good overall though! Can’t wait for the rest of the season.
I’m super excited for Pyramid!
I’m just happy to see “Millionaire” back in action. The set looks gorgeous in HD, and it’s a welcomed change for 2012. Congrats to the crew.
Agreed!
Watching ‘The Pyramid’ right now, and I’m loving it. So similar to the original. But, something’s ruining it for me. Call me picky… but the camera work is a bit distracting. There’s so much zooming in – on the categories, on Mike… and I feel they’re zooming in uncomfortably close. Anyone else notice that?
A bunch of us noticed that on the sneak peek, last week (excuse the rhyme). A lot of us were uncomfortable with it. Hopefully, that gets fixed.
Considering that the 40 episodes have already been filmed (Or at least in the process of finishing being filmed), I think we might be stuck with it until (Hopefully) they order up more shows. Otherwise, I can grin & bear it. The set is awesome (Especially in HD), Richards is pretty decent–but is going to take some getting used to, I can take/leave the “Remixed” theme song, but I’m glad the core aesthetics (Clock noise, illegal coo-coo, etc.) are a part of it. I LOVE “Community”, so it was great to see Yvette Nicole Brown & Danny Pudi play.
All in all, I think Pyramid (and for that matter, “Bible Challenge”) might just be enough to wipe out several years of Mis-fires at GSN. I think it’ll be here to stay.
I wish my local station didn’t show “Millionaire” so early (1:30 AM), but good to hear a writer for such a great site was on the show. Hope you won a lot of money! I just finished watching “The Pyramid” and it was very good. The camerawork can be a little out of place, but if you want dramatic Winner’s Circles, the premiere did not disappoint!
My oinion still stands on The Pyramid:
Lousy main game play clock sound
Fix the zoom button during game play (I can read and see the celebs folks!)
Why must little pyramid be so branded? DO I need to be reminded 10 times at least during the show with that alone what show I am watching? GSN’s ad in the corner of my screen and my DVR is plenty Bring back the original look on both pyramids.
Game theme is terrible, I feel like either Mike Richards or the Judge is going to bust some cocnuts and serve up drinks during the show. It is too tropical They can make every other theme and sound from the original era come aboard but not the main theme
Get rid of the sound effect on turning the pylons
Turn the pylons togetherduring winners circle round, as one reveals the dollar amount the other should be turning.
When you say here is your first subject, turn it and show it and say “go” as it turns! What is so hard about that, that is like saying “Here is $5″ and never take your wallet out
Otherwise
Mike Richards not a bad host
This episode felt less rushed then the previous
Glad some sounds made it in from the previous era
I wish they would have taken a little more of the 2009 pilot as far as set with the big pyramid is concerned. The graphics and computer powering that system must be what operated fast money in the Family Feud days back when Dawsom was hosting it. Those grpahics could be a little more smoother and convincing when a pylon turns.
If it makes a second season, I hope they make some good changes, if it does not, I honestly won’t be surprised
Better then Donnymid? Yes I will admit that. But I think this show got too much hype.
Critical much?
Yup
Dragon,
You’re starting to sound like the fanboys on Golden-Road.net. Why so angry?
I’m glad the internet wasn’t around when Dick’s $25K premiered. I can hear the posts now:
“Why is the Pyramid blue? Bring back the gold!”
“The new theme song sucks! Bring back the original!”
“Mystery 7? WTF?!”
“Where’s the orange shag carpeting?”
If they had screwed with the game, I’d be bitching right along with you. But they didn’t. The only real tweak they made to game play was to the tie-breakers.
I think it’s pretty unreasonable to expect this show to look and sound exactly like it did 30 years ago. I give ER credit for bringing back as many of the classic elements as they did. The new remix of the theme is growing on me. I bet before long, we’ll hardly notice the main game clock. The computerized game boards function well. I think that, since the audience doesn’t clap between subjects in the WC in this version, the “swoosh” sound effect adds a little something.
I agree that the music should be a bit louder (and that the audience noise needs to be softer), that they may be a bit zoom crazy and that they should turn the first box before he says “go.” But on the whole, they have done a great job with this reboot. Mike Richards may become the best host of this show not named “Clark”. And I’m sure some things will be adjusted between seasons.
I’m delighted that The Pyramid is back in fine form. WAY better than Donnymid!
I agree Myke. “The Dragon” is being way too picky with his review.
The music should be louder, the zooming does need to be toned down a bit, and the box should turn before Mike says “Go”, but other than that, everything else sits well with me. GSN did a good job with it overall.
I am way too picky but you just agreed on two things I said, perhaps a mirror for you is needed?
I don’t even visit the site, I am amazed at that sort of comment, but anyways, even when the Pyramid was blue, gold, whatever color people still had ways of complaining and it still got around, you don’t need the internet to make an opinion.
The hype was overrated, it was supposed to be the same theme no remake and look at what happens, we got the sort of remake of the original.
If I was that critical I could bitch about why the celbs dont stop in front of the pyramid, and why are the female and male celebs coming out different ends, but I didn’t. Hype killer number 1 was the music, read it here, no remake and we didn’t get the original which means someone misunderstood something or someone on the set thought “Ah you know what, we have no idea if this is what we want, let’s screw with it more”
Maybe as a computer programmer the graphics in my opinion are not smooth, if you are going to simulate something, the technology is there.
if they adjust things in between seasons, great, but this is a program that got too much hype and does not have any priority to record on my DVR, it is on at 6PM, I might watch it if the news is boring.
I bet you’re a real delight at parties. It’s fairly obvious that nothing will ever be good enough for you no matter what it is.
I for one enjoy the heck out of this show and while there are a small amount of minute details that could be improved, The Pyramid is fantastic. The Pyramid is more of a carbon copy remake of a game show than just about any show ever was. I can’t believe crazy fanboys like you are still managing to negatively pick it apart. Unbelievable.
Much more delight then you are. It is fairly obvious considering I don’t comment much at this site you can not conclude if anything is good enough for me no matter what it is and it doesn’t matter, it is my opinion, don’t like it read another comment and fondle your key strokes at them instead.
Saw it today with the new set and was very impressed. Love the lighting and design. And I thought the contestants today did great. Can’t wait for tomorrow and the rest of the new season.
Like the host, not love, but that’s good enough for me. Same with the set. I’m more concerned with getting new viewers, and if that’s what it takes, so be it. Tiebreaker format is interesting, although if they’re scraping for every second of noncommercial time, the old format of the first team setting the time to beat would be fine, too. Watched a bunch of old clips and still think the new show is more tv/movie centered in topics (it’s not wrong, just would prefer less culturally centered topics–not zero), but again if that’s what will draw viewers, so be it. The 7/7 for $500/$5k I like. Competent, enthusiastic celebrities: the more seasons the show goes, the better the celebrities will get (but I guess we’ll see how each celebrity does by the fifth show, anyway).
I’m happy with it. GSN, all I ask is you promote this show like crazy now. It deserves a second season from what I’ve seen so far.
I can’t help wondering whether the topical material is designed specifically to bring in YOUNGER viewers. We know they’re not going to attract young viewers with WHAT GRETA GARBO MIGHT SAY, but they don’t have to go other way either.
Like I said, I’d rather them go topical if that’s what it takes to draw in younger viewers. I’m way too young to be born when Greta Garbo was alive (I think). Only my opinion that the Clark, Davidson, and even Osmond pyrmaid (and I’ve watched a few hours of clips of all 3 the last few weeks) didn’t seem as culturally dependent, that’s all. I figure the skill of describing things doesn’t need to be as dependent, and 2 subjects of 12 in the normal game play centered on celebrities seems more than I can remember for ANY version of Pyramid.
One other thing. I can’t find ratings for the first/sneak peek show of Pyramid. Anyone find the ratings from last week?
For the premiere ep of The Pyramid, they had the tension music during the main game instead of the flute clock. I would have preferred neither, but this is an improvement. Now that we’ve seen the “infinite tie-breaker” round played, I won’t say that I like it better than other tie-breakers, but I don’t dislike it either.
They made a good choice for the official premiere. Besides the above, we saw a win where they had to come back to a difficult category, and we also saw a loss where half the time was spent on one agonizing category.
At this point, we haven’t seen two players split their games, so I don’t know whether they’re going to show each player’s total for the day at the end. I’m hoping they do.
I agree that I’d like NO sound effects during the main game, but we’ll see what happens next season (assuming there is a next season) and hoping that the powers that be read the comments here.
I thought the new redesigned set on Millionaire did look very beautiful, and did play and look very similar to the old set as far as how the lights behaved and stuff with a few enhancements. Meredith was wonderful as well, so a thumbs up for Millionaire’s start today!
Interesting fact: Rob George serves as both the director for BOTH “Millionaire” and “Pyramid”, so any praises or complaints, Rob directed both! Just a tidbit for those following at home. Pyramid’s debut was similar to the premiere on Thursday, no major complaints there, just glad to finally see it back on the air in the format it deserves to be on!
Note: In Seattle, Millionaire is on the same channel, CW11, but it has moved up 1 hour from 10am to 11am for a full hour. The website still lists the old time. Family Feud stays where it is at 9am for a full hour, followed at 10am by Steve Harvey’s new talk show before Millionaire.
Holy crap. Watched the Pyramid premiere today and in all factors of a game show, THUMBS UP!!! They kept it old school with a new feature to it; 7 of 7 in 30 seconds. Happy about that and with the twist of adding $5,000 to their winners circle banks, awesome idea as well as an instant $500 for a perfect round. That actually balances out that the fact that there’s no 7-11 nor Mystery 7. The winners circle prize money slots have doubled (minus the top spot), bothered me a bit because (and for the record), I did my version of pyramid WAY before they thought of bringing it back (like 2005), anyway, bottom line, awesome.
As for the set, DAM!!! Perfectly done. The set gives off a modern-retro look to it. It’s got the elements of the 80′s version with a modern feel to it. My score for the new pyramid, 9 out of 10. Minus one point because I think they should’ve at least kept the 3rd round of categories the option to decide who will give and who will receive.
But anyway, 100x better than the Donny Osmond version. Oh yeah, the host. Very good host. I see a little Dick in him.
I hope that The Pyramid is a success. It was updated just enough to keep with the times, but it retained the familiar sound effects. The new twist on how much you play for in the winner’s circle is a neat and innovative addition. Mike Richards is no Dick Clark, but hell NO ONE can be another Dick Clark. With that in mind, I think that Richards will do just fine once he settles in. My only disappointment perhaps is I was hoping they would use the original theme (Tuning Up by Ken Aldin) but that might have been too retro. Overall I really like it!
It was agonizing to see the first WC go that way on THINGS YOU STRETCH – the celeb just couldn’t switch gears to get off of the “body parts” angle – if she was getting stuck she probably should have said something like “your *tired* legs, your *tired* arms”, etc. Still, “a rubber band” was indeed the perfect clue after what she tried to convey.
However, that second WC almost made me cringe when they got hung up on WHAT A HAND MODEL MIGHT SAY — I was afraid it was one of those really weird categories from Donnymid a la “what Regis’ coffee much might say”, but it was aweswome to see the contestant come through in the clutch like that! Overall, the show is still great, and it respects what Pyramid used to be and what it still can be.
The problem with “What a hand model might say” is that you can’t use “hand” and you can’t use “model”.
Also for “Things you stretch” she could have said “Your stiff arms” or “Your stiff legs”
Stretch I guess depends on the age. Of course, the rubber band suggestion, but if they’re old enough, Silly Putty might have worked, too.
Hand Model: “Magazines take pictures of just the ring or watch since they don’t need to take the picture of my whole body to sell the ring or watch. I could have a plain face and they’d hire me anyway” or something along those lines.
KBJR-NBC in Duluth/Superior didn’t show the 10th season premiere at 2PM central time due to PGA Tour Golf coverage. Which makes me wonder why Disney-ABC Domestic Television couldn’t have waited until the 10th of September to have Millionaire start their new season?
the pyramid is going to be around for a while. gsn got it’s next big hit. the set is updated like the one in the 1980′s and love the way they kept some of the sound effects as well
I can’t see “The Pyramid” because of where I am, but I gather from all your comments that GSN has gotten it right for the most part. What I am hoping for, in behalf of my American brethren who can benefit, is whether this leads to a run of new game shows on GSN.
In general, British game shows are more quiz-oriented, and Americans have been leaning more toward reality shows. That’s too bad. I wonder if GSN would ever consider buying “The Chase” or “The Cube” episodes — surely two of the best the UK has — and show them. If nothing else, it might nudge CBS to finally put “The Cube” in production and nudge Fox with “The Chase.”
I think “The Pyramid” is great. I find the dichotomy in this thread between “I love the new Millionaire set” and the “I hate the Pyramid because it’s not exactly like it was before” to be HILARIOUS — change is okay, as long as it’s the original, but once a revival tries to have any change, it’s sin…