$50,000 Pyramid: Susan Richardson & Ross Martin (1981)

$50,000 Pyramid episode includes the infamous "Marie Antoinette" answer, but has much more to offer, as well. First aired 4-17-81.

[@stedco75]

Ross had about 4 months left here. This episode was taped on March 4, 1981 (aired Apr. 17, 1981). He died on July 3rd of that year.

[@donnapodhurst6552]

these people can not have been the most qualified they could have chosen

[@Jack21Spades]

I always liked the desk bell sound for the right answers

[@jeffkaufman9875]

Dick Clark: Amongst other things, THE master of smoothing-out otherwise awkward small-talk!

[@KevinMiller-xn5vu]

Man I miss game shows like this.

[@diamonddog13]

Cultivate? WTF? They REALLY didn't want her to win.

[@PraveenSrJ01]

Inflation has made $50,000 not that much money in 2022-23

[@drummerbraves]

One of Ross Martin's last TV appearances before his death.

[@billcary30]

what was likely one of ross martin's last appearances in anything. he died sometime around 81 or 82

[@rg8152]

That first round had a lot more cuckoo than I'd have expected for New York Pyramid to be honest...

[@rg8152]

3:29 Life before McDonald's Chicken McNuggets really took off further, and the 90s/00s craze to the Chicky Nuggie boom we have today...

[@eelise]

Yeah, 4 month later he was such a warm person. But, he always looked tired. But, seems happy:)

[@m.scottreeder]

If that isn’t crazy?! Ross Martin’s partner is a canvas artist. In the episode called “The Night Of the Surreal McCoy”, of the ‘60s western TV show The Wild, Wild West, the villain uses paintings as a way to kill and create anarchy.

[@tvdan1043]

I remember this theme song (vs. the more famous Pyramid theme song). This feels so 1960s. The 1980s hadn't really caught up to game show production yet.

[@blindsportslover]

I like this one better than the version I'm more familiar with from the 80s.

[@Benwah]

It used to take a few years before new decades in the 20th Century established their aesthetic. I very much enjoyed those fringe periods of media and culture in general. Now that we're in the 21th Century, I don't know if things have become so homogenized that there aren't intricate differences between the 00's/10's and 10's/20's or if I'm just too old and stubborn/set in my ways to notice subtlety anymore.

[@brockreynolds870]

Song was recorded in 1971

[@pacifist0rz]

Should have said "KZbin Videos" for the last clue! 😀

[@stevejacks8389]

18:07 One of the greatest out-of-context moments: "Played drums for the Beatles" "Marie Antoinette" "DING"

[@michaelfalkner1186]

And that's the only way you get a passed situation in the main game -- they have to get it without further assistance.

[@chris.twentyeightt]

⁠@@michaelfalkner1186 However, in the 80s 90s era, in the tiebreaker or on the last category, behind by 6 or 7 points, if a team passes one, and then if time permits after all of the other answers were done, the skipped one had to be achieved by only the receiver.

[@jeffboettcher2531]

This must be one of his last TV appearances.

[@domeonce9006]

strange- the clock counts UP to 30, not DOWN!

[@jeffthevideoguy23]

Never saw the 50k version.

[@TheRenard10]

Other Texas cities: Plano, Austin, El Paso

[@StukInBuf]

For "Things that Wiggle," could he not have tried "Samantha's nose"? The *Bewitched* series(Elizabeth Montgomery starred in it) was big in syndication at the time.

[@jeffreylong3963]

21:47 - Tonight at 6:00, a teenage pop star is kidnapped on the eve of his big concert on "Wonder Woman." At 7:00, Lamont's doctor can't find anything physically wrong with him, so he sends him to a shrink to find out the reason for his headaches on "Sanford and Son." Now stay tuned for "McHale's Navy" next on Channel 48.

[@epacm50]

I remember that format. Most of the rules were transferred to the $25/100 K formats. This version used the digital countdown timers during the regular rounds and the analog timers during the bonus round.

[@ericsamuelson5656]

This was the last Pyramid with the 70s setting after 9 seasons. Harriet looks so hot BTW.

[@January.]

Ross's wives were very lucky women.

[@jcharpak]

"Paul Revere...I don't know who that is" smh

[@rebeccad812]

Had she said "One if by land & two if by sea" Ross would've nailed it. Instead, her clue is "this person" and the Raiders, a rock band. He really just about lost it there and can't say I blame him!!

[@63utuber]

"cultivate" is another one that might never have been gotten Teresa Ganzel got her partner to say "published" with "a copyrighted magazine"

[@jmiller297]

Resulting in an exciting $10,000 win!!

[@Michael1966W]

Ross looked good, it’s hard to fathom he would die later that year

[@georgemaster9271]

Was this his final show he appeared on?

[@jjshaka]

Yes, he had lost some weight going by some appearances he did in 1979 and 80. What a loss.

[@DMS-pq8]

Less than three months after this aired

[@fozzieatdetourbillnye5514]

Is he dead?

[@fozzieatdetourbillnye5514]

Nevermind. I found the answer out

[@allenmudman9755]

So much confusion. Makes me nervous just watching.

[@danbarker4857]

The pic quality is pretty good considering this from 1981.

[@daverogers5609]

cultivate= impossible to get.

[@georgemaster689]

40th anniversary on January 26th.

[@setheriah]

Why did the clock count upwards in this version

[@journeymanproject1756]

Tournament qualification worked differently in this era. Instead of the three contestants who won a Winner’s Circle the fastest, the player who got 7 out of 7 in any maingame category the fastest during the week got the tournament berth. As a direct consequence a tournament was held after every eight weeks of regular shows, which is how there were two tournaments during this version’s brief run. The flaw with this qualification format is clear now that you know this: It was VERY possible for someone to get into the big tourney without ever getting into the Winner’s Circle otherwise, because all you had to do was catch one and put up a time that others couldn’t touch. Fortunately, when $100K Pyramid came around four years later, the rules were changed to allow only the three fastest Winner’s Circle times to play for the big money.

[@ChrisBakerauthor]

This is the worst game I have ever seen. She got five, four, and one. Her total score was ten. That is abyssmal. The other team won with twelve in two rounds.

[@djblondi138]

they dumb asf ...just kiddin it was interesting to watch lol

[@patbrown2699]

Ross Martin died that year 1981

[@HerrEllsworth]

Six months after this show aired.

[@drummerbraves]

@@HerrEllsworth Actually a couple of months. Ross passed away on July 3, 1981.

[@stevejacks8389]

9:26 when the answer is two words ("Italian Songs"), I usually expect that they have to say both words to get the credit

[@lolaljc9545]

The $25,000 Pyramid

[@scottyclayton5604]

Susan be high!

[@domeonce9006]

one of the oddest, awkward episodes ever!

[@scottyclayton5604]

I never even knew this was a thing. Weird.

[@WILLIAMCHANEL]

Oh it's SUCH a thing. Look at the episodes where the guest star is Shelley Smith. Those episodes are performance perfection, baby.

[@Aristomenis13]

I am looking for an episode Pyramid that aired a few weeks earlier than this one. March 9th-13th, 1981 Guests were Anne Meara and John Gabriel. Anyone have any idea how to find it?

[@rossmartinactor471]

There are people who trade game show episodes. However, you should know that only a handful of $50,000 Pyramid episodes exist, and almost all of them are in worse shape than this one. The recordings are off the air from its original run in the 1980s. I am not aware of the producers saving recordings of the show. I wish, for example, that it were possible to see the whole week with Ross Martin, but alas! Good luck.

[@TimothyMischka]

@@rossmartinactor471 Not so much the producers didn't save it as much as the distributor -- CPM, a division of Colgate-Palmolive(!) -- seemed to vanish off the face of the earth. I have no idea if the tapes were junked/erased or if they're just sitting in a warehouse somewhere, but if it still exists Sony hasn't found it yet.

[@ChrisBakerauthor]

This was apparently recorded on Channel 48. Anybody know what that was? This was a syndicated show.

[@jaredjlinden]

My guess is WKBS in Philadelphia.

[@georgemaster9271]

Two things I didn't like about this version..1)00 to 30 and $5,000 and $10,000 as opposed to $10K and $20K/$25K.Wonder if that led to its short time on the air(5 months).

[@cats0182]

That was similar to the format that thet eventually used for the $100,000 Pyramid. You won smaller amounts and the fastest "x" number of contestants would return at some point to try for the $100,000.

[@lesliemiros6743]

I notice the timer counts forward instead the usual countdown .

[@wschmrdr]

Easier to determine what the time was for the round. Though they didn't do the same when the New $25,000 Pyramid tried a Greek Islands Cruise week using the same format (player of the week got the cruise).

[@KiddBloo86]

Using the shortest main game time was what killed this show.

[@jamesmoss3424]

Alania did good. 😀👍

[@matthaddock1817]

10:38 geez, Susan Richardson screamed like a bad girl about to be put in time out! Ha

[@carawolfe5321]

Matthew Nicolai She was obnoxious and over dramatic

[@richardhernandez4490]

@@carawolfe5321 We've seen worse with other celebrities.

[@blindsportslover]

@@richardhernandez4490 you talking about Vicki Lawrence?

[@chris.twentyeightt]

Or in some horror film.

[@chris.twentyeightt]

@@blindsportslover Maybe William Shatner???

[@stevejacks8389]

12:10 I wonder if one of the answers in that category would have been "avocado." She would then have been "cuckoo'ed" because she would have said the answer early

[@zacheryalderton9747]

Who is the announcer

[@kevinfitzmaurice4072]

Steve O'Brien, a New York disc jockey. He replaced Bob Clayton during the last months of the ABC version.

[@georgemaster689]

@@kevinfitzmaurice4072 Didn't now ex-David Letterman announcer Alan Kalter do the voice to one of these shows?

[@kevinfitzmaurice4072]

@@georgemaster689 Yes. O'Brien was the primary replacement after Bob Clayton died, but Kalter also filled in. Kalter also announced "To Tell the Truth" for a time, as did Kalter's predecessor on "Letterman," Bill Wendell.

[@josie2768]

😎

[@DMS-pq8]

I knew there was a 10, 25 and 100 thousand dollar pyramid but not 50

[@rossmartinactor471]

Yes, it was a very short-lived version of the show.

[@chuckers40]

Also, there was GSN version called "The Pyramid in 2012, where you win up to $50,000. The bank starts at $10,000, every time a player gets all seven correct it adds $5,000 to the jackpot. That means they can for up to $25,000 each round.

[@thevinylark]

There was also a $20,000 Pyramid late in the ABC Daytime run.

[@georgemaster9271]

@Qunicy Holman This was the second syndicated Pyramid show.Bill Cullen never appeared on Dick's $100,000 show.

[@georgemaster689]

@Qunicy Holman It was The $25,000 Pyramid from 1974-1979 with Bill Cullen.

[@zacheryalderton6699]

how old were you in 1981

[@PraveenSrJ01]

Minus 2

[@chris.twentyeightt]

Negative Fifteen

[@jmiller297]

-5

[@LuisSilva-qx4tr]

Ddduttu

[@scottdomenica2004]

I never saw the original run of the 50,000 pyramid. This had to be syndicated. I don’t think it aired in the Boston area where I live.