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Host
Dick Clark
Announcer
Bob Clayton
Broadcast
Junior Pyramid
ABC Daytime: 7/9/1979 - 7/13/1979
All-Star Junior Pyramid
ABC Primetime: 9/2/1979
Vlcsnap-238704
ABC Daytime: 10/1/1979 - 11/8/1979
Packagers
Bob Stewart Productions

This is (the) (All-Star) Junior (Partner) Pyramid! Today's special guests are (insert celebrity and contestant)! Playing against, (insert celebrity and contestant)! And now, here is your host, DICK CLARK!

A version of Pyramid for children.

Celebrities

Susan Richardson
Jimmy Baio
Tony Danza

Young Stars

David Hollander
Tammy Lauren
Rob Lowe
Olivia Barash

Gameplay

Main Game

The game is played with two teams of two contestants (one celebrity and one child contestant on Junior, one adult celebrity and one child star in All-Star Junior, one child and an adult relative in Junior Partner) in a game of word communication. Each game starts with the introduction of six categories arranged in a pyramid.

Each team in turn chose a category, and then a subject under that category was given. The team had 35 seconds (30 on the All-Star show) to guess the seven words/phrases/names that fit into the category. One player described each item while the other player tried to guess what the words are. Each correct word was worth one point. When a word was passed, it cannot be returned to, but if the guesser can the word already passed, the team still scored; no sound effect was used, in order to prevent any distractions. If at anytime the clue giver gave away any part of the answer or conveyed the essence of the answer, a cuckoo sounded and the word was thrown out.

Each team had three turns with the celebrities/adult partner giving first in round one, the contestants/child partner giving in round two, and in round three they decided among themselves on who's giving and who's receiving.

Big 7

In the first Junior Pyramid, at some point in the game, a team would uncover a special item called the Big 7. The team that exposed the Big 7 had 35 seconds to get all seven and win a special prize. The All-Star Junior Pyramid show also had the Big 7 but was worth the usual $500 but for the child star's favorite charity. In the Junior Partner Pyramid shows, the teams chose their own Big 7 (renamed the Bonus 7) in either the first or second game; and getting all seven again won $500.

Tiebreaker

If the game ended in a tie, the game shifted into a tie-breaker situation while continuing to build on their scores. The team that caused the tie had a choice between two letters leaving the other for the other team. Both teams had 35 seconds to get as many of the seven items beginning with their letter(s) as they can. The team that got the most out of seven won the game. In the All-Star Junior Show, if both teams got seven, the team with the fastest time was declared the winner.


The team with the most points won the game and went over to the Winner's Circle for a grand cash prize. The contestant on the winning team even had choice as to who would give and who would receive. Any team who achieved a perfect score of 21 points won a bonus prize on Junior Pyramid week, $1,000 on the All-Star special, and $500 on Junior Partner Pyramid.

Winner's Circle

The giver of the winning team faced a larger pyramid board of six subjects with the guesser having his/her back to the board. The winning team had 60 seconds to climb up to the top of the pyramid by getting all six. On each subject, the giver gave a list of items that fit the subject while the guesser tried to guess what they all have in common. As soon as the guesser gets the right subject or passed, they moved on to the next subject to the right. Upon a pass, the team can come back to it if there's time leftover though the guesser can still get the subject without going back to it. If at any time the giver gave an illegal clue (giving away part of the answer, conveying the essence of the answer, descriptions of the category or a synonym) a buzzer would sound, and the team would have to surrender their chance at the big money. Not only that, the giver was discouraged from using his/her hands which is why they were strapped into the chair. Even though their chances of winning the big cash was shot, the team can still go for the other subjects, because when time ran out, the contestant still won money attached to the subjects guessed; and of course getting all six in 60 seconds without illegal clues won the grand cash prize.

Payoffs

Consolation Money

Here are the amounts for each subject according to the versions:

Version 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
The Junior Pyramid $50 $100 $200
All-Star Junior Pyramid Special $100 $250 $500
Junior Partner Pyramid (1979) $100 $125 $150 $175 $200 $250
Grand Cash Prizes

Here are the grand cash prizes for going up to the top of the Pyramid:

  • The Junior Pyramid - The first trip was worth $1,000, the second was worth $2,500, and the third and all future trips were worth $5,000.
  • Junior Partner Pyramid - The first trip was worth $2,500, and the second was worth $5,000.
  • The All-Star Junior Pyramid - All trips to the Winner's circle were worth $10,000.

Game/Championship Formats

The first Junior daytime version used the traditional rules of The $20,000 Pyramid: contestants who didn't make it to the top returned to play the next game. But if they do make it to the top and win the grand cash prize, they retire from the show. Also games straddled at that time, so whenever there's no time for the second Winner's Circle on that day's show, the second Winner's Circle would be played at the top of the next show.

In the Junior Partner version which was played much like the eventual 1982-91 era at Television City, each episode was made self-contained for it had the teams play two games every show. Any money won from the Winner's Circle was used as score money plus the $500 & Perfect 21 bonuses. The team with the most money or won both games returned to play the next show. As with that era, if the show ended in a tie both contestants returned to play the next show. As in The $20,000 Pyramid, players who made it to the top retired from the show.

Rating

72px-TV-Y icon svg

Music

"Tuning Up" by Ken Aldin

Trivia

Junior Pyramid was also going to appear on CBS as part of the 1998-99 Saturday morning schedule replacing The New Ghostwriter Mysteries, but it was bumped and replaced with Anatole.

YouTube Videos

Full Episode of Junior Partner Pyramid
Another Full Episode of Junior Partner Pyramid

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