New Game Show DVDs

[AndyDursin]

Eric (or anyone) have you seen this new FAMILY FEUD DVD? I had no idea it was even released, and to think I just emailed BCI about two other titles today!



I also see they have a PRICE IS RIGHT set coming out as well...


Funny this comes on the heels of my discovery that a close family friend and real estate agent locally was on the $25,000 PYRAMID back in the '70s! And he even has a tape of it!! (with ads) which I'll be transferring to DVD for him shortly.

[Eric Paddon]

Yes, I knew about both DVD releases. There's also a DVD set of regular "Family Feud" episodes planned for later this year and a second volume of "Match Game". All of these are Mark Goodson produced shows which BCI has gotten the rights to license for DVD release.

And I have to know more about this Pyramid appearance you have! Is this the Bill Cullen hosted version of "$25,000 Pyramid" or the regular daytime $20,000 Pyramid hosted by Dick Clark? New York based episodes of the Pyramid from the 70s are much more rare and hard to come by compared to the 80s run of the show that was based in California. Regardless of which one it is, I'd love to get hold of a copy of that!

[AndyDursin]

And I have to know more about this Pyramid appearance you have! Is this the Bill Cullen hosted version of "$25,000 Pyramid" or the regular daytime $20,000 Pyramid hosted by Dick Clark? New York based episodes of the Pyramid from the 70s are much more rare and hard to come by compared to the 80s run of the show that was based in California. Regardless of which one it is, I'd love to get hold of a copy of that!

It was real odd how it came up. A good friend of our family's (and a long-time real estate agent) Marc Archambault started talking about his Christmas party and how he took out his old "Pyramid tape for laughs." I kept asking and was stunned to find out he was on the Pyramid, back when Dick Clark was hosting and it was filmed in NYC. I assume this was '78 or so?

Apparently Marc was on 2 shows -- paired with Joyce Bouilfant (MATCH GAME, right?) on one show, and then with Ron Glass on the other.

He hated being with Glass because, he said, Glass had a fetish for the camera capturing one angle of his face. So when Glass read the clues to him, he wasn't even looking at Marc's face but to an angle -- just because of how he looked on TV! And then when they had a choice of whether to give or receive, Marc tried to say he wanted to give (because it was obvious how bad Glass was), but Glass took the little monitor and grabbed it right from him.

Joyce Boiulfant was better, he said, though she did a "dumb blonde routine" but wasn't much smarter than she appeared!

He also talked about how as soon as the taping was done Clark would move several steps where his handlers had his shoes and "comfortable clothes" waiting...apparently they were holding up a plane for him at LaGuardia.

So Marc was on 2 shows (second half of one show, beginning of another) and didn't win...but I think he got up to the Pyramid one time.

What's also interesting is that like a lot of people he didn't have a VCR in the late '70s so the local stereo electronics store taped it for him. All the ads are intact too so I'm looking forward to putting this together for him (and easily could run you off a copy as well Eric!).

[Eric Paddon]

Andy, thanks and I would LOVE to get hold of this. Your friend appeared on a week of Pyramid that no longer exists in the archives of Bob Stewart Productions because like much daytime programming these tapes were wiped out for recycling purposes. From my master catalog index this week of shows with Bulifant and Glass aired the week of February 27-March 3, 1978 and Stewart Productions only saved the shows of Pyramid starting in June 1978 which have aired on Game Show Network in years past. So this is a true rare piece of "lost" TV that only exists because of VCR's already existed at that point.

In New York, the rules of Pyramid were one loss and you went home so your friend if he played twice would have gotten to the bonus round board once. The rule in NY was also that once you hit the big money you went home and didn't keep playing.

Since your friend was on two shows, does this mean you have two complete shows or half of one show and half of the other? Either way it doesn't matter because just having more rare items from this "lost" era of the Pyramid would be a boon for game show nuts like me.

[AndyDursin]

Eric,
I think what happened was that he came onboard in the first half of one show, and then carried over into the next one...I believe he said he started on a "Friday show" and Nipsey Russell was on the show when he started again on the "Monday show" (but he didn't play with him). Not sure if your log makes sense with this or not but that's what he remembered at least. Either way he didn't make the big bucks, but did play for the big money once.

I actually just got an email from Marc and he's dropping off the tape this week. I believe the entire shows are recorded with the ads, not just his portions. He says the tape is wearing out so I'll be transferring it to DVD asap!

[Eric Paddon]

Actually, that jibes completely with the master logs because the previous week's celebrities were Anne Meara and Nipsey Rusell so the Friday show would have aired February 24, 1978 and the Monday show with Bulifant-Glass, February 27.

Because Dick Clark commuted to NY from LA to do Pyramid in those days, the general rule was to do multiple weeks of taping sessions packed together over a few days.

Thanks for that update!

[Eric Paddon]

I found the Family Feud DVD set at Best Buy for $19.95 which is the best price one can get for it anywhere, even on-line. The packaging says an episode featuring the "Batman" cast is included, but this isn't so as there were apparently rights issues that prevented any of the Batman/Lost In Space episodes from appearing.

The chief advantage these DVD releases have over GSN broadcasts is that not only do they restore the ticket and fee plugs that GSN always cut out but they also restore the end credits which are never aired on GSN any longer for any program.

Anything new happen with that Pyramid tape, Andy?

[AndyDursin]

Not yet Eric, just waiting on Marc to drop it off (he's usually busy but emailed me the other day to say he'll do it in the next "few days").

BCI was kind enough to send me a review copy of the FEUD. The packaging is terrible -- am I missing something or is there no way of knowing the contents of each disc?

[Eric Paddon]

Understandable on the tape. Sorry if I sound overly excited, but a new game show from a "destroyed" era of TV is the rough equivalent of a lost score surfacing from the vault with me.

Yeah, the insert was terrible, giving no breakdown of what's on what disc though the back of the box does list the episodes that are included in what I assume is the order they appear in. The insert just copied verbatim the entry for FF from the Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows (itself an outststanding volume).

[AndyDursin]

Marc dropped off the tape yesterday and the quality is fabulous! Both shows totally intact, all ads, followed by a daytime re-run of HAPPY DAYS and portions of a JAMES AT 25 episode, all with original ads. He obviously took good care of the tape since, even though it's 30 years (?!?!) old, it's in great shape. There's even a TV spot for STAR WARS on there. I made the DVD and will run you off one, Eric, just PM/email me your address again.

And he was a pretty good contestant too! Did they end up changing the format for the $100,000 PYRAMID somewhat in terms of the duration of contestants staying on the show? Maybe my memory isn't holding up but I thought the 2 contestants fought it out and whoever made the most money at the end of the show was the "champ" who stayed on...because I remember Dick Clark would make a point of tallying up how much money someone would win in the winner's circle because even if you didn't win, you could best the other contestant. On this version, if you didn't make the winner's circle you were immediately gone, it seems. Of course maybe it was ALWAYS this way and I just don't recall, lol.

And Ron Glass was HORRIBLE! Too bad, Anne Meara (who says hello to her little son BENJI (Stiller of course) was really good, and Nipsey Russell wasn't half bad either. Marc probably could've had a decent run with those celebs on the show, not Ron Glass and Joyce Boulifant, who was barely better.

[Eric Paddon]

Andy, thanks for that report! (I PM'd my address). Yes, the format of the show was different when it was based in New York in the 70s. The rule was one loss and you're gone, just as it was also the rule that once you hit the big money, you were gone (and to give you a further indication of how cheap producer Bob Stewart was in those days, if you took forever to hit the big money at the board, you were only given a flat sum of $20,000. Even if you'd accumulated a few thousand dollars along the way, all of that was wiped out and "rounded" up).

It was only when the show was revived in 1982 on CBS (the ABC run ended in June 1980, and then there was a very brief syndicated revival in 1981 "The $50,000 Pyramid" still based in NY) and the production now being done in LA that they switched to the new rule of highest total for the day getting to return.

[AndyDursin]

Looked up this old thread because I uploaded the two episodes Marc was on, on Youtube finally (unless these get pulled down?):



Sadly, Marc has been struggling with Alzheimers for some time but, incredibly, still wanted to help out my Mom after my Dad passed last week. He was there at the wake, and reminded me to put those shows online for him...sorry it took me so long!

https://www.independentri.com/news/arti ... f1cc9.html