Pyramid (television game)

Principle

Two binomials clash, each team being made of a candidate and a master word in the televised version.

The players must guess a word which them partner tries to make them discover by using synonyms of this word, or other easy ways sometimes difficult to seize by neophytes, which contributed to a élitiste reputation of the play near certain people.

Organizers

Patrice Laffont then Marie-Angel Nardi
With the participation of Pépita
Voice-over (then " in") : Nathalie Bardin alias Néfertiti (transitorily Pascal Argence alias Ramsès)

Master words

Noëlle Bréham
Marie-Angel Nardi
Laurent Broomhead
episodically Karen Cheryl, Gerard Holtz
Claire Gautraud
Jerome Tichit
Pierre Galibert
Olivier Undermines

History of the play

Appeared to the antenna the September 9th 1991, the emission is presented by Patrice Laffont. The master words are Laurent Broomhead and Noëlle Bréham (famous for its famous " I have a plan"), quickly replaced by Marie-Angel Nardi. This team installs this emission and a great notoriety gives him. The play is seen giving two 7 of gold (in 1996 and 1999). In 1998, Nardi Marie-Angel leaves Pyramide and is replaced by Claire Gautraud, a former candidate, coed in medicine and semi-finalist at the time of the masters 1997 (which had been finally gained of brave fight by some Jerome Tichit…) In September 2000, it is with the turn of Laurent Broomhead to leave the team to devote itself to To know more health to replace François de Closets. To replace it, the production seeks a professional of television rather than a former candidate. Finally they will have both in the person of the above-named Jerome Tichit, who was the voice of the M6 express train . This trio (Patrice Laffont, Claire Gautraud and Jerome Tichit) were maintained until in at the end of 2001. At this point in time the chain, considering the emission somewhat blown decides to withdraw it antenna on December 29th, 2001. Patrice Laffont positions at once on a " nouveau" play: the Right Euro (modernized adaptation of the late play of TF1, the Fair price ) In front of the avalanche of mail received by the chain, Pyramide is reprogrammed. But, in a concern of making it more accessible and of touching a new public, Claire and Jerome are replaced by Pierre Galibert (which one did not know whereas the voice in Z' loves ) and Olivier Minne, animation being entrusted to Nardi Marie-Angel. The objective will not be achieved. Not only the emission does not find public again, but the faithful ones massively deplore what they judge being a regression of the quality of the play. A new wave of mail enables them to obtain, initially the return of Claire Gautraud and Jerome Tichit, and in the second time that of Patrice Laffont. Finally Pyramide will disappear definitively from the grid of the programs on Saturday, July 5, 2003. To note that the emission was also diffused in the whole world via TV5 (international chain of French-speaking television)

Data sheet

Adaptation of the American concept:

Jean-Jacques Pasquier

Producing successive:

Ellipse (ElHuDi)
Columbia Tristar
Sony Pictures Television

usual Realizers:

Jean-François Gauthier
Bernard Gonner
Didier Mills
Antoine Galey

Music of the credits (the same topic was declined in several versions: jazzy, ethnic…) :

Jean-Michel Bernard

principal Sponsors:

Gitem
7 plays

Places of turning:

Saint-Ouen (Village of the communication)
then the Plain-Saint-Denis

Conditions of turning:

The emissions were recorded under the conditions of direct (except rare technical incidents), at the rate of 6 or 7 emissions per day, at a rate of one week of turning per month.

Various phases of the play

Enigmas

The master words has 13 " briques" to make guess 5 words with its candidate. A brick corresponds to a word index making it possible to put the partner on the track of the word to be found. It is initially necessary to determine the number of bricks which one thinks of needing, then one by one to state the indices, each one being followed of an answer of the partner. For example, to make guess Encyclopedia, in 2 bricks one can propose Dictionnaire then Diderot. Caution: it is prohibited, to make guess a word, to state a of the same word etymological root. A point is marked by found word. If the 5 words are found without the totality of 13 bricks being used, each remaining brick is worth an additional point.

In the beginning, the 5 found words constituted the only evidence to find the solution of the enigma. Then a sentence, including the 5 words to be found, was introduced.

Table tennis

Still words to be guessed, still 13 bricks for 5 words, but in this test the hand passes alternatively from one binomial to the other. It is thus necessary to find the word thanks to the indices provided by the partner, but also those stated by the adversary. The words to be found were proposed by two drawn people with the fate in the public, who had prepared each one a list of 20 words. The production chose 5 of them among these 20. The two people in question received the pseudonyms of Mironton and Barjabulle. A candidate chose among these two pseudos that whose list would be played. If the candidates did not manage to find the 5 words with 13 assigned bricks, the author of the list gained a gift, in the contrary case the gift was allocated to the author of the other list.

Against shows it (to replace table tennis starting from September 28th, 2001)

To make find in 30 seconds, 7 words in connection with a topic (for example: the world of the circus, which one can push, or of the words starting with TH…)

The proper names (test which did not exist with the whole beginning)

It is a question of making find proper names (generally geographical people or places) linked by a topic. For example of the African capitals, the cesarized actresses, the Olympic medals, the gods of Olympe… The candidate considers initially the number of bricks necessary to make guess the name. Its adversary can then overbid. That whose bidding is the best (least low number of bricks) then made guess with its master words. Each found name was worth 1 point. If the word is not found, it brings back 1 point to the adversary, and 2 points if it chose to try the word in a brick.

The large pyramid

On a screen, that the master words could not see, successively 6 made up expressions or words were posted. The candidate had 70 seconds to make guess these 6 expressions. In this phase of play, it is allowed to make sentences, of mimer. But the roots remain prohibited. Any error is fatal. In the event of success, the candidate sets out again with the kitty (glad to have the kitty but sometimes frustrated to set out again so early, if it disputed only one part…)

Pyramid, a play for initiates?

Pyramid often is regarded as an incomprehensible play for not initiated. Several humorists, with the turning of a sketch, are ironical on this subject. Is this reputation founded?

Pyramide is not a play of the type quizz (question and answer), it brings into play at the same time vocabulary, general culture and an original gymnastics of spirit.
the language is a complex and subtle field. The arbitration, in particular concerning the prohibited etymological roots, was sometimes diverting.
the multiplication of the clubs and their dynamism (organization of many tournaments) generated automatisms (such word calling such other automatically) and of the techniques of play such as the " incitations".

In the jargon of Pyramid, one calls incentive a word without report/ratio of direction with the word to make guess, but which makes think phonetically of part of this mot.
Exemple: Tartarin + Éole to make guess boasting
Explanation: So Tartarin the partner answers (for example) hablor, to put it on the track one tells him Éole. Éole makes him think of wind. It has thus, phonetically the beginning of the word to be found. He thus seeks a word whose direction is associated with Tartarin and who starts with the sound " van". He thus finds boasting.
Imagine a televiewer not knowing this technique of play. How to include/understand what Éole comes to do there inside?

the complexity of this play, the difficulty of including/understanding the principles immediately of them, always prohibited the access to the " to him; premium-time" for special programs (from which profits, for example, Questions for a champion)
And yet, far from having a élitiste public, Pyramide was a popular play.

Clubs

The first Pyramide club was born with Saint-Maur-of-Ditches, under the crook of Colette Scando. Soon, the clubs pushed like mushrooms, not only in France but also in Belgium and Switzerland. One counted some up to 600. They are federate within the French-speaking Federation of the Clubs Pyramid.

See too

External bond

Official site of the '' French-speaking Fédération of the Clubs Pyramid ''

Random links: