Pyramid (1997)

This is chronicling the 1997 Pyramid pilot.

Main Game
The game is played with two players in a game of word communication, along with six celebrities, referred to as the "Pyramid Players". Each celebrity represented a category, usually puns hinting to the content within that subject. After selecting a category, a subject under that category was given. Each subject has seven words/phrases/names. The team had 30 seconds to guess the seven answers 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 could be returned to, time permitting. If the team gets all seven words, the player wins $500. If at any time 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.
 * Leila Kenzle
 * Dan Cortese
 * Kathy Kinney
 * Bronson Pinchot
 * Alfonso Ribeiro
 * Kathy Najimy

The team with the most points won the game.

Final Pyramid
After selecting a celebrity to give the clues, the team faced a larger pyramid board of six subjects with the guesser having his/her back to the board. The eam 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. 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, the subject was re-concealed and the team forfeited the chance at the big money. Each correct answer was worth $200, and getting all six won the player $10,000 in the first Final Pyramid, and $25,000 in the second.

Trivia
The $500 bonus for getting seven out of seven rule was carried over into the recent Pyramid revival.

Links
Pyramid ('98) Review @ The Game Show Bonanza