Pyramide

So NOUVELLE Pyramide began on France 2 last night with new host Olivier Minne, and on the face of it it seems like a slightly baffling idea for a revival – traditionally Pyramide is closer to the original Password than Pyramid as a format, and Mot de Passe already exists (in fact it’s been quite a long-running regular show for the channel, the revival moreso there than it has been anywhere in the world). The set is all very shiny (they’ve actually built a pyramid, albeit without the walls) and the game has changed a little bit:

• Traditionally Pyramide had two celeb guests who were on every episode. This new version has a rotating panel of four “word masters”.
• The first round is “Les 30 Secondes” and is closer to what Pyramid is as a format – thirty seconds to get just five words on a given category across to your partner. Both get a chance to give and receive once. They did try something like this towards the end of the original’s run.
• “Les briques” is a bit more like trad. Pyramide. The celebs have swapped desks and once again each team mate will give and receive. This time each giver is given eight “bricks” and must use those to get three words across to their partner. They must select how many bricks they’re going to use for each word, and each one allows them to give a one-word clue. If they opt for three but only need two then they lose the spare brick. If they can get all three words across, and the giver still has bricks left, they score a bonus point for each brick left.
• “La Circle Gangant” – The winner’s circle except both teams will get a chance to play. This is a little bit like the end game from the original Pyramide, celebs must try and get across as many phrases as they can within a minute, each one worth a whopping three points. This is different from Pyramid where celebs must provide lists to a category. There’s rather a lot of points going this round.
• The winning contestant gets to go through to the final for €20,000 and they can select which “maitre-mot” to take with them. This is a fairly clever reimagining of a standard original Pyramide round – the celeb must convey six words to the contestant, each correctly guessed word goes into a piece of written descriptive prose. If the contestant can guess what is being described they win the money, otherwise they win 0€ (which looks rather stark and hilarious on graphics). They have to do the whole lot within sixty seconds (for this bit the main Pyramid at the back of the stage starts filling up with water as it used to back in the day) and the celeb can’t help with the riddle.
• Edit: Thanks Barry, the puzzle is worth €1,000 for each word found, €20k if they get all six.

Myself? I couldn’t get into it although the language barrier is going to be higher here than in most things. It does feel rather overproduced, the original was quite laid-back, this is a bit more in your face.