The producer

Now and then I catch one of GSN's many runs of Pyramid. The show has won the second-most best-game-show Emmys ever, behind only Jeopardy. The guy who started the show is in the picture with a couple friends of his.

Born Isidore Steinberg in 1920, Bob Stewart joined Goodson-Todman in 1956. He came up with some of the very best G-T formats, including the original The Price is Right, To Tell the Truth, and (most importantly for his own future) Password.

In 1965 Stewart left G-T after famously telling Mark Goodson he wanted to be a king, not just a prince. His own production firm would spawn a raft of game shows, beginning with Eye Guess in 1966. But it was Pyramid that would make Stewart's day (and year and decade and century).

Essentially, Stewart came up with Pyramid's format by making everything in Password the lightning round. He then loosened the rules on clues to include more than a single word. A timeless classic was born, which sounds a little pretentious but is true.

After producing many other shows, Stewart retired from the business in 1992. I've heard that he didn't like the 2002-04 version of Pyramid with Donny Osmond. Personally, I thought the show was an entertaining update of the format. The tighter time limit made perfect rounds less routine. But I don't want to disagree too much with one of the best game show producers ever.