“Pyramid ”Producer Recalls How an NSFW Joke Was Born of Dick Clark and Vicki Lawrence's Fictitious On-Air Feud
“Pyramid ”Producer Recalls How an NSFW Joke Was Born of Dick Clark and Vicki Lawrence's Fictitious On-Air Feud
Angela AndaloroThu, April 2, 2026 at 11:00 PM UTC
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Vicki Lawrence (left), Dick ClarkCredit: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty (2) -
Vicki Lawrence made frequent appearances on the different versions of the Pyramid game show
Producer David Michaels looks back at some of the funny hijinks that occurred when Lawrence and Dick Clark had an exaggerated feud on the show
Michaels shared more stories about his time on the game show while appearing on The Game Show Starring Bradley Clarke
Vicki Lawrence left a lasting impression on the Pyramid team.
In a recent episode of The Game Show Starring Bradley Clarke, Clarke spoke with David Michaels about Dick Clark's time as host. Michaels worked as a Production Manager, Producer, and judge on three different versions of the game show Pyramid.
Clarke mentioned an inside joke about the judges from the show, asking Michaels to explain the origin of the phrase, "The judge is an a--hole."
Michaels explained, "Well, it evolved. It started with the fake feud between Vicki Lawrence and Dick Clark. The time that actually started, Dick would come in after a big board if they didn't win and he would give a few good clues, which I had said I would give him ultimate clues."
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Vicki Lawrence in 1981Credit: Gene Stein/ABC via Getty
"So Vicki didn't win and Vicki needed to win, always. Vicki is like a fierce game player. I love her to death. So he came in and he said what a perfect clue would have been for that category, and the contestant got it. And Vicki said, 'Well fine. I'm here, sweating bullets and you're standing over there cool as a cucumber. And then you come strolling in here with the perfect answer and make me feel like an ass,' " he laughed.
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"That was the beginning of the 'feud.' Then, you know, a different set of shows, I had to buzz her, and I always hated having to buzz Vicki, but I had to buzz her because she had an illegal clue. And she started giving Dick a really hard time, and Dick said, 'Look, Vicki, it's not my fault. It's what the judge said.' And she said, 'Well then, the judge is an a--hole.' "
He continued, "What John is referring to is, there's this famous autographed picture I have of Vicki where it says, 'To David, my most favorite a--hole, Love, Vicki. To this day, Vicki and I love each other. We're not as often in touch as I'd like to be, but I love her because, after all the game show stuff, I produced her talk show, so we have a long history."
Dick Clark hosting "American Bandstand" in 1980Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Elsewhere, Michaels opened up about how Clark initially juggled hosting different versions of Pyramid with other hosting gigs, leading them to a rigorous recording schedule.
"One of my great accomplishments, especially when we ended up with the two versions at the same time, this is probably famous now but the only way we could get Dick Clark into the studio for enough shows — he was still doing Bandstand and other things — was we did five shows on a Thursday and 10 shows on a Friday and nobody had ever really done that before. And it was totally insane!" he recalled.
"It was completely insane. They were like 14, 15-hour days, but we were young, and we did it. But I remember, I wish I could still do this now, the Saturday after the 10 show day, I would literally sleep until noon because all the emotions involved and all the mental stuff involved. It was quite a job."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
