While hosting "The $50,000 Pyramid", Dick Clark also hosted the first American version of The Krypton Factor (1981) on ABC.
This was the final production in the Pyramid franchise to be recorded at the Elysee Theater in New York.
There were two $50,000 tournaments in this run of Pyramid. The first was held starting on March 23, 1981 and the other beginning on May 25, 1981.
On this version, the player who had the fastest time of the week won a European getaway and qualified for the $50,000 tournament. For this very reason, the clock counted up (00 to 30) instead of down (30 to 00) like prior versions. If there was a tie, a standard tiebreaker was played.