Press Your Luck
2019
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2 days ago · About. Hosted by multihyphenate star Elizabeth Banks, Press Your Luck is a game of wits, strategy and even higher stakes as contestants try to avoid the iconic and devilish WHAMMY for a chance at life-changing cash and prizes. During each game, three contestants compete against each other answering questions to earn spins on the Big Board ...
- Overview
- Gameplay (Press Your Luck)
- Gameplay (Whammy!: The All-New Press Your Luck/Whammy!)
- Gameplay (Gameshow Marathon)
- Gameplay (2019 Version)
- Cancellation
- Rebroadcasts
- Trivia
- Music
(and its reboot Whammy!: The All-New Press Your Luck which was later shortened to Whammy! in 2003) is one of the most popular American cult-classic game shows of all time. Three contestants answered questions to earn spins on the Big Board for a chance to win "Big Bucks!" However, evil Whammies were lurking about. Each time one was hit, they would ...
Question Round
In the question rounds, Tomarken asked four questions one at a time. On each question, the first player to buzz in had a chance to answer. The answer he/she gave became the first of three answers for his/her two opponents to choose from. A correct buzz-in answer was worth three spins while a correct multiple-choice answer was worth one spin. In the event a contestant who buzzed in first ran out of time, that contestant had to sit out the rest of the question while the other two players played the multiple-choice part of the question. If no contestant buzzed in when time ran out, all three contestants played the multiple-choice part of the question. 20 spins were available in each question round, but the highest one contestant could earn was 12 spins (which was achieved on rare occasions). In the pilot, Peter asked five questions for a maximum total of 25 spins, with the maximum that one contestant could earn is 15 spins.
The Big Board
When the question round was over, the contestant island turned around for the contestants to see the big Press Your Luck game board. The fonts used were Franklin Gothic Demi Cond for the cash, while Times New Roman Bold was used for "+ One Spin" and prizes. The board consisted of 18 squares with the show's logo in the center. On the board were thousands of dollars in cash and prizes and Whammies. The contents of every square rotated every second, and there were 3 slides in each square. In the first round, the player with the fewest spins went first. The player with the most money at the end of Round 1 played last in Round 2. There were alternatives when the Big Board rounds occurred: •If there was a tie for the fewest spins, the player on the left went first. •If there was a tie for the most spins or money (in Round 2), the player on the right played last. •If all players ended up with the same amount of money in the first round, the question round decided the order they would play in. The player who won the most spins in the second question round would play last in Round 2. •If there was a tie for the least money in Round 2, the player with the fewest spins played first, if there was a tie for spins and money, the player on the left played first. The player in control of the board played as many of his/her spins as he/she liked. On each spin, lights around the game board's spaces would flash around the board, and the contestant stopped the board by hitting his/her button and by yelling "STOP!" When the board stopped, if the contestant hit a dollar value it was added to his/her score, if he/she hit a prize, it was credited to that player, its value was added to his/her score, and that prize would be replaced with a new prize. If at any time the contestant hit a Whammy, he/she lost all his/her money and prizes up to that point, and hitting four Whammies will get the contestant eliminated from the game. Upon hitting a Whammy, a short cartoon was presented in which the Whammy would mock the contestant and take away his/her money and prizes in many ways possible, sometimes the cartoon would show the Whammy being crushed, flattened, hurt, or otherwise humiliated in different ways. Sometimes, the Whammy was accompanied by his girlfriend Tammy Whammette (or his dog Fang). In some animations, the Whammy would imitate several famous people that were popular at that time, including Liberace (he would play the piano until the chandelier above the whammy's head fell on him), Michael Jackson (dressed as the late pop star, glove and all, he would dance his famous Moonwalk to Jackson's hit "Billie Jean"), Boy George, lead singer of the band Culture Club (dressed in the singer's unusual attire, he would sing "Who Would Ever Hurt a Whammy?", a parody of the band's hit "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" until a hammer suddenly appeared and flattened him). After the cartoon, a Whammy card (accompanied by a "boing" sound) would pop up in front of the contestant. If a player gets four whammies - which means Whammied out, his/her scoreboard was turned off and the remaining spins were discarded. In the first round, if a player hit two Whammies, Peter always reminded that player, "You want to be careful about picking up a third Whammy in Round 1." In addition to the cash and prizes, some of the cash squares on the board were paired up with extra spins ($?/$?,?/>$?,? + ONE SPIN). Each time any of those kinds of squares was hit, the player's spin total was frozen and the money attached to that spin square was added to his/her money total. At some point during a contestant's turn, if that contestant feared that he/she was about to run into the Whammy on the next spin and/or was tired of pressing his/her luck, that contestant would pass his/her spins to the player in the lead (or, if he/she was in the lead, had to pass them to the second-place player). Should both players have the same score, the passing player would decide who to pass the spins to. The player with the passed spins had to take all the spins until he/she hit a Whammy (at which point the remaining passed spins would be transferred from the passed column to the earned column) or used them up; each time the passed contestant hit money plus a spin, the spin just played was transferred to the earned column. During the final spin of the game, a player had to do any of the following to win the game: •If in the lead: Take the spin and hit a cash/prize space that did not award an extra spin. •If in the lead or second place: Pass to the higher-scoring opponent and have that player hit a Whammy. •If in second place: Hit either a space that awarded an extra spin to stay alive, or a cash/prize space with a high enough value to take the lead.
Winning the Game
The player with the most money at the end of Round 2 won the game and kept all cash and prizes won. When a contestant won the game, all 18 squares on the game board flashed on and off in unison. If the game ended in a tie, the players who were tied won the game and kept their winnings. A player would also win the game if two contestants "Whammied out," and if the last player standing has not taken his/her spins, that player would play "against the house" by taking as many of his/her spins as he/she liked and stopped whenever he/she wanted, unless he/she also "Whammied out," in which case there would be three new players on the next show. More often than not, that player would choose to stop before exhausting all his/her spins. Championship players stayed on the show until they were defeated or exceeded the CBS winnings limit of $25,000 (all winnings over $25,000 were kept). In later shows starting in November 1984, champs retired after appearing five days or exceeding the new winnings limit of $50,000 (whichever came first).
This version originally aired on Game Show Network (shortened to GSN later on) from April 15, 2002 to December 5, 2003, hosted by Todd Newton and announced by Gary Kroeger. This version was later shortened to Whammy! in 2003. The game was played the same as the original Press Your Luck but with an altered format.
On June 8, 2006, Press Your Luck was the fourth classic game show of the seven featured in the CBS' month-long series called Gameshow Marathon hosted by Ricki Lake and announced by Rich Fields as it was one of the "semi-final rounds" in the tournament.
The three celebrity contestants were: Leslie Nielsen, Kathy Najimy and Tim Meadows.
This version was played the same as the CBS run, but with much higher money values, a computerized version of the original Big Board, and a different host. (Unfortunately, Peter Tomarken died in a plane crash by that point. the episode was dedicated in his memory). Rich Fields took over for Rod Roddy as the announcer. The highest amount on the board was now $10,000 + One Spin, while the highest prize (not won) was a Chevy HHR worth $16,890. Also unlike the original CBS run, two contestants (i.e. Nielsen and Meadows) would be eliminated from the marathon.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
During the introduction of this episode, announcer Rich Fields mistakenly said that the show originally premiered in 1981 when it actual premiered in 1983.
Although the "big bucks" spiel is still intact. The words "today" was never used, "CBS" was added and "your host" replaces "the star of PRESS YOUR LUCK" in the spiel.
The basic format of the original remains mostly intact, with increased board values (the Big Bucks square has $3,000/$4,000/$5,000 in the first spin round, $6,000 + ONE SPIN/$8,000 + ONE SPIN/$10,000 + ONE SPIN in the second), and a re-recording of the theme song, plus new Whammies (2-D like the original). The first round has only three questions with which to earn spins, while the second round maintains its original four questions. (NOTE: In a few episodes, the first round also has four questions). Unlike the original, Whammy!, and the GSM episode, the choices aren't displayed to the home viewers, it'll be up to the viewers as well as the players to remember the choices. Otherwise, the gameplay is the same as the original CBS version. The winner keeps their money and prizes and continues to the new Bonus Round.
The winning contestant now faces the Big Board and the Whammy alone (with on-stage encouragement from family members, similar to Deal or No Deal) for a chance to win up to $1,000,000 in cash and prizes. The winner has 21 spins over six levels (18 spins over five levels from the second season onwards) to reach $500,000 or more. The contestant must take five spins in the first level, four in the second, and three thereafter.
The board has increasing values per set of spins. The maximum amount on the Big Bucks square starts at a static $10,000, then increases to $15,000 + ONE SPIN/$25,000 + ONE SPIN/$50,000 + ONE SPIN/$75,000 + ONE SPIN/$100,000 + ONE SPIN (for levels 2-3, the square flashes between two "slides" with the money alone and one with the "+ ONE SPIN," for all subsequent levels it flashes between two "slides" with the "+ ONE SPIN" and one with the money alone). The prizes on the board have been pre-selected by the player. Two such prizes are added on the first level with an additional prize added thereafter. (Other smaller prizes are also already in place, instead specifically revealed). Prizes lost to the Whammy are re-added to the board at the start of the next level. There are also additional "+ ONE SPIN" spaces, and they add to the spin count when applicable. Also, this is the only time in the show where squares allowing the winners a choice to either add money to his/her total or lose a whammy are active. They start at $7,000 and increase by $1,000 for each new level. As before, they're saviors in allowing the player to play even longer (if need be).
On the final level, called the "Big Bucks Bonanza," all the above-mentioned "Big Bucks" values are added to the board (including $100,000 + ONE SPIN) as well as any as-yet-won prizes and the Whammies, so the minimum amount on the board is $10,000.
Unless the player ends a level at $0, they can decide to take their winnings and quit or press their luck, but only after completing all spins (including additional "+ ONE SPIN"s earned in play). In other words, they can't stop during a level. The Whammies are there as always. Hitting one resets the bank to $0, and four of them end the bonus round in a loss, but doesn't affect any winnings from the main game.
If the player uses all allowed spins and fails to reach the $500,000 mark, they still keep everything won to that point. But if at any point (including if spins are remaining) during the bonus game, the player's bank reaches or exceeds $500,000, their total winnings, including their front game score, are augmented to $1,000,000.
The ratings of Press Your Luck were pretty solid for its first two years on CBS. However, by the summer of 1985, CBS was faced with a financial crunch and stated that it didn't have enough money it wanted to renew its lead-out show, The Price is Right. As a result, CBS canceled Body Language in late 1985 and opted to move Press to the 4:00 p.m. ET slot beginning on January 6, 1986, to give the slot to a Mark Goodson-produced show, a revival of Card Sharks with Bob Eubanks serving as host. The move to 4:00 p.m. ET resulted in affiliates dropping the show as 1986 dragged on (some other affiliates changed the show's timeslot to noon on a one-day delay, and other independent stations picked up the show as well). The number of affiliates that cleared the show was so low, and in August 1986, CBS announced the show's cancellation after an attempt to continue to produce the series for the first-run syndication fell through. Some speculated that the show's financial crunch may have been due to the show giving away too much money throughout its three-year run, and some also believe that excess spaces that awarded money plus a spin may have been to blame for the financial problems that Press, along with the 2002 reboot Whammy!, had, likely contributing to their cancellations. The final episode of Press aired on CBS on September 26, 1986, and the series went out a normal episode, with no mention of the finale, which could imply that the producers didn't know the end was coming at the time.
It is unknown what resulted in the demise of the 2002 revival, Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck (or Whammy!), though some speculated that the cancellation may have been due to the original network's transition from Game Show Network to its new branding, GSN, and shifting focus from traditional game shows to reality programming.
After CBS announced the cancellation of Press Your Luck in August 1986, reruns of the series have aired in North America and selected English-speaking countries.
In early 1987, 130 episodes of the show were packaged by syndicator Republic Pictures for off-network syndication to a handful of local stations (most in markets that didn't carry the show in its original run on CBS). This package covered the period of February 25, 1985, through August 23, 1985, including College Week from April 1985. Those 130 episodes were the first ones shown on USA Network when the channel picked up the show for its game show block in September 1987. By 1989, USA eventually aired episodes from outside the syndication package, except for episodes that had plugs for the Home Player Sweepstakes, Michael Larson's episodes (which were then banned from airing at the time because CBS claimed it was "an embarrassing experience"), the 1985 Christmas-themed episodes (although the 1983 and 1984 Christmas shows were aired), and other select ranges of episodes. The show stayed on its schedule until October 1995 when the channel dropped its game show block altogether.
Starting in September 1988, ASN (Atlantic Satellite Network) in Atlantic Canada was possibly the only Canadian network to air the syndication package at the time - it aired for one year, and was dropped in 1989.
At some point in the 1990s, the network Sky One in England aired reruns of the series, though it is not known which episodes were aired.
On September 1, 2001, Game Show Network acquired the license to air reruns of the series. The network aired 200 episodes to start, covering February 21, 1984, through November 30, 1984 (except for Michael Larson). Another 250 episodes were added to the lineup in June 2003 and were aired as part of the Wednesday morning mini-marathons during the summer of 2003 (1984 episodes were still airing during that time but on weekends only). When the marathons were dropped, the new-to-GSN episodes were moved to weekends only and continued until April 10, 2005. GSN's lease of 450 episodes expired in April 2009, and the show was dropped from the schedule. However, on October 15, 2012, GSN acquired the license to air the earliest 50 episodes from 1983 (including the first two weeks which were never rebroadcast since the original CBS broadcasts), and almost 60 more were added to GSN's schedule on April 1, 2013, covering December 1983 through February 1984 - including the earliest two episodes from GSN's original 2001 lease. On September 29, 2014, GSN acquired the rights to air November 1985 to May 1986 episodes, including episodes from Christmas 1985 and February 1986. GSN's latest lease, starting in 2016, covered the summer of 1984 through February 26, 1985 (Jim Hess's episode). The show was dropped from GSN's schedule daily in May 2017, but did return briefly in the winter of 2018, airing some episodes from July 1984 - if only on Saturday nights. It is unknown at this point whether or not GSN will air the final three months of the series (many of those particular episodes were last rerun on USA Network in 1995). GSN's run of airing Press Your Luck lasted approximately 14 years, if non-consecutive - which was about twice as long as the USA network's run of about 7 years.
When it was revealed that Michael Larson was banned from being rerun, it supposedly angered a lot of viewers, and GSN had decided to air the episodes as part of the documentary Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal, which aired on March 17, 2003. The Larson episodes aired as standalone for the first time in 19 years on GSN on June 3 and 4, 2003. Bill Carruthers died shortly after the documentary was produced, which could imply that his death may have paved the way for GSN being allowed to air Michael Larson's episodes since. When GSN aired these episodes, except for the June 2003 broadcasts, they were aired as special programming usually during primetime. Buzzr has aired the Larson episodes in the normal rotation.
This show replaced the short-lived Goodson-produced Child's Play (not to be confused with the classic horror movie franchise or the charitable organization of the same name) hosted by Bill Cullen in the same year.
Before PYL was considered, Star Words, another Goodson-produced game show hosted by Nipsey Russell, was originally a candidate to replace Child's Play, but it lost.
The original series was recorded at CBS Television City, Hollywood, California in Studios 33 and 43 from September 1983 to August 1986. No tapings occurred in July 1985 and July 1986. At least one Pilot was taped in May 1983. All of 1983 was taped in Studio 33, and all of 1984 was spent going back and forth between Studios 43 and 33. After eleven episodes (February 5-8, 11-15, 18-19, 1985) were taped in Studio 33 in January 1985, the show settled into Studio 43 for the rest of the run.
The show taped anywhere from 10 to 12 episodes every other weekend, save for vacation time (five for Saturday and five for Sunday, five for Saturday and six for Sunday, or six for Saturday and six for Sunday). 11 was usually the case, which became that way in the Fall of 1984. This would often result in cosmetic changes being made during certain weeks of shows (i.e. Pick-A-Corner debuted on a Tuesday, Board sounds #2 and #3 each debuted on a Wednesday, Add-A-One debuted on a Thursday, and the 10 positions in both board rounds were updated on a Friday). The reason for this otherwise odd production schedule was because The Carruthers Company was very efficient when it came to taping shows, and taping six episodes on Sunday helped save a lot of money.
By as early as January 1985, the show's creator Bill Carruthers attempted to sell a nighttime version of the show for first-run syndication with Golden West Television as its distributor but was not able to clear enough stations to put it into production.
A year later, as its fate on CBS was becoming clear, Carruthers tried this route again by moving the show straight from CBS to daily syndication with a deal of 130 new episodes for the 1986-87 season with Republic Pictures as its new distributor but did not go forward either and was replaced with a 130-episode rerun package (see above in "Rebroadcasts"). Around this time, Tomarken was supposed to join Entertainment Tonight as weekend co-host with Leeza Gibbons (replacing Robb Weller), but those plans never materialized and Robb Weller stayed on as ET weekend co-host (Weller himself hosting game shows including the pilot for Blackout for CBS in November 1986 but was replaced by Bob Goen for the series, the third and final syndicated season of Win, Lose or Draw and the unsold pilots of a Split Second remake in 1990 and Hollywood Teasers in 1993).
Pilot – KPM Music
Long Main – "Flash (a)" by Keith Mansfield
Short Main – "Flash (b)" by Keith Mansfield
1983 – Lee Ringuette
2002 – Alan Ett & Scott Liggett
2006 – Score Productions
Press Your Luck is an American television game show created by Bill Carruthers and Jan McCormack. Contestants answer trivia questions to earn "spins" on a randomly cycling game board whose spaces display cash, prizes, extra spins, special items, or the show's mascot, a cartoon creature known as the Whammy.
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Press Your Luck: Created by Bill Carruthers, Jan McCormick. With Peter Tomarken, Rod Roddy, Charlie O'Donnell, John Harlan. A game show where contestents answer trivia questions and then have to gamble their winnings on a randomly flashing game board.
- (765)
- 1983-09-19
- Family, Game-Show
- 30
Press Your Luck: Created by Chester Feldman. With Elizabeth Banks, Neil Ross, Darren Capozzi, Cathy Cisneros. A game of wits, strategy and high stakes as contestants try to avoid the iconic WHAMMY for a chance at life-changing cash and prizes.
Press Your Luck Full Episodes | Watch Online | ABC. - season {season} A game of wits, strategy and high stakes as contestants try to avoid the iconic WHAMMY for a chance at life-changing cash and prizes. 42:32. S5 E11 - Press My L-U-C-K! Contestants try to avoid the WHAMMY and win the big bucks! TV-PG | 02.01.2024. 42:32. S5 E10 - It's Nacho Night!
