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(December 2009) Press Your Luck Created by Jan McCormack Directed by Bill Carruthers Rick Stern Presented by Narrated by Theme music composer Lee Ringuette Country of origin United States No. Of seasons 3 No.
Of episodes 758 Production Executive producer(s) Bill Carruthers Producer(s) Bill Mitchell Location(s) Hollywood, California Running time approx. 22 minutes Production company(s) The Carruthers Company Distributor Release Original network Picture format SDTV Original release September 19, 1983 ( 1983-09-19) – September 26, 1986 ( 1986-09-26) Chronology Preceded by (1977) Followed by (2002–03) Press Your Luck is an American television daytime created by and Jan McCormack. It premiered on on September 19, 1983, and ended on September 26, 1986. In the show, contestants collected spins by answering trivia questions and then used the spins on an 18-space game board to win cash and prizes. The contestant who amassed the highest total in cash and prizes kept his/her winnings for the day and became the champion.
Was the show's host, and was the primary announcer. And filled in as substitute announcers for Roddy on different occasions. Press Your Luck was videotaped before a studio audience at, Studios 33 and 43, in Hollywood, California. The show was a revival of the earlier Carruthers production, which was hosted by and aired on during 1977.
The show was known for the 'Whammy', a red cartoon creature with a high-pitched voice. Landing on any Whammy space reset the contestant's score to zero, accompanied by an animation that showed the Whammy taking the loot, but frequently being chased away, blown up, or otherwise humiliated in the process. The Whammies were created and animated by and, and voiced by Carruthers. Approximately 85 different animations were used.
Contents. Gameplay Format Three contestants competed on each episode, usually a returning champion and two new challengers (if a champion retired undefeated, then three new contestants would appear on the next episode). Each game began with a trivia round where the contestants tried to earn spins, which was then used on the show's gameboard, referred to as the Big Board. A question was posed to the contestants, who tried to be the first to buzz in with a correct answer. Once a contestant gave an answer, the remaining opponents were given a choice of that answer or two additional answers provided by Tomarken and selected one. If the contestant that buzzed in gave the correct answer, it earned three spins. A correct multiple choice answer was worth one spin.
If none of the three contestants buzzed in with an answer within five seconds, three answers were given to the contestants and they earned one spin each if they chose correctly. If a contestant buzzed in but failed to give an answer, that contestant was locked out of the question and it was treated the same way as if nobody had buzzed in. After four questions were asked, play moved to the Big Board. The board consisted of eighteen squares, each of which had a screen in it that displayed one of three items which changed every few seconds, and a randomizer light which the contestants stopped by hitting their buzzer. The most common spaces offered cash, with an extra spin attached to some of them, and prizes, with some being directional spaces that either allowed the contestant to choose between two or three squares, or moved their position to a different part of the board. Cash amounts and prize values were added to the contestant's score, while landing on any of several Whammy spaces reset the score to zero.
In the first Big Board round, play started with the contestant with the fewest spins unless there was a tie, in which case the contestant seated furthest left started. For each square the contestant stopped the randomizer light on, the value of that square was added to the contestant's bank and that contestant kept playing until running out of spins or deciding to pass. Any passed spins went to the contestant's opponent with the higher amount of money (or, if tied, the opponent chosen by the passing contestant). A contestant receiving passed spins had to take them and could not pass until all the passed spins had been used. Spins awarded from hitting spaces offering them were placed in the earned column, and hitting a Whammy caused the contestant's remaining passed spins to move to the earned column, allowing the contestant to pass.
Play continued until the contestants exhausted all of their spins. A contestant was eliminated from the game and any unused spins remaining were lost if at any point in the game a contestant hit four Whammies. Once all spins had been played, a second round of trivia questions followed with the same rules as before.
A second Big Board round followed, with much higher stakes in play. This time, contestants played in order from least amount of money to highest amount of money unless there was a tie between two or more contestants, in which case the contestant with the least amount of spins started the round. Any passed spins, as before, went to the opponent with the higher amount of money.
The contestant in the lead at the end of the second Big Board round became the day's champion, kept his/her winnings, and got to return on the next show as long as the show's winnings limits were not reached (see below). If two or all three contestants finished the match tied, they returned on the next show. In the rare occurrence that two contestants Whammied out of the game and the remaining contestant had spins left, the remaining contestant was given a choice to end the game immediately or keep spinning to try to win more money. The choice was given after each spin the contestant took, and the game continued until all spins were exhausted, the contestant stopped the game, or the contestant Whammied out. If the contestant managed to Whammy out, the game ended with no winner and three new contestants played on the next show.
Board values In the first Big Board round, cash amounts ranged from $100 to $1,500 and prizes typically were worth no more than $2,000. The second round featured cash amounts from $500 to $5,000, and prizes potentially worth $6,000 or more.
Whammy Game Show Cheater
Three rare but special squares also appeared throughout the course of the show. The first, Double Your $$, multiplied the contestant's dollar amount at the time by two. This square later became Double Your $$ + One Spin, awarding an extra spin in addition to the multiplied cash amount.
Add-A-One added a '1' to the front of the contestant's current score (e.g., $0 became $10; $500 became $1,500; and $2,000 became $12,000). The third, $2000 or Lose-1-Whammy, offered the contestant a choice of adding $2,000 to his/her score ($2,000 was automatically added if the contestant had no Whammies), or removing a Whammy received earlier in the game. Add-A-One was only featured in the first Big Board round, with the others only appearing in the second Big Board round.
One square present in both Big Board rounds was Big Bucks. This square, appearing third from the right in the bottom row, automatically moved the selector light to the corresponding position in the top row. The top dollar values in this square in round one were $1,000, $1,250 and $1,500. For the second round, the top dollar values were $3,000, $4,000, and $5,000, all of which awarded an extra spin. In both rounds, the value of a prize was announced only after it had been claimed, and a new prize was put on the board in its place (the aforementioned Add-A-One and Double Your $$ + One Spin spaces were also treated as prizes in this respect). Limits on winnings Any contestant who won five games or exceeded the winnings cap (whichever occurred first) retired undefeated. From September 19, 1983 to October 31, 1984, any contestant who won over $25,000 retired undefeated, but was allowed to keep any winnings over that amount up to $50,000.
The CBS game show winnings cap was doubled to $50,000 on November 1, 1984, with contestants now being allowed to keep any winnings over that up to $75,000. Home Player Spin 'Home Player Spins' were featured at various points over the course of the series' run. Each of the three contestants was assigned a postcard with the name of a home viewer prior to the start of the episode. One spin in the final round was designated as the Home Player Spin at the start of the round, and when that spin came up, whatever the contestant landed on during that spin was added to their own total and was also awarded to the home player.
If the contestant hit a Whammy, the home player received $500. If the contestant landed on a space that awarded money and an additional spin, the contestant received the money and the spin, but the home player only received the money. If the contestant landed on a prize instead of money, then the home viewer would also win that prize. At the close of the October–November 1985 contest, that episode's in-studio winner drew a card from a bowl containing the names of each of the 75 at-home participants featured over the five-week period. After drawing the name, the contestant took one spin on a modified board that showed only cash values and directional squares (no Whammies, prizes, or cash amounts with additional spins were present).
The value landed on, multiplied by the total number of spins earned by the three contestants in the second question round, was then awarded to the home player whose name was drawn. Broadcast history.
On the set of Press Your Luck for the 1983 pilot. Original run Peter Tomarken, who had just ended a 13-week stint as the host of on, was tapped as host for Press Your Luck. The pilot was taped on May 18, 1983, and the actual show began both tapings and airings four months later on September 10 of that year. The show premiered on September 19, 1983, on CBS at 10:30 a.m. (9:30 //), replacing, and placing it between and. Press Your Luck competed against for first place in the 10:30 a.m. Morning time slot over the next two years.
On January 6, 1986, CBS relocated Press Your Luck in order to make room for a -hosted revival of. Press Your Luck replaced in the network's 4:00 p.m.
Afternoon time slot. Tomarken stated that by the Fall of 1985, the contract for The Price is Right was up for renewal, but CBS was unable to pay the kind of money they wanted to continue that show on their network.
Goodson came up with the solution of taking over the 10:30 a.m. Although some CBS affiliates carrying the program in 1986 outside of the 4:00 p.m. ET time slot tape-delayed it for broadcast the next morning (including the network's flagship owned-and-operated stations in and ), many CBS affiliates dropped the program (with a few markets subsequently picking the show up on independent stations).
The last episode of the show aired on September 26, 1986, but it was not acknowledged as the finale. The final tapings took place in August of that same year, when its cancellation was first announced. After the show ended its run, CBS returned the 4:00 p.m. Timeslot to its affiliates.
Reruns In early 1987, 130 episodes of the show were packaged by for off-network syndication to a handful of local stations. These episodes originally aired on CBS from February 25 to August 23, 1985, and were also the first to be shown on USA Network from September 14, 1987 (the day USA Network picked up the show for its block of afternoon game show reruns), to December 30, 1988. Press Your Luck remained on its schedule until October 13, 1995 (when USA dropped its game show block altogether). The series was later purchased by (which later became, which now owns the rights to the series), who also owns the – and libraries. Since then, the company has handled revivals and video game licenses, such as with Whammy! And the 2009 video game.
On June 8, 2006, Press Your Luck was featured as the fourth round of on CBS. (GSN) aired the show from September 2001 to March 2009, airing episodes from February 1984 – November 1985. GSN resumed airing the show in 2012, airing episodes from the September 1983 premiere to February 1984. From 2014 to 2016, GSN aired episodes 561 to 696, which originally ran from November 1985 to May 1986; after this, GSN aired episodes from the summer of 1984 to February 1985 until the show was removed from GSN's schedule again in May 2017. The series resumed airing again on GSN in December 2017 as part of a new Saturday evening classic game show block. From 2001 to 2003, Larson's episodes did not air on the network until they were incorporated in Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal – including footage not aired during the original CBS broadcast. Press Your Luck has been part of the weeknight lineup for Fremantle's over-the-air digital subchannel since the channel launched in 2015.
To date, episodes from the September 1983 premiere to July 1984 plus the two-part Michael Larson episode run, the September 1984 first anniversary episode, and the July 4, 1985 episode have been shown on the channel. Notable contestants Michael Larson. Main article: In 1984, a self-described unemployed ice cream truck driver named Michael Larson made it onto the show. After watching the show at home with the use of stop-motion on a VCR, Larson discovered that the presumed random patterns of the game board were not actually random and he was able to memorize the sequences to help him stop the board where and when he wanted.
On the single game in which he appeared, an initially tentative Larson spun a Whammy on his very first turn, but then played 45 consecutive spins without hitting a second one. The game ran for so long that CBS aired the episode in two parts, June 8 and 11, 1984. In the end, Larson earned a total of $110,237 in cash and prizes, a record for the most money in cash and prizes won by a contestant in a single appearance on a daytime network game show. In 2006, when Vickyann Chrobak-Sadowski won $147,517 in cash and prizes on the Season 35 premiere of, it was not enough to surpass Larson's inflation-adjusted record ($110,237 was equal to $215,690 in 2006 dollars). Larson, through meticulous watching of the show, had figured out patterns to key off of the square next to the square in the upper left-hand corner of the board (which, in that he numbered the squares from the upper-left clockwise, was numbered '2') and that, several squares later, ended up either on a spot on the right side of the screen in which all three slides contained smaller amounts of money plus a spin (numbered '8') or the spot in the top center of the screen (numbered '4') in which the 'Big Bucks' (the largest amounts of money) plus a spin always resided. Not only would he not hit a Whammy if he landed on those two squares, but he would also be guaranteed to continue gaining more spins as long as he desired.
Although CBS investigated Larson, they determined that figuring out the patterns was not cheating and let him keep his winnings. The board was subsequently reprogrammed with up to 32 new patterns to help prevent against another contestant from being able to memorize the board as Larson had. Later, in 1994, eight years after the show ended, magazine interviewed Larson and revealed the background of this episode including his decision to pass his remaining spins after he lost concentration and missed his target squares. The story, and this strategy, were told in a two-hour documentary on titled Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal in March 2003. GSN aired a special rematch edition of, featuring the two runners-up from the show, host Tomarken and Michael Larson's brother James. (Michael Larson had died of throat cancer in 1999.) In July 2010, Michael's brother James, and his former wife at the time of winning, were interviewed for 's for the episode Million Dollar Idea. His story was also told on the first episode of GSN's documentary series Cover Story in 2018.
Others Aside from Michael Larson, several contestants later found fame outside of game shows:.: Game show announcer who appeared on Press Your Luck from September 29 to October 3, 1983. West later became an announcer for several game shows (including ) and filled in for on during Roddy's illnesses and after Roddy's death in 2003. West was the first contestant in the show's history to land on and win a car and won a total of $25,742 over the three episodes on which he appeared.: Talk show hostess who won $18,706 over the course of three episodes from January 28 to 30, 1985.: Member of the football team when he won $16,655 on July 12, 15 and 16, 1985. Neil Flynn was one of the final contestants on Press Your Luck.: Later became play-by-play announcer for the.
Also had a small stint on Championship Wrestling on. On the May 28 and 29, 1984 episodes of Press Your Luck, Strangis won $7,431 in cash and prizes.: Won $16,350 over the course of three episodes between January 2 to 4, 1985. He went on to become an driver before a testing accident paralyzed him and ended his driving career. He later started, a successful championship-winning team, and the. Schmidt Motorsports has become a top team, winning the pole position in the Firestone Fast Nine, but was the hardest hit in the tragedy.: Later known for his role as on the / medical comedy-drama and as on the sitcom was a contestant on the show's third to last episode in September 1986. Main article: In 2002, a new version titled Whammy!
The All-New Press Your Luck (shortened to Whammy! In 2003) hosted by and announced by premiered on. New episodes initially aired through 2003, and reruns continue to air on GSN. Several changes to the rules and aesthetics of the game were made.
Three new contestants appeared on each episode with no returning champions, much less cash was available as well as more prizes, the board was entirely computerized (as well as redesigned), and the first question round was eliminated. Additionally, 'Big Bank' spaces were added to the board in season two, which placed an accumulating jackpot to a contestant's bank when that contestant landed on the space and answered a question correctly. Gameshow Marathon (2006, CBS). Retrieved July 25, 2011.
Baber, David. Retrieved 11 June 2013. David Baber, Television Game Show Hosts: Biographies of 32 Stars, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2008, pp.
255. New York Times; 1986 TV listings. Los Angeles Times; 1986 TV listings. Broadcasting Journal. 18 August 1986. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
David Schwartz, Steve Ryan & Fred Wostbrock, The Encyclopedia of TV Game $hows, Checkmark Books, 1999, pp. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
'THE DAY THE GAME SHOW GOT WHAMMIED', November 1994. www.seanmunger.com. Retrieved 2016-05-03. This American Life. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
Lyons, Margaret (2018-01-11). Retrieved 2018-01-26. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
Retrieved 8 August 2011. Retrieved 2016-05-03. Retrieved 2016-05-03. Archived from on April 9, 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
October 29, 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2011. Jando, Eva. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
Retrieved 8 August 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2011. Mack, Christopher (January 9, 2012). Financial Post. Financial Post.
Retrieved 5 October 2012. External links. on (1983–86) (US).
on (1987–88) (Australia).
Whammy Game For Pc
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The All-New Press Your Luck Genre Created by Directed by R. Brian DiPirro Presented by Narrated by Country of origin United States Original language(s) English No. Of seasons 2 No.
Of episodes 130 Production Executive producer(s) Michael Weinberg Producer(s) Michael Malone Location(s) in Hollywood Running time 20–21 minutes Production company(s) Release Original network Original release April 15, 2002 ( 2002-04-15) – December 5, 2003 ( 2003-12-05) Chronology Preceded by (1977) (1983–86) External links Whammy! (subtitled The All-New Press Your Luck for its first season) is an American that aired new episodes on from April 15, 2002, to December 5, 2003.
The main goal of the game is to earn as much money and prizes as possible through collecting spins by answering trivia questions correctly, then using those spins on a gameboard to win various prizes and cash amounts while attempting to avoid the show's eponymous character, the 'Whammy.' Contestants who do land on a Whammy lose all their prizes accumulated to that point; four Whammies eliminates a contestant from the game. The program is an updated version of, which originally aired on in 1983–86. The series was taped at and was hosted by, with announcing. Contents. Gameplay Gameplay remained largely similar to Press Your Luck, with contestants accumulating cash and prizes and attempting to avoid landing on a Whammy, who took away the winnings of any contestant who landed on it.
At the start of the game, each of the three contestants was spotted $1,000 and took turns taking one spin at a time on the board. After each cycle of spins, additional Whammies were added to the board replacing cash values or prizes, and contestants chose to spin again or freeze with their score at that point. Landing on a Whammy in round one reduced that contestant's score to $0 and eliminated that contestant from further play in the round. Play continued until all three contestants froze or hit a Whammy.
Cash values ranged from $100–$1,500 in round one, and prizes of similar values also appeared. Round two consisted of five questions posed to the players. The host read a question, and one of the contestants buzzed-in and provided a response. Their response, along with two other choices, were provided to the other two contestants, who selected one of the choices. Correct answers earned three spins for a buzz-in answer and one spin for a multiple choice answer. After five questions, all three contestants advanced to the final round.
In the final round, cash values ranged from $500–$5,000, and some spaces offered additional spins in addition to cash. Other spaces offered the choice of up to four adjacent spaces, or directed the contestants directly to another space. Accumulating four Whammies eliminated a contestant from the game. Also added to the board were 'Double Whammies,' which—in addition to reducing a player's score to $0—added a physical consequence following the Whammy's appearance (e.g., spraying the contestant with water or dropping ping pong balls on them). Play began with the contestant with the lowest score at the start of the round, or, in the case of a tie for last place, the contestant with the fewest spins. If there was still a tie in terms of score and spin totals, the contestant farthest to the left went first. Spins earned in this round could be passed to the opponent with the higher total (if they were tied, the contestant passing the spins could choose the recipient).
Contestants were required to use all spins passed until they used their spins or hit a Whammy; in the latter case, any remaining passed spins were transferred to their earned spin total. If a contestant using passed spins hit a space that awarded a spin (e.g., $3,000 + One Spin), that spin was added to the earned total.
The contestant in the lead at the end of the game kept any cash and/or prizes in their bank at that time. Unlike Press Your Luck, three new contestants appeared on each episode. Other features In round one the board featured a 'Pick-a-Prize' space. Contestants who landed on it could choose any prize on the board at the time. In round two, one space labeled '$2,000 or Lose-1-Whammy' gave the contestant a choice of a cash prize of $2,000 or removing a previously-landed-upon Whammy (also seen on the classic show). '$1,000 or Spin Again' offered the choice of a guaranteed $1,000 cash prize or the opportunity to spin again (without using an earned spin), in season two, it was changed to '$555 or Spin Again.'
Contestants also had an opportunity to win a during the game. To claim the prize, the contestant needed to land on the 'GEM' space in round one, and avoid landing on a Whammy for the rest of the round. In round two, the contestant needed to land on the 'CAR' space, and again avoid the Whammy, and also win the game. In season two, the GEM car was replaced with a, and the contestant needed to claim both halves of a car key in order to win the prize. A new feature called 'Big Bank' was added for the second season.
The Big Bank on each episode was a cumulative jackpot that began at $3,000, and any cash and prizes that the contestants lost after landing on a Whammy (including halves of the car key) were added into the bank. If a contestant landed on the Big Bank square, the host asked an open-ended general knowledge question to the contestant, who could claim the money and prizes in the Big Bank with a correct answer. Once the Big Bank was claimed by a contestant, it was reset to $3,000. Technological changes Whammy! Made use of technological advances that had been developed since the original Press Your Luck ended its run in the 1980s. For example, the prizes and light patterns for each space on the Big Board were randomly generated using a, running at a speed of 200 MHz.
This resulted in a very large number of patterns for gameplay, which prevented memorization of patterns as did on Press Your Luck. Also, Whammies were animated in, rather than being hand-drawn as on Press Your Luck. Production. Host in January 2010 (GSN) acquired the rights to air Press Your Luck in September 2001, and high viewership ratings prompted the network to order a revival of the series. Two pilots were taped on February 13, 2002: one with original Press Your Luck host and the other hosted.
Newton was ultimately chosen to host the show. Tomarken explained that he was asked to change his style of hosting, saying, 'It was terribly hurtful and I think I was doomed before I did the audition. I remember being told, 'No, no. Be sure everybody likes you.' I took that advice with the pilot. I made the same mistake.'
Tomarken also acknowledged that GSN wanted to employ a younger host in an effort to attract a younger audience. GSN produced 65 episodes for the first season, which began airing April 15, 2002. The series was eventually renewed for a second season, which consisted of 65 additional episodes that premiered March 17, 2003. Following the conclusion of the Tournament of Champions, which completed its run on July 25, a combination of first-run new episodes and reruns continued to air until December 5. Additionally, a short-lived Filipino version of the show aired on in 2007–08.
The series, entitled, was hosted by and. Special episodes The show aired four holiday specials: a Mother's Day special (featuring an all-cash board and with and as contestants), a Halloween special (featuring contestants in costume), a St.
Patrick's Day special (with the contestants wearing green, and all the whammy animations in green as well), and an April Fools' Day special that featured Graham Elwood (from ) as the episode's host, with Newton only appearing when a contestant hit a Double Whammy. Janie Litras and Ed Long appeared on a special episode coinciding with GSN's documentary.
Litras and Long originally appeared on the episodes airing June 8 and 11, 1984, competing against, who had memorized the light pattern and went on to win $110,237. Larson's brother, James, competed in the 2003 episode against Litras and Long, as Michael had died of throat cancer in 1999. Tomarken made a special appearance hosting the question round of this episode, which would be one of his last television appearances. James would win the game with a digital grand piano worth $6,695. The July 21, 2003 episode featured a 'Tournament of Losers' starring three past contestants who had lost their previous games. July 22–25 of that same week featured a Tournament of Champions, with nine of the biggest winners to that point competing for additional cash and prizes. The winners on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday episodes returned to compete against each other on the Friday episode in the finale of the tournament.
Friday's episode featured higher-valued spaces in both rounds, and the eventual winner also received a as a bonus prize in addition to their grand total winnings. Reception Whammy!
Lasted on GSN for only two seasons, leading Garin Pirnia of to deem the series 'not a huge hit like its predecessor.' At the sixth, Eileen O'Neill and Marianne Barrett listed Whammy! Among several television series that used creative methods of advertising in their programs, noting GSN's ability to 'encourage viewers to watch the programs live.' The series was also mentioned in and Fred Wostbrock's The Ultimate TV Game Show Book in a list of GSN original programs.
References.
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