Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck

Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck
Created by Bill Carruthers
Directed by R. Brian DiPirro
Presented by Todd Newton
Narrated by Gary Kroeger
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 130
Production
Executive producer(s) Michael Weinberg
Producer(s) Michael Malone
Location(s) Tribune Studios
Hollywood, California
Running time 20–21 minutes
Production company(s) FremantleMedia North America
Game Show Originals
Release
Original network GSN
Original release April 15, 2002 (2002-04-15) – December 5, 2003 (2003-12-05)
Chronology
Preceded by Second Chance (1977)
Press Your Luck (1983–86)
External links
Website

Whammy! (subtitled The All-New Press Your Luck for its first season) is an American television game show that aired new episodes on Game Show Network from April 15, 2002 to December 5, 2003. The program is an updated version of Press Your Luck, which originally aired on CBS from 1983–86. The series was taped at Tribune Studios and was hosted by Todd Newton, with Gary Kroeger announcing.

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 three players was spotted $1,000 and took turns taking one spin at a time on the board.[1] After each cycle of spins, additional Whammies were added to the board replacing cash values or prizes,[1] and contestants chose to spin again or freeze with their score at that point. Landing on a Whammy in round one not only reduced that player's score to $0, but also eliminated them from further play in the round. Play continued until all three contestants froze or were eliminated. Cash values ranged from $100–$1,500 in round one, and prizes of similar values also appeared.[2]

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 paid off with 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.[2]

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. Any contestant who accumulated four whammies, would be eliminated 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, dropping ping pong balls on them, etc.)[1] Play began with the player with the lowest score at the start of the round, or, in the case of a tie for last place, the player with the fewest spins. If there was still a tie in terms of score and spin totals, the player to the farthest left went first. Additionally, players could also pass any remaining spins to their opponent with the higher total, who was then forced to play those spins until they were either exhausted or the player hit a Whammy, at which point any remaining passed spins were added to their earned spin total.[1] If the contestant's opponents were tied, the passing contestant chose to whom the spins were awarded. 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

A space labeled "Pick-a-Prize" appeared in the first round only. Any contestant who landed on it was offered his or her choice of any prize currently appearing on the board at the time it was stopped. In round two, one space labeled "$2,000 or Lose-1-Whammy" gave the contestant a choice of $2,000 a cash prize 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 one of their earned spins),[3] although this was later changed to "$555 or Spin Again" for Season 2.[2]

Contestants also had an opportunity to win a Gem Car 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.[3] In season two, the GEM car was replaced with a Suzuki Aerio SX, and the contestant needed to claim both halves of a car key in order to win the prize.[2]

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.[2]

Technological changes

Unlike Press Your Luck, Whammy! generated random prizes and light patterns for each space on the Big Board using a personal computer, running at a speed of 200 MHz.[4] This resulted in a very large number of patterns for gameplay, which prevented memorization of patterns as Michael Larson famously did on Press Your Luck.[4] Also, Whammies were animated in 3D computer graphics, rather than being hand-drawn as on Press Your Luck.[5]

Production

Game Show Network 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.[6] There were two pilots taped on February 13, 2002, both respectively hosted by Peter Tomarken and Todd Newton;[7] however, 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 nice. Be sure everybody likes you.' I took that advice with the pilot. I made the same mistake."[6]

GSN produced 65 episodes for the first season, which began airing April 15, 2002.[8] 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 on July 25,[8] a combination of new episodes and reruns continued to air first-run until December 5.[9] Additionally, a short-lived version of the show, aired in the Philippines GMA from 2007–08. The series, entitled Whammy! Push Your Luck, was hosted by Paolo Bediones and Rufa Mae Quinto.[10]

Special episodes

The show aired four holiday specials, including a Mother's Day special (featuring an all-cash board and with Karen Grassle (Little House on the Prairie), Estelle Harris (Seinfeld) and Mimi Kennedy as contestants),[11] a Halloween special (featuring contestants in costume),[12] a St. Patrick's Day special (with the contestants wearing green, and all the Whammy animations in green as well),[13] and an April Fools' Day special featured Graham Elwood (from Cram) as the host, with Newton only appearing when a contestant hit a Double Whammy.[14]

Janie Litras and Ed Long appeared on a special episode coinciding with GSN's documentary Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal. Litras and Long originally appeared on the episodes airing June 8 and 11, 1984, competing against Michael Larson, 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. Original Press Your Luck host Peter Tomarken made a special appearance hosting the question round of this episode, which would be one of his last television appearances.[6] James would win the game with a digital grand piano worth $6,695.[2]

The July 21, 2003 episode featured a "Tournament of Losers" starring three past contestants who had lost their previous games.[15] 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 Suzuki Aerio SX as a bonus prize in addition to their grand total winnings.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present. Random House. p. 1503. ISBN 0307483207.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck. Season 2. Episode 2. March 17, 2003. Game Show Network.
  3. 1 2 Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck. Season 1. Episode 1. April 15, 2002. Game Show Network.
  4. 1 2 Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal (television). Game Show Network. March 16, 2003.
  5. ↑ DeMichael, Tom (2009). TV's Greatest Game Shows: Television's Favorite Game Shows from the 50s, 60s, & More!. Marshall Publishing & Promotions, Inc. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-9814909-9-1.
  6. 1 2 3 Baber, David (2008). Television Game Show Hosts: Biographies of 32 Stars. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 257–258. ISBN 978-0-7864-2926-4.
  7. ↑ "Whammy Pilot!". Archived from the original on 14 September 2006. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Whammy! − Episode Guide". TV.com. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  9. ↑ DeMichael, Tom (2009). TV's Greatest Game Shows: Television's Favorite Game Shows from the 50s, 60s, & More!. Marshall Publishing & Promotions, Inc. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-9814909-9-1.
  10. ↑ Erece, Dinno (October 1, 2007). "Rufa Mae Quinto and Paolo Bediones, to host "Whammy! Push Your Luck"". Philippine Entertainment Portal. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  11. ↑ Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck. Season 1. Episode 21. May 11, 2002. Game Show Network.
  12. ↑ Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck. Season 1. Episode 65. October 26, 2002. Game Show Network.
  13. ↑ Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck. Season 2. Episode 1. March 17, 2003. Game Show Network.
  14. ↑ Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck. Season 2. Episode 14. April 1, 2003. Game Show Network.
  15. ↑ Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck. Season 2. Episode 53. July 21, 2003. Game Show Network.
  16. ↑ Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck. Season 2. Episode 54-57. July 22–25, 2003. Game Show Network.
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