Probably the most well-known thing that Press Your Luck did in its 3-year run
was the Home Player Spin contest. Periodically, home viewers were asked to send
in postcards. During the contest, 3 cards were drawn, one for each of the 3
on-stage contestants. In Round 2, a random spin in the round - anywhere from 3
to 13 - was chosen as the home player spin. This number was unknown to the
players, but was revealed to the home audience.
When the target spin was reached, you'd hear a blare of noises, and the player who was taking that spin would read the name of the card on their podium. That person would be the home game player.
The spin that followed was then played for both the on-stage contestant and the home viewer. Here's the rules:
> If the player hits cash (regardless of whether it had an extra spin) or a prize, the home viewer wins it as well, regardless of whether or not the contestant wins it.
> In the event the contestant hits a Whammy, the home viewer receives a $500 consolation prize.
At the end of the show, Rod Roddy would announce the winnings of the home viewer as well as the contestant's winnings. The other 2 contestants' cards were also read, and those 2 home viewers received Whammy t-shirts as a consolation prize.
The contest ran for 4 weeks (20 shows) at a time. The concept began in early 1984 and was done periodically until the fall of 1985.
This was an extension of the Home Player Spin. In the beginning of PYL's 3rd
season in the fall of 1985, it was decided that the Home Player Spin contest
would be done for the last time. And since it was the last time, they'd go out
with a bang.
For this home player contest, they drew cards for 5 weeks instead of 4, equaling
25 shows, and 75 cards drawn. On the final day, all 75 cards were placed in a
giant fishbowl. The winner on that final day randomly drew one of the cards, and
the person on that card was the winner of the sweepstakes spin.
For the sweepstakes spin, a special all-cash board was created. The champion for that show took one spin at the board. Whatever was hit on that spin was multiplied by the total number of spins earned by the 3 contestants in the 2nd question round. This made the maximum possible winnings $100,000! ($5000 x 20 spins)
The big spin went to Ed Kolzak of Portage, Indiana. The champ hit $2000 on the board, multiplied by the 18 spins the contestants earned. The result was a big $36,000 payoff for Ed, and a balloon & streamer celebration in the studio.
When Press Your Luck came to the USA network in reruns, it lasted for 8 glorious
years of memories. During its cable run, USA decided in July of 1991 to run a
home viewer contest of their own.
(Whammy is seen shoveling money bags into a giant safe.)
Whammy: $200 million... $300 million...
Voice (Rod Roddy): WHAMMY! THIS IS YOUR CONSCIENCE. WE'VE DECIDED THAT YOU ARE
FAR TOO RICH, AND THAT YOU HAVE TO GIVE SOME OF THAT MONEY BACK TO THE VIEWERS!
Whammy: Oh no!
Voice: OH YES!
Whammy: Oh boy...
Each day for 5 weeks that summer, USA would show a multiple choice question to
the viewers. Viewers would then call a special 1-900 number (Remember when those
were all over the place?), and answer that question along with another question,
followed by a mock round of PYL. Winners were placed into a weekly drawing where
they could win one of 125 $20 prizes, or the $2500 grand prize. Regardless of
whether won or lost, all callers received $10 worth of Golden Dipt food products.
Early during USA's showing reruns of PYL, USA decided to reserve some time at
the end of certain episodes to show a special Whammy cartoon. Strange that it
was, it was a decent idea. Here is the dialogue from the cartoon.
(Scene: Some boardroom-type place. Whammies are seated around the table, where
the boss Whammy is standing at the head of the table talking on the phone.)
Boss: That's 7 cars, 4 jet skis, and a flokati rug. YOU figure out where to put
'em! (Slams phone down)
Whammies: Morning, chief!
Boss: Did you hear that? Im having this meeting today because we have a very
serious problem. We've been taking too much money and prizes from these poor
contestants.
(Whammies all shout at the news. Compalints of "No!" and "Greed" are heard.)
Boss: No, no, no. I'm getting nothing but complaints. Our bank accounts are
stuffed and our warehouses are full of prizes. Any suggestions?
Whammies: BIGGER WAREHOUSES!
Boss: You guys are going crazy. Taking all that money... running around with
those big prizes... dancing, singing, making fun of everybody. And I hate to say
it, oh do I, but some of you boys are gonna have to go.
Whammies: Oh no! Not that!
Boss: Wait a minute! Wait a minute! I mean go on vacation.
Whammies: VACATION!!! YIPPEE!!!
Boss: All right, all right. Half you boys, pack your bags. The rest of us will
keep going after the big bucks. Oh, by the way, where do you guys wanna go?
(Suggestions are heard ranging from Fort Knox to Monaco to Reno as the
scene ends.)
As I said, a strange scene. You may return to your normal existence.
As hard as it was to accomplish, it DID happen... TWICE!
Thanks to GSN, we have now learned the truth that it has happened more than
once. The first instance took place back on November 26, 1984. Here, champion
Chris, along with opponents Dom and Diane, exhibit a major display of passing a
strategy to pull off the triple 0 at game's end. They rematched the next day,
with Chris winning in the end, and ultimately going on to become PYL's first
5-time champion.
The 2nd, and better known, incident occurred on February 3, 1986. This time, it
was all the passing work of the champion, Joe Derry, who caused everyone to hit
a Whammy on the final (or only) passed spin. When the dust had settled, all 3
players had 2 Whammies and $0. The 3 contestants had a rematch on the very next
show. And unlike Chris, Joe did NOT win his 5th game.
It should be noted that there was also at least one occasion in the show's run
where two people tied with $0 (the 3rd player having Whammied out). Also, there
was one instance in '86 where a contestant had a chance to tie on the last spin.
Down $5250-$2750, he hit Move One Space to $500 and a Spin or $2500. He opted
for the $500+ in an effort to win it himself, but only hit another $500 on his
extra shot. Proves you should take the benefit if it's handed to you.
Oh, the heartbreak of this one. In the Spring of '85, a hard fought battle
emerged between Nina Jo & Andrew. Down to Andrew's last spin, the score read
$12771 to $10250 in Nina Jo's favor. So a spin of at least $2521 would win it
for Andrew.
After a lot of yelling and praying on both sides, Andrew stops the board at a
trip to Paris...
Peter: Stop at PARIS! That trip to Paris, Andrew, has a value of... two thousand five-hundred and eighteen dollars...! And you're shy by three dollars--
Andrew: NO!
You've heard the saying "so close and yet so far"? Here is the perfect example. $12771 to $12768 with Nina Jo coming out on top. Several times, a game was seperated by a couple hundred dollars, but this stood as the closest finish to a tie the show ever had. It was ultimately immortalized as an opening clip for future shows.
PYL's biggest slip-up came during the asking of this Round 1 question:
Which well-known cartoon character is famous for uttering the immortal words:
"Sufferin' succotash!"?
You'd say Sylvester, right? Well, all 3 players said that, and were met with a
surprise at the right answer: DAFFY DUCK!
Now, in truth, everyone was right, and here's why. Both characters were voiced by the legendary Mel Blanc, but Daffy Duck has been around in the Looney Tunes universe a lot longer than Sylvester has. And way back in those early days, Mel had given the quote "Sufferin' Succotash!" to Daffy Duck. The saying would achieve more recognition when Sylvester came on the scene, but Mel used it with both of them at one time or another.
Well, we've all seen when a game show goofs up the answer to a question. And as is the norm, all the contestants were invited back on later shows since the result of that question had affected the outcome. But PYL decided to handle this error in a clever way.
Following the taping, an extra scene was added during the closing credits. The scene showed Peter Tomarken answering an unexpected phone call. The person on the other end: Sylvester! Yes, Mel Blanc called to help correct the mistake, and during the conversation even switched into some his other voices such as Speedy Gonzalez and a goodbye from Porky Pig! It was a great scene, and probably the most unique way a game show has ever cleared up one of its mistakes.
Recently, a new face made it's way to the gambling circuit, and that face was the Whammy! Press Your Luck is now a video slot machine created by the folks at Shufflemaster. While I have not seen it myself in Atlantic City, I have heard good things about it. Send me more pics if you know where to find it.
On October 8, 2003, Reel Deal Casino: ShuffleMaster Edition, the latest in their series of PC casino packages, was released. An amazing 24 casino games are featured, including the Press Your Luck slot machine game.
There is also a second Press Your Luck slot machine that exists in the Hard Rock Casino in London, England. It plays a little differently, but has its own Big Board bonuses, and the same risk and charm as the one we have here in the States.
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