Press Your Luck: Difference between revisions

After the question round is completed, the "big board" round begins, with the contestants using their accumulated spins in an attempt to win cash and prizes. The game board consists of 18 spaces laid out in a rectangular loop that is six spaces wide and five high. Each space cycles through two or more items, which can include cash amounts (sometimes with an extra spin), prizes, spaces which offer a change in direction or alteration to score, and the show's mascot, a mischievous red cartoon creature known as the Whammy. A light flashes randomly around the board, marking one space at a time, and the contestant in control uses a spin by hitting their buzzer to freeze the board and collect whatever is lit at that moment. Landing on a cash or prize space adds its value to the contestant's total, while landing on a Whammy resets the total to zero and plays a short animation involving the Whammy for the viewing audience. Any contestant who lands on the Whammy a total of four times (known as "Whammying out") is immediately eliminated from the game and forfeits all remaining spins.<ref name="EOTGS"/> When a prize is hit, a new one is put on the board to replace it.

* Money or Lose a Whammy: contestant can either take the displayed cash amount or remove a previously hit Whammy, if any (main game in the original series, bonus round in the 2019 revival)

[[Peter Tomarken]], prior to working in television, was an editor for ''[[Women's Wear Daily]]'' magazine.<ref name="EOTGS"/> His first major television role came earlier in 1983 on the [[NBC]] game show ''[[Hit Man (game show)|Hit Man]]'', and he was chosen to host ''Press Your Luck'' after the former was canceled.<ref name="times">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/192646834/ | title=TV game show host, wife killed | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=March 14, 2006 | accessdate=February 7, 2023 | author=Andrew Blankstein | pages=B1, B9}}</ref> ''Press Your Luck'' began both tapings and airings in September 1983.<ref name="Television City">{{cite web|title=Shows–CBS Television City|url=http://www.cbstelevisioncity.com/shows#|access-date=July 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713152856/http://www.cbstelevisioncity.com/shows|archive-date=July 13, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The show premiered on September 19, 1983, on [[CBS]] at 10:30{{nbsp}}a.m. [[Eastern Time Zone|ET]] (9:30 [[Central Time Zone|CT]]/[[Mountain Time Zone|MT]]/[[Pacific Time Zone|PT]]), replacing ''[[Child's Play (game show)|Child's Play]]''.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/83-OCR/BC-1983-08-22-OCR-Page-0052.pdf | title=Telecastings | journal=[[Broadcasting & Cable]] | pages=52 | date=August 22, 1983}}</ref> Serving as announcer on the show was [[Rod Roddy]], with whom Tomarken had previously worked on ''Hit Man'', and who would later becomebecame known for announcing on ''[[The Price Is Right (American game show)|The Price Is Right]]''. [[John Harlan (announcer)|John Harlan]] and [[Charlie O'Donnell]] filled in on a few episodes when Roddy was unavailable.<ref name="EOTGS"/> In addition to creating the show, Carruthers served as both [[television director|director]] and the voice of the Whammy. The animations featuring this character were created by animator [[Savage Steve Holland]]; Carruthers personally selected Holland to design the character, and immediately liked Holland's first concept, which he sketched out on a napkin. Holland animated the character via computer software,<ref name="collider">{{cite web | url=http://collider.com/collider-exclusive-interview-savage-steve-holland%20/ | title=Collider Exclusive Interview – Savage Steve Holland | publisher=Collider | accessdate=February 8, 2023 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226100037/https://collider.com/collider-exclusive-interview-savage-steve-holland%20/ | archivedate=February 26, 2019}}</ref> thus making ''Press Your Luck'' one of the first game shows to use computer-designed graphics.<ref name="times"/> Author David Baber noted that the Whammy animations were "popular with the viewers". Some of the animations featured the Whammy taunting the contestant and becoming injured or harmed in a manner which Baber compared to a [[Wile E. Coyote]] cartoon. Others featured satires of then-contemporary pop culture figures such as [[Boy George]] or [[Tina Turner]].<ref name="baber"/> [[Ed Flesh]] designed the show's set, and Lee Ringuette composed the show's music.<ref name="EOTGS"/>