Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck

Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck
Premiere	April 15, 2002
Finale	December 5, 2005
Creator	Bill Carruthers
Host	Todd Newton
Network/Provider	GSN
Style	30-minute game show
Company	FremantleMedia
Seasons	2
Episodes	130
Origin	USA

Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck is a game show that aired on Game Show Network. The show was an updated version of the CBS game show Press Your Luck, which in turn was a revival of a short-lived ABC game show from 1977 called Second Chance.

It was basically the same as Press Your Luck, except that at the very start, each contestant is staked to $1000 and in turn takes one spin on the game board for money and/or prizes. A player hitting a Whammy (who now appear in more dimensional computer animation) is out of the rest of the round. Following the first go-round of spins, more Whammys are added to the board, and players still in contention can press on or freeze where they are. The round ends once all players have frozen or Whammied out.

Round two has the question portion, now using five questions, using the CBS rules. On the big board, the same format as on CBS applies, except the board now has "Double Whammys." Hitting one not only erases the contestant's score but the action performed by the Whammy leads to an extra dose of humiliation (i.e.: a Whammy shooting Silly String in the air causes the real stuff to land on the contestant's head).

In the second season, new elements were added. The "Big Bank" is a pot that starts at $3000 and increases by the positive score of a contestant hitting a Whammy. Whoever hits the Big Bank has to answer a question to put that money in his/her score and win it by winning the game. A car would go up for grabs by placing two key halves on the board. A player had to hit both halves and win the game to get the car.

Original Press Your Luck host Peter Tomarken appeared on the show in an episode pitting the two contestants from the 1984 Michael Larson episode and Larson's brother. Tomarken asked the questions on the show. Tomarken hosted an unaired pilot for the show; in this the players are spotted three spins to take or pass in round one. Also, a car was up for grabs. A contestant taking a spin had to land on the “G” in the GM logo in round one and the “M” in round two, then had to avoid the Whammy and win the game.

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale				#
Game Show Network
Season One	April 15, 2002	April 11, 2003				65
Season Two	April 14, 2003	December 5, 2003				65

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

DVD Releases

There are no DVD releases for this show.