This hilarious game show that crossed gambling with knowledge defined that awkward decade of the 20th Century, the big 80's. Peter Tomarken was the host of "PRESS YOUR LUCK" for it's entire three and a half year run, providing multiple choice questions to the three lucky contestants who would either answer correctly and win a 'spin', or answer incorrectly and end up with nothing at all.
A huge board surrounded by small television screens, each flashing with different denominations of money, prizes and 'Whammies' represented the game board. The object of the game was to try and second-guess the square that flashed around the screens, hit the buzzer as you yell "STOP!", and pray that you landed on anything but the infamous 'Whammy'. Anyone unfortunate enough to land on the 'Whammy' has their pot cleaned out to $0.00 and if you land on the 'Whammy' four times, you're out of the game.
The strategy of this game was to try and tally up as much money and prizes that you could and with any remainder or extra spins, pass them off onto the contestant with the next highest score, hoping that they would bankrupt themselves by landing on the 'Whammy'.
"PRESS YOUR LUCK" really is all about luck. There's no way of timing the lighted square that flashes around the board and I have even seen some episodes where the contestant hit their buzzer and the screen that the lighted square landed on changed from a 'Whammy' to something else at the last minute.
Perhaps the most hilarious thing about this show is seeing all those crazy and wild fashions from the 80's as the contestants plead with the board, "Come on! I want those BIG BUCKS!", or "No whammies, PLEEEEEASE!" as they watch in angst as the lighted square darted around the board with the unforgettable 'blip blip blip' sound.
Towards the end of the show's run, they started adding more elaborate prizes to the board such as a car, an overseas trip and a new screen entitled "DOUBLE YOUR BUCKS" which doubles whatever amount you currently have in the pot. I always enjoyed this game show. It's a pity that it went off the air and for what reason, I don't know.
As most of the contestants who appeared on any of the 737 episodes would find out, you can beg with board all you want... but sooner or later, you're gonna land on the WHAMMY!
A huge board surrounded by small television screens, each flashing with different denominations of money, prizes and 'Whammies' represented the game board. The object of the game was to try and second-guess the square that flashed around the screens, hit the buzzer as you yell "STOP!", and pray that you landed on anything but the infamous 'Whammy'. Anyone unfortunate enough to land on the 'Whammy' has their pot cleaned out to $0.00 and if you land on the 'Whammy' four times, you're out of the game.
The strategy of this game was to try and tally up as much money and prizes that you could and with any remainder or extra spins, pass them off onto the contestant with the next highest score, hoping that they would bankrupt themselves by landing on the 'Whammy'.
"PRESS YOUR LUCK" really is all about luck. There's no way of timing the lighted square that flashes around the board and I have even seen some episodes where the contestant hit their buzzer and the screen that the lighted square landed on changed from a 'Whammy' to something else at the last minute.
Perhaps the most hilarious thing about this show is seeing all those crazy and wild fashions from the 80's as the contestants plead with the board, "Come on! I want those BIG BUCKS!", or "No whammies, PLEEEEEASE!" as they watch in angst as the lighted square darted around the board with the unforgettable 'blip blip blip' sound.
Towards the end of the show's run, they started adding more elaborate prizes to the board such as a car, an overseas trip and a new screen entitled "DOUBLE YOUR BUCKS" which doubles whatever amount you currently have in the pot. I always enjoyed this game show. It's a pity that it went off the air and for what reason, I don't know.
As most of the contestants who appeared on any of the 737 episodes would find out, you can beg with board all you want... but sooner or later, you're gonna land on the WHAMMY!