Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck
Encyclopedia
Whammy! is an updated version of the American
television
game show
Press Your Luck
. Taped at Tribune Studios
, the FremantleMedia
production aired on Game Show Network
from April 15, 2002 to December 5, 2003 with repeats that continue to air. Todd Newton
hosted the series, with Gary Kroeger
announcing.
Whammy! took away the first question round on Press Your Luck and went straight to the first "Big Board" round, with a few modifications. Each contestant was given $1,000 to start the show ($0 in the first two taped episodes of the run), and took turns taking one spin at a time, until each contestant had either landed on a Whammy (which eliminated them from the rest of the round), or chose to stop by "freezing". Play started with four Whammies on the Big Board and after each of the first four rounds through the contestants, up to four more were added.
The show then had the Question Round and the final "Big Board" round the original show had with a few tweaks. A series of five questions were asked, and contestants had the opportunity to buzz in with an answer. The host would then add two other answers (three if no one buzzed in or if a contestant buzzed in and did not answer within the five-second time limit) and allow the other contestants to guess from those answers (the contestant who buzzed in and did not answer was not allowed to do so in the multiple-choice format). A correct buzz-in answer earned 3 spins while a correct multiple-choice answer earned one spin, so that up to 25 spins could be earned by all three contestants together. In addition to the original Whammies, Double Whammies added a physical element to the animated Whammy character; for example, if the animated Whammy ran over some dollar-sign hedges with a lawn mower, a pile of grass clippings was dumped onto the contestant. In the final Big Board round, contestants can pass their remaining spins to the opponent with the higher score (or their choice of opponent if both scores are tied) if they so desire. Contestants who receive spins passed to them must play those spins, unless they land on a Whammy, at which point the remaining passed spins are combined with that contestant's total of earned spins (if any remain).
The largest cash amounts remained $1,500 in Round 1 and $5,000 + One Spin in Round 2. The board still featured a "BIG BUCKS" square which advanced the contestant to the biggest cash square on the board.
Unlike the original series (and Second Chance before it), there were no returning champions. If any contestants won the game with $0 and less than four Whammies, they were allowed to participate again in a future show, although only one contestant actually did so.
The second "Big Board" round played like the classic series, but if two or all three contestants tied in terms of money totals, the contestant with the fewest spins played first; like the classic series, contestants tied in terms of money and spins resulted in the contestant to the furthest left playing first. During the second round, the dollar amounts and prizes shown on the squares were rotated in a much different fashion. Rather than changing all of the squares' contents at the same time, they changed six squares at a time in one-third of the cycle time, thereby making the second round a bit harder by providing the illusion that the board was moving faster than it actually was (each individual square actually changed at the same rate as in Round 1), something that the classic series never did (except in the case of a minor malfunction). Unlike the classic series, Whammy! generated random prizes, Whammies, and light patterns for each space on the Big Board using a personal computer
, running at a speed of 200 MHz, as well as a very large number of patterns for game play, to prevent memorization of patterns.
In line with technological changes, the Whammies were animated in 3-D
, created by computer animation studio WIT Animation, instead of being hand-drawn as on the original series. Animations continued to feature humorous antics or spoofs of then-relevant pop culture (e.g., Harry Potter
, N'Sync, Britney Spears
, etc.).
Directional spaces could now move the light up to four spaces. In addition, "Move One Space" could have three choices to pick from.
"$2,000 or Lose-A-Whammy" also remained on the board in Round 2.
The "+ ONE SPIN" spaces (except for "Double Your $$ + One Spin") were used only in the final round, and they were also accompanied by "or SPIN AGAIN" spaces; when one was hit, the contestant chose to take either the stated cash amount or another spin on the board without using up one of their "earned" spins. The first season featured $1,000 as the cash amount, while the second season used $555.
The new "Double Whammy" space worked like a regular Whammy with an additional physical prank (e.g., one Double Whammy animation featured the Whammy wrestling with an out-of-control water hose; after the animation finished, a hidden nozzle rose from the contestant's podium and squirted the contestant with water).
On most episodes of the first season, a GEM Car
was available as a prize. However, it was extremely difficult to win, as a contestant had to hit a special "GEM" space in Round 1, then hit a special "CAR" space in Round 2 (the "spin again" decision was given on these spaces), then win the game, all without hitting a Whammy. In the second season, the same two-space mechanic was used for a Suzuki Aerio SX
, where the two special spaces showed the front and the back halves of a car key. These halves were lost if the contestant hit a Whammy, but added to the Big Bank.
A new feature called "Big Bank" was added for the second season. The Big Bank on each episode began with $3,000, and any cash and prizes that the contestants lost after a Whammy was hit were added into the bank. Additionally, if a player was holding one or both halves of the car key and subsequently hit a Whammy, the key halves was also added to the bank. If a contestant hit a Big Bank square, the host asked an open-ended general-knowledge trivia question to the contestant, who collected the money and prizes in the bank if the question was answered correctly. Once the Big Bank was claimed by a contestant it was re-staked with $3,000. There were two Big Bank squares in Round 1 and one in Round 2.
of Cram
guest-hosting, and Newton made an appearance as a "Double Whammy-in-training," with his face featured on Whammy-like "Newton" spaceswhich, when landed on, told of the "prize" the contestant had just "won".
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.
July 21, 2003 featured a "Tournament of Losers" episode with three past contestants who had lost their game. The episode's winner also received a trip to Maui in addition to their winnings. 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.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
Press Your Luck
Press Your Luck
Press Your Luck is an American television daytime game show created by Bill Carruthers and Jan McCormack. It premiered on September 19, 1983 on CBS and ended on September 26, 1986. In the show, contestants collected "spins" by answering trivia questions and then used the spins on an 18-space game...
. Taped at Tribune Studios
KTLA
KTLA, virtual channel 5, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, USA. Owned by the Tribune Company, KTLA is an affiliate of the CW Television Network. KTLA's studios are on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson...
, the FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia, Ltd. is the content and production division of Bertelsmann's RTL Group, Europe's second largest TV, radio, and production company...
production aired on Game Show Network
Game Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
from April 15, 2002 to December 5, 2003 with repeats that continue to air. Todd Newton
Todd Newton
Todd Newton is an entertainment personality and a three-time game show host.Newton has hosted Hollywood Showdown and Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck, both on Game Show Network; and Coming Attractions on E!, as well as occasional episodes of Wild On... He is known for occasionally wearing a...
hosted the series, with Gary Kroeger
Gary Kroeger
Gary Kroeger is an American actor best known for his work on Saturday Night Live from 1982 to 1985.Born in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Kroeger attended Northern University High School and graduated from Northwestern University in 1981. He joined the cast of Saturday Night Live during Lorne Michaels' hiatus...
announcing.
Gameplay
Gameplay remained largely the same as Press Your Luck, with the Whammy still taking away the winnings of any contestant who landed on it. However, there were some differences between the two shows.Whammy! took away the first question round on Press Your Luck and went straight to the first "Big Board" round, with a few modifications. Each contestant was given $1,000 to start the show ($0 in the first two taped episodes of the run), and took turns taking one spin at a time, until each contestant had either landed on a Whammy (which eliminated them from the rest of the round), or chose to stop by "freezing". Play started with four Whammies on the Big Board and after each of the first four rounds through the contestants, up to four more were added.
The show then had the Question Round and the final "Big Board" round the original show had with a few tweaks. A series of five questions were asked, and contestants had the opportunity to buzz in with an answer. The host would then add two other answers (three if no one buzzed in or if a contestant buzzed in and did not answer within the five-second time limit) and allow the other contestants to guess from those answers (the contestant who buzzed in and did not answer was not allowed to do so in the multiple-choice format). A correct buzz-in answer earned 3 spins while a correct multiple-choice answer earned one spin, so that up to 25 spins could be earned by all three contestants together. In addition to the original Whammies, Double Whammies added a physical element to the animated Whammy character; for example, if the animated Whammy ran over some dollar-sign hedges with a lawn mower, a pile of grass clippings was dumped onto the contestant. In the final Big Board round, contestants can pass their remaining spins to the opponent with the higher score (or their choice of opponent if both scores are tied) if they so desire. Contestants who receive spins passed to them must play those spins, unless they land on a Whammy, at which point the remaining passed spins are combined with that contestant's total of earned spins (if any remain).
The largest cash amounts remained $1,500 in Round 1 and $5,000 + One Spin in Round 2. The board still featured a "BIG BUCKS" square which advanced the contestant to the biggest cash square on the board.
Unlike the original series (and Second Chance before it), there were no returning champions. If any contestants won the game with $0 and less than four Whammies, they were allowed to participate again in a future show, although only one contestant actually did so.
The second "Big Board" round played like the classic series, but if two or all three contestants tied in terms of money totals, the contestant with the fewest spins played first; like the classic series, contestants tied in terms of money and spins resulted in the contestant to the furthest left playing first. During the second round, the dollar amounts and prizes shown on the squares were rotated in a much different fashion. Rather than changing all of the squares' contents at the same time, they changed six squares at a time in one-third of the cycle time, thereby making the second round a bit harder by providing the illusion that the board was moving faster than it actually was (each individual square actually changed at the same rate as in Round 1), something that the classic series never did (except in the case of a minor malfunction). Unlike the classic series, Whammy! generated random prizes, Whammies, and light patterns for each space on the Big Board using a personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
, running at a speed of 200 MHz, as well as a very large number of patterns for game play, to prevent memorization of patterns.
In line with technological changes, the Whammies were animated in 3-D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
, created by computer animation studio WIT Animation, instead of being hand-drawn as on the original series. Animations continued to feature humorous antics or spoofs of then-relevant pop culture (e.g., Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
, N'Sync, Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, etc.).
Special spaces
Like Press Your Luck, Whammy! had its own special spaces. Some were similar to those on the original, while some were completely new. For instance, since the board was no longer in a strictly square shape, "Pick-A-Corner" was now "Pick-A-Prize". When "Pick-A-Prize" was hit, all prizes on the board when the space was landed on lit up simultaneously, and the contestant had their choice of any one of them.Directional spaces could now move the light up to four spaces. In addition, "Move One Space" could have three choices to pick from.
"$2,000 or Lose-A-Whammy" also remained on the board in Round 2.
The "+ ONE SPIN" spaces (except for "Double Your $$ + One Spin") were used only in the final round, and they were also accompanied by "or SPIN AGAIN" spaces; when one was hit, the contestant chose to take either the stated cash amount or another spin on the board without using up one of their "earned" spins. The first season featured $1,000 as the cash amount, while the second season used $555.
The new "Double Whammy" space worked like a regular Whammy with an additional physical prank (e.g., one Double Whammy animation featured the Whammy wrestling with an out-of-control water hose; after the animation finished, a hidden nozzle rose from the contestant's podium and squirted the contestant with water).
On most episodes of the first season, a GEM Car
Global Electric Motorcars
Global Electric Motorcars , a wholly owned subsidiary of Polaris Industries, is a U.S. manufacturer in the low-speed vehicle category, producing neighborhood electric vehicles since 1998 and has sold more than 45,000 GEM battery-electric vehicles worldwide as of December 2010.Until June 2011, GEM...
was available as a prize. However, it was extremely difficult to win, as a contestant had to hit a special "GEM" space in Round 1, then hit a special "CAR" space in Round 2 (the "spin again" decision was given on these spaces), then win the game, all without hitting a Whammy. In the second season, the same two-space mechanic was used for a Suzuki Aerio SX
Suzuki Aerio
The Suzuki Aerio is a compact car that was built by Suzuki Motor Corporation. It was introduced in 2001 as a replacement for the Suzuki Esteem/Baleno, with a tall 5-door SX model hatchback and a 4-door sedan body...
, where the two special spaces showed the front and the back halves of a car key. These halves were lost if the contestant hit a Whammy, but added to the Big Bank.
A new feature called "Big Bank" was added for the second season. The Big Bank on each episode began with $3,000, and any cash and prizes that the contestants lost after a Whammy was hit were added into the bank. Additionally, if a player was holding one or both halves of the car key and subsequently hit a Whammy, the key halves was also added to the bank. If a contestant hit a Big Bank square, the host asked an open-ended general-knowledge trivia question to the contestant, who collected the money and prizes in the bank if the question was answered correctly. Once the Big Bank was claimed by a contestant it was re-staked with $3,000. There were two Big Bank squares in Round 1 and one in Round 2.
Notable contestants
- Jack Benza—Author of So You Wannabe on Reality TV; first appeared on June 7, 2002 and later won the Tournament of Champions (July 25, 2003) with an all-time grand total of $50,111 (including a Suzuki Aerio SX). He later appeared as America's team captain on Trivial Pursuit: America PlaysTrivial Pursuit: America PlaysTrivial Pursuit: America Plays was a syndicated game show loosely based on the board game of the same name. It premiered on September 22, 2008 and aired first-run episodes through May 22, 2009 . The host was Christopher Knight Trivial Pursuit: America Plays was a syndicated game show loosely based...
in 2008 and appeared on both The Price Is RightThe Price Is Right (U.S. game show)The Price Is Right is an American game show which was created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Contestants compete to identify the pricing of merchandise to win cash and prizes. The show is well-known for its signature line of "Come on down!" when the announcer directs newly selected contestants to...
and BaggageBaggage (game show)Baggage is an American dating game show, hosted by Jerry Springer. It premiered on April 19, 2010 on GSN. A syndication test run was shown on a select group of Sinclair Broadcast Group's stations January 10, 2011 and premiered in Australia on April 11, 2011 on the subscription television channel...
in 2010. - Sandy FoxSandy FoxSandra Marie "Sandy" Fox is an American voice actress who has had numerous roles in various animated cartoon and Japanese anime series, and video games....
—Now a voice actress, she won a grand total of $11,337 on May 2, 2002. She later returned for the Tournament of Champions (July 23, 2003), but Whammied out in the finals. - Lex LangLex LangWalter Alexis "Lex" Lang is a two-time Emmy Award–winning American voice actor, producer and entrepreneur. He is the cofounder of The Love Planet Foundation, a non-profit organization which creates educational materials for children on the importance of recycling, world water awareness, and the...
—Anime voice actor and husband of Sandy Fox; he appeared on June 26, 2002 (under the name "Alexis" Lang), but did not win his game. - Skyler StoneSkyler StoneSkyler Stone is an American actor who starred in Con which ran on Comedy Central for two months in the spring of 2005....
—Host of ConCon (TV series)Con was a television series on Comedy Central in which con artist Skyler Stone revealed the secrets of his profession by performing confidence tricks, scams, and hoaxes of various degrees of complexity on camera. These could range from simply claiming that an order for food was botched, to claiming...
on Comedy CentralComedy CentralComedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
, he lost his appearance on the first aired episode (April 15, 2002). Stone was invited back for the special "Tournament of Losers" (July 21, 2003) but lost again – this time losing a near-record $21,989 to the Whammy in his next-to-last spin. Stone was also a contestant (and Top Dog) on Dog Eat DogDog Eat Dog (US game show)Dog Eat Dog is an American game show, which originally ran from June 17, 2002 to August 26, 2003, it is loosely based on the UK version of the show by the same name...
later that year.
Broadcast history
New episodes aired from April 15, 2002 to December 5, 2003, and repeats have continued to air on GSN since production ended.Special episodes
The April 1, 2003 episode featured Graham ElwoodGraham Elwood
Graham Elwood is an American comedian, actor and writer.Elwood hosted the Game Show Network original series Cram and the USA Network and syndicated game show Strip Poker. From October 2006, he appeared in a DirecTV testimonial commercial as "Graham - Customer since '01"...
of Cram
Cram (game show)
Cram is a game show that aired as an original series for GSN in 2003. The show featured two teams, each composed of two contestants. For 24 hours before taping, the contestants were sequestered in a warehouse, with the intent of staying awake and "cramming" various material such as trivia...
guest-hosting, and Newton made an appearance as a "Double Whammy-in-training," with his face featured on Whammy-like "Newton" spaceswhich, when landed on, told of the "prize" the contestant had just "won".
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
Michael Larson
Paul Michael Larson was a contestant on the American television game show Press Your Luck in May 1984 that aired on TV in June 1984. Larson's claim to fame was his winning $110,237 in cash and prizes, at the time the largest one-day total ever won on a game show...
, 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.
July 21, 2003 featured a "Tournament of Losers" episode with three past contestants who had lost their game. The episode's winner also received a trip to Maui in addition to their winnings. 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
Suzuki Aerio
The Suzuki Aerio is a compact car that was built by Suzuki Motor Corporation. It was introduced in 2001 as a replacement for the Suzuki Esteem/Baleno, with a tall 5-door SX model hatchback and a 4-door sedan body...
as a bonus prize in addition to their grand total winnings.