"These three players are after Big Bucks, but they will have to avoid the Whammy!, as they play the most exciting game of their lives!"This will be one of the rare game show write-ups where I don't have to saw much about the game. Who doesn't know Press Your Luck? The game was always in four sections:
Part 1: 4 questions asked to get spins
Part 2: First time around the big board - prizes were awful at this stage ("a Sewing Machine!"). You use your spins to "randomly" stop the board on a prize square. If it is a Whammy, you lose everything!
Part 3: 4 more questions to get spins
Part 4: The final time at the big board; prizes here were 5x as nice as the first round.
The key square to stop on, of course, was the "BIG BUCKS" square - that sent you to the highest dollar value on the board. That caused a lot of yelling and hollering and jumping!
If you knew nothing about the 1980s, I think this game show explains a lot about popular culture at the time. Bright neon colors everywhere! Big hair for all the contestants! Never ending cash grabs! And the debut of Rod Roddy!
Who could forget the horrible sound effect music played when the board was in movement. "doo doo dee doo doo dee doo doo......" I'm sure this music was the inspiration for the robot dance craze of the 80s.
Peter Tomarken was a good host - I wouldn't call him excellent; he seemed way too smarmy at times. Also, if there was a contestant he didn't like, you could sense some joy in his narration when he said "STOP....at a Whammy......"Speaking of Whammy, we all remember the 5 second animation "skits" that were played when the Whammy came up. An animated Whammy appeared on the player's scoreboard and made a cheesy saying ("I cannot tell a lie.... YOU LOSE!") or dressed up as Tina Turner to sing while your money was taken away. I have to admit, this did not go stale, as the writers came up with 30-40 skits at least to use when the Whammy appeared.
Anyway, some more random notes on Press Your Luck:
- You could pass your spins at any time; the person that received your passed spins had to take them. However even I couldn't figure out the rules on who they went to . If you were in 1st, the spins you pass would go to the person in 2nd....if you were in 2nd and you passed, the spins went to the person in 1st....I never understood that. If you were the guy in 3rd, I guess you were just screwed.
- This is one of the very few game shows without a bonus round at the end. I guess the producers thought the final round on the big board was climatic enough that no additional tension was needed. They were porbably right!
- If a contestant got 4 whammies over the two rounds, you were eliminated. So there was some strategy/risk in the first round if someone got 2 whammies. Do you keep going, or pass so you don't risk a 3rd whammy? Would love to have seen how Rich Kotite or Andy Reid would have handled this.
- Did you know someone figured out the "pattern" of the Press Your Luck screen? yes! An unemployed truck driver from Southwest Ohio (!!!!) memorized the pattern of the screen and was able to win $110,000 on an early episode. He is my hero! CBS tried to accuse him of cheating - but, of course, it's not cheating if you figure out the pattern of the lights! Here's the Wikipedia link for more.
- At the end of the show, Tomarken would read a poem sent in by a reader that referenced the whammys and was suppossedly "funny". The author was usually an 11-year old boy from Monkton, MD or a 43-year-old housewife from Peoria, IL.
Some may say the Browns are trying to Press their luck by bringing McCown back to start in Week 3 after Johnny's win last week. Are we going against our week 2 pattern and hitting the buzzer earlier and risk getting a whammy? I am for the decision. If McCown was our starter week 1 - and he was - and he's ready to go week 3, he starts. We are 1-1 , the season is not over, and there's a good chance if we win we will be tied for the division lead. You play the QB that has the best chance to win. It's still September.
Don't worry- this is the Browns - Johnny will have plenty more opportunities to start this year. We will either be 2-7, or McCown will imitate Don Beebe and land on his head and be taken off for precautions, etc. etc. I'm sure, for one reason or another, Johnny will be in there for week 7 and we will be able to evaluate Manziel. And if not, that means we will be 5-2 or so!
On to the games for week 3:
Bal 30, Cin 27. This has to be a kitchen sink game for the Ravens - lose this, they go to Pit on Thu night looking at 0-4 and then a tough division game after that. I can't see them losing here, alothough Cincinnati is the better team.
Car 24, NO 17. I think all those people who jumped on the Carolina bandwagon when Bree's injury was announced will be shocked at how close this game will be. Where, exactly, is Carolina's offense?
Dal 20, Atl 17. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Weeden and all that. But I'm not sure Atlanta is good offensively. They have Jones - and nothing else.
Hou 23, TB 10. I'm sticking with my gut on a blowout when a good defense meets Winston. And the Texans are desperate.
SD 24, Min 21. I can't get a handle on these two teams yet; I'll pick the team with more offensive weapons.
NE 27, Jax 20. I'm not going to call the upset or anything, but I think NE is a bit 'soft" physically. Pittsburgh ran all over them in the opener. And we've seen this plenty of times before - NE, at home, simply does not get up against inferior teams.
NYJ 20, Phi 16. Too scared to pick anything here. The Eagles can't be this bad, can they? If the Eagles don't turn it over, will the Jets reach 20???
Stl 31, Pit 27. Let's be clear, Pit's defense is a shambles. StL has the advantage on each of the lines here to win the battle in the trenches. Both teams will score.
Ind 24, Ten 20. Should be a lot of sacks in this game - both o lines have problems. Should be a lot closer than people think.
Az 30, SF 17. As seen last week, I think SF is very vulnerable to a precise passing attack - something Pittsburgh excels at and Minnesota did not have at all week 1. Arizona is very much like Pittsburgh and I think they will move the ball easily.
Buf 20, Mia 13. I'm now on record for 3 weeks with my dislike of Miami. What have they been doing well?
Sea 30, Chi 17. A blah game. I don't think Seattle's D is good enough to shut the Bears completely down, and their offense is not firing on all cylinders yet.
Den 24, Det 16. I just remember how easily Rivers moved the ball vs. the Lions week 1 - that's the blueprint for Manning here! How will the Lions score against that Denver D?
GB 23, KC 20. How many big games can the Packers get up for? Opener vs. their rival Chi, Sunday night at home vs. Seattle...and now this? Kansas City has the D to put pressure on Rodgers and slow them down.
Best bets: 14 of them. Last week: 10-5; overall: 17-11
Cin/Bal over 44 1/2
Dal +1
Atl/Dal under 43 1/2
Hou -6.5
TB/Hou under 40 1/2
SD +1
Jax +13.5
StL +1
Pit/StL over 48 1/2
Az -6.5
Buf +2.5
Buf/Mia under 41 1/2
Den -3
KC +6.5
Supercontest picks: Last week: 4-1; overall: 7-3
Dal +2
Hou -6.5
Jax +13.5
Az -6.5
KC +6.5
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