Press Your Luck (2019)

Press Your Luck
Premiere	special premiere June 11, 2019 regular premiere June 12, 2019
Creator	Bill Carruthers
Based on	the original series created by Jan McCormack
Host	Elizabeth Banks
Network/Provider	ABC (USA) Citytv (Canada)
Style	60-minute game show
Company	Brownstone Productions, Fremantle North America, Blue Orbit Inc.
Seasons	5
Episodes	50 (through season 5)
Status	Currently in limbo, has not yet been renewed or cancelled.
Origin	USA

Press Your Luck, a remake of the 80s game show, is a game of wits, strategy and even higher stakes as contestants try to avoid the iconic and devilish WHAMMY for a chance at life-changing cash and prizes. During each game, three contestants compete against each other answering questions to earn spins on the Big Board. Contestants then use their spins to win cash and prizes while trying to avoid the WHAMMY, who could take all of their winnings and leave them with nothing. The winning contestant moves on to the All-New Bonus Round to face the WHAMMY in a final battle for the chance to win a fortune.

The first part of the game is vintage Press Your Luck as contestants are asked questions. Players with a correct answer buzzing in gets three spins, while the other two get one spin for getting a correct answer on multiple choice. Three questions are played in the first round and four are played in the second. The players face the Big Board where the money and prize values are significantly larger. The top money window is $5,000 in round one and $10,000 in round two. As usual, landing on a Whammy wipes out contestants' accumulated wealth and four Whammys knock a player out of the game.

The winner keeps any money and prizes and plays a bonus game, taking spins in up to six rounds (reduced to five rounds in season two as it was nigh impossible for anyone to reach the objective). Five spins must be taken in the first, four in the second, and so on. The "Big Bucks" window increases exponentially with each round as do the prizes (select ones tailored to the contestant) and the Whammies. The contestant may stop after each round and leave with what he/she has with the winnings reduced to zero upon hitting a Whammy. Should the contestant reach the final round, the Big Bucks Bonanza goes into effect with $100,000 + One Spin and every Big Bucks value in the bonus round placed on the board. Winnings in the front game are not at risk. Four Whammies end the bonus game. If the contestant reaches a score of $500,000, it is automatically increased to a total of $1 million.

The Whammies used on the special preview premiere were the Bachelor, Oprah Winfrey, Crocodile Dundee, the Wicked Queen from Snow White, Short order cook Whammy, Mission: Impossible, "Kiss your money goodbye," and the Jackhammer Whammy (from the original show). Season two saw the return of two windows from the original show, "Add-A-One" and "Double Your $$ + One Spin" (this will reflect only cash accumulations while prize values will remain undoubled).

Season two, while recorded earlier in the year, had been stretched out with reruns due to the Coronavirus situation. Nine new episodes aired in season two with one episode unaired (that episode aired July 28, 2021). A new space has been added to the board in season three, "Take The Lead + One Spin." The contestant hitting that space takes a $1 lead over the top scorer. Season four presented a new square in the bonus round, "Prize-A-Palooza," where the contestant scores every prize showing on the board when it is stopped. Season five introduced a new square, "The Big 40," in commemoration of the show's 40th anniversary of its TV debut. A contestant hitting it gets 40 of an undisclosed prize (disclosed upon being hit).

Crew

Member	Role	Duration
Support Staff		1	2	3	4	5
Neil Ross	Announcer	*	*	*	*	*
Frank Welker	Whammy voices	*	*	*	*	*

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale				#
ABC
Season One	June 12, 2019	August 7, 2019				8
Season Two	May 31, 2020	October 29, 2020				9
Season Three	May 26, 2021	September 15, 2021				12
Season Four	July 7, 2022	December 22, 2022				12
Season Five	October 10, 2023	February 1, 2024				10

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

DVD Releases

There are no DVD releases for this show.