Press Your Luck

Press Your Luck, the 80s hit game show from CBS that's lived in reruns for years, has returned to TV with new episodes after almost 33 years. ABC, which has done a tremendous job in bringing back old game show and modernizing them while keeping the classic feel of the sets and rules, has done it again. So has does PYL hold up in this new era of TV?

The set looks like a brighter, more modern version of the 80s set. It's even taped in CBS Television City like the original! The main rules of the game are the same as before: contestants buzz in to answer trivia questions, with a correct buzz in answer getting 3 spins and correct multiple choices answers 1 spin. The first question round in this new version is three questions instead of four. This was likely due to the new bonus round and more commercials needing to air than they did in the 80s. Contestants take their spins to the board to win cash and prizes and avoid the Whammy, which acts a bankrupt and loses the contestant everything. Contestants play another question round, this time with four questions, and then another board round. The player with the highest total after all the spins wins and plays the bonus round. Like the original, four whammies eliminates you from the game.

The host: I think it's funny some people think Pete Tomarken was in the same category of host as Bob Barker or Alex Trebek. He was not. He was a good host, but not this amazing host. Elizabeth Banks I think does a great job. She's funny, she seems genuinely excited and she keeps the game moving. To those complaining she says "press your luck or pass?" too much, watch an 80s rerun and you'll see Peter doing the same thing.

The board: loaded with tons of cash and prizes. Nice cars, exotic trips, and squares with all the unique cash values like the older version.

The main game: I honestly started getting a little bored with the main game. I soon realized why this game was maybe always a smidge overrated compared to other game shows. It doesn't have the same excitement or pull to it that a game show like Pyramid, Jeopardy or Price is Right has. Maybe this was entertaining to watch in the 80s, but now just watching people hit a button over and over again gets kind of tiring.

The whammy animation: I like that the kept the old hand drawn style of whammy cartoons. I think for the most part they are good.

The bonus round: the best part of this new version and a great way to update a somewhat outdated format. Contestants risk taking a minimum number of spins to rack up cash and prizes, with the chance to win $1 million. Each round they must take the minimum number of spins. After they take them, they can quit with their winnings, or go to the next round, with more money on the board, but also more whammies. Four whammies ends the game. It's actually quite an exciting format and it's very neat that they put prizes on the board for the contestant.

I think adding the bonus round helped refresh a rather aging format of a game show. If it was just the main game, I think most people likely would have gotten bored with it quickly, but this new bonus round adds a wrinkle of excitement.

Overall, a pretty solid revival, but compared to the better game shows out there like Pyramid, Jeopardy and Price is Right, Press Your Luck falls a bit short.

I like the updated show. It keeps the same elements with the big board, the Whammies, and the trivia questions, with the new element of the updated final round. Elizabeth Banks does a decent job of hosting it. I still love the Whammies!

** 1/2 out of ****

The format is ok in the first couple rounds but I don't understand the final round at all. The show would have been better as a half hour show like the original. Also, Elizabeth Banks isn't a great host, would have been better with a different celebrity. As someone else said, her voice is very grating.

Something about Banks brings something emotional to the show that was never there and that's what kept me watching. I was rooting for people then they'd lose it all and since the show offers more to lose now, you really feel it this time around. I certainly feel they did the OG version Justice with a better host and it certainly is better than the 2003 version with a CRAZY whammy board that looked impossible.

ABC has brought this game show back for a second revival, and unlike GSN's take, they are sticking a lot closer to what made the original incarnation great, although it adds a final round that was not needed.

Hosted by Elizabeth Banks (the actress I know better as the voice of Wyldstyle from The Lego Movie), the rules are almost the same as the original, only this time, the winner moves on a bonus round added in where he or she could win one million dollars to add to his or her winnings. To me, this is an uneccesary addition made by ABC to justify having this incarnation run for one hour (if I was in charge, and I wanted to make it an hour, I would actually have the crew get three more contestants to the podiums and play the same game again, as Press Your Luck did not need a final round).

While Elizabeth can be a hit or miss (one joke she cracks involves eating at IHOP everyday if they put the burger in the pancakes after a question based around its IHOB marketing stunt), but everyone knows the real star of the show. No, not Peter Tormarken (although he is a legend), I'm talking more about the infamous Whammy, the one you should avoid if you plan on being a contestant. He is back in his 2D glory and retains the voice from the original show, with the animations for when he appears are a mix of new animations made for this incarnation as well as remastered versions of fan favorite animations from the original show (one of them said to be the Tarzan Whammy animation). Despite the unnecessary bonus round and Elizabeth Banks spurting some lame one-liners, it's a good reboot that retains some of the moment of the original.