Press Your Luck

Press Your Luck
Created by	Bill Carruthers Jan McCormack
Directed by	Bill Carruthers Rick Stern
Presented by	Peter Tomarken Elizabeth Banks
Narrated by	Rod Roddy Neil Ross Chris Ahearn
Theme music composer	Lee Ringuette
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3 (CBS) 6 (ABC)
No. of episodes	761 (CBS) 65 (ABC)
Production
Executive producer	Bill Carruthers
Producer	Bill Mitchell
Production locations	CBS Television City Hollywood, California
Running time	22 minutes (CBS) 42 minutes (ABC)
Production companies	The Carruthers Company (1983–1986) Brownstone Productions (2019–present) Fremantle (2019–present)
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 19, 1983 (1983-09-19) – September 26, 1986 (1986-09-26)
Network	ABC
Release	June 12, 2019 (2019-06-12) – present

Press Your Luck was an American game show that aired from 1983 to 1986 and later in reruns, and was hosted by Peter Tomarken. The three contestants on each show would earn spins by answering questions that they could later use on "The Big Board". On the board, they could earn thousands of dollars in cash and prizes but had to beware of the Whammy, a cartoon demon who stole players' money and prizes. If a Whammy was hit, the contestant lost all earnings up to that point. Four Whammies took a player out of the game. The winner returned on the next show.

The show came back on the air in 2002 on Game Show Network as Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck. It featured a new "Big Bank" feature, which gave the player a chance to earn all the money and prizes lost to the Whammy. It was hosted by Todd Newton and ran until 2003.

The original version of Press Your Luck was called Second Chance, which aired on television in 1977. Instead of the Whammy, players had to face a cartoon "Devil." It was hosted by Jim Peck, but did not last very long.

ABC Revival

The show returned to ABC in 2019 with actress Elizabeth Banks as the host and is due to make its seventh season premiere on July 9,2026. In the 2019 series, the contestant who wins with the highest amount of money goes to a bonus round in which the contestant tries to go through 6 rounds and try and win the jackpot prize of $1 million. Chris Ahearn is the announcer and Whammy voice for the current series.

Other websites

• Press Your Luck on IMDb (1983–86) (US)
• Press Your Luck on IMDb (1987–88) (Australia)