I am not surprised that the four Christmas-themed episodes were going to be skipped in favor of the first full week of 1986. I did agree with Vahan's theory, but I had to see it to believe it. I would not be surprised if Christmas and New Year's weeks of Press Your Luck end up being reserved for the 2014 holiday season, and likely the same for Eubanks' Card Sharks and maybe The $25,000 Pyramid. But in either event, I really am glad that GSN has finally started to air the 1986 episodes. I did learn that the early 1986 episodes did air on USA in early 1989 - was that the last time the early 1986 episodes aired on USA, or have they been rebroadcast on USA since?
I do have to admit, it is great to finally get to see the Willie Nelson and Barbershop Quartet Whammy animations in pretty good quality. And the audio of the Barbershop Quartet Whammy does sound familiar - doesn't it sound similar to the audio file used in Curt King's PYL game?