Press Your Luck is looking for contestants

[tyshaun1]

Vulture posted an article this morning. Both Press Your Luck and Card Sharks will premiere on ABC sometime this summer. PYL will feature a new bonus round where the winner goes head-to-head against the Whammy.

https://www.vulture.com/2019/03/press-your-luck-card-sharks-reboots-abc.html

Based on what I've read so far, it looks like PYL will be a 1 hour show, whereas Card Sharks will be 2 half hours.

Via BuzzerBlog for Card Sharks: "The
road to glory and riches begins with two players who face off in a head-to-head elimination game with the goal of one player making it to the grand prize winning deck. The anticipation builds as each contestant has to decide if the odds are worth the risk of losing it all and making it to the big game. Ultimately, players can either take their earned cash and quit or continue betting with the hope of reaching the top for a chance to take home a life-changing cash prize."

Tyshaun

[Neumms]

I like that on PYL, all risks were strategic. It wasn’t High Rollers, where the prizes couldn’t help you win the contest. It was Jeopardy for Dummies!

The bonus round as described blows that up. It’s like the occasions when someone plays against the house because the other two whammied out. It was fun because it rarely happened, but it wasn’t great TV.

I suppose it’s there so they can promote higher stakes without necessarily paying them out, but what a shame it makes “the most exciting game of their lives!” anti-climactic.

[WarioBarker]

...A bonus round for Press Your Luck? Seriously? No. Just...just no. Shoehorning a player-against-the-house endgame in there just screams "We don't understand what makes this show work."

What happens in this format if a player still has spins remaining after their opponent(s) Whammy-Out? Or is Whammying-Out no longer gonna be a thing in order to avoid that situation?

If you want to do a bonus thing for the winner, do what the old show did at the end of the November '85 Home Viewer Sweepstakes - one spin on an all-cash board for a home viewer, amount hit gets multiplied by the total spins earned during Round 2.

but what a shame it makes “the most exciting game of their lives!” anti-climactic.

"Today, these players are after big bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy as they play for a chance at the most exciting endgame of their lives!" ...Yeah, that doesn't quite work as well.

Ultimately, players can either take their earned cash and quit or continue betting with the hope of reaching the top for a chance to take home a life-changing cash prize.

That kinda sounds like the Money Cards, but with an "OMG PRIMETIME!" twist that completely ruins the point. Yes, the British and New Zealand Play Your Cards Right had a quit-or-risk option in the Money Cards, but that was at the very end for a bonus prize and wasn't guaranteed to come into play. This description sounds like every single card will have a quit-or-risk option.

[tvwxman]

<DISCLAIMER> I've officially turned into one of those old people who complains about change before I've seen a show. <END DISCLAIMER>

Part of the thrill, to me, of these ABC prime time shows, is that they've changed very little, other than money amounts. The game has not changed at all.

With these two, that's not the case. I'm not sure I like that.

Card Sharks surveys work the same way Feud's work: You can play along at home. Otherwise you're watching people call cards. Is that worth an hour of my time?

And I agree with the bonus round for PYL....why? What does it add?

Dang. I hate poo-pooing before it's been taped...but I hope these producers stick to the tried-and-true formats. Just my opinion.

[gamed121683]

<DISCLAIMER> I've officially turned into one of those old people who complains about change before I've seen a show. <END DISCLAIMER>

Part of the thrill, to me, of these ABC prime time shows, is that they've changed very little, other than money amounts. The game has not changed at all.

With these two, that's not the case. I'm not sure I like that.

Card Sharks surveys work the same way Feud's work: You can play along at home. Otherwise you're watching people call cards. Is that worth an hour of my time?

And I agree with the bonus round for PYL....why? What does it add?

Dang. I hate poo-pooing before it's been taped...but I hope these producers stick to the tried-and-true formats. Just my opinion.

Why am I suddenly getting flashbacks of “Match Game ‘98” around here?

[WarioBarker]

Card Sharks surveys work the same way Feud's work: You can play along at home. Otherwise you're watching people call cards. Is that worth an hour of my time?

You never know - they could decide that surveys are too hard and bring back the Clip Chips.

[TLEberle]

Why am I suddenly getting flashbacks of “Match Game ‘98” around here?

No idea. Give it a chance.

[BrandonFG]

Ultimately, players can either take their earned cash and quit or continue betting with the hope of reaching the top for a chance to take home a life-changing cash prize."

Like Matt, I don't wanna judge a book by its cover, so these are all hot takes from the blurbs I've read.

Assuming I'm reading this correctly, contestants risk their front-game winnings during the bonus round. Meh. It didn't sit right with me in 2001, it doesn't sit right 18 years later. I noticed Scott St. John and Jack Martin-who worked on Deal or No Deal-also work on the new Card Sharks. The "quit or continue betting yada yada yada life-changing cash prize" description kinda gave me D/ND vibes. I'm willing to wait till summer, but I hope it doesn't go the D/ND route with manufactured drama and obnoxious stereotypical contestants.

[TimK2003]

The only "bonus game" I could see working on the new PYL that wouldn't stray to far from past PYL history is using the first round format from Whammy -- Perhaps after each spin, add more whammies and add bigger dollar amounts.  Reach a certain cash level whammy-free and the 'bonus prize' is also  won.

Of course the champion can freeze at any time and take what they have at that point.

[Jeremy Nelson]

...A bonus round for Press Your Luck? Seriously? No. Just...just no. Shoehorning a player-against-the-house endgame in there just screams "We don't understand what makes this show work."

What happens in this format if a player still has spins remaining after their opponent(s) Whammy-Out? Or is Whammying-Out no longer gonna be a thing in order to avoid that situation?

If you want to do a bonus thing for the winner, do what the old show did at the end of the November '85 Home Viewer Sweepstakes - one spin on an all-cash board for a home viewer, amount hit gets multiplied by the total spins earned during Round 2.

but what a shame it makes “the most exciting game of their lives!” anti-climactic.

"Today, these players are after big bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy as they play for a chance at the most exciting endgame of their lives!" ...Yeah, that doesn't quite work as well.

Ultimately, players can either take their earned cash and quit or continue betting with the hope of reaching the top for a chance to take home a life-changing cash prize.

Chill the eff out. You're spazzing out over a press release, and we've got to be at a point where we're giving Millsy and everyone over at ABC the benefit of the doubt.

The only "bonus game" I could see working on the new PYL that wouldn't stray to far from past PYL history is using the first round format from Whammy -- Perhaps after each spin, add more whammies and add bigger dollar amounts.  Reach a certain cash level whammy-free and the 'bonus prize' is also  won.

Of course the champion can freeze at any time and take what they have at that point.

Sooooooo Face the Whammy?

[weaklink75]

If they plan to make it a full hour (and not 2 half-hours like Pyramid or MG), here's an idea on what might work:

-3 players play what would be called a 1st round (board values range between $500-$5000 or so with one or two things over that)

-3 more players play another 1st round

-2 winners play the 2nd round (their scores and their Whammies carry over- board values range between $1000-$10000 or so with one or two over that)

-Winner keeps whatever they have and goes to bonus round

-Bonus round: 1st spin no Whammies, each additional spin more Whammies added

-Player can't stop until after 3rd spin or they hit a Whammy- they can continue after 1 Whammy, but a 2nd one ends the game and they get no extra money.

-Values increase as game goes on- 1st and 2nd spins are like finals (mostly $1K-$10K with some outliers), 3rd and 4th spins go to $25K (or a car) with nothing under 3K, 5th spin and later has $50K top value (and nothing under 10K).

-Odds of hitting a Whammy are:

Spin 1- Zero
Spin 2- 1 in 6 (the same as the normal game)
Spin 3- 1 in 5
Spin 4- 1 in 4
Spin 5+- 1 in 3

This way you have the excitement of the 2nd round all the time (since you know you have to win the first round to get to the 2nd, and have to win the 2nd to keep the money and go to the bonus)

[Joe Mello]

Either I needed to go to bed sooner or I achieved galaxy brain-level understanding because my first thought on reading

where the winner goes head-to-head against the Whammy.

was "how is that different than the rest of the show?"

/Betting heavily on the former
//agree in principle that the format doesn't need a bonus game
///would also argue that the spin rounds *were* the bonus game

[TLEberle]

Before arguing the philosophical point of "Does Press Your Luck really need a further end game?" let's assume that the show uses the Game Show Marathon rubric in terms of prize money on offer. (Yes, I think that having $5k and a spin as Big Bucks is fine, but final totals in the range of $15,000 are treated as a consolation prize on $100,000 Pyramid.) Someone who has just won $50,000 or more is going to be ecstatic about the triumph--having them then switch their brain over to a further bonus game will complicate things. A victory that adds a further $100k isn't going to get that much bigger of a reaction out of the champion/crowd/home viewers, and a loss will be treated like not finding the "CAR" card on Card Sharks '87. Moderately disappointing, but maybe coming on the heels of a big win in the Money Cards.

Press Your Luck is probably in the lower five percent of game shows that I would resurrect in the first place, but that doesn't mean it has to be mounted stupidly.

[chrisholland03]

It could always take the 'Dealer's Choice' twist where they're playing for points tiered prizes, and a bonus for cash.

[pacdude]

If I was a betting man, I'd say that PYL's end game will not put any of the winner's main game at risk; it'll be a bonus round in the truest sense of the word. I'm also willing to bet that they're not just doubling values from the classic Big Board, they're going to be adding 0s then doubling.