[quote name=\'ITSBRY\' date=\'Apr 14 2005, 10:06 AM\']Was it as compelling as the original?...NO. How could it be? The original was a cult classic and I don't think it could ever have standed a chance at being the same again. Much of it was the era...the early 80's 'glitz' was just cool! TV is not like that now. As much as we like our classics, that's just not how TV works today. I think they did everything they could to create a modern version while still keeping the show as close to the original as possible.
Whammy's first season was a little rough for me. I enjoyed the show just cuz it was cool to see it back, but there were tweaks that it still needed. The board sound was barely audible and the audience was too loud. Todd was a bit loud too, but from what I've heard, it was genuine excitement not smarmy host stuff. I grew to enjoy him as host.
The 'chicken' round IMO was a brilliant update to the game. It changes the game without changing its premise. Very cool idea and a great way to get the viewer pulled in right away. I never had problems with the double whammys. It was a gimmick, but the whammy itself is a gimmick so who cares?
The second season fixed just about EVERYTHING that was wrong with the first. The new board config, the board sounds, the BIG BANK...all great additions to the game. The only enduring flaw was the loud audience. They seemed to overpower the game many times. One of the great things about PYL was that 'hush' when the player was spinning.
I think had Whammy! been given a longer run, we would have seen more tweaks and ultimately a better show.
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I guess it's my turn now. As the still running NetPYL host (with a great new team in Wannagat and Brobeck), I'm obligated to speak.
Let's look at this all from several levels.
ITEM 1: THE NAME
For years & years to this day, when I ask someone if they remember
Press Your Luck, the first thing I hear is either: "Oh, that was with those Whammy guys, right?" or "Big bucks, no Whammies!" Simply put, the name stuck out, so people remembered it first. Therefore, calling the show
Whammy only made sense. But they still acknowledged the original name in the title, so it fits.
ITEM 2: TODD NEWTON
One day, Mandel, I want to see those pilots! It's the only thing we have left!
Let's face it, when we heard about the remake, we all wanted Tomarken back at the helm. His personality defined the show, and the rep he earned still carries with him years after. But I was not dissapointed with Todd AT ALL. Seeing his run on
Hollywood Showdown, a lot of us agreed then that he had the funny improvisational personality we hadn't seen in a long time, and he kept the game moving like the pros of old, too. That combination was key to hosting PYL right, and Todd proved that he had it. Of today's hosts, it wouldn't have worked with anyone else (as Graham proved with his over-the-top style).
ITEM 3: THE GAME
When you think about it, not much was changed here. Round 1 was the big change, with the "chicken" element. There was actually an upside to that format, in that you could only have 1 Whammy, which prevented more games from ending early due to a lot of busts at the start of the game.
Probably the biggest thing that got me down was that the number of questions was reduced from 8 to 5 (not counting Big Bank). I had always thought of ways to INCREASE the # of questions if I had been in charge of a remake, but what can you do. The game's what we remembered, so they just put it in the forefront more.
(TO BE CONTINUED...)
(Ooo... makes this post kinda Larson-esque...)
