News

Protagonist Pictures has unveiled the new drama-thriller Press Your Luck, starring Paul Walter Hauser (Black Bird, Richard Jewell, I, Tonya). The company on Thursday also unveiled a first glimpse at the project, based on the “incredible” true story of Michael Larson, an unemployed ice-cream truck driver from Ohio who steps onto the game show “Press Your Luck” harboring a secret: the key to endless amounts of money. But his winning streak gets threatened when executives in the control room start to uncover his real motivations.

The all-star ensemble cast also includes Walton Goggins (Fallout, The Righteous Gemstones, The Hateful Eight), David Strathairn (Nomadland, Good Night and Good Luck), Maisie Williams (The New Look, Game of Thrones), Haley Bennett (Swallow, The Magnificent Seven), Shamier Anderson (John Wick: Chapter 4, “Invasion”), and David Rysdahl (Fargo, Oppenheimer).

Jackass legend Johnny Knoxville, Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker, Chicago P.D.), Patti Harrison (Theater Camp,...

While the TV production industry deals with an ongoing Actors strike and a resurgence of Covid, television series cancelations continue:

ABC

$100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed)

20/20 (renewed)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed)A Million Little Things (canceled; after Season 5)Bachelor, The (renewed)

Bachelorette, The (renewed)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8) Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card SharksCelebrity Family Feud (renewed)

Conners, The (renewed)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (renewed)

Grand Hotel (canceled; one season)

Goldbergs, The (renewed)

Grey's Anatomy (Season 18)

Great Christmas Light Fight (renewed)

Holey Moley (renewed)

How To Get Away With Murder (canceled; six seasons)

Hustler, The (canceled...

While the TV production industry slowly recovers from ‘Covid-19’, there are still series cancelations due to the pandemic that affected both cast, crew and production scheduling:

ABC

100,000 Pyramid, The (renewed for Season 5)

20/20 (renewed for Season 43)

American Housewife (canceled; five seasons)

American Idol (renewed for Season 5; Season 20 overall)

America's Funniest Home Videos (renewed Season 32)A Million Little Things (renewed Season 4)Bachelor, The (renewed for Season 25)

Bachelorette, The (renewed for Season 16)

Bachelor in Paradise (renewed for Season 7)

Baker and the Beauty (canceled; one season)

Big Sky (renewed for Season 2)Black-ish (canceled; after Season 8)Bless This Mess (canceled; two seasons)Call Your Mother (canceled; one season)Card Sharks (renewed for Season 2)

Celebrity Family Feud (renewed for Season 6)

Conners, The (renewed for Season 4)

Dancing With The Stars (renewed for Season 29)

Don't (canceled; one season)Emergence (canceled; one season)

For Life (canceled; after Season 2)

Fresh Off The Boat (canceled; six seasons)

Good Doctor, The (renewed...

The Stanley Cup just had to go seven games, didn’t it? ABC, CBS and Fox are lamenting the competitiveness of the NHL championship series on NBC this morning, as their own TV ratings certainly suffered as a result.

That said, ABC’s debut of “Card Sharks” and its time-period premiere for “Press Your Luck” still fared pretty well. The season premiere of “Match Game” at 10 was also Ok. We can’t say the same for the series premiere of Fox’s “First Responders Live.”

Due to the nature of live sports, the below fast-national numbers for NBC are subject to significant adjustment. For a better idea of just how good the game did, click here.

Also Read: Historic St Louis Blues Stanley Cup Win Scores Highest NHL Overnight Rating Ever

NBC was first in ratings with a 2.5 rating/13 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 8.2 million,...

Vulture Watch

Do you feel lucky? Has the Press Your Luck TV show been cancelled or renewed for a second season on ABC? The television vulture is watching all the latest cancellation and renewal news, so this page is the place to track the status of Press Your Luck, season two. Bookmark it, or subscribe for the latest updates. Remember, the television vulture is watching your shows. Are you?

What's This TV Show About?

An ABC game show hosted by Elizabeth Banks, Press Your Luck is a primetime revival of the 1980s daytime game show which ran for three seasons on CBS. The series features three contestants squaring off to answer questions, while trying to avoid getting wiped out by the “Whammy,” in a quest to win cash and prizes. Read More…...

Several top unscripted TV executives and producers descended on the Variety TV Summit Wednesday to break down how the genre has impact the entertainment business.

Rob Wade, Fox Entertainment’s president of alternative entertainment and specials, said having successful formats is clearly a good thing, but it does come with drawbacks from an economic point of view. He explained that finding and pushing new IP is essential for moving the cultural conversation forward as well as ensuring a strong bottom line.

“One of the things we need to be aware of is that the deals that were done on shows 10, 15 years ago are not the deals that you do now,” Wade told Variety’s Michael Schneider. “To move forward as a media company, we do need to start controlling more IP. At Fox we’ve started our own production entity and the reason for that is simple economics.”

ABC Entertainment...

In the last few years, ABC has wagered on its primetime game show lineup in a big way. Now the Alphabet Network has revived the Press Your Luck TV show, which was created by Bill Carruthers and Jan McCormack and ran on CBS from 1983 to 1986 before its cancellation. Will it be a Nielsen ratings winner, or will it get the Whammy? Will Press Your Luck be cancelled or renewed for season two? Stay tuned.

An ABC game show from executive producers Jennifer Mullin and John Quinn, Press Your Luck is hosted by Elizabeth Banks. The series features three contestants squaring off to answer questions while trying to avoid getting wiped out by the “Whammy,” in a quest to win cash and prizes.

Read More…...

Facing atypical competition from a displaced-by-the-NBA-finals Bachelorette on ABC, NBC’s summer stalwart America’s Got Talent was off a tenth in the demo from last week but again won Tuesday night in viewers and 18-49.

The Bachelorette did Ok in its temporary Tuesday home against stiff competition, down -0.2 in 18-49 from its most recent Monday outing. The reality veteran was used to launch a new ABC game show revival, Press Your Luck, which drew respectable numbers. The Bachelorette and Press Your Luck combined to give ABC its best summertime Tuesday in both viewers and 18-49 since 2016.

NBC’s own new summer reality entry, Songland mirrored lead-in Agt’s ratings performance, down a tenth in the demo from last week. NBC once again won the night in viewers and 18-49.

CBS’ summer drama series Blood & Treasure...

Facing stiffer, special competition this particular Tuesday night, CBS’ Blood & Treasure delivered 3.8 million total viewers and a 0.4 demo rating, slipping 12 and 20 percent to mark season lows with Episode 5.

Said competition came from ABC, which opened its night with an NBA Finals-pushed episode of The Bachelorette (4.7 mil/1.3) followed by a special premiere for Press Your Luck (3.2 mil/0.8, TVLine reader grade “B”), which combined to give the network its best summertime Tuesday in nearly three years.

The Bachelorette was down two tenths from its most recent Monday outing, while Press Your Luck improved on the sitcom reruns (1.8 mil/0.5) that filled the...

ABC brought back “Press Your Luck” on Tuesday, when the revival’s debut mostly avoided any [insert Whammy sound here].

The classic game show and its “Bachelorette” lead-in were still not enough to overtake NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” and “Songland.”

Also of particular note last night, Telemundo was able to finish third among adults 18-49, topping CBS and Fox. While Fox was all reruns, CBS did air one original show.

Also Read: Curtains: Tony Awards Settle for All-Time Low in Key Demo Ratings and Total Viewers

NBC was first in ratings with a 1.3 rating/7 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 7.7 million, according to preliminary numbers. “Agt” from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. posted a 1.5/8 and 9.3 million viewers. “Songland” at 10 had a 0.9/5 and 4.4 million viewers.

ABC was second in ratings with a 1.1/6 and third in viewers with 4.2 million. “The Bachelorette” from 8-10 put up a 1.3/7 and 4.7 million viewers.

It is, more than ever, “game on” for ABC this Wednesday night, as the newly launched Press Your Luck revival leads into a new hand of Card Sharks and then the summertime run of Match Game (airing at 10/9c).

What’s behind this game show revival craze, aside from a need to help people recover from Daenerys Targaryen’s reign of terror? And does Match Game‘s host ever have private thoughts about the more, um, eclectic contestants? TVLine spoke with Alec Baldwin about those topics and others, including 30 Rock‘s psychic powers, why the [Blank] his own wife is doing Match Game,...

ABC debuted game show Press Your Luck on Tuesday night and got a definite upgrade in the ratings over previous summer fare in its time period.

The Elizabeth Banks-hosted revival of the 1980s show drew a 0.8 rating among adults 18-49 and 3.2 million viewers, well ahead of the premiere of docuseries The Last Defense (0.5, 2.7 million) in the 10 p.m. Tuesday slot last year. Press Your Luck and a Tuesday airing of The Bachelorette (1.3 in 18-49, 4.71 million viewers) — which was bumped from its usual Monday spot by the NBA Finals ...

How lucky do you feel to be watching the first season of the Press Your Luck TV show on ABC? As we all know, the Nielsen ratings typically play a big role in determining whether a TV show like Press Your Luck is cancelled or renewed for season two. Unfortunately, most of us do not live in Nielsen households. Because many viewers feel frustration when their viewing habits and opinions aren't considered, we'd like to offer you the chance to rate all of the Press Your Luck season one episodes here.

An ABC game show hosted by Elizabeth Banks, Press Your Luck is a primetime revival of the 1980s daytime game show which ran for three seasons on CBS. The series features three contestants squaring off to answer questions, while trying to avoid getting wiped out by the "Whammy," in a...

Having previously revived Match Game and $100,000 Pyramid (among others), ABC this week is giving two more classic game shows a contemporary spin. First up, Press Your Luck got a sneak preview on Tuesday night. Does it deserve big props, or a Whammy?

TV’s latest iteration of Press Your Luck is at first familiar… and then a bit new. To start things off, trivia questions are lobbed in the direction of three players, and the first response (if there is one) gets bundled with two other possible answers as a multiple choice question. Players then win a number of spins...

In late 1983, when the CBS morning game show Press Your Luck first came on the air, a 35-year-old Mister Softee ice-cream truck driver from Ohio named Michael Larson saw the chance of a lifetime. He’d spent months watching game shows looking for one he could crack. When he noticed a major flaw in the way Luck's game board operated, he boarded a bus to L.A.

Larson arrived in May 1984 so broke, when he appeared on the show, he was wearing a thrift store shirt he’d bought down the block from CBS’ Television City. The game ...

Another television season is officially in the books, with dozens of September-to-May series off the air until cooler weather returns.

But TV’s summer hiatus ain’t the dead zone it used to be. On the contrary, the months of June, July and August now boast plenty of their own quality programming — and we don’t just mean returning favorites like Pose, Big Little Lies and The Handmaid’s Tale.

Rather, we’d like to recommend 16 new series, both scripted and unscripted, that can fill your DVR in the weeks ahead. Among the summer fare we’re looking forward to...

Game show fans are in luck. ABC jut announced they are airing a special early premiere of Press Your Luck on June 11th.

Hosted by Elizabeth Banks, the game show follows three contestants as they “compete against each other answering questions to earn spins on the Big Board. Contestants then use their spins to win cash and prizes while trying to avoid the Whammy, who could take all of their winnings and leave them with nothing.” The original series ran from 1983 to 1986.

Read More…...

Elizabeth Banks is coming to ABC. The network just announced the Wet Hot American Summer star will host the upcoming Press Your Luck series revival.

The game show follows three contestants as they "compete against each other answering questions to earn spins on the Big Board. Contestants then use their spins to win cash and prizes while trying to avoid the Whammy, who could take all of their winnings and leave them with nothing." The original series ran from 1983 to 1986.

Read More…...

In today’s roundup, Elizabeth Banks is set to host ABC’s new game show “Press Your Luck,” and HBO’s released the first trailer for its upcoming series “The Righteous Gemstones.”

Casting

Elizabeth Banks will now add game show host to her credits as the newly announced host of ABC’s “Press Your Luck” premiering June 12. Produced by Fremantle, the game show will feature three contestants in each episode as they compete for cash and prizes by answering questions and avoiding the Whammy, who can take all their winnings. Banks will also executive produce the show.

First Looks

HBO has released the first trailer for its upcoming original series “The Righteous Gemstones.” Debuting in August, the comedy follows a world-famous televangelist family as they devise greedy schemes to stay at the top of the TV ministry game. The trailer gives a sneak peak of the satirical family played by John Goodman,...

Elizabeth Banks has been set to host Press Your Luck, the latest ABC game show revival that is set to premiere next month. The network in March ordered Press Your Luck and another revival, Card Sharks, both produced by Fremantle. Joel McHale has already been set to host Card Sharks.

The newcomers will will debut back-to-back Wednesday, June 12 at 8 Pm (Press Your Luck) and 9 Pm (Card Sharks).

Created by Bill Carruthers and Jan McCormack, the original Press Your Luck premiered on CBS on September 19, 1983, and ended on September 26, 1986, with Peter Tomarken as the show’s host, Rod Roddy as the primary announcer, and pesky Whammys were the stars. The show was a retooling of the earlier Carruthers production Second Chance, which was hosted by Jim Peck and aired on ABC in 1977.

“Elizabeth Banks is exactly the type of woman we want on ABC – she’s a big star who’s smart,...

ABC has tapped “Pitch Perfect’s” Elizabeth Banks to host its new iteration of the classic game show “Press Your Luck.”

Described as a “game of wits, strategy and even higher stakes,” the rebooted “Press Your Luck” is set to debut on the network on Wednesday, June 12 alongside an updated version of the game show “Card Sharks,” which is hosted by Joel McHale.

“Elizabeth Banks is exactly the type of woman we want on ABC – she’s a big star who’s smart, strong and funny,” ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke said in a statement. “She has everything we need as the host of ‘Press Your Luck,’ one of our signature summer game shows. If anyone can ride herd on the Whammy, it’s Elizabeth!”

Also Read: Summer TV 2019: Complete List of Premiere Dates for New and Returning Broadcast Shows (Updating)

“Press Your Luck” is executive produced by Jennifer Mullin,...

Elizabeth Banks will make some big bucks of her own this summer: The 30 Rock alumna will host ABC’s forthcoming Press Your Luck revival, TVLine has learned.

“Elizabeth Banks is exactly the type of woman we want on ABC — she’s a big star who’s smart, strong and funny,” said Karey Burke, president of ABC Entertainment. “She has everything we need as the host of Press Your Luck, one of our signature summer game shows. If anyone can ride herd on the Whammy, it’s Elizabeth!”

Much like its previous iterations, the Press Your Luck revival will pit three...

ABC’s nostalgic game show block gets a little bigger this summer, and Elizabeth Banks will be there, as the actress and director has boarded the reboot of Press Your Luck as the new host.

Press Your Luck, due back on the air June 12, is a game of wits, strategy, high stakes and strange bankrupting cartoons called “whammies.” Each episode features three contestants making a play for cash and other prizes, though the whammies often get in the way of that.

“Elizabeth Banks is exactly the type of woman we want on ABC,” network entertainment president Karey ...

ABC is ready to play. Deadline reports the network has ordered revivals of the classic game shows Card Sharks and Press Your Luck.

Originally a CBS game show, Press Your Luck pits three contestants against each other by "answering questions to earn spins on the Big Board. Contestants then use their spins to win cash and prizes while trying to avoid the Whammy, who could take all of their winnings and leave them with nothing." The original series ran from 1983 to 1986.

Read More…...

ABC is adding two more classic game show reboots to its lineup.

“Press Your Luck” and “Card Sharks” have been picked up to series at the network and are set to go into production this spring, the network said on Wednesday. No host or premiere dates have been announced.

The Fremantle-produced game shows join a roster which also includes “Celebrity Family Feud,” “$100,000 Pyramid,” “Match Game” and “To Tell the Truth.”

Also Read: Jimmy Fallon's 'Tonight Show' Games Are Coming to NBC Primetime With 'That's My Jam' Series Order

“Press Your Luck” first aired in 1983 on CBS, running for three seasons with Peter Tomarken as host. A new version, titled “Whammy!” ran briefly on the Game Show Network in 2003.

During each game, three contestants compete against each other answering questions to earn spins on the “Big Board” where they could either win cash and prizes or lose all their earnings...

Two more classic game shows are making a return to TV. ABC has ordered revivals of Card Sharks and Press Your Luck. Produced by Fremantle, the shows will go into production this spring. Hosts and premiere dates will be announced soon.

In each game of Press Your Luck, three contestants compete against each other answering questions to earn spins on the Big Board. Contestants then use their spins to win cash and prizes while trying to avoid the Whammy, who could take all of their winnings and leave them with nothing. The winning contestant moves on to the All-New Bonus Round to face the Whammy in a final battle for the chance to win a fortune. John Quinn will serve as showrunner and executive produce, along with Fremantle’s Jennifer Mullin.

Card Sharks features two players who face off in a head-to-head elimination game with the goal of one player...

Melissa McCarthy's Saturday Night Live legacy was already cemented before she started impersonating Sean Spicer this season. But ever since, that reputation has gone into the stratosphere. Rewatching that initial press conference sketch, you can hear the crowd slowly, surely, then ecstatically greet the choice to have McCarthy embody this role. Not having her on the full-time cast has caused some problems, but little has dampened that initial impact.

As the newest member of the Five-Timers Club (after being officially inducted by Steve Martin during the show's farewell segment...

//players.brightcove.net/416418724/default_default/index.min.js

Stephen Fishbach was the runner-up on Survivor: Tocantins and a member of the jury on Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance. He has been blogging about Survivor strategy for People since 2009. Follow him on Twitter @stephenfishbach.

Erik Reichenbach is a comic artist, illustrator, and former Survivor Fan Favorite. See more of his artwork and commissions on Tumblr.com and follow him on Twitter!

“There’s something about him I just don’t trust. So I formed an alliance with him.” â€.Boston Rob Mariano, Survivor: All Stars

Who doesn’t love the Survivor swap?...

Friday, June 8th, 1984 was quite a day. Homosexuality was decriminalized in New South Wales, Australia; an F5 tornado struck the town of Barnevald, Wisconsin, USA, destroying 90% of it; President Ronald Reagan attended a summit in London; the Celtics beat the Lakers 121-103 to take a 3-2 lead in the NBA finals; TV gameshow “Press Your Luck” paid out the biggest ever jackpot (to that point) of $110,000 to one Michael Larson who had figured out how to beat the system; and Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” was poised to knock Deniece Williams’ “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” off the Billboard Charts number one spot. Oh, and modern classics “Ghostbusters” and “Gremlins” were both released. Coming just the week after “Once Upon a Time in America” hit screens, while “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” was still in cinemas and followed a fortnight later by both “The Karate Kid” and “Top Secret!

Miranda Barbour -- the woman who's confessed to dozens of Craigslist killings -- sounds like she thinks she was doing a good thing ... taking out evil dudes willing to molest underage girls. It's shades of "Dexter." Did the character influence her?Plus, Charlie Sheen plays Press Your Luck with his 4th marriage -- this time to ex-porn star Brett Rossi. Is he nuts? Wait, rephrase ... How nuts is Charlie? Tell Us Whatyou Think Other Topics...

The state of TV game shows in the U.S. has been pitiful for some years now, and that’s an ongoing disappointment to those of us who grew up on TV schedules filled with the likes of The $25,000 Pyramid, Scrabble, and Press Your Luck. Yes, stalwarts like The Price Is Right and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? keep chugging along, but there’s not much in the way of decent new quizzer fare. Instead, we get tedious stunt programming like Million Second Quiz, a show whose title accurately evokes the sensation of watching it. One exception ...

Margot Wain has been bumped up to VP Daytime Programs, CBS Entertainment, after serving as Director, Daytime. She reports to Angelica McDaniel, Svp Daytime, CBS Entertainment. In her new position, Wain will continue as the current executive on The Young And The Restless, The Bold And The Beautiful and The Price Is Right, working with writers and producers on all day-to-day creative and strategic elements. Wain has been associated with The Bold And The Beautiful since the daytime drama’s premiere in 1987. She also was involved in Daytime development, working on Press Your Luck and Capitol, and worked on The 25,000 Pyramid, Tattletales and Card Sharks.

Big bucks, expensive vowels, and a million cackling Whammies.

The Daytime Emmys are this Sunday, and for the first time ever, there’s a gay nominee for Best Game Show Host — the marvelous and frightfully funny Billy Eichner. Wahoo! To celebrate, let’s rank the 25 best game shows of all time. Get out your purse and prepare to buy some vowels, gents.

25. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?: Sorry Double Dare, but Carmen Sandiego is the greatest kids’ game ever. It made geography cool while highlighting the glamorous felonies of a femme fatale. I wish more TV shows concluded with the entire cast yelling in unison, “Do it, Rockapella!”

24. Let’s Make a Deal: Carol Merrill and Monty Hall could woo you into anything. Though if you’re already wearing a chicken outfit, you probably don’t need much coercing.

23. Sale of the Century: Jim Perry...

As we come to the end of our fourth round of the TV Roundtable—our panelists’ take on Square Pegs goes up later today, and they’ll take on Press Your Luck next week—it’s time for you folks to jump on in and offer us your suggestions for the readers’ choice pick, the nominees for which will be revealed at this time on Monday. Post in comments with your picks under the theme of interlopers. Look for the sorts of characters who come into the day-to-day lives of the series’ regular characters and point out how ridiculous they ...

Id like to say the former but its definitely the latter. I dont know why the 12 year old me remembers Meridian fondly. This movie was in heavy rotation back in the early 90s on my grandparents old C-Band satellite dish. I remember watching Meridian whenever I could between my grandparents watching The Price Is Right, Barney Miller, Press Your Luck or any other number of random 70s / 80s game shows. Maybe its because I never got to see…...

We rarely associate hotness with game show hosting, but why is that? It takes bravado, rigidity, and charisma to run a good game show, and I'd say the same rubric applies to male strippers and So You Think You Can Dance contestants. In honor of the late Richard Dawson, the original host of Family Feud and an unforgettable Match Game panelist, I'll be tallying the hottest men of televised gaming. Please remember to phrase your cat-calls in the form of question.

10. Jeff Probst, Rock & Roll Jeopardy

Though he only hosted VH1's Jeopardy! spinoff from 1998 to 2001, Jeff Probst's dimpled cuteness and conversational hosting style were enough to substantiate him as a great emcee. Naturally he's better remembered for hosting Survivor for all of its 5,700 cycles, but he looked mighty fine standing behind Trebek's podium.

9. Richard Dawson, Family Feud

Richard Dawson was most known for smooching contestants and calling out "Survey says!

Two old game shows are getting modern face-lifts as of today: Name That Tune is poised for a comeback, and Nickelodeon has ordered 40 episodes of a revamped Figure It Out. But why stop there? There are so many game shows that deserve another chance. Press Your Luck, for starters (though maybe randomize the board this time?), or Classic Concentration? Supermarket Sweep? The less classic but still wonderful Beat the Geeks? Rock and Roll Jeopardy? Legends of the Hidden Temple? Bumper Stumpers? What defunct game show would you revive?...

MTV News' Jim Cantiello offers his first-week take on Simon Cowell's latest singing contest and suggests some upgrades.

By Jim Cantiello

Simon Cowell

Photo: Fox

After a year of hype and the promise of a revamped singing competition that will blow everything else out of the water, Simon Cowell's "X Factor" debuted and turned out to be, at best, "American Idol" in an arena and, at worst, "America's Got Talent" without the jugglers.

Comparisons to other reality competitions are unavoidable, not only because "X Factor" marks the TV return of beloved duo Simon and Paula, but because Cowell has taken elements from many competitive series and put them in a giant blender: the auditions in front of a live audience of "Talent"; the small-town-hero angle of "Idol"; former "Sing-Off "judge Nicole Scherzinger; and an impossibly tall, foreign-born, hug-happy host, à la "So You Think You Can Dance" star Cat Deeley.

If you were anywhere near a television that had cable in the mid-1980s, you saw Better Off Dead. A hundred times.

The best film by Savage Steve Holland, a fringe director and animator (he created Press Your Luck "Whammy!"), Better Off Dead is a mix of teen angst, broad comedy and lengthy trips into the surreal. This manifests itself with a stop-motion hamburger singing Van Halen, a team of Japanese Howard Cosell impersonators and, seared upon the brain of everyone of a certain age, a maniacal paperboy who will stop at nothing to get his two dollars.

So . . .just who is the guy we've been quoting all these years? His name is Demian Slade (he was also Bobby in Back to the Beach), and I had the opportunity to chat with this very good spirited dude in anticipation of Better Off Dead getting its release on Blu-ray. Here are the highlights of that conversation.

8. Chuck Woolery ("Wheel of Fortune," "Love Connection," "Scrabble"): Chuck Woolery was the original host of "Wheel of Fortune," but lost the gig to the smarmy wet blanket, Pat Sajack, after a salary dispute. Almost all of Woolery's episodes have been permanently lost, as NBC had a habit of wiping tapes to save money.

Where Is He Now? The man is over 70, so he's not doing much. His most recent show was "Lingo" on Gsn, which ran from 2002-2007. I don't know where it aired, but in 2003, there was also a reality show that tracked Woolery's daily life.

7. Ray Combs: ("Family Feud"): Combs started out as a warm-up act for sitcoms, including "Amen." He had very little experience when he was selected, but Combs was behind the revitalization of the show, after replacing Richard Dawson. However, after six years, Richard Dawson replaced Combs again. Combs last words on "Family Feud,...

In the one week first milliseconds after the death of Osama Bin Laden, “Osama Is Dead” t-shirts flooded the internet and rickety tables outside sporting events alike, in some cases earning their creators literally hundreds of thousands of dollars. To pay homage to this rare but wonderful marriage of two things I love — the fall of Bin Laden + irredeemably terrible Boardwalk shirts — we’ve compiled this list of the most genuinely patriotic, levelheaded, and inspiring shirtwork to come out of the Osama aftermath with this list of The 40 Classiest “Osama Is Dead” T-Shirts: 40. Wouldn’t this mean France technically killed Bin Laden? 39. This shirt will never age. 38. Might’ve been more convincing if I didn’t want to spoon Obama Squirrel forever. 37. Should he “rest” in Hell, or just like, be on fire there? Mixed messages. 36. That bottom picture is actually just stretched Oj from a leftover “Can The Juice” shirt.

Here is Sean Furfaro 's recap of The Amazing Race, Episode 3.

In last week’s Amazing Race recap, I commented on the ridiculous kangaroo outfits the teams had to wear, and said “I'm sure that Kisha & Jen, Luke & Margie, and Jaime & Cara all had no problem with them, because at least they weren't running around St. Petersburg in their underwear in the winter like last time.”

Remember when Tar went through that phase, where seemingly every other challenge had teams stripping down to their skivvies for Detours and Roadblocks? From winter jogging, to playing giant golf in the wind, to the incredibly awkward “SaunaBuss” (remember That one?), to the Estonian mud volleyball…it seemed like Bertram van Munster just wanted the teams stripping down all season long?

On a side note, that mud volleyball challenge in Estonia will forever remain one of my favourites of all time. Remember how Sam...

With Tsr Buzz, you’ll find links to articles, videos and other random things that will help you waste your time just a little bit more.

I hang with a lot of people with babies, so I’ve seen this clip all over Facebook this last week. But when I finally watched it, I was pretty amused. It’s a trailer for a short experimental film. I now present, “Baby trashes bar in Las Palmas.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cds7lSHawAw

I love game shows. As a kid, I would sit in and watch reruns of Press Your Luck and Tic Tac Dough until my mom made me go outside. So I’m thrilled that CBS has put full, new episodes of The Price is Right online! In other game show news, Supercomputer Watson made news when it beat two former champions on Jeopardy! last week. Now he’s moved on to American Idol.

This is a list of 10 Real But Ridiculous 2011 Super Bowl Prop Bets — all of which have nothing to do with the actual game itself — along with their odds (explained here) and my supremely expert betting advice that is absolutely Guaranteed to win you CA$$$$$H!!! (Not really). Enough brief explaining, let’s get to the bet$: 10. How long will Christina Aguilera hold the note “Brave” at the end of the National Anthem? (Time starts from when she starts saying “Brave” until her the note ends. If she says the full word twice wagers will be No Action.) Over 6 seconds: -140 Under 6 seconds: Even Bet: Under. This is a classic prop bet where the odds are clearly titled towards the more fun/ridiculous option to bet; it’s amusing to bet money that Christina Aguilera will hold a note for a stupidly long amount of time, but is anyone actually...

This first item goes out to one of our favorite readers, Twig, who will be so very heartened to learn that, according to Keanu Reeves, Cowboy Bepop is all but dead, as the script that was turned in would've cost a half a billion dollars, and no studio is going to pay $500 million for a American version of an anime film starring Keanu Reeves. It's the small successes that get us through the days. (Collider)

Peter Morgan, who wrote Frost/Nixon, is now writing a biopic on the rock band Queen. Sacha Baron Cohen, appropriately, has been tapped to play Freddie Mercury. He's kind of perfect for it. (Fun coincidence: Peter Morgan also wrote The Queen). I hope they call it Scaramush. (Deadline)

October 30, 2010. Washington, D.C. Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show's" Rally to Restore Sanity. Be there.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cRally to Restore Sanitywww.

On last night's Daily Show, host Jon Stewart (or as I like to call him, "Respectable #37") eviscerated the White House Press Corps over what he calls "jockeying" for Helen Thomas' front row seat, the Biden BBQ Brouhaha, and the quality of their questions. While the bit was hilarious (I especially loved the reference to whammy-rific game show "Press Your Luck"), I would like to point out a few things.

The cult hit CBS game show 'Press Your Luck' has long been a hotbed of television legends from the pre-celebrity appearances by the likes of talk shot hostess Jenny Jones and Myke Horton aka 'American Gladiator's' Gemini to the unstoppable force that was ice cream truck driver Michael Larson.

One that seems to have fallen under the radar is this epic "spin battle" between two contestants in the final throes of the episode. Both of these mighty Whammy warriors bring their scores to an astronomical amount that could rival the majesty of Mount Olympus, only to come crashing down to game show doom.

Check out this bit of "Game Show Thunderdome" where two women enter, but only one leaves ... and then, technically, the other but without any money or sense of personal dignity.

 

Filed under: Video, Game Show, Reality-Free

Permalink | Email this | | Comments...

By Josef Adalian

MoJoe loves game shows. MoJoe really likes "Press Your Luck."

And apparently, so do the promo-meisters at Wkyt, the CBS affiliate in Lexington, Kentucky. They aired a brilliant spot right before and after Sunday's Super Bowl that used the classic CBS quiz show to tout the station's mega doppler radar.

It's quite awesome, and proof that there's plenty of talented folks toiling at stations across the country just ready to get the call to head to Hollywood or New York. CBS marketing chief George Schweitzer, take note!

And by the way, since we're doing open memos ...

The annals of the Game Show Hall of Fame has very few names inscribed on its walls: Press Your Luck's Michael Larson, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire's John Carpenter, Jeopardy's Ken Jennings. Now you can add Frank Zappa to that list. Yes, That Frank Zappa.

The man, the myth, the musical legend made a special celebrity appearance on the very short-lived '70s game show Make Me Laugh, a show that rewarded people for not laughing at comedians like Gallagher the way God intended. He never even cracked a smile, but you will when you watch it.

 

Filed under: Video, Celebrities, Game Show, Reality-Free

Permalink | Email this | | Comments...

From Movies Blog : As long as Hollywood is turning board games into movies, why not also mine game shows? I'd love to see movies made out of "Press Your Luck" and that Japanese show where contestants had to guess what dangerous animal was atop their head. In a way, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" has already been turned into a movie ("Slumdog Millionaire"), and now a producer of "300" is bringing "American Gladiators" to the big screen.

Scott Mednick, also an executive producer of this fall's "Where the Wild Things Are," has hired "Point Break" screenwriter Peter Iliff to script the previously announced adaptation of the physical competition series as a movie that, Variety says, will "feature the Herculean characters as superheroes." But will amateur athletes be cast as the villains? It would certainly be appropriate to the format of the show, which involved everyday contenders battling the gigantic...