Michael Larson, an unemployed ice cream truck driver from Ohio, noticed that the board followed predictable, repeating patterns. He became a contestant and used his knowledge to extend the game for almost twice as long as normal, winning $110,237. The shocked producers decided to broadcast this extended game as a two-part episode on Friday June 8, 1984, concluding on Monday June 11, 1984. The ratings more than doubled. Afterward, the producers increased the number of distinct light patterns and varied their speed to prevent such a thing from happening again.
Talk show hostess Jenny Jones was a three-time winner on the show before becoming well known as a stand-up comic.
Contestants who accumulated four Whammies in the first round were allowed to leave the set during the commercial break, sparing them the embarrassment of sitting idle on camera through the second round.
Seventy-nine Whammy animations were used during the show's run: 66 regular Whammies, 10 special occasion Whammies (ex. Thanksgiving, Christmas, the 1984 Olympics), and 3 Whammy-out Whammies (if a contestant hit their 4th Whammy).
In the history of the show, 5 contestants whammied out by hitting 4 whammies in a row. Three contestants whammied out by accumulating the last of the three whammies, plus one they got before.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
