"Whammy!" was Game Show Network's true-to-the-original remake of the classic CBS game show, "Press Your Luck," and served as a companion to reruns of the classic series, which GSN began rerunning in 2001. Three contestants competed in this three-round game. Each contestant was spotted $1,000 to start the game. The first round was the Bonus Board, where contestants faced an 18-space oval-shaped PYL board containing cash amounts, the names of prizes and Whammy spaces (the latter explained later). One at a time, the contestants stopped a randomly-flashing cursor by pressing their signaling device (and usually the scream "STOP"). The contestant wins whatever appears in the lit space. He/she could then "freeze" with their winnings, or risk those winnings with increased odds they could hit a Whammy space (more such spaces were added as the contestant pressed his luck). If they hit a Whammy space, a humorous 3-D computer-animated sequence starring the Whammy, a hedgehog-like devil played and the contestant lost all their winnings up to that point. In both cases, control then passed to the next contestant. After all three contestants took their turn at the PYL board, the Question Round was played. Here, host Newton asked a toss-up question; the first to ring in provided his answer. That answer, plus two other possible answers were shown and the other two contestants given a chance to select from the three. A correct answer earned the first player three spins and the opponents one spin apiece; a wrong answer meant no spins for that player. Five such questions were played, with the players using their accumulated spins in the Final Bonus Board round. Like in the classic game, contestants could pass their earned spins to opponents (usually the highest scoring opponent to that point) if they feared landing on a Whammy; the opponent had to use those spins. At times, contestants could land on a double Whammy, in which case the contestant usually was on the receiving end of the Whammy's tricks (e.g., a pizza dough round landing on the contestant from above); it only counted as one Whammy. Any player landing on four whammies were eliminated from the game. The high scorer for the game was the winner and got to keep his/her winnings; other contestants ending with $0 and fewer than four whammies got a chance to return on a later show. |
