Thursday, September 19, 2013

30 Years and Premieres

I'll take a moment to do 2 posts in one for 2 shows that debuted 30 years ago. First we start with one of my favorite Game Shows, Press Your Luck. Press Your Luck debuted 30 years ago today on CBS, replacing Child's Play. Peter Tomarken was the host of this game. Players answered questions to win spins, and then pressed a button which landed them on a random spot. Yeah sounds bland, but watching it is fun to see if they keep their winnings and how far they can go. If you hit the Whammy, that's it, you lose your money and are one step closer to being out of the game. I've always enjoyed this show. It ran for 3 more years. I loved the Whammy animations, and of course if you're a kid, they're like the coolest things in the world. My favorite episodes were when a contestant passed spins to whammy someone out, and all 3 finished with zero. It was all Joe's fault. Who could forget Michael Larsen when he won (or cheated, depending on your view) $110,000+ on the show. It was a good show. GSN aired the 1983 episodes from October 2012-March 2013. GSN currently airs the show in reruns. It ran until September 1986, and GSN revived it in 2002. That can be seen on Weekends.

The other show that debuted was the Nighttime Syndicated version of Wheel of Fortune with Pat Sajak and Vannw White. The popular show was originally in daytime with Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford. Chuck left and was replaced by Pat Sajak. Susan left and was replaced by a then "unknown" Vanna White. Needless to say, she is not unknown today. The show still goes strong, and is still pretty good. The first few seasons had shopping then they switched to all cash. The show just started its 31st season.

Happy 30th to these 2 wonderful shows.