Press Your Luck/Trivia

"Peter (on June 11, 1986, after the "N" fell off a "SPINS" placard): Have we been renewed?"
 * Hey, It's That Guy!:
 * Peter Tomarken previously hosted the 13-week NBC game Hit Man, which has been barred from airing since its 130 educational films were only licensed for one showing apiece.
 * The Whammy was created and animated by Savage Steve Holland and Bill Kopp, both of who would later go on to create Eek! The Cat.
 * Holland's resume as a director includes Better Off Dead and One Crazy Summer, plus dozens of television shows from "The New Adventures of Beans Baxter" to "V.I.P." to Lizzie McGuire to Big Time Rush.
 * Among the show's contestants were a few famous names:
 * Randy West (September 29-30 and October 3, 1983), the first player to win a car and the second to retire undefeated (coincidentally, he was also the final champion on Hit Man). Later became a well-respected Game Show announcer.
 * Ralph Strangis (1984?), later became play-by-play announcer for the Dallas Stars.
 * Sam Schmidt (January 2-4, 1985), later became an Indy driver and founded the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation.
 * Jennie Jones (January 28-30, 1985), changed her name to "Jenny" and helmed a long-running talk show.
 * Myke Horton (February 6, 1985), later became known as "Gemini".
 * Steve Bryant (July 12 and 15-16, 1985), member of the Houston Oilers who became famous for not only his Big Word Shout "No Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamies!", but for playing against the house on his second day.
 * Dennis Haskins (1985?), then a seat filler for award shows, later Principal Belding.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!:
 * Rod Roddy had previously announced on Soap and Hit Man.
 * The Whammies were voiced, created, and drawn by animator/screenwriter "Savage" Steve Holland.
 * Keep Circulating the Tapes: The Michael Larson episodes were heavily traded around for years until GSN aired them in 2003. Further, the network only aired a stretch from February 21, 1984 to November 15, 1985 (Day 20 of the third and final Home Player Sweepstakes, which ran for 25 episodes)...although some 1983 clips snuck in due to the opening montage.
 * USA Network never aired the first Home Player Sweepstakes (the Larson episodes fell at the very end), episodes promoting the show's move to 4:00 PM, and certain episodes from 1986 (including the last four weeks).
 * Screwed by the Network: CBS moved it from 10:30 AM to 4:00 PM in January 1986 so they could debut a revival of Card Sharks. Although the change was promoted in-show at the end of December 1985, certain comments from here onward appear to prove that the staff knew it was the end.


 * What Could Have Been:
 * As early as January 1985, series creator Bill Carruthers planned a nighttime version of the show for syndication to be distributed by Golden West Television. Didn't work.
 * In early 1986, as the show's network fate was becoming rather clear, Carruthers tried the route again —- albeit this time, the show would be moving directly from CBS into daily syndication with 130 new episodes for the 1986-87 season, now distributed by Republic Pictures. Still didn't work.
 * ...so Republic repackaged 26 weeks from 1985 for syndicated repeats, which were bought by a few stations for early 1987. On September 14 of that year, USA Network began rerunning the show until 1995.