Whammy! Debuted 20 Years Ago Today
The Whammy returned to television 20 years ago today! Take a look back.
2002 was arguably one of the best years for Game Show Network. The network experimented with many unique ideas and brought back some fan favorites, many of which are still on the air in some form today. This was spearheaded by the debut of Whammy! on April 15th, 2002.
Whammy! was the return of Press Your Luck after a 16 year break. Todd Newton hosted the modern take on the format. The core remained the same but several new features brought the game to a new generation like the Big Bank square, the chance at a car, and 3D Whammy animations. Traces of Whammy! still exist today. ABC’s current Press Your Luck‘s end game is essentially the same thing as Whammy!‘s first round, where contestants have to freeze or press their luck with a board featuring an ever-increasing amount of Whammies.
The show was incredibly impressive for Game Show Network at the time. It looked great, had the potential to give away cash and prize amounts you didn’t see on cable game shows back then, and didn’t have the cheap cable game show feel so many others had. Take a look back at the show below. There’s also a compilation of the Whammies from the show under it which are still very funny and well done.
Press Your Luck enters its fourth season this summer on ABC!
As a bonus, here’s the show’s only car win!
