The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => Game Show Channels & Networks => Topic started by: snowpeck on July 28, 2016, 04:04:35 PM
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BUZZR Explores the Most Controversial Win in Press Your Luck History with Special Airing of the Michael Larson Episodes
NETWORK TO OFFER TWO-NIGHT INSIDE LOOK AT A ONE OF THE BIGGEST SCANDALS IN GAME SHOW HISTORY BEGINNING SUNDAY, JULY 31ST
How do you turn a truck full of ice cream and a cheap shirt into a small fortune? Just ask Michael Larson. In 1984, Michael Larson, an ice cream truck driver from Ohio, made history by winning $110,237 (equivalent to a quarter of a million dollars by today’s rates) on Press Your Luck. Larson memorized the Big Board’s pattern and broke the bank. He was able to avoid the Whammies like no other and set the record for the most money won on Press Your Luck, and also at the time, the most money won in a single day in game show history.
To prepare for his upcoming appearance on the show, Larson began recording episodes of Press Your Luck. By carefully studying the light indicator used for its eighteen-square Big Board, Larson discovered that it always moved in one of five looping patterns. And by memorizing these patterns, he would be able to predict which squares the indicator would move to next. What ensued was one of daytime television’s strangest moments — one that exposed the flaws of both man and technology.
BUZZR will commemorate Michael Larson’s epic winnings this Sunday with a special programming marathon. Starting at 8:00 PM ET on July 31st, BUZZR will air the pair of Michael Larson episodes, along with a showcase of Press Your Luck’s other big single-day winners. Viewers will be able to cheer Larson on as he goes on to win big bucks and makes his mark in Press Your Luck history.
Then on Saturday, August 6th at 8:00 PM ET, BUZZR will air the Michael Larson episodes once again, but this time with special BUZZR Bonus Bites included. These fun bits of trivia are a BUZZR exclusive and will provide further insight into the scandal.
Quick BUZZR Facts:
· Airs Sunday, July 31st at 8:00 – 11:00 PM ET, with a repeat from 11:00 PM – 2:00 AM ET
o Two-part Michael Larson episode from 8:00 – 9:00 PM ET; 11:00 PM – 12:00 AM ET
o Showcase of other contestants with large single-day wins from 9:00 – 11:00 PM ET; 12:00 – 2:00 AM ET
· Second Airing on Saturday, August 6th from 8:00 – 11:00 PM ET, with a repeat from 11:00 PM – 2:00 AM ET
o Michael Larson episodes to include BUZZR Bonus Bites of trivia providing additional insight into this epic piece of game show history
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The one thing that always seems to get me is how quick people are to call this a "scandal".
Was it really that unsettling that he, through use of the copious amounts of time he seemed to have on his hands, figured out their system? I mean beyond the chaos behind the scenes on that particular taping day.
I'd argue that his life afterwards was far more scandalous than what he did on Press Your Luck. (And even before he got on the show in the first place.)
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To the network and producers, yes it was very unsettling. I agree that the word scandal implies something that isn't quite there.
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The scandal is that the board was not random, as viewers may have reasoned.
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The one thing that always seems to get me is how quick people are to call this a "scandal".
Was it really that unsettling that he, through use of the copious amounts of time he seemed to have on his hands, figured out their system? I mean beyond the chaos behind the scenes on that particular taping day.
"Scandal" is indeed overblown, but I guess it makes the story juicier. "Controversy" seems to fit better IMO.
The stuff that happened on Twenty One was scandalous (hence it being called the Quiz Show Scandals). This was somebody who found a flaw in the system, and exposed it. It's along the lines of counting cards: not illegal, but the powers that be aren't gonna be very happy about what they perceive as an "unnatural" win.
Interesting thing is, when Randy West appeared on the show, he had a friend in the audience who I believe was a professor. Said friend spotted the pattern as well. There was also a guy named Dave Wagner who appeared on the show around the same time as Randy, and later wrote a book on how to become a contestant. He noted recalling a pattern as well, and indirectly referred to Larsen's run that happened a few months later. Someone was bound to figure it out.
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Interesting thing is, when Randy West appeared on the show, he had a friend in the audience who I believe was a professor. Said friend spotted the pattern as well. There was also a guy named Dave Wagner who appeared on the show around the same time as Randy, and later wrote a book on how to become a contestant. He noted recalling a pattern as well, and indirectly referred to Larsen's run that happened a few months later. Someone was bound to figure it out.
That's how I've always felt about it. It's CBS and Carruthers' own fault for not protecting themselves better. That was a $110,237 mistake.
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Other than implementing changes to ensure that nothing like it happened again, did PYL make any changes to the Board values, question difficulty, or anything else to try and recover the budget impact of the Larsen win? Or did the production company (or CBS) just have the win affect its bottom line?
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The scandal is that the board was not random, as viewers may have reasoned.
Oh, bless your heart, you try.
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Half-snarky, half-serious thing that will make sense when I come back to the point later: how is it that Sale of the Century figured out how to make dancing lights go at a good clip and look random (because to me and every other viewer at home, they were random), but Press Your Luck couldn't? What quantum leap in technology happened in those five years?
/very snarky reply: PYL could have had the players looking away from the board like on Time Machine.
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That's how I've always felt about it. It's CBS and Carruthers' own fault for not protecting themselves better. That was a $110,237 mistake.
I agree. I always felt they stayed with those original patterns for far too long. I noticed that there were certain patterns that kept repeating almost from the beginning. By the time Larson was on the show, it had been airing for over nine months.
One week after those episodes, they finally changed the patterns, but there were still only five. In mid-August, they changed them again and in mid-September, made another change but this time implemented over 30 patterns. Some of them were quite easy to figure out.
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For how long would the light continue on its pattern, and when was it told by the program to move along to another pattern? Why couldn't they write longer patterns?
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Half-snarky, half-serious thing that will make sense when I come back to the point later: how is it that Sale of the Century figured out how to make dancing lights go at a good clip and look random (because to me and every other viewer at home, they were random), but Press Your Luck couldn't? What quantum leap in technology happened in those five years?
It's easier to make a bouncing light look bouncy with a grid of nine items as opposed to a rectangle of 18?
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Half-snarky, half-serious thing that will make sense when I come back to the point later: how is it that Sale of the Century figured out how to make dancing lights go at a good clip and look random (because to me and every other viewer at home, they were random), but Press Your Luck couldn't? What quantum leap in technology happened in those five years?
/very snarky reply: PYL could have had the players looking away from the board like on Time Machine.
I don't think it was a quantum leap in technology; remember, the lights on "Second Chance" moved at an even faster speed than the "Sale" lights. My GUESS is they wanted those lights to go slowly on "PYL" to go slowly to create the illusion of control. Disregard the fact that it wasn't actually a random sequence for a moment; average non-Larsen viewer (and non-Larsen contestants) sees the speed with which the light moves and it's juuuuuust slow enough to make them think that if they really, really focus, they can get that light to stop on the Big Bucks square every time, and of course their reflexes will never be that fast.
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For how long would the light continue on its pattern, and when was it told by the program to move along to another pattern? Why couldn't they write longer patterns?
For most of the run, each pattern was 18 frames long; namely, it would hit every square on the PYL board exactly once, and then a new pattern was selected. Earlier episodes were more clunky in that the same pattern would repeat a few times and then abruptly switch to one of the other patterns, I think after a certain amount of time had passed.
I don't know why they didn't write longer patterns, or heck, just make the indicator light go much faster (like on Second Chance); both of these (barring an essentially random code) would have probably prevented contestants like Larson. I chalk this up to part laziness, part they truly didn't think anyone would crack the code and would be able to get the timing down with lights and actual money on the line.
Concerning $ale, the indicator light moved, at least to my eyes, much faster, and didn't seem to hit all 9 spots before repeating a pattern. But, I would think, even *if* someone could crack the code to the Fame Game board, unlike on PYL, there's no guarantee you win the game. You still have to answer Fame Game questions right, and, even if you were perfect on that, you'd earn a max of $50 score money (assuming no bargains/Instant Cash). That's a decent amount, but a good speed round player could still beat you. Thus, the amount of time spent learning the patterns/getting the timing down would probably be better spent on studying trivia, IMO.
Anthony
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or heck, just make the indicator light go much faster (like on Second Chance)
This, at least, is obvious - visually, the bounce on PYL is a LOT more satisfying then the frenetic flash on Second Chance.
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If they ran the light borders as fast as they did on Second Chance, could the PYL game board's projectors have kept up with the pace? If not, what happens if a contestant stops the board on a square when it's transitioning between a whammy and a prize, say? (Honest question, not a rhetorical one!)
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If not, what happens if a contestant stops the board on a square when it's transitioning between a whammy and a prize, say? (Honest question, not a rhetorical one!)
The same thing that happened any time someone stopped the Press Your Luck board when it's transitioning between a whammy and a prize. The light stops, the transition finishes and you get whatever is lit up after the fade finishes.
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I do think part of PYL's appeal was the illusion of skill and being able to comprehend the motion of the lights and the slides. One big reason Whammy's board effects were less satisfying IMO was the un-synchronized slide transitions in the 2nd round. It was more like watching someone play a slot machine than someone playing Stacker, if you catch my drift.
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I do think part of PYL's appeal was the illusion of skill and being able to comprehend the motion of the lights and the slides. One big reason Whammy's board effects were less satisfying IMO was the un-synchronized slide transitions in the 2nd round. It was more like watching someone play a slot machine than someone playing Stacker, if you catch my drift.
They were trying to emulate how the PYL board would shuffle out of sync at times. They, like most of the rest of that version, took it one step too far.
Tyshaun
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They were trying to emulate how the PYL board would shuffle out of sync at times. They, like most of the rest of that version, took it one step too far.
How often did that happen? I know it was happening during Larson's game. I wonder if it was by design, or a product of the board software getting tired from running longer than usual.
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This too is a non-rhetorical question. Whichever set of slides we saw when the "spin" ended, was it a single object with 18 spaces shining through? If it was 18 separate images loaded together, it seems as though they could have moved them around a little from one show, or even one taping, to the next. The light patterns would stay the same, but the outcomes would be new.
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They were trying to emulate how the PYL board would shuffle out of sync at times. They, like most of the rest of that version, took it one step too far.
How often did that happen? I know it was happening during Larson's game. I wonder if it was by design, or a product of the board software getting tired from running longer than usual.
It seemed to happen more in the early days of the show than the latter - but there are a few early 1986 episodes where this occurs for most of the second round. I don't think it was done on purpose - sometimes when a contestant stopped the board, only half the slides would change, which put it out of sync when play resumed. I guess they had some sort of "reset" button that required a few seconds, because most of the time when it did go out-of-sync, if a contestant hit a whammy it would be back in sync on the very next spin.