Press Your Luck - May 31, 1984

[howierules86]

I heard BUZZR has just aired a 1984 PYL episode that never reran on USA or GSN for some reason, and here is that episode right here:

[goldroadfanatic]

That second round was intense-Cindy had to take a total of 9 passed spins and avoid the Whammy for each one of them. I like how the camera zoomed in on her for the eighth passed spin, creating quite a tense moment.

Cindy was handsomely rewarded; she won what was the second-highest one-day total in the show's history up to that point (A contestant named Becky won $33,410 in her single appearance nearly two weeks earlier), and she was the third contestant in the show's history to retire with over $40,000.

[Briguy]

It's moments like this that made the show great ... can they avoid the Whammy and take advantage of an opportunity?

Cindy sure did and I'm sure that in the end that other contestant was wishing they hadn't passed the spins. Hindsight is a funny thing, but that's how the game plays out sometimes.

Brian

[wink87]

A similar situation happened in early 1986. A contestant passed 8 spins to another who had 3 whammies. He took all 8 successfully and wound up winning with over $33,000.

Edit: I believe it's the Michael/Jeff/Etta episode.

[jlgarfield]

Such a thrilling episode.

[dmaingame]

The camera zoom on the final passed spin seen here is one of my favorite effects in cinematography, similar to in football games when the camera operators zoom in on the 4 on the down marker then snap zooms out to show the teams lining up along the line of scrimmage in 4th down situations when a team has to convert a critical 4th down.  Years ago before the time/score graphics were constant on the screen, directors on the networks used to also chroma key in the scoreboard clock ticking down as a team was driving down the field to take the lead, which created the same dramatic effect.  Back then the only time the time remaining and score were shown on television was going into a commercial break or inside the 2 minute warnings at the end of the half and the end of the game...

[Axl]

As far as why the show wasn't originally aired, I wonder if it turned out that the guy with "the announcer voice" worked for a company that made him ineligible for the show.  He was rather evasive about exactly what he did for a living.

[Roadgeek Adam]

Courtesy of TVTropes, take as you will, the episode was canned because of the cut off ending of the tape.