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!General trivia:
* ''Press'' taped anywhere from 10 to 12 episodes (normally 11) every other weekend, save for vacation time (5 for Saturday and 5 for Sunday, 5 for Saturday and 6 for Sunday, or 6 for Saturday and 6 for Sunday). This would often result in cosmetic changes being made during certain weeks of shows (I.E. Pick-A-Corner debuted on a Tuesday, board sounds #2 and #3 each debuted on a Wednesday, Add-A-One debuted on a Thursday, and the 10 position in both board rounds was updated on a Friday). The reason for this otherwise odd production schedule was because The Carruthers Company was ''very'' efficient when it came to taping shows, and taping 6 episodes on Sunday helped save a lot of money. Initially, 10 was the norm, but it became 11 by Fall 1984.
* The montage of Karen Martin was taken down in September 1984, because viewers complained to the show and CBS that starting that show with that woman yelling so loudly was annoying, though it did turn up a few more times.
* Peter's podium had two stacks of questions separated by difficulty. Occasionally, a light bulb on his podium would blink during a Q&A round. This was Peter's cue to go to the easier questions (called the "brain donor" questions by the production staff); the bulb would blink if the three contestants got a total of less than 10 spins by the 2nd or 3rd question.
* The Whammy animation library was updated on three-month basis. The reboot recycles most of its library, though a couple of new animations are added each season.
* The 2019 series is the longest-running incarnation of the franchise, beating ''Series/SecondChance'' (four months), the 1983 series (three years), and ''Series/WhammyTheAllNewPressYourLuck'' (one year). However, the previous series aired every weekday, while the 2019 series airs fewer than a dozen episodes during the summer.
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!Specific trivia:
* {{Blooper}}: The board was extremely prone to malfunctions, including the buttons not registering a hit, slides freezing, and even slides ''blowing up''. Multiple contestants were brought back over the years due to board errors.
* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: The June 14, 1985, episode had a question regarding ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' and who said "Sufferin' Succotash!" All three contestants answered with Sylvester (who is commonly associated with it), but Peter Tomarken revealed that the answer was ''WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck'' (who also uses the phrase, but very infrequently). This mistake prompted Creator/MelBlanc (who voiced both) to call the show and explain the mistake. In his Sylvester voice. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpKjGWBBrNE Here's]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wNWbNm_hLI the]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvNKSQpVKos episode.]] After the call, Peter stated that the three contestants would be invited back.
* CreatorBacklash: Michael Larson's run was considered this for many years as the show refused to let his episodes air. Bill Carruthers overruled the contestant coordinator's decision not to let him on and later said he would regret it for the rest of his life.
* DuelingShows: Both ''Press'' and ''Series/SaleOfTheCentury'' fought valiantly against each other from September 1983 to January 1986, because both shows aired at 10:30 a.m. on CBS and NBC respectively. Both games were big money shows with over $100,000 in cash and prizes for anyone to win. During this period, ''Press'' often won its timeslot against ''$ale''.
* HeAlsoDid: ''WesternAnimation/EekTheCat'' co-creators Bill Kopp and Savage Steve Holland animated the Whammies.
* HeyItsThatSound: The time's up buzzer during the question rounds was recycled from ''Series/{{ChildsPlay|1982}}''.
* IronyAsSheIsCast: Despite prominently taking part in all three Christmas editions of the show (1983, 1984, and 1985), host Peter Tomarken was actually Jewish of Russian descent.
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes:
** The Michael Larson episodes were heavily traded around for years until Creator/{{GSN}} aired them in 2003 (repackaged as part of ''Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal'', and then again as standalone episodes). Further, the network's first run of the series only consisted of 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 got in due to the opening montage.
** The original Home Player game series was also barred from airing for a long time because its final taped game was Larson's game.
** These 450 episodes first aired on GSN from September 1, 2001 to April 10, 2005. #539 (October 17, 1985) aired on December 26, 2006, having previously been skipped over early in 2005 due to a Creator/JohnnyCarson tribute.
** Only two episodes in this rerun package were skipped over: May 31, 1984 (Day 14 of the first Home Player Sweepstakes) and October 4, 1985 (a clip, namely a contestant named Mike after presumably hitting $5000 + One Spin twice in a row, made it to flashback intros much later in the run).
** The series as a whole became this when GSN stopped airing it in 2009. On October 15, 2012, the network picked up the series for repeats once again, now beginning at the premiere (September 19, 1983). To say the fandom rejoiced would be an understatement, especially since the second and third shows weren't among collectors, #6 had been pre-empted on the East Coast, the first two weeks hadn't been seen since their initial broadcast, and some episodes taped from USA weren't in the best quality. Inexplicably, the lease only covered the first ten weeks, but that expanded (and the fandom rejoiced again) on April 1, 2013 with another 57 new-to-GSN episodes from 1983-84, skipping only #051 and #066, although the latter isn't their doing - the episode (slated to air December 21, 1983) seems to have been thrown out due to unknown technical problems that were not the fault of the players and replaced (using the same players) with #067.
** On September 29, 2014, GSN started showing the remaining 1985-early 1986 episodes, starting with #561 (November 18, 1985; Day 21 of 25 of the third and final Home Player Sweepstakes). While they skipped a grand total of six episodes (all 1986), they continued through #696 (May 29, 1986) on April 8, 2015 before wrapping back around to #561 the next day.
** In 2005, Creator/VH1 showed master-quality clips of the June 16, 1986 episode in a segment on ''I Love the 80's 3D'' for 1983.
** Rescued, as Buzzr, an over-the-air network dedicated to classic game shows, currently has reruns of this show on their lineup. The channel began streaming digitally on its own website in 2018, meaning anyone with an Internet connection can watch it. What makes it particularly good is that since it's not a cable network, it's not particularly difficult to save episodes into your own collection.
** On August 24, 2015, Buzzr showed episode #051 (November 30, 1983), which GSN skipped.
** On November 30, 2017, Buzzr showed #182 from May 31, 1984, which was ''never'' rerun before. It was quickly discovered why it had never rerun...it ran excessively long, so much so that Buzzr had to cut out the entire final segment to make enough time for the ads!
** Episodes #147-#148 (April 12-13, 1984) were strangely skipped by Buzzr, but luckily, they've aired on GSN before. Buzzr also skipped #185 (June 5, 1984) in the past, but it has since returned to the rotation.
** On June 4, 2023, to celebrate National Game Show Day, Buzzr showed an episode in a marathon of first and last shows, but it was actually #697 (May 30, 1986). They have gotten one episode further than GSN as of right now. That year, Rick Stern, who was the associate director, confirmed in a Facebook fan group post that any claims of the 700's being damaged beyond repair, supposedly the reason why GSN did not continue where they left off in 2016, were untrue.
** On June 7, 2023, two more September 1986 episodes resurfaced on Website/YouTube, courtesy of (presumably) a relative of Jeanie Reese, who played in both of them. This now makes it four episodes from the final month in circulation.
* MissingEpisode:
** The Larson episodes were kept out of syndication for many years out of embarrassment, and it took the first Home Player Sweepstakes episodes with it because his mammoth run was the last day of the contest.
** Among the episodes GSN aired was the actual first taping from Back-to-School Week (#500; August 1985) that wasn't seen during the show's original run nor the repeats on USA. The episode itself is notable for being one of the few times a contestant played against the house. The Back-To-School episodes were taped in between the tapings of the 8/21 and 8/22 episodes, and the unaired one made its GSN debut on September 4, 2004.
** #066 counts yet doesn't (see above for reason), hence GSN skipping it and #051.
* NoBudget: A likely reason for the many slide changes during the show's final year, particularly those of mid-June 1986, which proceeded to break Pick-A-Corner to the point of being ousted entirely on July 25, 1986.
** $2000 and $2500 spaces gave way to more $1000 and $500 spaces. With an excess of $500 and $750 spaces with and without extra spins, the Round 2 board bore a strong resemblance to Round 1.
** Pick-A-Corner didn't suffer so much from the budget, but rather the ill-considered rearrangement of dollar values in the other three corners. It's amazing how many times PAC got hit and players witnessed the head-slappingly no-brainer choices between three cash values. Move One Space also suffered, at one point giving a choice of $1500 or $500. Perhaps the producers were just experimenting with the template since the R2 board of 1985 went a long life without any radical changes, and was actually showing its age as many slides started fading from the hours under the heat of being projected by lamps (compare the Across the Board slide to the other directional spaces). If anything, the R1 template could've used an overhaul. PAC worked best when the choices were basically some combination of moderate cash, lesser cash + One Spin, and a moderate prize. PAC was ''supposed'' to allow you to choose from the best of the board, not boring things like $1400-$500-$1400. PAC also suffered from limited randomization. When $2000 or Lose-A-Whammy was in [16], a Whammy was in [1], and [10] consisted of three prizes...it was perfect. By July 1986, it almost always seemed to result in a bunch of anticlimactic choices.
* OutOfOrder: The 1985 College[[note]]April 1-5[[/note]] and Back-To-School[[note]]August 26-30 + 1 Unaired[[/note]] Weeks were respectively taped in between the tapings of the April 26 & 29 and August 21 & 22 episodes, despite carrying the respective sequential episode code numbers of #395-#399 and #500-#505.
* PromotedFanboy: Elizabeth Banks, host of the current version, watched the original show with her sister.
* ScheduleSlip: Season 4 Episode 9 of the current version ("It's Nacho Night!") was scheduled to air on September 8, 2022, but was preempted due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II. It was re-scheduled for November 28, 2023, but pulled yet again for a rerun of a Season 5 episode. It finally aired in an 8:00 PM timeslot for the first time on Thursday, January 25, 2024, re-designated as Season 5 Episode 10, after its intended season saw it simply omitted from the listing and lowered the following episode title enumerations by one. [[spoiler: The bonus round saw the winner of the main game hit four Whammies and end up with only their previous winnings, which is understandably a valid reason to pull the episode in favor of re-airing a less disappointing outcome during November sweeps.]]
* ScrewedByTheLawyers: American Express filed a lawsuit against the show for using their likeness in one of the Whammy animations. Said animation was retired and edited out of future broadcasts, though it still appears in reruns.[[note]]This specific animation was directly taken from Amex's "Do You Know Me?" campaign; it featured a Whammy in a business suit appearing in front of the player with a credit card in his hand. He outright asks, "Hello, do you know me?". The word Whammy is typed over the card, and it makes a "ca-ching!" sound, the exact moment where the contestant's score is deleted.[[/note]]
* ScrewedByTheNetwork: CBS moved it from 10:30 AM to 4:00 PM on January 6, 1986 so they could debut a revival of ''Series/CardSharks'', and take the place of ''Series/BodyLanguage''. Tomarken stated that by the Fall of 1985, the contract for ''The Price is Right'', which aired immediately after ''Press'', was up for renewal, but the network was unable to pay Mark Goodson Productions the kind of money they wanted to continue ''Price'' on CBS. Goodson came up with the solution of taking over the 10:30 AM timeslot of ''Press''. Although the change was promoted in-show during the week of December 30, 1985, certain comments from here onward appear to indicate the show's staff knew their days were numbered - on more than a few episodes following the timeslot change, Peter urges viewers that if they like ''Press'', tell a friend. In another episode, coincidentally the day the Round 2 values plummeted...
-->(''June 16, 1986: the N of a "SPINS" placard falls off after that player buzzes in; after Peter picks up the fallen N and returns to his spot...'')\\
'''Peter:''' Have we been renewed? ''[beat]'' This would never happen to [[Series/ThePriceIsRight Bob Barker]].
* ShortLivedBigImpact: The show only lasted for three years, not a particularly impressive run for a GameShow. But it's long been a cultural icon of TheEighties, and a near-constant fixture on the rerun circuit (first on Creator/USANetwork, then on Creator/{{GSN}} and now on Creator/{{Buzzr}}), so even people who weren't around to see it in first-run are still familiar with the show in general. The impact was so big, in fact, that in 2019 it joined the ranks of ABC’s prime time game show revivals alongside ''Series/ToTellTheTruth'', ''Series/MatchGame'', ''Series/{{Pyramid}}'', and ''Series/CardSharks'', despite all of the aforementioned shows outlasting ''PYL'' by several years.
* StarMakingRole: Despite having worked on ''Series/{{Soap}}'' and ''Series/{{Whew}}''; this would be the show that increased announcer Rod Roddy's name recognition to the point that midway through the original version of ''Press Your Luck's'' final season; Roddy would be named as announcer for ''The Price is Right'' following Johnny Olson's death.
* TechnologyMarchesOn: Michael Larson beat the game because the lights on the board followed only five pre-set patterns, making it reasonably easy for him to memorize them once he caught on to the fact. By the time of the 2002 revival, computing power had advanced enough to randomize the board patterns to the point that repeating what Larson did became impossible. In fact, the 2002-03 ''Whammy'' board was powered by a common desktop computer which host Todd Newton described as "Larson-proof".
** This is lampshaded heavily in the 2003 documentary ''Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal''. Host Peter Tomarken highlighted the board's many shortcomings in light of 2003's technology, even though it was very impressive for its time. Another interviewee noted that he came to understand Larson's behavior a lot better from watching his son play video games.
* VindicatedByReruns: The aforementioned reruns on USA and GSN are probably what helped the show stay in the limelight a lot longer than other shows of its ilk.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** CBS had a choice between ''Press'' and a Nipsey Russell-hosted pilot for Mark Goodson Productions called ''Star Words'', when the network reviewed the pilots for both shows in mid-1983, as a replacement for ''Series/{{ChildsPlay|1982}}''. What if the network had picked up ''Star Words'' instead of ''Press''...
** 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. As a result, Tomarken — who was supposed to become ''Entertainment This Week'' cohost with Leeza Gibbons (replacing Robb Weller) — had to put those plans on hold. The syndie ''Press'' didn't fly, so Weller kept his job (and would later attempt to enter the game show world- hosting the 1986 pilot of ''Series/{{Blackout}}'' {being replaced by Bob Goen when the series landed two years later}, the 1989-90 season of ''Series/WinLoseOrDraw'', and unsold revival attempts of ''Series/SplitSecond1972'' and ''Series/AllStarBlitz'').
** In early 1986, as the show's network fate was becoming clear, Carruthers tried the route again — albeit this time, the show would be moving directly from Creator/{{CBS}} into daily syndication with 130 new episodes for the 1986-87 season, now distributed by Creator/RepublicPictures. Still didn't work. In early 1987, Republic Pictures syndicated a 130-episode rerun package (February 25-August 23, 1985) to a handful of stations. These became the first episodes to air on USA Network from September 14, 1987 to March 11, 1988.
** Before ''Press'' was even cancelled, Michael Larson wound up [[HarsherInHindsight losing his entire winnings due to a Ponzi scheme and a robbery.]] He called the producers to see if they would be interested in inviting him back for a tournament of champions but the show declined.
** Peter Tomarken hosted the pilot for the GSN revival. Despite being 16 years removed from the show, it looked as though he never left. What if he was chosen over Todd Newton...
* YouLookFamiliar:
** Matt Dorf and Maggie Browne, two of the contestants on the 1983 pilot, would appear as a contestants on the actual show. Matt was on in December 1983, Maggie appeared in March 1984.
** In an intra-franchise example, Browne and the third contestant from the pilot, Jack Campion, had previously appeared on the pilot for the show's original incarnation ''Series/SecondChance''.
** On occasion, they would invite back contestants, because of problems with a question and/or some other kind of technicality (usually with the Big Board).
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