As I have told you many times before, and as you most likely already know, Press Your Luck had its share of interesting, funny, exciting players, and even just the occasional dingbat. This page highlights some of those players. Also, all of the players have their pictures attached to them, so you can see them in action (and what happened). If you think I left out someone, let me know!! Please note that this page has many pictures, and may take a while to load. You MAY wish to have the autoload pictures feature turned off, especially if you have a slow modem or computer.

LANA JONES (9/19/1983)

Why not begin with the very first aired episode of Press Your Luck? Granted, the concept was still new, and the players were nervous. But Lana was just plain dumb in the question rounds. First off, she was asked to name a model of car that would very likely be stolen, and she said Chevorlet. Peter let her know that he needed a *model* car, not a make. After serious thinking, she said, "Mercedes". "Isn't that one?" She didn't get the spins. Also, she was asked what a "&" symbol meant. She said it was an abbeviation for the word "the". Just plain silly.

"TROY" (1984)

Troy did something that caused a part of the set to be redesigned. In early eps of the show, the plunger used springs like early computer keyboards. And what used to happen to those old keybaords? They broke easy. And they were just being typed on. Imagine SLAMMING the keys. What would happen? They would pop off. Troy did it! At the end of the first round, Troy "obliterated" the buzzer. Lucky for him, it was repaired for the second round. "AND DON'T BREAK ANYTHING!" Peter remarked at the start of the second big money round.

MAGGIE BROWN (1984)

Maggie Brown. Need I say more? (I will!) Maggie Brown was the most nervous player in PYL history. Every spin she took at the board, it was like she was going to perform surgery she didn't know how to do. She was under a lot of pressure for some reason, and when she Whammied, BOY did she get upset. (And this is off topic. Did you ever notice they she could never do anything with her hair? In the pilot, it was long and frizzy. Now, it was short and frizzy. Do the contestants a favor and ditch the perms for Goddess' sake! :-)

KAREN MARTIN (1984)

The picture on the right. Pretend the board isn't there. Just Karen. See her mouth wide open? THAT'S HER! I don't know why the producers gave her a mic. Trust me. She didn't need it! She had her famous lines of course. Such as, "Make Me Rich! Whammies You Can Drop Dead STOP!" And her other famous line. She asked for a "pool table for Dan" (her husband). She called it, and she got it just like that! (She later lost it to a whammy though). Oh well. She won enough money...she could have just bought one. (As Peter said to her when she lost it).

MICHAEL LARSON (6/1984)

$110,237. Yes, that is correct. Michael DID win that much on a SINGLE episode of Press Your Luck (that was divided into 2 different shows). Here's what happened. Larson was unemplyed and had lots of time on his hands. To pass the time, he watched PYL. And he discovered that the board on PYL was NOT random. It was actually a pattern. Memorizing the pattern, he went on the show, and knowing when to stop the board, he didn't really press his luck. Sadly, after his appearance, he lost all the money due to bad Real Estate purcahses.

"CATHY" (1984)

Cathy's second appearence was VERY exciting to say the least. In that episode, she and another contestant played spin tag for 5 minutes. In the end, Cathy had gotten up to $31,408 (which is the amount on the left...sorry I couldn't get it clearer). Why is she so upset? SHE WHAMMIED AND LOST IT ALL! That is a lot of money to lose on a spin you were forced to take. (Incidently, on her first show, she only won $2950, and on this show, the player that she played tag with went home with over $24,000!)

BEVERLIE PETERS (1984)

You see her? Just LOOK at her! I mean, shes gonna go blind if she keeps up that eye crossing everytime she hit something big! While I don't have the actual episode (just a small clip), I understand that Peter was also concerned about her well-being. He said something to the tune of, "My God Beverlie! You look like you are in pain? Are you alright?" But thing of this: She got this happy with $3000 and a spin...Can you imagine if she hit $5000 or a car?! I mean think about it...Her eyes would have popped out or something!!

JENNIE (JENNY) JONES (1985)

Yes, it IS the talk show host. She was on Press Your Luck for THREE DAYS! What a good job! Not only would we have this to "haunt" her now, but she had something happen to her that happened only 2 times in the shows history. See the pic on the left? That is where she stopped: "Pick A Corner: A Whammy, $1500+Spin or a Water Bike?" Like, "Yeah Peter. I will PAY YOU to let me have the Whammy." I mean, get real. (About a month after this happened, the Whammy in the corner was removed. It was about time that happened, in my opinion. :-)

JIM HESS (1985)

Jim Hess is just as famous as Michael Larson these days. Lets just say that when you pissed off Jim Hess, he let you know it! He had one of the dirtiest mouths than any other player on the show. He said "OH SH*T!" after hitting his third whammy in round one. He almost won the game, but was forced a spin. He whammied. "GEEZE! FU*K! SH*T!" Um, I think he is just a tad upset. The best part: Neither CBS nor USA Network censored it, so we can hear him bellow out the curse words left and right. I mean, not that I am complaining or anything. ;-)

STEVE BRYANT (1985)

Steve Bryant is the "NO WHAMMMMMIEEEEESSSSS" guy. During almost every spin he took at the big board, he take a LOT of time (sometimes up to 10 seconds) saying the word "Whammy". And it seemed that when he DIDN'T do that, he would Whammy. He was PURELY one of a kind. I had remembered him, even before I started trading. (Maybe because he was on the screen a long time each spin, and he was on for 3 days). And I made that snap just for him. So he doesn't REALLY want any Whammies? No problem on my part! ;-)

"LELA" (1985)

Lela, daring, you don't NEED your microphone. Let it go! See, Lela was not only loud, but she DEFINED Press Your Luck! The entire time, she bounced all around the place, yelling loud, and just having a good time. Which is what made the show. Peter even said, "You know, we want energy in this show, don't hold back. Oh no, don't worry about it Peter." Lela is the type of contestant that I can't describe. Lets just say it was the first time I laughed OUT LOUD on a PYL episode. If you haven't seen her, do me a favor: request it from me. its histerical!

PAIGE GREEN (1986)

Paige is a newcomer to my list. Poor thing. She had such bad luck on weird things, but she won lots of money in the end. First off, in the first question round, during a question, the "N" in "Spins" just fell off. No warning. Just FELL RIGHT OFF! Silence in the studio, followed by the sounds of people letting laughter out. "This would NEVER have happened to Bob Barker", quoting Peter. Then to top it all off, in her last spin on the first money round, she had $0 and hit Add-A-One. "Stop at ADD-A-ONE? Paige - Ten bucks. This IS the "big bucks" show, I'll tell you that much!"
Return to the Press Your Luck Pages