User:Daniel Benfield/Press Your Luck 1985-86 Video Archive

When GSN announced they were getting a new lease of Press Your Luck starting with #561, the fans (including myself) were surprised and pretty happy – just as much, if not more, than when the network had leased most of the first 109 shows from 1983-84 (plus the amusing surprise of #110, the first show of their original 2001 lease). As they'd done with the 1988-89 period of Sale of the Century, GSN was going into Press ' twilight months.

I'd watched the 1983-84 shows, having previously seen a lot of the 1984-85 period when I had GSN in 2002-03, and was pretty interested in this latest lease. After #580 aired, I created this page, figuring that there were only about 35 other episodes online per Ryan Rinkerman's collection and so it'd be pretty quick to put together; turns out there were over 70, not counting the first 20 shows GSN had aired. Granted, it took several hours, but I think it was worth it. :)

Note that this page spans from the start of GSN's current lease (November 18, 1985) through the end of the run, so if their lease ends before the show does nobody's really left hanging. :) Big thanks to Jason Hernandez's episode guides for much of the below placement and PYL Board Configurations for the layout changes (even if the guy who ran the site essentially retired right before the show saw a resurgence).

As for this period of the run...it began well, sure, but things began to fall apart once CBS moved the show to a lower-clearance slot in January. And then the Round 2 board got cheaper...and cheaper...with so many moves that didn't really make much sense; while Pick-A-Corner is the most obvious victim (see here for a good overview on the space's history and how it got worse during this period), it also affected a few of the other directional squares.

By this point, a random Whammy animation is played as Rod says "Whammy" during the intro. On most episodes, each Big Board round begins with Rod briefly describing a trip on the board for that round; Round 1 almost always does this, while Round 2 tends to not have said plug (I think it depended partly on how many spins were earned and how long the rest of the game had taken).

LEGAL STUFF SO I DON'T GET SUED: I'm only linking to these videos, none of which were uploaded by me, for the purposes of research and as a public record. Footage ©1985-86 Carruthers Company Productions/FremantleMedia and associated entities.

AND ANOTHER THING: Some of the uploads below may have incorrect episode numbers, due to being based on older versions of Jason's guides; the numbers currently listed on Jason's site (and hence, on this page) are correct.

1985
Things continue as they had been for most of the period following the "Neon Board" changeover in August, although $2000 or Lose-1-Whammy left the board temporarily due to the Home Player Sweepstakes (whether it should've left is another matter entirely, as its absence kinda artificially made the game harder).

Things begin to change in early December, however...

November
Day 20 of Home Player Sweepstakes III (November 15, 1985) was the latest GSN had ever gone prior to this lease, and there seemed to be no sign of them ever getting past it. That pig hasn't ended its flight yet, and hopefully won't until Press itself does.

November 22 has the all-cash board, possibly best known as the only time $3000/$4000/$5000 were used during the run.


 * November 18, 1985 (#561/Home Player Sweepstakes III, Day 21: Karen/John {Day 2 - $3,250}/Yolanda; taped from GSN)
 * November 19, 1985 (#562/Home Player Sweepstakes III, Day 22: Karen/Judy/Steve; taped from GSN {alternate copy, from a USA repeat})
 * November 20, 1985 (#563/Home Player Sweepstakes III, Day 23: Stephanie/Carol/Steve; taped from GSN {alternate copy, from a USA repeat})
 * November 21, 1985 (#564/Home Player Sweepstakes III, Day 24: Shirley/Stephanie/Kurt; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, begins at end of second Round 1 question})
 * November 22, 1985 (#565/Home Player Sweepstakes III, Finale: Jon/Carla/Shirley, with the all-cash board!; taped from GSN {alternate copy, from a USA repeat})


 * November 25, 1985 (#566: Patti/Jon/Dan; taped from GSN)
 * November 26, 1985 (#567: Fae/Dan/Jill; taped from GSN)

$2000 or Lose-1-Whammy returns, replacing a $1000 + One Spin slide
 * November 27, 1985 (#568: Jill/Cheryl/Scott, with the return of $2000 or Lose-1-Whammy and a Thanksgiving message from the Whammies!; taped from GSN)

[No episode aired on Thanksgiving.]


 * November 29, 1985 (#569: Alex/Jeanne/Scott; taped from GSN)

December
December 6 brought some more changes to the board: Round 1 upped $500 + One Spin to $750 + One Spin, while Round 2 replaced two of the prizes in [10] with $1250 and $1400 (breaking Pick-A-Corner further).

From December 23-January 3, the set is decorated for Christmas. The first three shows of this period also have the "MERRY XMAS" intro board.


 * December 2, 1985 (#570: Scott/Hal/Deanne, with a weird second Question Round; taped from GSN {alternate copy of said Question Round plus part of the first, same source})
 * [Hal and Deanne returned in '86. (Pay close attention to Scott during the Peter O'Toole question in Round 2.)]
 * December 3, 1985 (#571: Valerie/Colleen/Scott; taped from GSN {alternate copy from an old broadcast, second Big Board round only})
 * December 4, 1985 (#572: Colleen/Diane/Danny; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, begins during first Big Board round})
 * December 5, 1985 (#573: Rocky/Danny/Trish, with the last use of Double Your $$ {no spin}; taped from GSN)

New (read: kinda cheaper) Big Board layouts
 * December 6, 1985 (#574: Courtney/Trish/Susannah; taped from GSN {alternate copies: #1, same source; #2 from an old broadcast, begins during first Big Board round, missing first part of both halves of Round 2, ends after second Big Board round})
 * December 9, 1985 (#575: Robert/Jackie/Trish; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, ends late in Round 2})
 * December 10, 1985 (#576: Robert/Deborah/Mark; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, ends after Round 2})
 * December 11, 1985 (#577: GUILLERMO HUESCA!/Deborah/Ruth; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, begins during second Big Board round, ends after Round 2})
 * [Guillermo went on to host Trato Hecho!]
 * December 12, 1985 (#578: Ruth/Genevieve/Greg, with one of the silliest Question Rounds ever!; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, begins during intro, ends late in Round 2})
 * December 13, 1985 (#579: Ruth/Gerard/Gene, with Peter picking on a CBS Page; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, begins as Peter walks out, ends after Round 2})


 * December 16, 1985 (#580: Gene/Stacey/Pat; taped from GSN)
 * December 17, 1985 (#581: April/John/Pat; taped from GSN)
 * December 18, 1985 (#582: Molly/Tom/John; taped from GSN)
 * December 19, 1985 (#583: John/Madeline/Janice; taped from GSN)
 * December 20, 1985 (#584: Bruce/Janice/Hillie; taped from GSN)

Set decorated for Christmas
 * December 23, 1985 (#585: Ginger/Brent/Janice, with the Whammy carolers!; taped from GSN)
 * [GSN initially had shows 585-588 penciled in for November 10-12/14, per their advance schedules. While they skipped those, going straight to #594 (and hence jumping over the same two weeks USA had skipped back in the day), it turns out they just moved those and the other five Christmas/New Year's episodes to be Christmas programming.]
 * December 24, 1985 (#586: Mark/Susan/Ginger; taped from GSN)
 * December 25, 1985 (#587: Mark/Sylvan/Pam; original broadcast {alternate copies: #1, same source; #2, taped from GSN})
 * December 26, 1985 (#588: Marie {she's 86!}/Ron/Pam, with a fun contestant who may be the oldest of the show's run!; taped from GSN)
 * December 27, 1985 (#589: Craig/Ron/Georgia; taped from GSN)

Faded Whammy slides in both rounds replaced
 * December 30, 1985 (#590: Sally/Craig/Andy; taped from GSN)
 * December 31, 1985 (#591: Betsy/Kirk/Craig, with Peter and Rod wearing tuxedos!; taped from GSN)

1986
For a long time (until GSN started airing episodes), the first three months had some uncertainty for various reasons, one being that USA apparently skipped a bunch of shows.

The slides begin to fade more and more during the first half of the year, particularly in Round 2 (compare this shot from March 10 to this one from June 16), which probably wouldn't be too notable were it not for the fact that Across the Board looks freshly painted compared to the other directional slides. I'm still not sure why they didn't swap those out for the ones on the demo board (seen during the intro of each show), since those clearly never faded.


 * Summer? 1986 (Promo for the CBS game show lineup: The $25,000 Pyramid, Card Sharks, The Price Is Right, and {if you can find it!} Press)
 * [The Press clips are from the 3/31/86 show (#654).]

January
[No episode aired on New Year's Day.]

On January 6, the show moves from 10:30 AM to 4:00 PM so CBS could debut Card Sharks. While Tattletales and Body Language had decent runs while there, it was also the last slot of CBS' daytime programming schedule, as they had returned the 4:30-6:00 PM slots to the affiliates at various points between 1951-63.

That said, most stations at the time would air syndicated or local programming at Noon or 4:00, as they pretty much had been doing since about 1972...and given the move was solely to give a good slot to the new show, this didn't bode well for Press – if it didn't air in either of the slots the network fed to the affiliates, it was usually either tape-delayed or not aired at all (or in some cases, picked up by another station that would capture CBS' feed for programming the network affiliate routinely declined to air). Some stations did indeed air Press at Noon or 12:30, but this wasn't nearly enough.

And maybe it's just me with the benefit of hindsight, but some of the Whammies that appear during Rod's intro spiel after the change feel like a reflection of how the show itself was feeling about things – the Sherlock Holmes, Boxing, Fortune Teller, and Photographer Whammies all make appearances following the timeslot change.


 * January 2, 1986 (#592: Craig/Chris/Lori, with the only appearance of the "1986" Whammy; taped from GSN)
 * January 3, 1986 (#593: Marla/Joyce/Chris; taped from GSN {alternate copy, from original broadcast})

Show moves to 4:00 PM; Christmas decorations removed
 * January 6, 1986 (#594: Maria/Kent/David, with Peter giving detailed explanations of the game {albeit with no demo spin} and the only appearance of the Willie Nelson Whammy for a while; taped from GSN {alternate copy, from a 9/28/93 USA repeat})
 * January 7, 1986 (#595: Kimberly/David/Tommy; taped from GSN {alternate copy, from a USA repeat})

Add-A-One moves from [5] to [7]
 * January 8, 1986 (#596: Ann/Betsy/Tommy; taped from GSN {alternate copy, taped from WCBS})
 * January 9, 1986 (#597: Betsy/Sam/Jenea; taped from GSN {alternate copy from original broadcast, ends late in fee plugs})
 * January 10, 1986 (#598: Lee/Betsy/Jimmy; taped from GSN)


 * January 13, 1986 (#599: Mayuri/Betsy/Jim; taped from GSN)
 * January 14, 1986 (#600!: Jim/Craig/Perri; taped from GSN)
 * January 15, 1986 (#601: Perri/Judi/Darren; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, "wavy" video but very watchable})
 * January 16, 1986 (#602: Ruth/Mando/Darren; taped from GSN {alternate copy, from a USA repeat})
 * January 17, 1986 (#603: Nancy/Lisa/Mando; taped from GSN {alternate copy, from a USA repeat})
 * [Interesting thing: Perri and Mando got married! (Perri was later on the CBS Card Sharks in 1988.)]


 * January 20, 1986 (#604: Kathy/Lisa/Oliver, with an interesting connection to Days of Our Lives {yes, really!}; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, average quality, really low audio})
 * January 21, 1986 (#605: Eric/Mitchell/Lisa; taped from GSN {alternate copy, from a USA repeat})
 * January 22, 1986 (#606: Lisa/Irene/Rob; taped from GSN)
 * January 23, 1986 (#607: Lisa/Sheryl/Don, with a fun question during Round 2 and a fun moment where Peter walks up to the Big Board; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a 4/15/93 USA repeat, video issues nearly throughout, really low audio})
 * [Sheryl has a 1977 car. (Hey, Press once had a 1977 model, too. :P)]
 * January 24, 1986 (#608: Karen/Don/Carolyn; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, really low audio})
 * [Carolyn is back from the 10/29/85 show.]


 * January 27, 1986 (#609: Bill/Donna/Don, with Peter making two jokes at Rod's expense; taped from GSN)
 * [Pre-empted in markets that didn't air the show at 4:00 PM. From what I can tell, it eventually aired on the 29th in at least one market.]
 * January 28, 1986 (#610: Wayne/Julie/Bill; taped from GSN)
 * [Most, if not all, of CBS' schedule that day was pre-empted in favor of covering the Challenger disaster – needless to say, a good move on the network's part.]
 * January 29, 1986 (#611 {"We went to different schools together."}: Julie/Sean/Jennifer, with Peter making a minor error that gets addressed {due to viewer mail} a few months later; taped from GSN)
 * [Peter's error (specifically, in the last question of Round 2) was acknowledged in #667, although the writer of the letter Peter reads there notes this one aired January 31. (See the notes under #667 for a bit more.)]
 * January 30, 1986 (#612: Julie/John/Joe; taped from GSN)
 * January 31, 1986 (#613: Sherry/Wanda/Joe, with Peter insulting the producers...and getting it right back from Sherry!; taped from GSN)

February
Compared to most of the other months of this period, February seems to have been pretty quiet change-wise.


 * February 3, 1986 (#614: Chris/Michael/Joe, with no Whammy animation during the intro and a questionable decision near the end; taped from GSN {alternate copy from an old broadcast, ends at eligibility disclaimer})
 * February 4, 1986 (#615: Dorothy/Wayne/Joe, with a strange ending {the second time, Peter, not the first}; taped from GSN {alternate copy, from a USA repeat})
 * February 5, 1986 (#616: Joe/Wayne/Dorothy; taped from GSN {alternate copy from an old broadcast, ends during fee plugs})
 * February 6, 1986 (#617: Steve/Cheryl/Wayne; taped from GSN)
 * February 7, 1986 (#618: Judy/Wayne/Kathy; taped from GSN)

Faded Whammy slide in [5] during Round 2 is replaced
 * February 10, 1986 (#619: Sam/Judy/Whip, with no Whammy animation during the intro and a fun second Question Round; taped from GSN)
 * [Whip formerly played in the NFL for the Vikings and Giants.]
 * February 11, 1986 (#620: Linda/Bill/Sam; taped from GSN)
 * February 12, 1986 (#621: Nora/Bill/Jimmy, with Peter and Rod making some fun comments after the Round 1 trip plug {and they get more fun as the weeks go on whenever this specific plug comes up}; taped from GSN)
 * February 13, 1986 (#622: Deborah/Nora/Craig; taped from GSN)
 * February 14, 1986 (#623: Scotty/Kelly/Nora, with two Whammies appearing during the intro; taped from GSN)


 * February 17, 1986 (#624: Stacy/Kelly/Stephan, with a fun moment during the second Big Board round; taped from GSN)
 * February 18, 1986 (#625: Tina/Stephan/Ted, with a whole bunch of noticeable edits for the first three segments; taped from GSN)
 * February 19, 1986 (#626: Doug/Tina/Debbie, with a weird second Question Round; taped from GSN)
 * February 20, 1986 (#627: Debbie/Kelly/Ivan; taped from GSN)
 * February 21, 1986 (#628: Ivan/Phyllis/Susan, with Peter saying goodbye to stage manager Doug Quick during the final segment; taped from GSN {alternate copy from an old broadcast, Big Board rounds only [begins just before second spin of Round 1], audio/video is a bit off})


 * February 24, 1986 (#629: Ivan/Linda/Jackie; taped from GSN)
 * [Jackie is back due to a scoring error.]
 * February 25, 1986 (#630: Larry/Linda/Daryl; taped from GSN {alternate copy from an old broadcast, player interviews and Question Rounds missing, final segment has lots of jump-cuts during Peter's final comments})
 * February 26, 1986 (#631: Andy/Linda/Lorraine, with Peter singing a bit during the first Question Round, a closeup of the slides in [7] during Round 1, and a rare event in Round 2; taped from GSN)
 * February 27, 1986 (#632: Andy/Karen/Linda; taped from GSN)
 * February 28, 1986 (#633: Karen/Steve/Grace; taped from GSN)

March
Across the Board debuts in [17] on March 10 to zero acclaim or acknowledgement (yes, really), replacing $600. This is probably the last change prior to the hiatus that didn't break something.

March 17 introduces several changes: the "ding" sound for adding spins changed from the one used for most of the run to the same kind used on CBS' Card Sharks; new angles debut for the Big Board trip descriptions; and the board itself swaps two slides in each round – the Whammy in [5] with the $470 in [7] during Round 1, the Whammy slides in said squares during Round 2.

Charlie O'Donnell begins filling in for an ill Rod on March 31.


 * March 3, 1986 (#634: Grace/Hal/Randy; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, player interviews and Question Rounds missing, ends during final segment})
 * [Hal is back from the 12/2/85 show.]
 * March 4, 1986 (#635: Grace/Glenn/Tracey, with a fun second Question Round; taped from GSN)
 * March 5, 1986 (#636: Joy/Kathy/Glenn; taped from GSN)
 * March 6, 1986 (#637: Drew/Kathy/Louise; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, pretty low audio, ends during Carruthers Company spiel})
 * March 7, 1986 (#638: Chris/Kathy/Robert; taped from GSN)

Across the Board added (began March 10)
 * March 10, 1986 (#639: Zena/Robert/Ellen, with Peter having some fun during the first Question Round; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, kinda-low audio})
 * March 11, 1986 (#640: Bill/Zena/Deanne, with two fun Question Rounds; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, kinda-low audio})
 * [Deanne is back from the 12/2/85 show. Peter claims it was due to an error on his part, which is kinda true I guess, but I think he just wanted to say it was his fault so he could bring up her weird answer from that show. :P]
 * March 12, 1986 (#641: Michael/Zena/Ken, with some fun with Rod during Ken's interview and Peter copying some of the trip plug footage in Round 1!; taped from GSN)
 * [And before anybody asks, no I don't know which episode that cat was watching in the photo near the end of the show. :P]
 * March 13, 1986 (#642: Meri Lea/Lance/Michael, with Peter and Rod having some fun with a pair of "Joe Cool" shades; taped from GSN)
 * March 14, 1986 (#643: Michael/Jeff/Etta {fun player!}, a great game!; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, begins just before first spin of Round 2, a few spins missing, ends right after segment does})

Card Sharks CBS ding now used in Question Rounds; Round 1 board swaps the Whammy in [5] with the $470 in [7], Round 2 board swaps the Whammies in [5] and [7] (began 3/17/86)
 * March 17, 1986 (#644: Chico/Michelle/Gene, with the first hit of Across the Board {which Peter doesn't really treat as a big deal}; taped from GSN)
 * [Gene is back from the 12/13-16/85 shows, due to an error.]
 * March 18, 1986 (#645: Frank/Chico/Calvin. with a long back-and-forth battle!; taped from GSN)
 * March 19, 1986 (#646: Tom/Frank/Stacey; taped from GSN)
 * March 20, 1986 (#647: Naomi/Tom/Paula, with the first? appearance of Add-A-One on the demo board; taped from GSN)
 * March 21, 1986 (#648/"SHUT UP!": Bill/Kris/Tom, with Peter getting {seemingly legit} pissed at an audience member shouting out an answer during the second Question Round!; taped from GSN)
 * [Just before Peter signs off, he says "Hey, by the way if you folks like Press Your Luck out there, tell a friend! If you don't [like Press Your Luck], keep it to yourself!" Pretty obvious they knew their ratings weren't too good.]


 * March 24, 1986 (#649: Brad/Jacki/Tom, with Add-A-One on the demo board; taped from GSN)
 * March 25, 1986 (#650!: Ray/Jacki/Karl; taped from GSN)
 * [Peter, just before signing off: "Hey, if you love us, tell a friend!"]
 * March 26, 1986 (#651: Cathy/Karl/Molly, with the theme running to its end during the credits!; taped from GSN, no credits sadly :( {alternate copy from a USA repeat with most commercials, audio/video is a bit off})
 * [Molly is back from the 12/18/85 show.]
 * March 27, 1986 (#652: Susan/Rick/Karl, with a fun "Chicken Little" question in Round 2; taped from GSN {alternate copy, from a USA repeat})
 * March 28, 1986 (#653: Susan/Joe/Bob, with a player who thinks he looks like John Wayne {and gets a ruling from the sound effects person!} and an appearance by Todd Curtis of Capitol at the end; taped from GSN)
 * [Peter, just before the second Big Board round, claims that the show gives away more every day than any other show on TV. "And if you're so happy, and you like us so much-hey, tell a friend, you know what I mean?"]

Charlie fills in for Rod
 * March 31, 1986 (#654: Kathleen/Bob/Oretha, with Charlie appearing on-camera, a fun first segment, and a fun second Question Round; taped from GSN)
 * [Peter takes a bit of time to come out, then notes "I was a little late getting out here 'cause I was pulling some cable, but y'know we-CBS is trying to save some money here and there so we all have to kinda pitch in."]

April
On April 4, the aforementioned slide swaps are reverted. Granted, I'm not entirely sure why they changed them to begin with (unless they wanted to make Add-A-One a bit harder to hit), but hey...

For whatever reason, the CBS ding is altered again on April 7 – it now seems to be a bit shorter, more muted, and less "echo-y".

Rod returns on April 15 (per Jason's guides), and as far as I know there were no other fill-in announcers for the rest of the run.


 * April 1, 1986 (#655: Kate/Robert/Bob; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat with commercials, "MRC" logo in bottom-left corner throughout, video is a bit blurry})
 * [Robert is back from the 12/9-10/85 shows.]
 * April 2, 1986 (#656: Kate/Rod/Smittay; taped from GSN)
 * April 3, 1986 (#657: Sandy/Rod/Leslie, with a fun moment in the second Question Round; taped from GSN, video issues from 5:52-6:04 {alternate copy from original broadcast with Ticket Plug, kinda-low audio, ends right before Peter reads a poem})
 * [Interestingly, the video issues (a couple of horizontal wavy lines at times, video gets a bit jittery) aren't due to the uploader or GSN, as the GSN logo isn't affected and remains stationary. Said issues aren't present at the same point in the "old broadcast" copy, though, so at least it didn't originally air like that.]

Round 1 and Round 2 slide swaps reverted
 * April 4, 1986 (#658: Leslie/Liz/Fred, with Peter making a Scrabble reference during the first Question Round!; taped from GSN {alternate copy from an old broadcast, slightly low audio, player interviews and Question Rounds missing, ends after Round 2})
 * [Peter, near the end of the second Question Round: "My money's on Fred! Then again, I own an Edsel, so what do I know?"]

CBS ding changed again
 * April 7, 1986 (#659: Leslie/Rick/Norma, with Charlie appearing on-camera and Peter insulting producer Bill Mitchell!; taped from GSN {alternate copy of partial intro, from an old broadcast})
 * April 8, 1986 (#660/"WORK WITH IT!": Ken/Leslie/Connie, with a pretty fun player and a victory celebration I don't think I've seen elsewhere; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, begins during second spin of Round 2})
 * April 9, 1986 (#661: Ken/Jon/Reggie, with Charlie appearing on-camera and a fun first segment in general {including Peter getting booed!}; taped from GSN)
 * April 10, 1986 (#662: Ken/Lisa/Mark; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, pretty poor quality until partway through second Question Round, audio/video goes really out-of-sync due to long pauses at a few places [first is partway through the first Big Board round], second Big Board round missing; seriously, it's really only here for the sake of completeness and not worth trying to watch past where it freezes the first time})
 * April 11, 1986 (#663: Albert/Ken/Robin; taped from GSN)


 * April 14, 1986 (#664: Don/Maria/Robin, with Peter giving a shout-out to his brother Jim; taped from GSN {alternate copy from a USA repeat, slightly low audio, ends during Carruthers Company spiel})
 * [Jim, at this point, was a doctor in Toronto.]

Rod returns

[GSN skipped shows 665-667 (April 15-17, 1986), although I'm not really sure why (the letter Peter reads in #667 making direct reference to a prior airdate?; maybe the master tape of #666 ended up getting the audio issues in the below copy?). USA did air all three, so it won't be a total loss, although 665 isn't online to my knowledge and the other two are missing portions in the available copies.]


 * [Speaking of #665, that was Brian/Michelle/Don; according to Todd Hunter, Don won a Windjammer Cruise in that game. Peter notes on the following show that there were eight Whammies in this game.]
 * April 16, 1986 (#666: Maurine/Scott/Don, with the Whammy cards broken!; old broadcast, really low audio for most of first segment {gets better as show goes on}, no last segment)
 * [Peter, before the second Big Board round: "Alright gang, "Big Bucks!", as we say. We coined a new phrase in the American language, "Big Bucks", evidently."]
 * April 17, 1986 (#667: Tommie/Mindy/Scott, with Peter reading a letter about an error he made on the January 31 show; USA repeat, begins during second Big Board round, ends during credits)
 * [The viewer who wrote in about the "January 31" show is actually referring to #611, which had (as explained above) been scheduled for January 29 but was pushed ahead as #609 (1/27) had been pre-empted in markets that didn't air it at 4:00 while #610 (1/28) didn't air at all due to nonstop coverage of the Challenger disaster. Hence, a market trying to air Press in order would air #609 on the 29th and #610 on the 30th, placing #611 on the 31st.]
 * April 18, 1986 (#668: Mindy/Pat/Scott, with a comment by Peter that suggests he was getting a bit tired of giving the Big Board rules on every show; taped from GSN {alternate copy, from a USA repeat})
 * [Peter, after giving the Big Board rules: "I am so fed up with saying that."]


 * April 21, 1986 (#669: Scott/Stephon/Bea, with a fun first Question Round {including Peter singing three times!}; taped from GSN)
 * April 22, 1986 (#670: Bill/Bea/Barbara {who speaks a bit of Japanese!}, with a weird audio glitch after the first Whammy is hit {sounds like a tape being rewound}; taped from GSN)
 * April 23, 1986 (#671/"STOP IT!": Barbara/Greg/Dwan, with Peter getting {seemingly legit} pissed at an audience member again!; taped from GSN)
 * [Dwan was, at the time, the reigning Mrs. California!]
 * April 24, 1986 (#672: Vince/Kevin/Dwan; taped from GSN)
 * April 25, 1986 (#673: David/Dwan/Nadine, with a first question where Peter cusses!; taped from GSN)
 * [The first thing seen after returning from break to the second Big Board round is kinda unorthodox, as it's a closeup of the $500 slide in [3].]


 * April 28, 1986 (#674: Barbara/Dwan/Rick; taped from GSN)
 * April 29, 1986 (#675: Hercules/Peggy/Dwan; taped from GSN)
 * [Peter, after a Round 2 question about Stupid Pet Tricks: "Why can't-we should put that in our show! ...Stupid Host Tricks?"]

[GSN skipped shows 676-678 (April 30-May 2, 1986), although I'm not really sure why (maybe the master tape of #677 ended up getting the issues in the below copy?). USA did air all three, so it won't be a total loss, although only 677 is online to my knowledge (676 was only online once back in 2007) and even then it's in bad condition along with not having the first and last segments.]


 * [#676 seems to be Aaron/Laura/Nancy, although this isn't listed on Jason's guides. The episode was uploaded by "thegreatwhamini" in 2007, although it was taken down at some point. All that appears to have been saved of it were this shot of Laura and the return of the trip to Ireland, last hit in 1984. Thanks to Todd Hunter for posting these on Facebook. :)]
 * [This was the start of a new weekend of taping, which usually consisted of 11 shows every other weekend (five on Saturday, six on Sunday). The winner of #675 (the last show of the prior taping session) didn't show up for #676, possibly due to a communication problem from Arizona to Los Angeles; Peter joked about it by saying that she was on the African Safari she won.]

May
Like February, it seems May was pretty quiet change-wise.

[NOTE: GSN's schedules indicate that Vance/Gail/Joe is #679. Either they skipped two more shows and the numbers currently on Jason's guide are correct, or...well, they didn't. For the moment, I'm assuming the latter, and as such the below shows in this month are pulled back by two slots; I'm not touching anything in June for the moment.]


 * May 1, 1986 (#677: Marc/Aaron/Kathryn; old broadcast with a partial commercial, begins during first Big Board round, wavy average-to-bad video {improves a bit as show goes on}, low audio, ends just after Round 2)
 * [According to recollections, Peter further joked about Peggy's absence by saying that her bus broke down in Duluth, and Kathryn said during her interview that she liked to skinnydip.]


 * May 5, 1986 (#679: Vance/Gail/Joe, with Peter indirectly referencing Bob Eubanks {due to Gail's last name} and several rare events; taped from GSN {alternate copies, taped from USA: #1, begins during first Big Board round, ends after Round 2; #2, missing first few seconds of #1's footage but has better video and a Silk Stalkings promo})
 * [Peter, after a player hits a Whammy: "I'm fresh out of bucks, too." At the end, after he reads a poem: "I hear Sale of the Century is looking for poems."]
 * May 6, 1986 (#680: Llewellyn/Dave/Joe, with a player who gets too greedy for their own good...and causes a rare ending; taped from GSN {alternate copy from original broadcast, kinda-dark video, quality issues during one part of Round 2})

[As a bit of a note on what to expect in the future: GSN's advance schedules currently take the show through #688 (May 16, 1986) on March 27, 2015, exactly 70 episodes from the end of the run.]


 * May 8, 1986 (#682: Mark/Susan/Rita; USA repeat)


 * May 15, 1986 (#687: Tucker/Frank/Judy {Day 3 - $18,400}; USA repeat, slightly dark video, tracking lines during intro, ends as Peter congratulates the winner during the final segment)
 * May 20, 1986 (#690: Erica/Rich/Joan, possibly the best episode of '86!; USA repeat from 10/12/95, slightly blurry video, begins during Rod's opening spiel)
 * May 21, 1986 (#691: Erica/Mordecai/Jeannie; USA repeat from 10/13/95 {the last episode they aired!}, ends late in fee plugs {possibly right after the last one})

June
This is when things began to get much worse. The month started out fine, but on June 17...the bottom pretty much fell out of the budget – the Round 2 board was slashed, hard, with some decreases and movements that made low to no sense and only impaired Pick-A-Corner further.

It also smacked Advance Two Spaces around (making the cash awards $500 and $1000, moving the $2500 that was there to [12]) as well as both Move One Space squares (giving the one in [9] the possibility of "$1000 + One Spin or $1000" and the one in [14] opportunities for "$500 + One Spin or $500", "$1500 or $500", and "$1500 or $1000").


 * June 12, 1986 (#707: Billy/Jo {Day 2 - $11,006}/Tim; old broadcast, begins during first? spin of second Big Board round, no audio for first six seconds, ends right after Round 2)
 * June 13, 1986 (#708: Jo/Robert/Donna; old broadcast, ends just before Rod's closing spiel)
 * June 16, 1986 (#709: Bruce/Jo/Paige; original broadcast, slightly low audio {alternate copies: #1, same source but video issues at times; #2, with the clips shown during I Love The 80s 3D edited in})
 * [Somewhat fitting that VH1 would use this episode in particular. :)]

Round 2 board severely cheapened
 * June 17, 1986 (#710/"Have we been renewed?": Scott/Paige/Jacques, with the "N" falling off Paige's "SPINS" placard and a good example of just how broken Pick-A-Corner had become by this point; original broadcast with commercials, "RNT/RetroNauseaTV" watermark in bottom-right corner throughout {doesn't get in the way}, ends shortly after sponsor list {alternate copies: #1, no commercials; #2, has some commercials but bright/jittery video, ends during sponsor list})
 * June 18, 1986 (#711: Bill/Yvonne/Paige, with another board change {due to a pathetic Pick-A-Corner hit the previous day} and the theme running out during the credits; original broadcast, ends late in credits)
 * June 19, 1986 (#712: Yvonne/Lauren/Dave; taped from KMOV, begins with CBS' Press tel-op slide from this point {which is...pretty generic, actually})
 * [Per one YouTube comment on the former copy, KMOV aired Press at 12:30 "I believe" (hopefully PM) and was dropped by said station during Summer '86.]
 * June 20, 1986 (#713: Howard/Yvonne/Sue, with Peter wearing a scarf on his head {briefly} and reading a poem really quickly; USA repeat from 2/22/93)


 * June 23, 1986 (#714: Yvonne/Paul/Annemarie; USA repeat from 2/23/93 {alternate copy, kinda-low audio with occasional video issues})
 * June 24, 1986 (#715: Annemarie/Dailyn/Robert, with Peter's opening comments indicating they knew their ratings were falling; USA repeat from 2/24/93 with most commercials, kinda-low audio {alternate copy, no commercials and same audio issues})
 * June 25, 1986 (#716: Annemarie/Nora/Mike; USA repeat from 2/25/93 {alternate copy, has some commercials but slightly muffled audio and lower video quality})
 * June 26, 1986 (#717: Keith/Linda/Jim; USA repeat from 2/26/93)
 * June 27, 1986 (#718: Greg/Regina/Keith; USA repeat from 3/1/93, begins near end of Round 2 "featured trip" plug)


 * June 30, 1986 (#719: Jim/Greg/Patricia; USA repeat from 1989, ends shortly after eligibility disclaimer)
 * [Per one YouTube comment, USA added its logo watermark in 1991.]

July
By this point, Press was...pretty pathetic, actually: the Round 2 board was amazingly cheap, the 4:00 PM slot meant more and more affiliates were tape-delaying or pre-empting the show, and the chances of moving into syndication or to another network rested somewhere between slim and none.

On July 17, some of the Round 2 values are altered a bit: most notably, Move One Space and Advance Two Spaces don't suck anymore...and Pick-A-Corner doesn't suck as bad, but boy is it still broken – so much so that on July 25, with no real hope of the other corners ever getting back to what worked, it was replaced by $1000 + One Spin.


 * July 1, 1986 (#720: Angie/Greg/Carol; USA repeat from 3/3/93 with commercials, begins at first Big Board round)
 * July 2, 1986 (#721: Mark/Donna/Greg; USA repeat, ends during first fee plug)
 * July 3, 1986 (#722: Jim/Cynthia/Mark; USA repeat, second Big Board round only, ends just after game win)
 * July 4, 1986 (#723: Jane/Cynthia/Robert; taped from WCBS, begins as Peter walks out, ends during Carruthers Company spiel)
 * ["We now join Press Your Luck, already in progress."]


 * July 7, 1986 (#724: Lillie/Robert/Gary; USA repeat)
 * July 8, 1986 (#725: Michael/Gary/Marlise; USA repeat, wavy video, kinda-low audio)
 * July 9, 1986 (#726: Paulette/Marlise/Dan, with an error that gets rectified at the start of the next show; USA repeat from 9/9/93, hissing noise throughout {but still very audible}, ends right after Carruthers Company spiel)
 * July 10, 1986 (#727: Dan/Marlene/Sam; USA repeat, hissing noise throughout {but still very audible})
 * July 11, 1986 (#728: Sam/Todd/Mary, with a great contestant and one of those really bad Move One Space scenarios; USA repeat, hissing audio throughout {not as bad as the above two shows, though})
 * [One YouTube comment notes that Todd would've likely made it into the intros if Press had lasted longer than it did (by all indication, nothing from about mid-November '85 onward ever got into the intros).]


 * July 15, 1986 (#730: Michelle/Dave/Todd, with an amusing {and completely unremarked-upon} incident during the first Question Round and a sign that maybe they didn't actually want to give away the Portable Organ; USA repeat from 9/15/93, begins during first player interview)
 * [The Portable Organ slide appears in [2] during the outro after the second Question Round, but upon returning from break Double Your $$ + One Spin is there instead.]
 * July 16, 1986 (#731: Margo/Dave/Curt, with an iffy Move One Space decision; USA repeat, wavy and kinds-dark video, audio/video slightly out of sync)

Values change (slightly; a net increase of $250 isn't really that good...)
 * July 17, 1986 (#732: Dave/Anitra/Tessie, with a pretty short Round 2 and the closing theme getting into a portion that I don't think is in the various clean copies out there; USA repeat, audio/video out of sync)
 * July 18, 1986 (#733: Anitra/Pam/David; USA repeat, begins at first Big Board round, "buzzing" sound at times during full credit roll)


 * July 22, 1986 (#735: Debbie/Craig/Andre, with Peter losing his clothes!; original broadcast)
 * July 23, 1986 (#736: Rick/Steve/Andre; USA repeat from 9/23/93, wavy video)

[Repeats begin on July 28, with College Week '85.]

August
The hiatus continues: the last show of College Week '85 airs on the 1st, followed by some Summer 1984 episodes to fill out the month.

September
First-run episodes resume on September 1, but nothing's changed. The official Television City website indicates that the show taped episodes in August, having previously taped in June, but at this point it feels like a burn-off attempt by CBS.

Sometime between September 16 and 26, one last change was made to the Round 2 board: the $750 + One Spin in [16] was upped to $1000 + One Spin, with the same color.

USA never aired any of the last 20 shows (they got up to #738, though), so any episodes here are original broadcasts.


 * September 16, 1986 (#750!: Kathy/Joe {Day 3? - $20,334}/Danny; taped from WCBS, with commercials {alternate copies: full show, no commercials; last segment, with the preceding five commercials})

Last Big Board change
 * September 26, 1986 (#758/Finale: Andy/Karen {Day 2? - $26,806!}/Bill, with the "Whammy outhouse" and a couple of signs they knew {or at least suspected} it was the end; taped from WCBS, with a station ident {alternate copy... thing, lower quality})
 * [Intro Whammy is the Sherlock Holmes one, which feels strangely appropriate for the last show.]

[On September 29, CBS returned the 4:00 PM slot to the affiliates. In early 1987, Republic Pictures distributed a syndication package of 26 weeks from '85 (specifically, the 130-episode stretch of February 25-August 23); a few months later, on September 14, USA began airing repeats for the next eight years.]