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

...I really should stop using Ryan Rinkerman's collection as a gauge. :P I thought only about 35 episodes of this period of Press Your Luck were online; turns out there's over 70 – and that's not counting the first four weeks GSN's aired!

Note that this section spans from the start of GSN's current lease (November 18, 1985) through the end of the run. 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.

November

 * 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)
 * 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.


 * 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. Not sure why.]
 * 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: kinds 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)

[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 – #585 on December 23 (appropriately :P), 586-593 as a Christmas Eve marathon.]


 * December 25, 1985 (#587: Mark {Day 2? - $12,900}/Sylvan/Pam, with the set decorated for Christmas, cameos by an appropriately-dressed Rod and Peter's daughters Alexis and Candace, and the only post-1983 show without the flashback intro; original broadcast {alternate copy})

1986
Sometime between about February 25 and March 26, 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. I'm not 100% sure since the audio's a bit low of some of the February shows.


 * 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)

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 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 its network slot, 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 aired the show at Noon or 12:30, but this wasn't nearly enough.

Probably on January 8, Add-A-One becomes a regular prize in [7].


 * January 3, 1986 (#593: Marla/Joyce/Chris {Day 2? - $11,834}; original broadcast)

Show moves to 4:00 PM
 * January 6, 1986 (#594: Maria/Kent/David, with Peter giving detailed explanations of the game {albeit with no demo spin}; taped from GSN {alternate copy, from a USA repeat})
 * January 7, 1986 (#595: Kimberly/David/Tommy; taped from GSN {alternate copy, from a USA repeat})
 * January 8, 1986 (#596: Ann/Betsy/Tommy; taped from GSN {alternate copy, from original broadcast})
 * January 9, 1986 (#597: Betsy/Sam/Jenea; taped from GSN {alternate copy from an old 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; 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
On February 21 or 24, Across the Board debuts in [17], replacing $600. This is probably the last change prior to the hiatus that didn't break something.


 * February 3, 1986 (#614: Chris/Michael/Joe, with 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 12?, 1986 (#621?: Larry/Linda {Day 2? - $15,424}/Daryl; old broadcast, player interviews and Question Rounds missing, final segment has lots of jump-cuts after the winner is congratulated)
 * [All the January episodes are known in some way or another, and Across the Board isn't present yet.]
 * February 1986 (#6??: Ivan/Phyllis/Susan; old broadcast, Big Board rounds only {begins after first or second spin of Round 1}, audio/video is a bit off)
 * [See above for notes.]


 * February 17, 1986 (#624: Grace {Day 2? - $10,920}/Hal/Randy; USA repeat, player interviews and Question Rounds missing, ends right after Rod congratulates the winner)
 * February 20, 1986 (#627: Drew/Kathy {Day 2? - $23,900!}/Louise; USA repeat, pretty low audio, ends during Carruthers Company spiel)

Across the Board added (began February 21 or 24)
 * February 24, 1986 (#629: Zena/Robert/Ellen; USA repeat, kinda-low audio)
 * February 25, 1986 (#630: Bill/Zena/Deanne; USA repeat, kinda-low audio)
 * [Still has a Whammy in [5] and $470 in [7] during Round 1.]
 * February 28, 1986 (#633: Michael/Jeff/Etta {champ retired last time}; USA repeat, begins during second Big Board round, ends right after segment does)

March
Charlie O'Donnell fills in for Rod from about March 31-April 14.


 * March 26, 1986 (#651: Cathy/Karl {Day 2 - $7,822}/Molly, with the theme running to its end during the credits!; USA repeat, with most commercials)
 * [By this point, the Round 1 board swaps the Whammy in [5] with the $470 in [7].]
 * March 27, 1986 (#652: Susan/Rick/Karl; USA repeat)

April
On April 4 or 7, the aforementioned Round 1 changes are reverted. (I'm not entirely sure why they changed them to begin with, but hey...)


 * April 1, 1986 (#655: Kate/Robert/Bob {Day 3 - $23,654!}; USA repeat with commercials, "MRC" logo in bottom-left corner throughout)
 * April 3, 1986 (#657: Sandy/Rod/Leslie; old broadcast, kinda-low audio, ends right before Peter reads a poem)
 * April 4?, 1986 (#658?: partial intro, ends just before Charlie says "big bucks"; old broadcast)
 * April 7, 1986 (#659: Leslie/Liz/Fred; old broadcast, slightly low audio, player interviews and Question Rounds missing, ends after Round 2)
 * April 8, 1986 (#660/"WORK WITH IT!": Ken/Leslie/Connie, with a really fun player and a victory celebration I don't think I've seen elsewhere; USA repeat, begins during first? spin of Round 2)
 * April 10, 1986 (#662: Ken/Lisa/Mark; USA repeat, ends during credits)


 * April 14, 1986 (#664: Don/Maria/Robin; USA repeat, slightly low audio, ends during Carruthers Company spiel)
 * April 16, 1986 (#666: Maurine/Scott/Don; begins during intro, extremely-low audio until first Big Board round {at which point it gets up to just being pretty low}, ends after Round 2)
 * 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)
 * [Yeah, about that latter date...it's not true, at least as far as the intended airdates go. The show generally listed as 1/31/86 (Chris/Michael/Joe) has no Monopoly questions, whereas #611 (1/29/86) does...although it evidently flew under the radar until GSN aired it in 2014. The reason for the odd date is, as explained above, because #609 (1/27) was 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 – and 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; USA repeat)

May

 * May 5, 1986 (#679: Marc/Aaron/Kathryn; old broadcast, begins during first Big Board round, average-to-bad video, low audio, ends just after Round 2)
 * [The champ who was supposed to be here, Peggy, had missed her flight!]
 * May 7, 1986 (#681: Vance/Gail/Joe; USA repeat, begins during first Big Board round, ends after Round 2 {alternate copy, missing first second but has better video and a Silk Stalkings promo})
 * May 8, 1986 (#682/"Bupkis!": Llewellyn/Dave/Joe; old broadcast, kinda-dark video, quality issues during one part of Round 2)


 * May 12, 1986 (#684: Mark/Susan/Rita; USA repeat)


 * May 19, 1986 (#689: 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 22, 1986 (#692: 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 23, 1986 (#693: 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
On June 4, the Whammy slides in [12] and [14] (both Round 2) were altered: the former from "taunting" to "big tongue", the latter from "hands-on-hips" to "Egyptian".

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, ends shortly after sponsor list {alternate copy with some commercials, bright and 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, 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 {alternate copy, has most commercials but same audio issues})
 * June 25, 1986 (#716: Annemarie/Nora/Mike; USA repeat from 2/25/93 {alternate copy, has commercials but slightly muffled audio and lower video quality})
 * June 26, 1986 (#717: Keith/Linda/Jim; USA repeat from 2/26/93 {alternate copy, has commercials but pretty low audio})
 * 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; original broadcast, begins as Peter walks out, ends during Carruthers Company spiel)


 * 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})

[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; a few months later, on September 14, USA began airing repeats for the next eight years.]