BIG BUCKS, NO WHAMMIES, STOP! The AV Club TV Roundtable takes on the Michael Larson Press Your Luck. If you know what happens, you already want to click through, and if you don't, this is an excellent introduction.
I vaguely remember watching this on TV when I was 10. At the time, I knew there was a pattern---I knew one of the spots where there were never whammies, and I saw a point where, if the whammies were in a certain position, the light would next move to that spot (which was the "$X000 + one spin" spot). Still, it took until the second episode to dawn on me that someone else might have spotted that, too. (Larson knew a lot more than I did - I only knew one pattern.)
The funny thing watching it almost 30 years later is trying to figure out when anyone else catches on. Tomarken, obviously, knows something is up, and is just relieved when Larson passes. I think Ed figures it out when I did---sometime in the $60-80K range. I don't think Katie ever guesses that something is up.
I vaguely remember watching this on TV when I was 10. At the time, I knew there was a pattern---I knew one of the spots where there were never whammies, and I saw a point where, if the whammies were in a certain position, the light would next move to that spot (which was the "$X000 + one spin" spot). Still, it took until the second episode to dawn on me that someone else might have spotted that, too. (Larson knew a lot more than I did - I only knew one pattern.)
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing watching it almost 30 years later is trying to figure out when anyone else catches on. Tomarken, obviously, knows something is up, and is just relieved when Larson passes. I think Ed figures it out when I did---sometime in the $60-80K range. I don't think Katie ever guesses that something is up.