In 1984, an unemployed air conditioning mechanic and ice cream truck driver named Michael Larsen won a staggering amount of cash on the CBS daytime game show, Press Your Luck. But it wasn't luck: He'd figured out a way to beat the show's high-tech game board. Ordinarily, a single game of PYL was completed in enough time to air one per half-hour and whoever won went home with (usually) cash and prizes in the mid-to-high four figures.
Not so with Mr. Larsen. He racked up more than a hundred grand, and his game ran so long that the producers had to figure out how to break it up into two half-hours. (Larsen did his voodoo during the show's final round, and the show's rules had not allowed for commercial breaks during a round because no one ever expected it to be necessary. The producer-director, Bill Carruthers, hastily rigged up freeze-frames and had host Peter Tomarken tape some explanations and introductions.) CBS was embarrassed by the whole incident and tried to downplay the whole thing.
My tapes of the Larsen episodes have long been a "video fave" of visitors, most of whom find it amazing and real in a way that no so-called "reality show" ever seems to be. This Sunday and Monday, Game Show Network is airing those two episodes as part of a two-hour documentary that includes interviews with folks who worked on the show. (Larsen passed away in 1999. Bill Carruthers, sadly, passed away a week ago, but had been interviewed for the special before that happened.) Game Show Network is hyping it as a great "scandal" — which it really isn't — but it should still be worth watching.
However, I have a suggestion! If you aren't familiar with the way Press Your Luck is played, it will all have less meaning for you. The game is a bit complicated and I think you need to see a couple of "normal" games before you can fully appreciate the magic of this abnormal one. Game Show Network runs an old episode every morning, seven days a week. It's on at 8:30 AM on my satellite dish but it may be different on your set. If you're going to tune in and see the special — Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal — on Sunday or Monday night, I suggest you first watch one or two where the contestants don't break the bank.
Bill Carruthers, by the way, was a very important person in television history. He directed TV shows for the likes of Steve Allen and Ernie Kovacs, helmed the Emmy Awards for 14 years, directed events like the famous Frank Sinatra prime-time concert, and even aided presidents. A staunch Republican, he directed TV spots and consulted with Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford and George Bush, and declined offers from several of them to work in the White House. Even more important than that, he was Soupy Sales's first director. The one time I met Mr. Carruthers, we talked about Michael Larsen and about Soupy…and didn't breathe a word about those other, relatively unimportant guys.