Latest news with #PressYourLuck
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
ABC Sets Summer Premiere Dates for Martin Short-Led Match Game Revival, Bachelor in Paradise and More — But Where's Claim to Fame?
ABC on Wednesday revealed its Summer 2025 schedule, which means you can start marking your calendars for new seasons of returning favorites like Bachelor in Paradise (which is heading to Costa Rica) and the Steve Harvey-hosted Celebrity Family Feud (which just got renewed for Season 11). Press Your Luck and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire also will be back with new episodes, and Millionaire will be followed by the network's recently announced Match Game revival hosted by Only Murders in the Building star Martin Short. More from TVLine What to Watch in May: Your Guide to 130+ Premieres Across Broadcast, Cable and Streaming Will Trent Adds Yul Vazquez in Major Recurring Role - Will This 'Newfound Enemy' Play a Part in Season 4? Matthew Gray Gubler's Einstein Delayed at CBS Until 2026-27 Season - Find Out Why All shows will stream the next day on Hulu. What about Claim to Fame, you wonder? Season 4 of the Jonas brothers-hosted reality competition is not on the just-released summer schedule, but here's your recurring reminder: ABC's scheduling of unscripted shows is 'opportunistic' — meaning, 'when they need it.' So if you don't see what you consider to be a 'summer' show here, don't jump to the worst conclusions. It could return later. Read on for a breakdown of ABC's big summer premieres, then hit the comments: What shows will be heating up your summer? MONDAY, JULY 78 pm Bachelor in Paradise (season premiere) THURSDAY, JULY 108 pm Celebrity Family Feud (season premiere)9 pm Press Your Luck WEDNESDAY, JULY 168 pm The 2025 ESPYs Presented by Capital One (only broadcast on ABC) WEDNESDAY, JULY 238 pm Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (season premiere)9 pm Match Game (series premiere) Best of TVLine Yellowjackets Mysteries: An Up-to-Date List of the Series' Biggest Questions (and Answers?) The Emmys' Most Memorable Moments: Laughter, Tears, Historical Wins, 'The Big One' and More 'Missing' Shows, Found! The Latest on Severance, Holey Moley, Poker Face, YOU, Primo, Transplant and 25+ Others
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'The Luckiest Man in America' tells the story of an ice cream truck driver who cracked a game show's code, infuriated executives and won big
The movie The Luckiest Man in America imagines what it would have been like to be behind the scenes of a game show in the 1980s when one contestant is on an unparalleled hot streak. It's about the real-life game Press Your Luck, which aired on CBS between 1983 and 1986. In each episode, three contestants compete to answer multiple-choice trivia questions, and for each correct answer they are given three chances to press a button to stop the circulation of lights on the Big Board. They would earn prizes based on wherever the light stopped. In 1984, an ice cream truck driver with a fondness for get-rich-quick schemes named Michael Larson studied the show long enough to discover that even though it seemed like the lights were flashing randomly over the Big Board, there were actually only five patterns — a few of which included spots that were guaranteed to earn him money. He figured out how to guarantee a win every time, avoiding a "whammy" that would eliminate his winnings. Though typical contestants walked away with about $14,000, Larson scored a $110,237 haul that led CBS officials to accuse him of cheating. After an investigation, it was determined that he didn't cheat, and he got his money, though he wasn't allowed to return to the show because he exceeded its winnings limit. In The Luckiest Man in America, Larson is portrayed by Paul Walter Hauser. Samir Oliveros, who directed and co-wrote the movie, became captivated by Larson's story after finding a VHS recording of Press Your Luck while thrift shopping. "I started watching the clip, and I was like, 'Oh this is really good!'" he told Yahoo Entertainment. "What attracted me was seeing Michael and knowing he was probably hiding something, but he was putting on a facade for the show. When the cameras were turned off, he was probably a completely different person ... somebody that just makes very bold decisions." Oliveros became obsessed with what might have been happening behind the scenes in the control room during commercial breaks, in the time between tapings and after Larson left the stage. The film has a solemn tone at first, and then excitement builds as Larson continues to win. Oliveros said the goal was to convey that Larson's hot streak was "good for the episode but bad for finances." Bill Carruthers Jr., whose father created Press Your Luck, served as a creative consultant for the film and gave the crew plenty of background insight into what would have been happening behind the scenes. "He would tell us that the control room at the time was crazy ... it was like headless chickens," Oliveros said. He added that he had to personally track down Carruthers to get his help, but when he finally found him, Carruthers said he had been "waiting for this call for 40 years." To Oliveros, this isn't just a story of a con man who hacked the system to drain a game show of its funds. It's inspirational. He said he hopes the film inspires viewers to "take bigger risks." "I feel like Michael was somebody that would just go around his life making big, bold choices. People don't do that anymore. People like the security of a nine-to-five," Oliveros said. "But Michael had a dream. The way he accomplished that dream was a little unorthodox, but he made it happen." is in theaters April 4.
New York Times
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘The Luckiest Man in America' Review: Taking a Game Show for a Spin
The ideal way to watch 'The Luckiest Man in America,' a dramatization of a real-life game show incident, is to go in cold — to see these events unfold as TV viewers did. If you've never heard of Michael Larson, a contestant who appeared on CBS's 'Press Your Luck' in 1984, then it is best to save YouTube for later. In the movie's version of events, Michael (Paul Walter Hauser) earns his spot on the program by crashing an audition, claiming to be someone he's not. Bill Carruthers (David Strathairn), one of the show's creators, nevertheless sees star potential in his Everyman persona. Is Michael a loose cannon? The screenplay, by Maggie Briggs and the film's director, Samir Oliveros, paints him as, at minimum, maladroit. He wears shorts with his tie and jacket. A woolly hairdo and beard look more freakish on Hauser than the real Michael's did on him. The character also seems fine with bending the show's rules, like the one that forbids phone calls during breaks. Then Michael starts winning tens of thousands of dollars. And he keeps taking turns, even though each time he stands to lose it all. From here, the movie shifts into procedural mode, as the team in the control booth tries to sort out whether Michael is crazy or crafty. Shamier Anderson plays an employee who sleuths out Michael's background during the taping. Oliveros is more selective in providing access to the protagonist's thoughts. The events, and the mind games, appear to have been goosed for dramatic interest. (One preposterous, surely invented interlude finds Michael wandering onto a talk show set and baring his soul to the host, played by Johnny Knoxville.) But it is still fun to watch Michael and CBS compete for the upper hand. The Luckiest Man in America Rated R. Language unfit for daytime TV. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. In theaters.
Wall Street Journal
30-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
Arts Calendar: Happenings for the Week of March 30
• 'A Minecraft Movie' (April 4): The hit videogame gets a big-screen treatment from director Jared Hess ('Napoleon Dynamite'), as a ragtag team (Jason Momoa, Sebastian Hansen, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks) suddenly finds itself in a blocky digital world where it's shepherded on its quest to return home by a master craftsman (Jack Black). • 'The Luckiest Man in America' (April 4): Michael Larson was a fan of get-rich-quick schemes, who after discovering that the popular game show 'Press Your Luck' could be played with more skill than chance, set out to win an eyewatering sum. Based on a real 1984 scandal involving the show, Samir Oliveros's film stars Paul Walter Hauser, Walton Goggins, David Strathairn and Maisie Williams.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Paul Walter Hauser Is 'The Luckiest Man in America 'in a Real-Life Game Show Scandal: See the Trailer (Exclusive)
Meet the luckiest man in America. The first trailer for IFC Films' drama, shared exclusively with PEOPLE, depicts the 1984 Press Your Luck game show scandal. Based on a true story, The Luckiest Man in America follows unemployed ice cream truck driver Michael Larson (Paul Walter Hauser) as he becomes a contestant on Press Your Luck, all while "harboring a big secret: the key to endless amounts of money," a synopsis teases. In the trailer, Larson begins to raise suspicion on the game show as he quickly racks up thousands of dollars. Host Peter Tomarken (The White Lotus star Walton Goggins) watches in amazement. However, executives behind the scenes aren't as thrilled, with Press Your Luck co-creator Bill Carruthers (David Strathairn) saying, "We have a problem. Somebody didn't vet this guy." Related: Kate Mara Teases The Astronaut, Her 'Thrilling' New Alien Thriller with Laurence Fishburne (Exclusive) Directed by Samir Oliveros and written by both Oliveros and Maggie Briggs, the movie follows the scandal in which Larson won a record-breaking total of $110,237 (equivalent to $333,642 in 2024). Hauser is joined by Shamier Anderson, Maisie Williams, Patti Harrison, Brian Geraghty, Haley Bennett and Johnny Knoxville in the cast. "I'm so pleased to see this movie making its way to audiences, because it really does feel like one of a kind," Hauser, 38, tells PEOPLE. "Not only do I love our weird and wonderful time capsule of a film, but it was made by one of the best cast and crews I've ever worked with." Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Strathairn also shared positive memories of working on the movie, saying the experience "could not have been more fun." "The cast, perfection; the crew and production team, so well-oiled and so supportive of everything and anything anyone needed; a production design that made us feel like we were right there in that TV studio 'back when,' " Strathairn, 76, says. Related: Nicole Kidman Unravels a 'Twisted Tale' in First Look at Holland from Fresh Director Mimi Cave (Exclusive) "Ever since I saw the clip of his performance on a VHS tape I found at a thrift shop, I became obsessed with Michael Larson," Oliveros says of inspiration for the movie. "What drew me to him was what I perceived to be a kind of childish curiosity, a desire to put the rules into question." "Michael was a man who took risks and made bold and questionable decisions, a man who was constantly dipping his toe in danger, hell-bent on defeating the system, always out to prove that he was smarter than everyone else. That's the stuff of a great movie character," Oliveros says. The writer-director also shares admiration for Larson's "unorthodox" methods to winning. "I recognize the struggle of a man who has big dreams and is willing to find unorthodox ways to accomplish them. Because just like him, I believe that luck favors the brave," Oliveros says. The Luckiest Man in America is in theaters April 4. Read the original article on People
