The Whammies Are Back: ABC Bringing Back ‘Press Your Luck’ And ‘Card Sharks’ Game Shows

ABC already has a number of hit shows — ranging from dramas to reality TV offerings to sitcoms — but they want to keep bringing all sorts of programming to their viewers.

Now, they’re on a bit of a game show kick, and they are actually going to kick the tires on a couple more old-school shows to see if they can draw in fans again. Later this year, ABC will debut new versions of both Card Sharks and Press Your Luck, for audiences young and old.

Vulture is reporting that both shows are already in pre-production, and that each will have hour-long episodes. As of right now, ABC is looking to have both Press Your Luck and Card Sharks premiere sometime in the spring, but an exact date is not yet known.

Going back and re-inventing old game shows is nothing new for ABC, as they’ve been doing it quite a bit lately. They have brought back Celebrity Family Feud, Match Game, Pyramid, and To Tell The Truth among others. However, it appears as if The Gong Show revival didn’t last too long, as it may already be canceled.

Longtime fans of both shows will be thrilled to see them revived and brought back to life, but a whole new generation of game show viewers are in for a treat.

ABC is bringing back 1980s game-show classics "Card Sharks" and "Press Your Luck" https://t.co/41zeBYXXgS

— Vulture (@vulture) March 14, 2019

Card Sharks debuted back in 1978, with Jim Perry as its host, and the concept was somewhat simple. The audience would be surveyed on various topics, and the contestants would attempt to guess at the results. If they ended up guessing correctly, contestants would be able to flip cards over — and then play a guessing game for more cards.

From there, they could determine if they’d like to freeze their hand, or continue on for bigger prizes.

Over the years, Card Sharks would have different hosts — featuring Bob Eubanks, Bill Rafferty, and Pat Bullard during different revivals. The last time it was on the air, though, was during a short run from 2001 to 2002.

Press Your Luck made its debut in 1983, with Peter Tomarken as the host. The show brought about the often yelled phrase of “NO WHAMMY…STOP!” Contestants would answer questions for turns at the board, and would then try to get their spin to land on big prizes. However, Whammies — creatures which would cause them to lose everything — were to be avoided at all costs.

There was a short revival of the show in 2002, and it was simply called Whammy! This reboot didn’t last very long, either. Now, ABC is hoping that these two new additions will continue their retro game show block, one which is apparently doing rather well for them.