MY REVIEW: PRESS YOUR LUCK (2019)

    

I must admit, I was a BIG fan of the original 1980's version of "Press Your Luck" and its host Peter Tomarken.  It was literally all bells, whistles and whammies all of the time.....and a few trivia questions thrown in to satisfy someone's need to justify watching such a razor-thin premise of a game show.  And for all of us who thought it was a giant hit show, it didn't fade away but rather burned out in a rather dull fashion after only three seasons on CBS daytime.
     Is all of this nostalgia enough to bring such a trifle of a show back?  Hell, yeah it is!  And of course now that it is a prime time beast, we have to super-size it; making the highs higher and the lows so much more sad and tear-jerking.  However, those nasty whammies just don't seem as nasty as they did when I was thirteen years old.  I guess real life will do that to you.  And the trivia questions seem even more dumbed down than before.
     And then there's the new host.  There are probably thousands of people more qualified to host this show ( both men AND women) but I suppose few women who look like they just walked off of a fashion shoot like Elizabeth Banks.  But I'm afraid her hosting skills leave a lot to be desired.  Her 'banter' sounds either rehearsed or wooden or both.  It's refreshing to see a non-comedian get the job but she acts like she studied at the Drew Carey school of game show hosting.
     Oh, and the contestants.  They seem to have been hooked up to a Red Bull I.V. before taking the stage.  No one can be that excited.  I know you're enthusiastic but take it down a notch or two, ok?
     The game board is what I really want to see but after a few episodes, I simply became bored.  All the bells, whistles and whammies just aren't that dazzling anymore.  This is an okay time waster but as a great game show it's only a mediocre one at best.
      My grade: C-