Vital information
Name: Whammy
Age: Unknown
Height: 5-6" tall
Appearance: Red, googly eyes, wide-mouthed smile, mask on face
Pets: Dog named Fang
Significant Others: Tammy Whammette (girlfriend), Peter Tomarken (PYL host 1983-1986), Todd Newton (Whammy host 2002-)
Hobbies: Stealing money in lots of crazy ways
The Whammy is what virtually makes an episode of Press Your Luck more fun! Its origins can be traced back to the 1970s game show Second Chance when it was known back then as the "devil" who took contestants' money away. When that show evolved into Press Your Luck in 1983, Steve Holland re-designed it, gave it a life of its own and named it Whammy, a character that we all know and love (or in a contestant's mind, hate).
With its crazy grin and high-pitched cartoon voice, the Whammy would think up hundreds of crazy ways to take a contestant's money, whether it was imitating Michael Jackson or mowing it away with its lawnmower. The possibilities were endless!
With PYL making a comeback here in the 21st century, Whammy needed to get with the times. It was given a complete makeover, giving it spiky hair, replacing its yellow mask with a green one, removing its cape and changing the "$" it usually wore on its chest to "W" (for "Whammy", of course. Stories say that this Whammy is the son of the original Whammy and Tammy Whammette). And this time around, it brought the Double Whammy to the table. Not only did Whammy take a player's money from them, it also dumped stuff from above onto the player's head to coordinate with the activity the Whammy was doing.
The Double Whammies
Popcorn Whammy: Whammy cooks popcorn over a campfire. Unfortunately, he pops too much and the excess gets dumped on the contestant.
Wedding Whammy: Whammy and Tammy finally tie the knot, but the rice--and the bouquet--gets thrown the other way!
Ping-Pong Whammy: Whammy is playing ping-pong, but gets served too many balls. As he swats as many as he can, the contestant gets showered with ping-pong balls.
Pillowfight Whammy: Whammy engages in a pillow fight, whacking his pillow repeatedly. Guess where the feathers end up.
Whammy Mother: A mother Whammy carries a grocery bag filled with fruits and vegetables. She steps on a roller skate, causing her load to fall on the player (including two rubber chickens).
Pizza Whammy: Whammy tosses pizza dough in the air as he sings. On the final toss, he tosses it high in the air and it lands on the contestant's head.
Whammy Snowboarder: Whammy is showing off some cool half-pipe tricks on his snowboard. A big dusting of snow is thrown into the air...right onto the contestant!
Whammy Exterminator: Whammy is trying to exterminate some bugs. He holds his bug spray up into the air as dead rubber bugs land on the player.
Lawnmower Whammy: An old-school Whammy with a twist. Whammy mows away grass $ signs with his lawnmower. A pile of clippings land--you guessed it--on the contestant's head!
Whammy Surfer: Another one of the old-school Whammies. As Whammy rides the waves, he flips over to surf upside down when a load of fish gets dumped on the player.
Crazy String Whammy: Whammy, wearing a party hat and carrying a noisemaker, shoots crazy string into the air from his spray can. And it lands...you know where!
Whammy Coffee Shop: Whammy sells cappuccino with extra froth. So much in fact that coffee beans and styrofoam cups get dumped on the contestant!
Whammy Football Players: A couple of Whammy football players carry on the tradition of dumping the cooler on the coach, but with Whammy himself coming out and dumping on the player!
Water Whammy: Whammy plays with a garden hose that is too much for him to handle. As he goes wild, a stream of water shoots from the players' area and squirts the victim in the face.
Attic Whammy: "The money's got to be around here somewhere", says Whammy as he climbs a ladder to the attic. When he opens the trapdoor, down comes a load of dirty laundry on the player's head.
Whammy Cannonball: Whammy shoots himself from a cannon. As he goes up, his fur comes down on the contestant's head!
Slam Dunk Whammy: Whammy dribbles a basketball down a court. When he slam-dunks the ball in the basket, small basketballs get dumped on the player.
Enron Whammy: In a salute to the Enron scandal, Whammy shreds documents with a shredder. And all of it gets dumped on the contestant.
Whamzilla: A giant Godzilla-type Whammy runs amok through the streets of the city. And the player gets rained on with the debris.
Whammy Weatherman: Whammy is delivering a TV weather report, featuring a 100% chance of snow and ping-pong balls.
Whammy Barber: Bill gets his hair trimmed by Whammy. The contestant gets his clippings.
Whammy Sheepshearer: Whammy tackles shearing a sheep, and tosses the wool on the contestant's head!
Whammy Figure Skater: The snow is flying the player's way when Whammy shows off his ice-cold moves on the skating rink.
Whammy Janitor: Whammy's cleaning up, but slips on his mop. The contestant gets the wet mop head on the head.
Junk Mail Whammy: Whammy checks his mailbox, which is overflowing with junk mail. You know where it ends up.