Game show exec Bob Boden is reflecting the game show scandal to end all game show scandals. We're talking about Press Your Luck.
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It can be argued that contestant Michael Larson pressed his luck all the way to the bank. He took home $110,237 after breaking the pattern in the game show. Keep in mind this was back in 1984. Boden had been a producer on the game show.
He's reflecting on the scandal and how it changed everything on The Game Show Starring Bradley Clarke.
"I was the exec on the show, but I was not there that day. I was at home, but as the day wore on, I was getting communications from people who were there, including Michael Brockman, my boss, that something crazy was going on at the set. So the next day, that Monday, I got the full download of what had happened that Sunday," he said.
Boden explained, "There was a contestant named Michael Larson who had done what was considered to be the impossible. He memorized the patterns of the bouncing lights on the Press Your Luck board, which given the technology at the time, were not actually random patterns. They were set patterns, but there were five different ones, and through a series of viewing experiences that lasted several months, he took very careful notes on where the lights bounced from square to square on this board and memorized the five patterns."
Game Show Scandal
But shockingly, the game show contestant didn't cheat. He followed all the rules. He was just smarter than the producers and creators.
Boden said, "He didn't actually break any rules, upon review. Everyone realized that he didn't do anything wrong. He was just smarter than we were. So he beat the board. He beat the show. He won a lot of money as a result of it."
Boden was behind the documentary for the Game Show Network. He created a special, which help popularize the scandal when it aired in the early 2000s. Instead of hiding from the scandal, Boden did a deep dive on what exactly happened and who Michael Larson was.
"He had passed away by that time, so we didn't get to talk to him, but we spoke extensively to his brother, and we did a full forensic analysis of the board patterns and how Michael did what he did, so the show aired in 2003, and it went through the roof. It really helped put Game Show Network on the map, and for the next nine years, that show stood as the highest-rated show in the history of the network," he remembered.
