The Cast of Press Your Luck
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Peter Tomarken
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Press Your Luck was by far the role that
made Peter Tomarken most famous, but it was not his first hosting job.
Peter got his break in early 1983 as the host of the kooky but well-loved Jay
Wolpert production Hit Man, in which contestants watched films and then answered
questions about them. Following Press Your Luck's cancellation in 1986,
Peter went on to host the abysmal Bargain Hunters, which he was once quoted as
calling (quite correctly) "a piece of ****." Bargain Hunters was
a Price is Right rip-off, featuring price guessing games as well as boring home
shopping segments. Following that disaster, Peter hosted the unique game
Wipeout in 1988, which, although lasting only one year in the U.S., enjoyed
successful, longer runs in Germany, Spain, England, and Australia.
Peter was absent from the game show
scene again until 1994's launch of the Game Show Network. Peter hosted a
live game nightly called Decades, in which home players phoned in to the network
to win prizes. Decades was interspersed between classic game show reruns
such as Family Feud and What's My Line. Peter left GSN in 1997, and his
last hosting job was in Spring, 2000 on Fox Family Channel's Paranoia.
Paranoia was yet another in a line of "big money" game show failures,
but was unique in the fact that it aired live and allowed home players to win in
their own living rooms, on the phone, and on the Internet. In addition to
his hosting roles, Peter was seen recently in an ad campaign for Ameritrade, an
online stock brokerage.
Rod Roddy
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Rod Roddy has been a successful television announcer for
over 25 years. Following a career in radio, Rod got his break on
television as the announcer for the hilarious satire Soap,
seen on ABC from 1977-1981. Rod's first announcing job came on Whew! in
1979, followed by Battlestars in 1981. Soon after he teamed up with Peter
for Hit Man in 1983. While he was announcing Press Your Luck, he could
also be heard as the voice of Dream House (1983-1984) and a test week of
Newlywed Game hosted (poorly) by Jim Lange (1984).
However, the role that made Roddy a household name was
as the announcer on Price is Right. Following the passing of Johnny Olsen
in 1985, Price is Right held on-air auditions for new announcers. Greats
such as Bob Hilton, Gene Wood, and Charlie Tuna all tried out, but Roddy became
the permanent yeller of "C'mon Down!" in 1986. Soon after he
started on Price is Right, Roddy became famous for wearing outlandish outfits
from Thailand that were huge hits with the audience. To this date, Roddy
can be heard daily yelling the call to prizes that has made thousands of
contestants happy over the last 15 years.
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