In late 1983, Paul Michael Larson, at the time an unemployed ice cream
truck driver from Lebanon, Ohio, had
been studying the game, but in a different way. He began to tape every
show and watch it religiously, slowing the tape down to show that the board
did not just go to a random square. Instead, Michael saw patterns,
five to be exact, that no one else had
ever seen before. He memorized the patterns, then with borrowed money
and a sixty-five cent shirt on his back (that he had to buy from a thrift
shop), Michael went to Los Angeles to try out for
PYL in May, 1984.
Michael impressed executive producer/director Bill
Carruthers with his enthusiasm. Bob Edwards, the contestant coordinator, did not want
Larson on, sensing something wasn't right about him. Carruthers
overruled, and Larson was booked for a Saturday morning taping - May 19,
1984.
This enabled him to rack up the highest one-time payday ever
seen for a
game show contestant at the time. It went so long that CBS had to split it into two
half-hour shows for the TV viewers.
By the time Michael was
done...
Michael had racked up more from one show than any PYL
champion had racked up in multiple days! By
comparison, Charles Van Doren, the famous contestant on the 1950s version
of Twenty One, racked up $138,000, but had to be on the show for
FIFTEEN WEEKS. You can read about Charles here.
It was because
of Larson that the PYL format changed; among those changes: a $75,000 cap on winnings and
five new patterns (and eventually 11 others on top of that), which made it
next to impossible to do what Michael did. By the time PYL ended in
1986, there were 32 patterns of
18, a big jump from the five that were used to start PYL.
CBS aired the show only once, which aired on Friday, 6/8 (part
one) and Monday, 6/11 (part two) of 1984. I STRONGLY
suggest to any PYL fan that hasn't seen it (even if you're just
slightly a fan of PYL): SEE THIS EPISODE!!!! I don't care how you do
it, just see it! It is absolutely amazing!
The Larson shows were aired on
Game Show Network on March 16, 2003, as part of a two-hour
documentary. Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal featured not only
the episodes in their entirety, but interviews from PYL executives, host
Peter Tomarken, Ed Long, Janie Litras Dakan, and family members!
Definitely a great documentary!
Unfortunately, Michael did not get to bask in his new
found riches for long. His win on PYL only reinforced his belief of
getting rich quick. He got in trouble with the law, getting involved
in all sorts of get-rich-quick schemes. One night, while the family
was out at a Christmas party, an intruder broke in through the back door
and stole at least $40,000 of Larson's money - which was lying around the
living room in the first place because of one of Larson's get-rich-quick
ideas. Coupled with other family problems and poor choices, Larson eventually lost
everything. In fact, Larson was still running from the law up until
his death.
Michael made some appearances after his PYL run, including
being interviewed on Good Morning America in 1994. The movie Quiz Show had just
come out, and game show "scandals" was a hot story. Larson's
story was being compared a lot to Charles Van Doren's run. If you saw
Michael's interview, you may have noticed Larson having somewhat of a hoarse
voice. That was because throat cancer had set in.
Larson managed to live five more years, but eventually passed away on February 16, 1999.
-
Thanks to Game
Show Central, there are great clips of Michael's "Reign of Terror," three in all, plus other
memorable moments from PYL (Brad's page again). Click
to view page (must have RealPlayer to download the video). Each
clip is about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes long.
Kris
Lane's site: some more pictures and a TV Guide article about Larson!
One
of David Palomares' nice sites. It may be linked with an LMAD URL, but
it has PYL pictures!
