Winston
Lorenzo von Matterhorn
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2009
- Messages
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GREAT, short story. Clever guy... to a point.
Who Wants To Be a Thousandaire?
Michael Larson had a lot of time and TVs on his hands, and he used them to hack one of his favorite game shows.
https://www.damninteresting.com/who-wants-to-be-a-thousandaire/
Intro:
On the 19th of May 1984, at CBS Television City in Hollywood, a curious air of tension hung over the studio during the taping of the popular game show Press Your Luck. Ordinarily a live studio audience could be counted upon to holler and slap their hands together, but something was keeping them unusually subdued. The object of the audiences awe was sitting at the center podium on the stage, looking rather unremarkable in his thrift-store shirt and slicked-back graying hair. His name was Michael Larson.
Youre going to go again? asked the shows host Peter Tomarken as Larson gesticulated. Gasps and murmurs punctuated the audiences cautious applause, and the contestants sitting on either side of Larson clapped in stunned silence. Michaels going again, Tomarken announced incredulously. Weve never had anything like this before.
The scoreboard on Larsons podium read $90,351, an amount unheard of in the history of Press Your Luck. In fact, this total was far greater than any person had ever earned in one sitting on any television game show. With each spin on the randomized Big Board Larson took a one-in-six chance of hitting a Whammy space that would strip him of all his spoils, yet for 36 consecutive spins he had somehow missed the whammies, stretched the show beyond its 30-minute format, and accumulated extraordinary winnings. Such a streak was astronomically unlikely, but Larson was not yet ready to stop. He was convinced that he knew exactly what he was doing.
Who Wants To Be a Thousandaire?
Michael Larson had a lot of time and TVs on his hands, and he used them to hack one of his favorite game shows.
https://www.damninteresting.com/who-wants-to-be-a-thousandaire/
Intro:
On the 19th of May 1984, at CBS Television City in Hollywood, a curious air of tension hung over the studio during the taping of the popular game show Press Your Luck. Ordinarily a live studio audience could be counted upon to holler and slap their hands together, but something was keeping them unusually subdued. The object of the audiences awe was sitting at the center podium on the stage, looking rather unremarkable in his thrift-store shirt and slicked-back graying hair. His name was Michael Larson.
Youre going to go again? asked the shows host Peter Tomarken as Larson gesticulated. Gasps and murmurs punctuated the audiences cautious applause, and the contestants sitting on either side of Larson clapped in stunned silence. Michaels going again, Tomarken announced incredulously. Weve never had anything like this before.
The scoreboard on Larsons podium read $90,351, an amount unheard of in the history of Press Your Luck. In fact, this total was far greater than any person had ever earned in one sitting on any television game show. With each spin on the randomized Big Board Larson took a one-in-six chance of hitting a Whammy space that would strip him of all his spoils, yet for 36 consecutive spins he had somehow missed the whammies, stretched the show beyond its 30-minute format, and accumulated extraordinary winnings. Such a streak was astronomically unlikely, but Larson was not yet ready to stop. He was convinced that he knew exactly what he was doing.
