Press Your Luck host Dies In Plane Crash

[BorrachoNJ]

Tomarken Dead at 63
RIP
(Big bucks, no whammys!)

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) - A former TV game show host and his wife were killed Monday morning when their small plane crashed into Santa Monica Bay, authorities said. Rescue crews were searching for a third person also aboard the plane.
The bodies of Peter Tomarken, 63, host of the hit 1980s game show "Press Your Luck," and his wife, Kathleen Abigail Tomarken, 41, were identified by the Los Angeles County coroner's office.
The plane was on its way to San Diego to ferry a medical patient to the UCLA Medical Center, said Doug Griffith, a spokesman for Angel Flight West, a nonprofit which provides free air transportation for needy patients.
Griffith said the pilot was a volunteer for the group. According to the FAA, the plane was registered to Tomarken and he was the pilot....

http://gscentral.net/tunein.jpg

[BorrachoNJ]

SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 13 /PRNewswire/ -- GSN mourns the loss of
Peter Tomarken, host of the classic game series PRESS YOUR LUCK, who died
today along with his wife, Kathleen, in a plane crash in Santa Monica, Ca.
GSN will salute Tomarken with two special tributes, starting tomorrow
night (3/14) with the re-broadcast of the documentary BIG BUCKS: THE PRESS YOUR LUCK SCANDAL at 10 PM/9 PM C. The network will follow with a day-long PRESS YOUR LUCK tribute Sunday, March 19 from 9 AM to 6 PM ET

[antifan]

WHAMMY!

http://members.shaw.ca/triviaqueen/whammy.gif

[Michael K.]

He was flying for a volunteer group that ferries donated organs (I think) around in situations where they're needed quickly. Terribly sad.

That said, I'm gonna make sure to tune in to GSN tomorrow night (definitely the first time I have ever said those words) - I've heard about the Press Your Luck Guy for a couple years, but have never caught this documentary.

[Diakonov]

WHAMMY!

http://members.shaw.ca/triviaqueen/whammy.gif

man, thats cold












...but damn funny.

[Henry Porter]

He was flying for a volunteer group that ferries donated organs (I think) around in situations where they're needed quickly. Terribly sad.

That said, I'm gonna make sure to tune in to GSN tomorrow night (definitely the first time I have ever said those words) - I've heard about the Press Your Luck Guy for a couple years, but have never caught this documentary.

Are you talking about the guy who took them for $100,000+? It's a good doc but sad...

RIP. Seemed like a great guy. Especially in the documentary.

[Michael K.]

Are you talking about the guy who took them for $100,000+? It's a good doc but sad...


That's gotta be the one that's on at 10 PM.

Damn, I just realized how much I grew up on Press Your Luck. That, Card Sharks, Price is Right...that was my early education. :confused:

[antifan]

He was flying for a volunteer group that ferries donated organs (I think) around in situations where they're needed quickly. Terribly sad.

That said, I'm gonna make sure to tune in to GSN tomorrow night (definitely the first time I have ever said those words) - I've heard about the Press Your Luck Guy for a couple years, but have never caught this documentary.
Yikes, that makes me really feel bad about posting the Whammy joke. I just couldn't resist the irony. Sorry. :(

[Henry Porter]

Yikes, that makes me really feel bad about posting the Whammy joke. I just couldn't resist the irony. Sorry. :(

It seems if anyone would have appreciated the joke it was him. It was pretty funny.

[Sapphire]

I loved Press Your Luck as a kid. That was the one I really wanted to go on.

Big bucks, no whammies, and . . . STOP!!! :)


RIP, Peter Tomarken. Sounds like he was a good guy in life, too.

[monster]

Are you talking about the guy who took them for $100,000+? It's a good doc but sad...

RIP. Seemed like a great guy. Especially in the documentary.
Yea, it was fascinating at how this guy did it, but frightening that he went to the lengths he did to rip off a game show.

[servotron]

I wonder if he collided with Will Farrel's hang glider?

(ducks oncoming tomatoes)

[Michael K.]

So I did end up watching the Peter Tomarken-hosted documentary about Michael Larson tonight (and now will be up all night completing an assignment, but what the hell). Anyone else catch it?

First of all, Tomarken seemed like a pretty cool character, at least from this program. Especially given the way that he and his wife lost their lives, volunteering and doing some good...what a sad ending.

Secondly, about half the program is taken up by showing the original episodes in which Larson went on his (very well-played) streak. And seriously, even as you know exactly what's happening and how it's happening and what the end result is, it's still breathtaking. He rips off what, 31 straight spins (even having it all figured out, you're always at risk of your reflexes betraying you)? You hear the studio audience going absolutely, positively mental by the time he reaches $50,000. Tomarken is losing it himself. The other contestants might as well go home, they're so unnecessary. It's hilarious to just imagine the scene in the control room, and in the CBS headquarters, as this was playing out. For it being just a silly game show, I can't imagine how wild it would have been to witness this live.