Stars on screen

Checking in with Elizabeth Banks

Anyone who was surprised at first that Elizabeth Banks became a game show host must be even more stunned that she has stayed with it for so long.

Following the recent box office success she had as the director of the movie “Cocaine Bear,” the actress is continuing to preside over the ABC revival of “Press Your Luck,” which recently began its fifth season on Tuesdays. The program has been a summer staple in recent years, but having new episodes available came in handy for the network, which delayed the series’ return to have it as fresh content during a fall television season that has been impacted significantly by entertainment industry strikes.

Banks still puts forth high energy — and an enjoyable dose of sass — as she guides three players through each week’s hourlong game. They take spins on a giant board listing prizes and cash awards, trying to avoid hitting a so-called “Whammy” when they choose to stop; if they do land on one, they lose the winnings they’ve accrued up to that point.

The contestant who wins the initial round gets to proceed to a session that makes even bigger rewards available.

Banks’s involvement in “Press Your Luck,” of which she’s also an executive producer, is indicative of the variety she has said she wants to maintain in her work. She has long spoken about creating opportunities for herself, and she’s surely destined to get more of those in the directing realm, given that “Cocaine Bear” became part of the national conversation during its release and grossed nearly three times its budget at the box office.

She also will voice Pebbles in “Bedrock,” a projected, animated Fox series (which she’ll also executive-produce) that will offer an adult take on “The Flintstones” – so it seems one can bank on the notion that TV won’t be losing Banks soon.