They're predetermined at the start of the show. They don't swap in harder puzzles if someone has the MDW, or if the Bonus Wheel lands on the $100K/1M envelope.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Wheel of Fortune's Pat Sajak Recovering From Emergency Surgery;
- Thread starter Y2kTheNewOldies
- Start date
They're predetermined at the start of the show. They don't swap in harder puzzles if someone has the MDW, or if the Bonus Wheel lands on the $100K/1M envelope.
Oh because the producers and Pat know if they landed on the million before it is even opened up.
It seems like the bonus round puzzles have gotten harder year to year. I remember when they used to be a lot smaller and even easier at times. One or two small words usually. Now, you can watch the bonus round week to week and see at least one to two puzzles with Q, J, Y or V...and watch as a contestant chokes and can't say a word.
I.E. one of the most heartbreaking moments I've ever seen on a game show was a $1,000,000 Wheel loss a couple years ago, on location at Disney World. A grandfather and granddaughter team yelled Fried Zucchini at the last second, but sadly the buzzer went off. It was Baked Zucchini. 'B'...not often picked you see! They fell for the easiest option. I'm sure they were extremely nervous with cameras rolling, a couple thousand in the audience and a million dollar wedge. But, normally I see people calling Cs and Ps and Ds. I felt really sorry for them afterwards.
I had no clue that the puzzles were predetermined even with the $100K hit. I figured Harry would be in the back yelling 'quick! change the puzzle!' to the poor soul running the board...
I.E. one of the most heartbreaking moments I've ever seen on a game show was a $1,000,000 Wheel loss a couple years ago, on location at Disney World. A grandfather and granddaughter team yelled Fried Zucchini at the last second, but sadly the buzzer went off. It was Baked Zucchini. 'B'...not often picked you see! They fell for the easiest option. I'm sure they were extremely nervous with cameras rolling, a couple thousand in the audience and a million dollar wedge. But, normally I see people calling Cs and Ps and Ds. I felt really sorry for them afterwards.
I had no clue that the puzzles were predetermined even with the $100K hit. I figured Harry would be in the back yelling 'quick! change the puzzle!' to the poor soul running the board...
So the initial RSTLNE only left them with _ _ _ E _ _ _ _ _ _ _ N _? I hope they didn't choose I as their second vowel, then "choke" and forget it was already in use when they shouted out "Fried!" I'm guessing that they must have chosen the worthless O but had picked the C's and the H (or maybe the C's and the D) to point them toward "zucchini."
BTW, every time I see RSTLNE, I can only think how unlikely it is that any Wheel answer will ever contain "wrestling."
The puzzles are harder over time—it’s a budget saver. The obscure, and/or outright bizarre, puzzles have reached the point of absurdity.
They picked either O or A, and they had the C's.
The granddaughter muttered "FRIED...", the grandfather recognized the second word as "ZUCCHINI", so the granddaughter yelled "FRIED ZUCCHINI!" shortly before the buzzer. Problem is, there is an R in FRIED, so it could never have been that.
They sometimes try to deceive people into thinking one word is another word (which contains letters from the RSTLNE set). There was an episode a few months after that episode where a guy had _O_S AND _ANS. He said "POTS AND PANS" and the audience began cheering, but Pat was like, "NO, NO, NO!". He didn't have any other guess. The answer? WOKS AND PANS.
They know where every envelope is. Somebody offstage gives signals to Vanna based on what is landed on. When it's the 100K, she usually walks away from her spot to hug the contestant, and when it's the car, she has to walk over to it and open the door so the winner can sit inside.
If you look closely on the overhead shot of the Bonus Wheel spinning, you can sometimes see Pat's card. He has a "diagram" of the Bonus Wheel and the space with the 100K or million is marked in red.
And as for the theories of swapping in puzzles if the top prize is landed on, that cannot happen because Vanna knows every coming puzzle during the prior commercial break. She needs to know exactly where to stand at the board. She doesn't just stand at the far edge of the board itself; she always stands roughly two "squares" to the right (front game) or left (bonus round) of the edge of the puzzle itself (the white squares).
Reruns aired from December 23-27 with a special intro from Pat actually referring to them as such (or in his preferred words, "evergreen shows") and explaining that he'll be back soon, and the episodes' OAD's were displayed in the corner at the top of the show. Oddly, these were counted as new episodes even though TV listings listed them as reruns (albeit in the wrong order). I know someone who works master control at WREX in Rockford, and he sent me a picture of the slate of the January 3 episode, which was not a rerun, and it was numbered S-7105; if the reruns are not counted, it should have been 7100 (yes, that means it's the 7,100th episode of the syndicated Wheel series). So now, Wheel's episode count is 5 greater than it really is.
New episodes were aired for December 30-January 3, again with a special message from Pat explaining that they were taped before his surgery (although January 3 was actually taped after he returned; the production slate noted the VTR as 12/05/19, the first taping day with Pat since his return, with the other episodes taped that day airing January 10-14).
Vanna's third week as host begins airing today. Her co-host is being hyped as a big secret and still hasn't been revealed officially yet, but it's very likely Maggie Sajak, Pat's daughter, which isn't really worth all the hype IMO. I caught the promo for today on WABC during Live with Kelly & Ryan, and the co-host wasn't even mentioned, just that Vanna was hosting again.
Regardless, even if Vanna's co-host were somebody big like Oprah or Ellen or a Kardashian or something crazy like that, it would no doubt be overshadowed by a certain event on a certain other game show happening this week, which happens to fall during Wheel's 45th anniversary as a series, nonetheless.
New episodes were aired for December 30-January 3, again with a special message from Pat explaining that they were taped before his surgery (although January 3 was actually taped after he returned; the production slate noted the VTR as 12/05/19, the first taping day with Pat since his return, with the other episodes taped that day airing January 10-14).
Vanna's third week as host begins airing today. Her co-host is being hyped as a big secret and still hasn't been revealed officially yet, but it's very likely Maggie Sajak, Pat's daughter, which isn't really worth all the hype IMO. I caught the promo for today on WABC during Live with Kelly & Ryan, and the co-host wasn't even mentioned, just that Vanna was hosting again.
Regardless, even if Vanna's co-host were somebody big like Oprah or Ellen or a Kardashian or something crazy like that, it would no doubt be overshadowed by a certain event on a certain other game show happening this week, which happens to fall during Wheel's 45th anniversary as a series, nonetheless.
yeah like that would happen
- Status