The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Jeremy Nelson on December 06, 2018, 01:06:32 AM
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As some of you know, I'm a huge fan of set design, and although I know it's cost efficient, I'm not a fan of the Million Colors of Light border around the Wheel of Fortune puzzleboard. Considering that it gets half the screen time on any given episode, I think it deserves a better design treatment than where we're at now. Also, don't look now, but it's the longest serving design, having stuck around for 15 years.
That being said, do any of you have a favorite puzzleboard design? I'm pretty sure I've covered all the US ones below, although the years may be a little off.
1. The original three line design (75-81) (https://goo.gl/images/5qL6jQ)
2. The classic (81-94) (https://goo.gl/images/Sg8ST8)
3. The road show with the spiky shoulders (88-97) (https://goo.gl/images/5awTQ7)
4. The "pinball flipper" motif (94-96) (https://goo.gl/images/VFTP7B)
5. The last analog board (96-97) (https://goo.gl/images/YUyDw1)
6. The "gold crown" touch screen board (97-03) (https://goo.gl/images/JRuUzf)
7. The Million Colors of Light (03-now) (https://goo.gl/images/Dxny8H)
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I'm usually partial to eras of a show that I grew up on, so I'm leaning towards the second board.
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Two, three, five from favorite to less so, and the field brings up the rear.
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Gotta go with the road show border. It was large and was a spectacle worthy of the show. Though I do love the first era of the digital board.
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Second one for the same reason BFG stated. That's the one I grew up on, although the first one is quite the close second.
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5 and 6. Growing up with them has something do with it, but they're *just* intricate enough to be eye-catching without being too ostentatious.
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I'm the oddball - I like the new board with the original board design a close second.
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I'm the oddball - I like the new board with the original board design a close second.
I am absolutely with you. Since the rest of the backdrops are so busy, the light border seems a very classy, sedate touch. Also, it seems like a bit of a callback to the original.
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I'm the oddball - I like the new board with the original board design a close second.
I am absolutely with you. Since the rest of the backdrops are so busy, the light border seems a very classy, sedate touch. Also, it seems like a bit of a callback to the original.
When they introduced the current board, I got a throwback vibe as well. Much as I liked the crown, the Million Colors of Light (tm) add something to the board.
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4. Don't @ me.
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#3, liked #4 too when the big gold lights actually flashed for the first couple of weeks.
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2 is easily my favorite, though 1 and 5 aren't too far behind. The current border, while cool to see flashing, doesn't really grab my attention like the previous borders do.
I'm pretty sure I've covered all the US ones below, although the years may be a little off.
Only a little bit: #1 debuted in 1974 (your picture is from one of the pilots), #4 was only used from 1994-95, and #5 was used from 1995-97.
There's also the border used for the pull-card board (https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/wheeloffortunehistory/images/7/7a/ShoppersBazaarPuzzleBoard.png) in the 1973 pilot, but nobody likes that one. :P
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#2, followed by #6. #4 is quite grotesque, in my opinion.
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I like the current one for its simplicity, followed by #2, then #1.
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3 and 5 are the ones I grew up with, and are my favorites.
I do think it's ironic that the On-the-Road puzzleboard was much larger than the At-Home puzzleboard.
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Additionally, #6 was my least favorite. I always felt like it was "staring" at me.
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I do think it's ironic that the On-the-Road puzzleboard was much larger than the At-Home puzzleboard.
ISTR the reason given for this change was because they played to a much larger crowd on the road than in Burbank/Culver City, and as such the audience would have an easier time seeing a larger board.
ObTopic: #5, #2, #1, #3, #6, in that order.
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ISTR the reason given for this change was because they played to a much larger crowd on the road than in Burbank/Culver City, and as such the audience would have an easier time seeing a larger board.
Logical. I was figuring that any set pieces you have to schlep should tend to be smaller, not bigger.
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But the letters were the same size, so how would a larger puzzle border help the live audience? It's not as though the in-studio board was so small that it'd be difficult to even locate on the stage.
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But the letters were the same size, so how would a larger puzzle border help the live audience? It's not as though the in-studio board was so small that it'd be difficult to even locate on the stage.
Exactly, and this is why they always seemed to have the projection screens out in the audience. Even if the board was bigger, they still need to see where the wheel is approaching/landing so that they can properly react.
The most logical reason, at least to me, would be that the larger border takes up more space, which you need to fill on a larger stage on the road. Also, they paid for it and clearly know how to transport it cross country- why not continue using it and drive down your cost per use?
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I have a theory that it's about what's on camera rather than what's on stage. The extra "shoulder" means that the board takes up the entire screen on the widest possible shot, so there's no need to worry about what might be visible in the wings or trying to hang some kind of decoration behind it. That kind of thing is less of a concern when you've got the 180-degree cyc at NBC Burbank/Television City.
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I like the border of the road show design, but not the inside.
One of the things I liked about the second design, and some others, were the “partial” trio ones that weren’t actually useable. It gave me the impression that I was looking into a window. Without that, the image looks more... two-dimensional.
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I grew up with 2 and 3, and I played the game with 7.
I’ll go with seven. Million Colors of Light (tm) simplified.
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s/o to the one not on the list: The last 15 taped shows of the season, three road weeks taped in San Diego, use the old version of the puzzleboard (or at least it's 2002 revision*), but all of the various gold pieces except for the two bottom corners and section directly under the letters have been removed.
(http://images.mefeedia.com/wheel-of-fortune-2003-san-diego-episode-kara-richard-pablo-40399495-orig.jpg)
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(*at some point in late 2002, I wanna say December-ish, they replaced the original golden border around the letter window with this golden-marble look. I wanna say the numbers on the wheel got skinnier and the wheel got a little looser around the same time.)
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Ah yes, the abuse of the Event category for things that are not events.
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Ah yes, the abuse of the Event category for things that are not events.
Before "What Are You Doing?" entered the arsenal.
The one that threw me the most was in the mid 90s. The bonus round puzzle "FEBRUARY" was considered a THING.
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s/o to the one not on the list: The last 15 taped shows of the season, three road weeks taped in San Diego, use the old version of the puzzleboard (or at least it's 2002 revision*)
Was the 2002 revision when they changed the touchscreens from CRTs to flat screen TVs? If so, I feel old.
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s/o to the one not on the list: The last 15 taped shows of the season, three road weeks taped in San Diego, use the old version of the puzzleboard (or at least it's 2002 revision*)
Was the 2002 revision when they changed the touchscreens from CRTs to flat screen TVs? If so, I feel old.
The screengrab above looks like the CRTs are still there. I think the flat-screen upgrade was around the time they upgraded to HD, somewhere around 2006.