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Things you would done differently Wheel of Fortune

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BrandonFG:
My longstanding problem with Wheel is that it's become comfort food because they won't let the show simply breathe. I've said this here before, but in a universe where so many shows pad to fill an hour, Wheel is the rare case of too much game, and not enough show. The syndicated version doesn't need to expand to an hour, but we also don't need four rounds, plus a half-dozen Toss Ups, and a Final Spin and bonus puzzle. This show lost its personality somewhere in the last 20 years, and didn't seem to get it back until the Celebrity run and during Pat's final weeks because they take the time to stop and talk to the players.

Open with the contestant icebreaker ("We drew numbers to see who would start the game") then play three puzzles. Throw in a Triple Toss Up to get trailing contestants back in the game - I love that they augment a player's total to 10K if they run the table here, then the Final Spin. I do agree the wheel needs more variety, and also agree the Prize Puzzle should not weigh on the score since it more or less determines the day's winner. I love some of the things they've introduced like the Express space or the Crossword puzzles.

More than anything, I want the puzzles to actually feel like normal puzzles. Stop trying to shoehorn adjectives into a puzzle you would never say in real life, esp. during the Prize Puzzle or bonus round. I've also said that Vanna's first puzzle of GENERAL HOSPITAL would now be preceded with "AWARD-WINNING SOAP OPERA". Keep it simple.

Chelsea Thrasher:

--- Quote from: Jeremy Nelson on August 10, 2024, 04:32:50 PM ----It's time to go back to five cononants and a vowel in the bonus round. When the studio is booing your bonus puzzles and you're one step away from using SEXY PIZZA to save budget, we need a change. Going back to the original recipe allows for fairer puzzle writing and makes the Wild Card a more premium get from the wheel.

--- End quote ---

It feels like it's the puzzles themselves more than the free letters though.  The Free Six + Four More worked beautifully in the earlier years. "FURY? "BOW-TIE?" Challenging to get, but it didn't usually leave you feeling like the writers were deliberately being rat bastards about it. There was an element of luck with letters, but nothing ever out of bounds - and you always got three chances if you kept winning, so hey.

NOW they're asking contestants to solve, all real examples from this past season: A POPULAR BOUTIQUE, QUICK FAVOR TO ASK, A LIVELY BUNCH OF KIDS (consecutive eps), PAINTING A VIVID PICTURE, FABULOUS SHINDIG, on and on. No wonder the audience is legitimately beginning to turn against them, even the casuals. 6+4 worked just fine IMO until the producers got deliberately obtuse and overly cute about puzzle solutions in the 2000s.

aaron sica:
This board has really had a great number of good threads as of late. I love it.

I honestly don't have much to add except to agree with some points:

- I also hate that the prize puzzle basically decides the game.
- I'm not a fan of the lack of variety with the dollar amounts on the wheel.

$5,000 seemed like a big deal for the nighttime version in 1983. Adjusted for inflation, that's almost $16,000 now. The space doesn't have to be THAT much, but why not raise a little?

One gripe I had for a long time, they actually fixed - if the show is "Wheel of Fortune", why not figure a wheel into the bonus round, too?

Joe Mello:

--- Quote from: BrandonFG on August 10, 2024, 04:43:28 PM ---More than anything, I want the puzzles to actually feel like normal puzzles.
--- End quote ---
Not me. If anything, I want them to get weirder, at least in a sense.

If curating my own games of Wheel of Fortune for fun and discounted general admission for nearly 8 years has taught me anything, it's that Wheel is a game about reading. It doesn't matter if you know a single person, place, or thing (or know the difference between a consonant and a vowel), if you can string words together you have a chance to win. One reason why I think Celebrity Wheel of Fortune has worked despite some janky mechanics is that the puzzles can get incredibly silly. So for me, less "ENJOYING THE LOCAL CUISINE" and more "WAKING UP WITH THE WORST HEADACHE" or "FINALLY DELETING SOCIAL MEDIA."

I think Family Feud and 25WOL are two decent and varied examples of why returning champions isn't a salve

BrandonFG:

--- Quote from: Chelsea Thrasher on August 10, 2024, 03:38:39 PM ---They have got to get over their allergy to four-digit wheel values (or at this point, anything outside the $500-$700 range). Low dollar should be whatever the cost of vowels is, and there should be a nice spread up through approx. just over of whatever top dollar is. If R1 is $2500, throw a pair of $1000s, a $1250, and a $1500 on the wheel. R2 for $3500, add on $2000.  When you put $5000 on the wheel, add $2500 back. Once you know the puzzle now, there is basically no incentive to spin again and risk it, especially if it's the prize puzzle.

--- End quote ---
For craps and giggles, I looked up a 1975 round one wheel compared to the last several years. I knew there's very little variety today, but I didn't realize that it was nothing over $900 outside of the big money spaces, which is crazy. The early years had several spaces that ended in $25 increments, so while I don't think we need something like a $1,375 space, it would be nice to get away from what they have now.

I think a show that offers up to seven figures every day should be able to go up to $2,000 for R1. Piggybacking off Aaron's point, $300 in '75 is about $1,700 now. Make the $2,500 the Top Dollar Value* in the first round and add $1,000 to the rotation as a regular space........along with values in between like $1,100, $1,250, $1,500, and so forth.

The vowel price still being $250 doesn't really bother me, but if you increase the values on the wheel I'd be fine with vowels being worth $500.

*Or is that already TDV for R1?

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