So, the final episode of the Australian Wheel of Fortune was recorded last night, and will air later this month.
For those not in the know, this show has always been in great denial of its history, largely due to multiple host sackings/embarrassing replacements, and the long-time hostess quietly quitting during a period of sick leave and never being mentioned on air. I was hoping that there would be at least a few clips from old episodes (the show ALWAYS used to do this for special events back in the days before John Burgess was given the boot as host) or a bit of fanfare. However, other than casually saying goodbye, and loading the wheel with excessive 'mystery wedges', the show didn't really get the send-off it deserved.
In the studio, there was a good vibe, with John Deeks (the announcer/warm-up guy) offering some refelections on the show's history, and there were plenty of "thanks for being part of this"-type messages (and Krispy Kreme doughnuts aplenty). It was arranged for the host and hostess to be available for photographs after the taping of the last show and plenty of people were lined up with cameras. Only a couple of people got to actually take shots before the executive producer showed a total lack of soul and made security evict everybody. Deeksie fell in love with my W.O.F. watch that I bought on eBay, and he was all set to trade me some souvenirs from the set for it... but again, being rushed out in a hurry stopped that from happening.
All up, it was a good experience being there to say goodbye, but I just wished that there was a bit more fuss on-camera though.
