More Changes Coming to the Next Season of Wheel

[chad1m]

So, this is what Alex from BuzzerBlog is reporting for the 2006-07 season of Wheel of Fortune:

- Anytime someone hits the Jackpot space, $500 is added to the jackpot, along with an added $500 for each consonant correct to the player's total.
- A new wedge/token is debuting: Wild Card. If a contestant lands on it and gets a letter right, they can pick it up and use it to receive an extra letter on any turn. The best idea is to obviously save it for a big money amount. However, if a contestant still has it at the end of the main game and they move on to the bonus round, they use it to gain an extra consonant in the bonus round.

How do you feel about these changes? I personally like them. I've always thought it was lame that the jackpot space awarded nothing even if you got 6 R's. I think the Wild Card idea is brilliant, too. It adds an extra twist to the game, along with an extra strategy to wait for the bonus round.

[WilliamPorygon]

I'd already heard about the Jackpot space change, and I'm all for it.  I always found it really annoying that someone could land on the Jackpot space and basically earn nothing at all for a correct letter guess (especially when the contestant had no cash in the first place and/or it was too early to have a reasonable shot at solving).  I think $250 a letter would have been fine, though — $500 seems kind of high.  (But then again all the dollar values on this show seem kind of high...)

Wild Card... just sounds like a less confusing variant of Double Play.

[Jay Temple]

[quote name=\'WilliamPorygon\' post=\'128158\' date=\'Aug 20 2006, 12:23 AM\']
Wild Card... just sounds like a less confusing variant of Double Play.
[/quote]
Not merely less confusing. It sounds to me like you use it when you call the consonant. By contrast, the Double Play was used before the spin.

[WilliamPorygon]

[quote name=\'Jay Temple\' post=\'128160\' date=\'Aug 20 2006, 01:33 AM\']
Not merely less confusing. It sounds to me like you use it when you call the consonant. By contrast, the Double Play was used before the spin.
[/quote]

Right, which is one reason why it's less confusing.  None of this business of using it only to have it wasted on a bankrupt, or having it given back to you because you tried to use it and hit a prize.

[Hastin]

The "Wild Card" sounds like a great addition. I bet very few people use it in the main game, and hold it until the Bonus Round. Nice to see how a decision made in normal gameplay can help you in the bonus round.

Jackpot change makes sense. Sucks to pick a letter and get nothing for it.

[Craig Karlberg]

The Jackpot change sounds like a good idea.  $500 seems a bit high but given Sony usually has millions of dollars invested on this show, naturally $500 seems like a perfect fit.

As for the Wikd Card wedge, what took them so long to come up with that idea?  I wouldn't be surprised if 9 out of every 10 players save that wedge for the bonus round where you get an extra constanant upon its usage.  The extra constanant does add a nice twist since most contestants don't always pick the right ones.  I only wish there wouldv'e been a choice to get either an extra vowel or constanant was applied when the Wild Card wedge is used in the bonus round, but the extra constanant one is good for now.

Does anyone know what the Wild Card wedge looks like & in what round it first appears?

[tpirfan28]

I like the additions...in a way.

The jackpot space really needed that cash influx.  However, $500 is too much.  $250 would be just fine.  But let me understand this correctly:  contestant lands on jackpot, calls a letter, gets $500 times the number of letters AND the opportunity at the jackpot?

Wild Card....intresting.  I like it only for the strategy involved.  I'm seeing it come into play in round 1 and staying on the wheel until hit.

And the extra rule with the wild card that allows you to use it in the bonus round?  Don't limit it to just consonants.  Let them take whatever letter they want.

[--Richard]

I have a feeling with these changes we'll see a pretty good and/or intresting 24th(?) season. I can't wait to see all-new strategies pop-up with these changes.

[Dbacksfan12]

I think the change seems asinine.  The game has been watered down enough the last few years...this only compromises it further.

[Brandon Brooks]

[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'128182\' date=\'Aug 20 2006, 10:44 AM\']
I think the change seems asinine.  The game has been watered down enough the last few years...this only compromises it further.
[/quote]
Even though I'm not surprised that you think something is asinine, I agree.  I know the show is all about gimmicks, but that wild card mess seems to complicate a rather simple game.

[wheelloon]

The Jackpot adjustment: fine by me, though at the same time, I didn't have a problem with how it worked before. At least people can get paid off if they call a letter that appears a bunch when they do land on it. I heard rumors about this change a little while back, and thought the same then.

This "Wild Card" wedge is new to me. Personally, my jury is still out, I'll have to wait to see how it works on the TV. From a very preliminary standpoint, seeing how thick most of the people on Wheel are now, I wouldn't be surprised if the entire concept simply eludes them, or, they don't realize the maximum potential it could hold. I'm also getting images of people landing on it and immediately start calling out 2 letters right then, or a person who calls out two letters while holding it, but then says, "Oh, I thought I could always call two letters with it." That'll make for a sloppy editing job...

Also, I believe having the opportunity to pick 5 letters total in the bonus round is too much. If they're playing for up to $100,000, MAKE THEM EARN IT! Some puzzles I think will now be WAY too easy with an extra letter thrown in. There is no reason why I think one of the best basic formats for a bonus round in TV history had to be fiddled with AT ALL at this point, especially with them bringing the concept of a "Wheel of Fortune" into the bonus round like they did (and I thought should have some time ago)...

One of the reasons I've loved WOF is its simplicity: Hangman, one spin, one consonant, vowels if you need them, spin again... The "Wild Card" seems to overcomplicate things. Maybe my thought will change when I see it in action. Now, if they brought 3 day champions or the Friday Finals back, then I would stand up and applaud. But, I'm beating a dead horse with that thought, at this point...

[BrandonFG]

Damn...another season and STILL no shopping! >

[NickintheATL]

Changes.  This is what has turned me off of Wheel in the last few years. Changes.  Nothing more than that.  Changes.  (Gee, I sound like a broken record).

[Chelsea Thrasher]

[quote name=\'NicholasM79\' post=\'128192\' date=\'Aug 20 2006, 12:14 PM\']
 (Gee, I sound like a broken record).
[/quote]

Record?   You mean those large black CDs you needed a needle and spinny thing to play?  :-P

[Matt Ottinger]

Harry Friedman's mandate for years now, on both Wheel and Jeopardy, has been to make little changes like these to keep the shows "fresh" or "interesting" or whatever adjective he's using.  While some purists might grumble, neither show, not even Jeopardy, is designed for the purist.  They're designed for the average viewer, and as many viewers as possible.  I think viewers like to see these little changes in their favorite shows, and the ratings would seem to suggest the same.