Wheel of Fortune 21st century...

[wdm1219inpenna]

With the video monitors replacing the old puzzle board, the flashing Jackpot & Free Play spaces, video walls adorning the set, why is it that contestants still have to peel off the wedges from the wheel?  Seems to me the show can modernize a bit, replace the cardboard with a video monitor, akin to the "Big Money" space used during season 25, and behind the players, display the various things they may have picked up off the wheel "Wild Card", "$10,000 mystery prize", prize wedges, gift tags, "1/2 Car", and the like.  It just seems very "ancient" to me that players still have to lay prize wedges and the $10,000 wedge on their "flipper".

[BrandonFG]

{This post has been edited for broadcast. Now stay tuned for Reading is Fundamental, next over most of these CBS stations!}

He's not suggesting replacing the wheel. He's suggesting replacing the "markers" that right now are physically removed from the wheel that Pat then has to confiscate upon hitting Bankrupt. Pretty big difference.

Ah, my mistake. Hmmm, then I suppose that would fall in line with my point about how replacing props with technology isn't the worst thing in the world. Mea culpa.

/Nothing to see here

[clemon79]

He's not suggesting replacing the wheel. He's suggesting replacing the "markers" that right now are physically removed from the wheel that Pat then has to confiscate upon hitting Bankrupt. Pretty big difference.

[Otm Shank]

I don't think that the physical wheel props need to be replaced with digital just because they can. (There could be accusations, albiet unfounded, that the spaces are altered mid-spin, just as they were accused of impropriety because of the auto-spinning of the wheel at the top of the episode, halting that practice.)

But, I do think that the contestants should be able to place wedges/cards into a slot or receptacle, with the prize displayed on their score monitors. Otherwise, when Blue hits bankrupt with a pile of unbundled cardboard, it halts the game for a bit when it is handed in to Pat (even more awkwardly when they have the contestant partners).

Not a major quibble, it's fine as it is, but it would seem to keep things a little more tidy, not to mention placing the non-wedge-shaped items on display throughout the game.

[J.R.]

Slightly related thought...

I kinda miss the days when you *had* to spin in order to win big. These days, with the $1000 guarantee, prize puzzles, toss-ups and the $1000 added to the final spin, someone could realistically win the game with only a couple touches. Just get enough to buy the vowels and you're good.

I know, not a tragedy, but just something I wanted to muse about.

[Kevin Prather]

(There could be accusations, albiet unfounded, that the spaces are altered mid-spin, just as they were accused of impropriety because of the auto-spinning of the wheel at the top of the episode, halting that practice.)

Source?

[aaron sica]

I've had a vision of the entire *wheel* going on a screen too and stopping it with a plunger...

[chad1m]

Source?

I distinctly remember reading it in the Q&A section of Pat Sajak's website. Someone asked him why they stopped having it automatically spin at the beginning of the show and his answer was to remove any way for someone to accuse the show of being rigged. But a year or so ago, both his website and Twitter went blank, so it's no longer accessible.

EDIT: Found it, via the Internet Archive.

Why does the wheel no longer spin automatically during the opening of the show or during the credits? --Arthur, Toronto, ON
I never liked that because I thought it was a bad idea to demonstrate that we had the ability to automatically spin the wheel. Obviously we didn't do it during the game, but I was still pleased when our new Executive Producer removed that capability many years ago.

[DrBear]

Well, anytime you have something that's non-mechanical, there's always the possibility that it could be controlled. I still am not totally convinced about the wheels on The Joker's Wild being impartially spun each time.* And I remember reading that on the original Family Feud, it was decided to have the answers for the main game on flip cards rather than using the Solari board (which Family Fortunes did in England). The reason was the same - to assure the viewer that those were the actual results, and couldn't be changed at the last second to favor one team or the other. Or maybe I'm paranoid.

*There is no evidence of this happening at any time. This is just my view, nudged a bit by the host's game show history.

[clemon79]

Obviously we didn't do it during the game, but I was still pleased when our new Executive Producer removed that capability many years ago.

Fine and good, but all that shows me is that Sajak approved of the move for that reason, not that that was the reason for the removal. (It is absolutely possible that the two are correlated, even likely, but I'm not seeing absolute truth.

This is just my view, nudged a bit by the host's game show history.

Which is funny, since that was an era when Compliances and Practices still existed, and as such I would believe the complete and total opposite, for exactly the same reasons.

[Jeremy Nelson]

But, I do think that the contestants should be able to place wedges/cards into a slot or receptacle, with the prize displayed on their score monitors. Otherwise, when Blue hits bankrupt with a pile of unbundled cardboard, it halts the game for a bit when it is handed in to Pat (even more awkwardly when they have the contestant partners).

I like your receptacle idea- The scoreboard would look kinda crowded after a couple of items, so I would suggest the backdrop. That would probably require the backdrop to revert from living screensaver to red-yellow-blue, but you won't see me complaining about that

[clemon79]

I like your receptacle idea- The scoreboard would look kinda crowded after a couple of items, so I would suggest the backdrop. That would probably require the backdrop to revert from living screensaver to red-yellow-blue, but you won't see me complaining about that

I can think of a ton of ways to block that that don't require killing the screensaver.

[TLEberle]

Couldn't you do what Concentration did: have a line for each prize or gadget that you've picked up, and overlay that on whatever the backdrop is? What's the greatest number of things that you'd have:

$1,000,000
Prize
Mystery Prize
Car Tag
Gift Tags

(And I like the idea of returning to the colored backdrops as much as the next guy, but they're doing the spy camera deal for a reason.)

[BrandonFG]

I like your receptacle idea- The scoreboard would look kinda crowded after a couple of items, so I would suggest the backdrop. That would probably require the backdrop to revert from living screensaver to red-yellow-blue, but you won't see me complaining about that

I can think of a ton of ways to block that that don't require killing the screensaver.

I'm thinking an opaque box (color-coded) above the contestants, or over their shoulders. It would probably look a little less cluttered if done over the heads.

That's something I came up with just now. You might say it was (puts on shades) off the top of my head.

/I think you know where this is going

[clemon79]

I'm thinking an opaque box (color-coded) above the contestants, or over their shoulders. It would probably look a little less cluttered if done over the heads.

Bingo.