Author Topic: Something big to happen on WOF this month... (Read 15886 times)

brianhenke · « **on:** May 05, 2013, 12:26:08 AM »

On the Buy a Vowel Wheel of Fortune messageboards, one of the board\'s sysops announced last week about updates to the boards, and then continued on about the NYC shows and a show that will air this month. He wrote:

Additionally, be sure to watch the last week of shows next month (May), as something big is going to happen...

When I originally saw this, I thought, \"Well, someone will win the million, ending the nearly five-year drought since Michelle Lowenstein\'s win.\"

So, what do you think this \"something big\" is?

Brian

TLEberle · « **Reply #1 on:** May 05, 2013, 12:29:03 AM »

The $1,000,000 wedge has been in play for five years? Golly. It\'s so ineffectual that I hardly notice anymore.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #2 on:** May 05, 2013, 12:35:16 AM »

Yep...fall of \'08. Michelle won in October or so of that year.

I\'m guessing another million dollar win or a really extravagant car being offered in the bonus round...there have been so many $100K wins that it isn\'t really considered a \"major\" event anymore* (in message board terms).

On the other hand, if it is a million dollar win, it happening once every five years is okay with me too. Of all the shows that have offered such a prize, at least Wheel makes the contestants earn the big money, even though I\'m still not sold on million dollar Hangman.

*It\'s unfortunate that game shows have diminished six-figure wins to that point

TLEberle · « **Reply #3 on:** May 05, 2013, 01:26:55 AM »

To follow on from Brandon\'s point: I remember back in the late-80s or so that they went to all manner of hammy dramatics to announce that a three-day champion had won over $100,000 before reaching the bonus round and therefore they could not put the \"1\" on the tote board behind the players. (I think that was a missed opportunity: since there was no longer \"on account\" you could have used those areas to post the running winnings total). The specialness of enormous payoffs has been eroded so much now that $30,000 is mundane, and $100,000 can be won with a single solve.

I wonder what would happen if they just took that away and replaced it with another \"$10,000\" prize thing, saying \"we\'re done with that.\" People would still watch because it\'s still Wheel of Fortune.

The Pyramids · « **Reply #4 on:** May 05, 2013, 11:46:45 AM »

It could just be another big puzzle solved with just a handful of letters revealed. I can\'t remember the name of the attractive young lady who last did it.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #5 on:** May 05, 2013, 11:53:52 AM »

I remember one gag from the late-80s (sunburst backdrop era), where the contestant indeed retired with six figures, and Pat noted that the totes only displayed five characters. No problem; he pulled out a slip of paper with the number 1 on it, and held it to the far left of the tote. It\'s been years since I\'ve seen that episode, but I\'m sure Mother McKenzie got a huge kick out of that one.

I can\'t remember whether the shopping era was gone by this point, but did the chevron backdrops have totes on them as well?

weaklink75 · « **Reply #6 on:** May 05, 2013, 12:53:47 PM »

The thing is, if a million dollar win happened on the road, don\'t you think it would have leaked out by now? Now a million dollar LOSS, that probably wouldn\'t leak..

clemon79 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 05, 2013, 12:53:57 PM »

It could just be another big puzzle solved with just a handful of letters revealed. I can\'t remember the name of the attractive young lady who last did it.

Has such a thing been pimped before as a \"big event\"? Because I couldn\'t think of an event less noteworthy than leaving a ton of money up there on the board.

I can\'t remember whether the shopping era was gone by this point, but did the chevron backdrops have totes on them as well?

Yes. I wanna say the chevrons happened with the move to CBS.

Unrealtor · « **Reply #8 on:** May 05, 2013, 02:11:27 PM »

I can\'t remember whether the shopping era was gone by this point, but did the chevron backdrops have totes on them as well?

Yes. I wanna say the chevrons happened with the move to CBS.

YouTube has the sunbursts on Rolf\'s last show and the chevrons when Pat went downstairs from his late-night show to visit Bob Goen in Studio 33 to mark that version\'s premiere, so I\'d assume that\'s right.

WarioBarker · « **Reply #9 on:** May 05, 2013, 02:58:10 PM »

I remember one gag from the late-80s (sunburst backdrop era), where the contestant indeed retired with six figures, and Pat noted that the totes only displayed five characters. No problem; he pulled out a slip of paper with the number 1 on it, and held it to the far left of the tote. It\'s been years since I\'ve seen that episode, but I\'m sure Mother McKenzie got a huge kick out of that one.

I\'ve never heard of that, but I know there was one such instance shortly into Season 7 where Pat stuck a piece of cardboard reading \"$1\" to the left of the total. (It was shown as a retro clip earlier this season, in fact.)

I can\'t remember whether the shopping era was gone by this point, but did the chevron backdrops have totes on them as well?

Yes, they did. The main reason is because the chevrons, and the sunbursts before them, were little more than fancy-looking colored filters attached to the original green-glitter backdrops.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #10 on:** May 05, 2013, 05:10:01 PM »

I may be thinking of that season 7 episode. I found another episode on Youtube from November 1989, with the contestant\'s total indeed being displayed on the chevron backdrop...I don\'t think the show instituted returning champions until season 7, right after the chevrons made their debut, so there\'s also that.

jjman920 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 05, 2013, 05:39:11 PM »

If it is something big...it must be the return of Big Money Wedge!

Okay, seriously, I\'d guess some huge winnings of some sort, but not the million. Perhaps the biggest money winner (non-million). That record was actually broken already this season. It\'d be cool to see it happen twice in one season.

/but I would like the Big Money Wedge to return for one week each season.

bossjock967 · « **Reply #12 on:** May 05, 2013, 07:55:27 PM »

I can\'t remember whether the shopping era was gone by this point, but did the chevron backdrops have totes on them as well?

Yes, they did. The main reason is because the chevrons, and the sunbursts before them, were little more than fancy-looking colored filters attached to the original green-glitter backdrops.

[citation needed]

PYLdude · « **Reply #13 on:** May 05, 2013, 09:19:57 PM »

Did anybody consider that such an announcement probably doesn\'t have much to do with the gameplay?

Because when I first saw the topic a million dollar bonus round playing didn\'t enter into my train of thought.

TLEberle · « **Reply #14 on:** May 05, 2013, 09:30:21 PM »

Did anybody consider that such an announcement probably doesn\'t have much to do with the gameplay?

What else could it be? They\'re (almost certainly) not taking on another co-host. Maybe they have another big huge shiny thing, where the bonus wheel can now display trillions of colors of light for the viewing audience at home who will be so blissed out from the experience that they\'ll have to call in sick the next day.