WOF Season 32 changes...

[TLEberle]

To Joe's point about strategy, and I say this going in knowing that I'm neither an average casual viewer nor who they're making the show for. I look at Wheel of Fortune inversely to how Matt O. thinks of Tic Tac Dough--he dislikes the red box mini-games that deviate from the game, and I say the more extra stuff they do that isn't spinning and solving is great. I loved the $3,000 puzzle, the Clue and extra questions, whatever else could elevate the game beyond just hangman was always welcome to me because after solving the puzzle I tend to zone out for the remainder.

I would love it if the wheel had a coloration similar to the mid-80s, and there were wedges like $425 and $275 on the wheel and whatever else is on my wish list. Some days I feel like watching and just accept the show on its own terms, and some times I pass it over and just grab the bonus puzzle before Jeopardy.

[irwinsjournal.com]

How about this for an uneducated guess...

The idea is to enable buying of vowels faster to enable faster solves, so that the rounds go faster and there can be even less show time and more room for promos and commercials.   
   

[Prizes]

How about this for an uneducated guess...

The idea is to enable buying of vowels faster to enable faster solves, so that the rounds go faster and there can be even less show time and more room for promos and commercials.   
 

I think this is right, but there's also the factor of decreasing editing time, thus a cost saver as well. If you didn't know the puzzle in long past seasons, you probably could not purchase a vowel, relative to the overall value of the wheel values at that time; at present you can buy a minimum of 2, with each consonant revealed in the puzzle.

[clemon79]

How about this for an uneducated guess...

The idea is to enable buying of vowels faster to enable faster solves, so that the rounds go faster and there can be even less show time and more room for promos and commercials.

That does indeed sound exceptionally uneducated.

[TLEberle]

That does indeed sound exceptionally uneducated.

Don't know about you, but I've certainly made that joke. Not the way Irwin did, but I've said that the show is on the path to Toss-up to Closing Chat.

[Neumms]

I look at Wheel of Fortune inversely to how Matt O. thinks of Tic Tac Dough--he dislikes the red box mini-games that deviate from the game, and I say the more extra stuff they do that isn't spinning and solving is great. I loved the $3,000 puzzle, the Clue and extra questions, whatever else could elevate the game beyond just hangman was always welcome to me because after solving the puzzle I tend to zone out for the remainder.

Some of the fun--back in the day, mind you--was that players would often keep spinning for more dough once they knew the puzzle, introducing an element of risk. Now it never seems to happen, largely taken away by Prize Puzzles and other bonuses that add nothing to the game.

But I didn't like red box mini-games, either.

[MSTieScott]

I like the toss-up puzzles, as a contestant who has the misfortune of spinning lots of Bankrupts and Lose a Turns can still win a few thousand dollars in consolation money if they're good at solving puzzles.

Wheel is still bowling shoe ugly. Wonder if the $500s start off always covering a Goody of some sort.

I'm conflicted -- I think the number of $500 spaces is excessive, but I do appreciate the fact that now that the rule is "nearly every piece of cardboard that can be picked up off the wheel is also worth $500 per letter," those prizes are only located on $500 wedges.

I'm a little surprised the Express wedge is still kicking -- given that it's a part of the Prize Puzzle round, where strategy dictates that you solve as soon as you know the answer, how often does it really get landed on?

I agree with the theory that vowels are deliberately inexpensive so contestants will quickly buy them all, but I think a primary reason for it is to increase home audience playalong. The more quickly vowels are revealed, the more quickly the viewers can solve the puzzle and feel good about themselves. (A thought that popped into my head a while back: I wonder when the last time was that the show had to play the chirp-chirp-chirp sound effect signifying that only vowels were remaining. And I wonder when the last time was when that didn't happen during either use of the Express or the speed-up portion.)

[Fedya]

I'm a little surprised the Express wedge is still kicking -- given that it's a part of the Prize Puzzle round, where strategy dictates that you solve as soon as you know the answer, how often does it really get landed on?

One spin out of 24, assuming each spin is a completely independent event (which of course isn't the case).  I presume you meant to ask how often contestants actually try to take advantage of the Express once they hit it.  I wouldn't know, since I only ever watch the bonus round if I tune in at the end of the show.

[Jeremy Nelson]

As for the board, I thought it made Vanna pretty useless myself, but because she's become synonymous with that show, she's pretty much there to stay.

If you think of it in terms of practicality, Vanna was useless with the old board too. You could always have a stagehand behind the puzzleboard turning the letters. (Remember even the Shopper's Bazaar puzzleboard was run standalone.) Vanna's only purpose, just like Susan's before her, is as a presenter and a model.

I thought I read somewhere that they hired a hostess because the board was supposed to be mechanical but wasn't ready in time for the premiere- any truth to this?

To me, I don't see the problem in a little bit of a challenge with more expensive vowels. We're not ditching the puzzle board in favor of an Only Connect wall here- at the end of the day, you're still looking for the names of well known people, titles, and quotations.

I like how we voice the same concerns every year around this time when new tweaks come in, and this has basically become our annual "Lets Vent About Wheel" thread.

[Matt Ottinger]

I thought I read somewhere that they hired a hostess because the board was supposed to be mechanical but wasn't ready in time for the premiere- any truth to this?

Our own Adam Nedeff, in the January 6 entry of his four-volume almanac:

"Because of a fast-approaching deadline for taping, plans for a mechanical puzzle board that would flip letters automatically when called had to be scrapped, and a model named Susan Stafford was hired to turn the letters by hand."

Adam tends to be good at researching his facts.  Also, he quotes frequently in that entry from former NBC daytime executive Dan Fox, who may well have been the source of that unattributed nugget.

[irwinsjournal.com]

How about this for an uneducated guess...

The idea is to enable buying of vowels faster to enable faster solves, so that the rounds go faster and there can be even less show time and more room for promos and commercials.

That does indeed sound exceptionally uneducated.

Ah, just as I suspected! 

[Mr. Armadillo]

(A thought that popped into my head a while back: I wonder when the last time was that the show had to play the chirp-chirp-chirp sound effect signifying that only vowels were remaining. And I wonder when the last time was when that didn't happen during either use of the Express or the speed-up portion.)

According to the BAV recaps, they hit 'only vowels remaining' on the June 11th speedup - the third-to-last episode of last season.  The chirps also sounded on June 3rd, but that was an Express round (and good thing she didn't need to buy the last vowel - she won by $3!).

As to the other half of that question, I have no idea, because I couldn't be arsed to look back more than a couple weeks.

[Prizes]

It's the 12/25/13 episode, in Round 2, that technically answers the second half of Scott's question. Strangely enough, the 'Only Vowels Remain' graphic didn't show up to the home viewers, nor did the chirping sound play. Hopefully, this suffices the question, because while sound wasn't played, it fits the rest of the requirements of when the sound itself would be played, normally.

To get there, previous lady bankrupted, the next guy guesses a B, and the puzzle board looked as follows:

C U P C A K E S
C O B B L E R S / &
C O O K _ E S

Didn't make too much of a difference in this case, as he finished a distant 3rd, with $4,800.

[Adam Nedeff]

I thought I read somewhere that they hired a hostess because the board was supposed to be mechanical but wasn't ready in time for the premiere- any truth to this?

Our own Adam Nedeff, in the January 6 entry of his four-volume almanac:

"Because of a fast-approaching deadline for taping, plans for a mechanical puzzle board that would flip letters automatically when called had to be scrapped, and a model named Susan Stafford was hired to turn the letters by hand."

Adam tends to be good at researching his facts.  Also, he quotes frequently in that entry from former NBC daytime executive Dan Fox, who may well have been the source of that unattributed nugget.

Actually, my source was E! True Hollywood Story.

[Twentington]

(A thought that popped into my head a while back: I wonder when the last time was that the show had to play the chirp-chirp-chirp sound effect signifying that only vowels were remaining. And I wonder when the last time was when that didn't happen during either use of the Express or the speed-up portion.)

According to the BAV recaps, they hit 'only vowels remaining' on the June 11th speedup - the third-to-last episode of last season.  The chirps also sounded on June 3rd, but that was an Express round (and good thing she didn't need to buy the last vowel - she won by $3!).

As to the other half of that question, I have no idea, because I couldn't be arsed to look back more than a couple weeks.

Sounding the chirps in the Speed-Up seems to be the exception, not the rule. From the times that I have heard the chirps in the Speed-Up, they apparently sound them only if a contestant fails to solve after calling the last consonant. The oldest episode where I've seen that happen is the "pill-pushers" game from 1999: Red says "group of will-wishes", beep-beep-beep-beep, awkward cut to Pat telling yellow "Everything else is a vowel", yellow solves.

On the other hand, there was a round last season where a team called the last consonant and did not solve. Cue both of the other teams calling incorrect consonants before the third team picks off a vowel and solves. They dubbed the chirps in after that last consonant, which IMO only made it even more awkward.