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Author Topic: Australian WoF gets a face lift  (Read 6333 times)

CherryPizza

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Australian WoF gets a face lift
« on: January 09, 2004, 10:33:47 PM »
History seems to be repeating itself.

In 1996, long-serving WoF host John Burgess was dumped as part of a major upgrade of the show, and the ensuing hoopla was one of the biggest stories in TV that year.

Without a lot of fanfare (the show is still on its Summer break, so we'll have to see how people respond when the show returns in February), something very similar has happened again. At the end of last year, current host Rob Elliott was told that his contract with 7 (the network airing the show) would not be renewed, and the show is being given a new look. All that's been reported so far is that we will be getting an electronic letterboard, a la Vanna's (are we the last country to have the "manual" board?), the program will be changing timeslots from 5.30pm to 5pm, and a relative unknown (Steve Oemcke) will take over hosting duties.

At present, the Australian show is flawed in a number of ways with some pieces of simple logic absent from the format... and I really don't forsee the fuss of 1996 being revived this time around, so I'll be watching with interest. Anyone else interested in hearing about what happens, let me know

tommycharles

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Australian WoF gets a face lift
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2004, 10:42:11 PM »
[quote name=\'CherryPizza\' date=\'Jan 9 2004, 10:33 PM\'] are we the last country to have the "manual" board? [/quote]
 Nope...the UK's off-and-on version still uses a manual board, and it would have one of the coolest sets around if it weren't so dang small.

gameshowguy2000

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Australian WoF gets a face lift
« Reply #2 on: January 09, 2004, 10:47:16 PM »
And I assume the wheel no longer spins on its own, like the other versions have done.

JasonA1

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Australian WoF gets a face lift
« Reply #3 on: January 09, 2004, 11:52:43 PM »
Quote
At present, the Australian show is flawed in a number of ways with some pieces of simple logic absent from the format

Don't leave us with just that! Expound, continue! :) Anyway, I do believe the Aussie version has maintained since the beginning that you get x amount of dollars for a letter, instead of x multiplied by number of occurences. For example, $50 for four T's if you spun $50. I don't know if that was just what you were getting at, or if there was more.

-Jason
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CherryPizza

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Australian WoF gets a face lift
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2004, 12:59:09 AM »
Yes, you are right. There is no multiplying of dollar values per number of times the letter appears on the board, therefore it eliminates the possibility to play strategically

When the program had its major face-lift in 1996, many of the new rules were despised by viewers, and so minor 'improvements' were made to the rules over time. As the new rules were brought in one at a time and not as a series of rules, they sometimes seem out-of-place, incompatible with each other.

For example, they got rid of the prize shop (the Aus version has never awarded cash for solving puzzles), and the player who solves the puzzle was just given a fixed prize. This was not a welcome change, and they quickly tried to restore the old format, but it was just a half-hearted effort. Now a contestant who solves a puzzle simply chooses one of three prizes as a reward. If the score has no bearing on what somebody wins, the host's attempts to persuade contestants to take that extra spin is futile if the contestant has no hope of winning the game outright.

As with other versions of the show, pre-1996 shows had contestants who solved puzzles secure their score up to that point, so monies won until then were immune to bankrupt. Contestants had two separate scoreboards: one with their total score, one with their score since the last puzzle solve. If they hit bankrupt, it would be clear how much of their score they lost because it would be on the lower scoreboard. In the 1996 change, the ability to secure money was lost and regardless of whether a puzzle had been solved, a bankrupt would take a score back to zero. Contestants therefore had just the one scoreboard each. Again, this change was unwelcome, and it took some time, but eventually, in 1998 the ability to secure money was re-instated, but there was still only one scoreboard per contestant, so there is no indication of how much is secured. Contestants have also been able to buy vowels with secured money, which logically they shouldn't be able to.

They try cramming four rounds (plus the major prize round... or bonus round as you call it in the US) into the show, but there is rarely enough time to play them completely. Therefore they quite often run out of time during the third puzzle and it turns into what gets called a 'Speed up round' on the US show (it doesn't have a special name here), and all of round four becomes one.

Also, with the four rounds, being in first position is now an unfair advantage. Whereas with the three-round format each contestant would have a chance to start a round, with the current rules the person in first position gets to start both the first and fourth rounds.

If they insist on having four rounds per show, the only way I could see it working fairly and fitting into the timeframe is:

* Round 4 is always AUTOMATICALLY a speed-up round (therefore giving time to finish round 3 properly)
*Before recording round 4 begins, each contestant spins the wheel once to land on a dollar value
* The contestant who spins the highest dollar value is the one who first gets to choose a letter in round 4, and the amount s/he spun up is the amount that everybody plays for with their guesses

I know this sounds long-winded and petty, but they're just the examples that come to mind, and it of course takes much longer to explain them than to see them and sense that something isn't completely right

tommycharles

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Australian WoF gets a face lift
« Reply #5 on: January 10, 2004, 01:19:21 AM »
[quote name=\'CherryPizza\' date=\'Jan 10 2004, 12:59 AM\'] Now a contestant who solves a puzzle simply chooses one of three prizes as a reward. If the score has no bearing on what somebody wins, the host's attempts to persuade contestants to take that extra spin is futile if the contestant has no hope of winning the game outright.
 [/quote]
 Wow...that seems like a pretty terrible version of Wheel. The idea of picking 3 prizes was also brought into the British version (although I think it's been there since the very early days (well....I have no clue about the Carol Smilie era, but from then onward it has been that way). It doesn't seem out of place there, but I can see it being wierd if it was brought in suddenly.

The interesting thing about the British version is that, unless my eyes decieve me everytime I watch it, you still get the points you earned whether you solved the puzzle or not - which is fairly strange when the person who solved the puzzle gets less points than someone else.

Actually, with all the criticism of the US version of Wheel of late, it is probably the best version out there.

T

Robert Hutchinson

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Australian WoF gets a face lift
« Reply #6 on: January 11, 2004, 01:22:21 AM »
[quote name=\'CherryPizza\' date=\'Jan 10 2004, 12:59 AM\']Also, with the four rounds, being in first position is now an unfair advantage. Whereas with the three-round format each contestant would have a chance to start a round, with the current rules the person in first position gets to start both the first and fourth rounds.[/quote]
Not sure if you know, but this is how it was in the US until toss-up puzzles were added.
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Brandon Brooks

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Australian WoF gets a face lift
« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2004, 03:05:07 AM »
[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Jan 9 2004, 10:47 PM\'] And I assume the wheel no longer spins on its own, like the other versions have done. [/quote]
 What makes you assume that?

Brandon Brooks

WilliamPorygon

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Australian WoF gets a face lift
« Reply #8 on: January 11, 2004, 04:10:04 AM »
[quote name=\'CherryPizza\' date=\'Jan 10 2004, 12:59 AM\'] Yes, you are right. There is no multiplying of dollar values per number of times the letter appears on the board, therefore it eliminates the possibility to play strategically [/quote]
 ...Though it's not like any of the US contestants are smart enough to use the dollar value multiplying to their advantage anyway.

J.R.

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Australian WoF gets a face lift
« Reply #9 on: January 11, 2004, 04:12:43 PM »
Also, the Aussie version's wheel uses just really bizzare amounts. Like "165", "380" and "620". Burgo's version had ever STRANGER amounts like "$45", "$90", "$410", "$555" "$720", etc.

-Joe R.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2004, 04:14:08 PM by JRaygor »
-Joe Raygor

Casey Buck

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Australian WoF gets a face lift
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2004, 04:32:35 PM »
[quote name=\'JRaygor\' date=\'Jan 11 2004, 01:12 PM\'] Also, the Aussie version's wheel uses just really bizzare amounts. Like "165", "380" and "620". Burgo's version had ever STRANGER amounts like "$45", "$90", "$410", "$555" "$720", etc. [/quote]
 I'm guessing that they really loved that $470 square on PYL. :)

gameshowguy2000

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Australian WoF gets a face lift
« Reply #11 on: January 11, 2004, 08:47:13 PM »
[quote name=\'Brandon Brooks\' date=\'Jan 11 2004, 02:05 AM\'] [quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Jan 9 2004, 10:47 PM\'] And I assume the wheel no longer spins on its own, like the other versions have done. [/quote]
What makes you assume that?

Brandon Brooks [/quote]
 I don't like it when the wheel spins on its own at the closing, when the prize wedges are still out on the wheel.

To me, the wheel just doesn't look good when the prize wedges are still out there on it, when it's spinning at the close. It looks awful.

clemon79

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Australian WoF gets a face lift
« Reply #12 on: January 11, 2004, 10:47:44 PM »
[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Jan 11 2004, 06:47 PM\'] I don't like it when the wheel spins on its own at the closing, when the prize wedges are still out on the wheel.

To me, the wheel just doesn't look good when the prize wedges are still out there on it, when it's spinning at the close. It looks awful. [/quote]
 I don't possibly see what difference it makes, but hey, if it disturbs your delicate aesthetics, then go with it. :)
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Don Howard

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Australian WoF gets a face lift
« Reply #13 on: January 12, 2004, 12:23:03 AM »
[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Jan 11 2004, 08:47 PM\'] I don't like it when the wheel spins on its own at the closing, when the prize wedges are still out on the wheel.

To me, the wheel just doesn't look good when the prize wedges are still out there on it, when it's spinning at the close. It looks awful. [/quote]
 I don't like the idea of the wheel spinning at all at any time. If only they could find a way to play the game without that wheel. It takes too much time to spin that thing. Think of the extra puzzles they could get in without all that wasted time spinning the wheel.

gameshowguy2000

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Australian WoF gets a face lift
« Reply #14 on: January 12, 2004, 12:44:54 AM »
[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Jan 11 2004, 11:23 PM\'] [quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Jan 11 2004, 08:47 PM\'] I don't like it when the wheel spins on its own at the closing, when the prize wedges are still out on the wheel.

To me, the wheel just doesn't look good when the prize wedges are still out there on it, when it's spinning at the close. It looks awful. [/quote]
I don't like the idea of the wheel spinning at all at any time. If only they could find a way to play the game without that wheel. It takes too much time to spin that thing. Think of the extra puzzles they could get in without all that wasted time spinning the wheel. [/quote]
 Uhh, then the name would be useless!