Two changes for WoF Season 39

[Kevin Prather]

So, not to get too presumptuous considering all we've been through this season...is she being groomed to replace Vanna? She's becoming a larger on screen presence, so everyone will become very familiar with her by 2024. Plus, she's pretty.

And they happen to be giving camera time to Jim Thornton this year too. Jim Thornton and Maggie Sajak?

[Jeremy Nelson]

So, not to get too presumptuous considering all we've been through this season...is she being groomed to replace Vanna? She's becoming a larger on screen presence, so everyone will become very familiar with her by 2024. Plus, she's pretty.

And they happen to be giving camera time to Jim Thornton this year too. Jim Thornton and Maggie Sajak?

Here's the difference, IMO- Jim's time on camera seems like just that- having his face on camera. Here's what he looks like so you can attach a face to the voice. Maggie's feels like they're trying to establish her on screen presence. She's on camera to establish a rapport with the people watching as well as the people she's directly interacting with.

For the record, in his Wheel profile online, Jim is rocking a fresh haircut, accompanied by a smiley face emoji tie- his Dad Energy is way too high to take over Wheel if they're trying to reach new demos. Not sure when/why we decided to suggest announcers as fitting backfills for open hosting gigs, but most of them seem like capable fill-ins, not permanent options.

[knagl]

...is she being groomed to replace Vanna?

This seems reasonable. Vanna will be 67 in 2024 and already has more money than she knows what to do with.

[Blanquepage]

Just my thoughts on music: for some reason I really dig the Toss Up Puzzle music. I'd work out to it 
As for theme...well...at least the old Changing Keys tune is very much there, but doesn't sound like many other real instruments are.
Synths, an electric guitar here and there, typical "modernized" standards. It's not terrible, though.

[TimK2003]

...is she being groomed to replace Vanna?

This seems reasonable. Vanna will be 67 in 2024 and already has more money than she knows what to do with.

Banning any "natural causes", I see Pat and Vanna retiring at the same time.

If that is the case, why would the Sajak name be downgraded to letter-toucher?  It would only make sense to groom her as taking over daddy's position, which might put the spark in the show that is so desperately needed -- Pat is just phoning it in.

[SuperSweeper]

Just my thoughts on music: for some reason I really dig the Toss Up Puzzle music. I'd work out to it 
As for theme...well...at least the old Changing Keys tune is very much there, but doesn't sound like many other real instruments are.
Synths, an electric guitar here and there, typical "modernized" standards. It's not terrible, though.

I am not a fan of the new music package. Everything is so LOUD. It’s hard to distinguish a melody in a lot of the cues.

I really liked the previous package, too, so this is disappointing.

[JMFabiano]

Just my thoughts on music: for some reason I really dig the Toss Up Puzzle music. I'd work out to it 
As for theme...well...at least the old Changing Keys tune is very much there, but doesn't sound like many other real instruments are.
Synths, an electric guitar here and there, typical "modernized" standards. It's not terrible, though.

I am not a fan of the new music package. Everything is so LOUD. It’s hard to distinguish a melody in a lot of the cues.

I really liked the previous package, too, so this is disappointing.

I'm amused/annoyed by the haters of the "new" music.  Yes, they called it a "new theme song."   Mainly cause it's making me feel old knowing some people were born/grew up AFTER Wheel stopped using Changing Keys. 

[nowhammies10]

I like the music package, and I find I have the opposite problem: it's hard to hear the music over the cheering and applause to fully appreciate it.  They seem to be using the bridge or other parts of the theme that aren't the main melody line. The intro sequence, for example, uses the last few bars before the G-Ab-Bb "puzzle solved" cue. One would think they'd use the main part of the melody that everyone remembers.

[Robair]

You think of how that music suite evolved from 1983 to now...for the first 17 or 18 years, all the changes to the music were personally done by Merv Griffin, and his upgrades always met with my approval. This time though it seems like too much gravitas for a hangman game. If you took the very end of the current J! and WOF themes and played them back, you couldn't tell the difference.

[BrandonFG]

It reminds me of the ABC prime time revivals. It’s catchy, it has me tapping my toes, but it feels like something’s missing. On the ABC shows, they play the same verse over and over and don’t get anywhere close to a bridge or a breakdown. And I get that we don’t have two minutes for the closing like we used to, but I’d love to hear other portions of the theme, instead of the same hook.

That’s not me being a hAtEr, I’d just like some variety.

[Blanquepage]

I will say the one new cue that I don't like at all: the final spin round music bed.
Sounds like music that'd be played during a stakeout scene. Just...out of place.

[JMFabiano]

It reminds me of the ABC prime time revivals. It’s catchy, it has me tapping my toes, but it feels like something’s missing. On the ABC shows, they play the same verse over and over and don’t get anywhere close to a bridge or a breakdown. And I get that we don’t have two minutes for the closing like we used to, but I’d love to hear other portions of the theme, instead of the same hook.

That’s not me being a hAtEr, I’d just like some variety.

Yeah, it's been a trend since Family Feud regained the Combs-era theme.  They do not use the whole song and all the cues are just repeating portions of the song.

[Kevin Prather]

Talking 100% ex-rectum here, but is it possible that trend is to avoid having to license the music? Aren't you allowed x-number of seconds before you have to start paying fees?

[Blanquepage]

Ok so...first credit roll, and hearing a bit more of the closing music. It's by John Hoke only? I was so sure I could blame...I mean...attribute it to Bleeding Fingers! 
Seriously though, I think Merv positioned the monotony-breaking bridges just right in his composition. This arrangement is...boring.

[Chief-O]

Ok so...first credit roll, and hearing a bit more of the closing music. It's by John Hoke only? I was so sure I could blame...I mean...attribute it to Bleeding Fingers! 

And to Merv, for that matter....I noticed recently that J! now has a music credit for him in their full roll.