Michael Davies at Wheel/J- Thoughts So Far?

[Jeremy Nelson]

I recently noticed that we haven’t talked a lot about the job Michael Davies is doing over at Sony for the flagships- but I wanted to create a new thread in case people had any thoughts they haven’t shared.

I did not expect the level of immediate impact he’s had thus far at Jeopardy, especially with the ship needing some righting after Mike. Past quieting the hosting talk, I love that he and the staff have dove in headfirst with all the statistical offerings. Not sure I need a boxscore every day, but like J-Archive boards, it’s nice to know that they’re there when I need them. Past that, I’m definitely a fan of making the Jeopardy season like a sports season, with a playoffs/ToC at the end. Also, if you haven’t read Michael’s blog posts, I’d highly recommend- they’re pleasant and insightful. Really enjoy the job he’s doing over there.

Wheel’s just kinda running like clockwork, and I’m guessing they extended Pat and Vanna for a couple more years partially because Jeopardy needed immediate assistance- plugging leaks in two boats is too much to ask of anyone. It’s a shame Mike did what he did, cause I was pretty excited to see what he could have done with Wheel, but I’m excited to see what changes Michael has in store too. Just give me less Maggie Sajak- we know why she’s there.

[BrandonFG]

I noticed Jeopardy!'s gotten a bit looser and that the contestants are quirkier than usual. Not annoying or overcaffeinated or anything, just quirky. Can't remember if it was Margaret Shelton but there was one contestant who would throw in small interjections anytime Ken said she was right or wrong. It would prolly annoy me on any other show, but here it's kinda charming. I'm guessing that's Davies going for that every(wo)man feel that Millionaire had, where your next door neighbor or the postal worker could be a contestant. To me, J!'s always been the best structured of the current shows, but the show feels very smooth in a way that it didn't have even in the last half-decade of the Trebek era. It wasn't late-Barker levels of autopilot, but it did seem that Friedman and Co. could run that show blindfolded from about 2014-on, so maybe the speed bumps from last season were a bit of a good thing, in a way.

I generally roll my eyes at most analytics, but the occasional stat actually works here, esp. for longtime champs.

[colonial]

Keeping it on this board to prevent confusion ... it looks like WOF will have new leadership for Season 40 ...

https://deadline.com/2022/03/wheel-of-fortune-bellamie-blackstone-exec-producer-mike-richards-1234984871/

Bellamie Blackstone has been tapped as the new executive producer, with longtime WOF staffer Steve Schwartz promoted to co-EP.

Per IMDB, Blackstone served as EP on the current incarnation of PYL in 2019, and was EP for more than 200 episodes of Comedy Central's @Midnight. She was also a line producer on DOND, 1 vs. 100, Chris Harrison's You Deserved It (short-lived ABC game), and Project Runway.


JD

[JohnXXVII]

I don't think Michael Davies was ever even involved with Wheel. You never see his name in the end credits for that show.

[MSTieScott]

I may not feel that everything Jeopardy! has experimented with is necessary or beneficial (somewhat recently, they were on a kick of having video supplement Ken's opening remarks), but I give the staff credit for trying small new things that haven't interfered with any of the show's essential elements.

I do wish they'd be more transparent about minutia that affects gameplay. Specifically, there have been a couple of recent episodes where there was a tie for the contestant who got to pick first in Double Jeopardy!. If I remember correctly, the rule used to be "the camera-left player picks first," but there's been no rhyme or reason these past couple of times -- one time it was the player on the left; the other time it was the player on the right. A quick explanation from Ken as to why a specific tied player is selecting would be appreciated.

[Otm Shank]

Maybe they do it in reverse Pyramid style and go by who spent the most time in last place.

[nowhammies10]

I do wish they'd be more transparent about minutia that affects gameplay. Specifically, there have been a couple of recent episodes where there was a tie for the contestant who got to pick first in Double Jeopardy!. If I remember correctly, the rule used to be "the camera-left player picks first," but there's been no rhyme or reason these past couple of times -- one time it was the player on the left; the other time it was the player on the right. A quick explanation from Ken as to why a specific tied player is selecting would be appreciated.

ISTR that the rule is "whoever was trailing most recently picks first in DJ!".

[pacdude]

I noticed Jeopardy!'s gotten a bit looser and that the contestants are quirkier than usual.

tell me about it