Wheel of Fortune

[bulldog_06]

I believe they got rid of this in 1996, but let the biggest winners of the week compete again on a Friday show. I think that was the case.

[vtown7]

This is true... in the 1996-97 season, three new players played on the Monday-Thursday shows and then the top three winners came back on Friday.  You didn't have to win your show though; as long as you scored enough to hit top 3 you could once again punch your dance card.

When I was a contestant that season I wound up on a Thursday episode. What I found bizarre is that we were told outright at the start of the show that we needed to beat $17,750 (or something like that) to make it to the Friday Finals... I remember doing something quick calculations in round three and deciding not to go for the jackpot (which was $20K+ at the time) because successfully solving at the time gave me enough money to advance as long as I could win.

Ryan

[adamjk]

Were you on, before the new board debuted, or after?

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'vtown7\' date=\'Jul 11 2004, 10:27 AM\'] What I found bizarre is that we were told outright at the start of the show that we needed to beat $17,750 (or something like that) to make it to the Friday Finals... [/quote]
 That doesn't seem too odd. I remember Pat reminding contestants from time to time that they needed x amount of dollars in order to come back on Friday. If Wheel were to ever do returning champs, this would be a cool format to do, since the weeks would be self-contained, and don't have to worry about carry-overs from Friday to Monday.

[vtown7]

Were you on, before the new board debuted, or after?

After... about three months after IIRC.

QUOTE (vtown7 @ Jul 11 2004, 10:27 AM)
What I found bizarre is that we were told outright at the start of the show that we needed to beat $17,750 (or something like that) to make it to the Friday Finals... 


That doesn't seem too odd. I remember Pat reminding contestants from time to time that they needed x amount of dollars in order to come back on Friday. If Wheel were to ever do returning champs, this would be a cool format to do, since the weeks would be self-contained, and don't have to worry about carry-overs from Friday to Monday.

But doesn't it strike you as slightly unfair that if you're on the Monday show that you have nothing to aim for whereas the Thursday show you know exactly what you need?

I'm not complaining because I did use the knowledge to my advantage, but it struck me that it somewhat functioned similarly to Wild Cards during J! tourneys - why gamble more than you have to ?

Just my two cents.

Ryan

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'vtown7\' date=\'Jul 12 2004, 10:49 AM\'] But doesn't it strike you as slightly unfair that if you're on the Monday show that you have nothing to aim for whereas the Thursday show you know exactly what you need?
 [/quote]
 Point taken. :-)

I guess it would be the same thing as being on Pyramid (tournament mode). It would be great to win the Winner's Circle, but if you win in more than 45 seconds, you'll prolly have a difficult shot at the tourney, just like if you had won the Monday game but lost the bonus round, your chances diminish, esp. if the next three contestants win their bonus rounds.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'vtown7\' date=\'Jul 12 2004, 10:49 AM\']

I'm not complaining because I did use the knowledge to my advantage, but it struck me that it somewhat functioned similarly to Wild Cards during J! tourneys - why gamble more than you have to ?

 [/quote]
 The difference between what you describe regarding Friday finals on WOF and the Wild Card spots in J! tournaments is this: the other players are sequestered during games they are not a part of, ergo they don't know what scores they have to beat to get a wild card spot in the semis.