Wheel of Fortune

[adamjk]

Anyone know? This has always puzzled me.

[JayC]

Zach said, when I asked this some time ago...

Returning champs are no longer as it allows the shows(weeks and single episodes) to air out of sequence, plus it, as per Harry Friedman, allows more players on the show each season.

[digiblader]

Yeah, but with the Ken Jennings juggernaut on J! they should bring back returning champions on WOF!

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'digiblader\' date=\'Jul 9 2004, 06:38 PM\'] Yeah, but with the Ken Jennings juggernaut on J! they should bring back returning champions on WOF! [/quote]
 And your reasoning for that would be?
The shows are two completely different vehicles.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'adamjk\' date=\'Jul 9 2004, 04:04 PM\'] Anyone know? This has always puzzled me. [/quote]
 So, Adam, Wheel of Fortune has PUZZLED you?

I chuckled at that, thanks

[adamjk]

I had a feeling someone would go there. lol

[digiblader]

Well, historically WOF gives away more money than J!, their sister show.

But this season has been different.. with no $100K winners and a lot of missed bonus rounds or wins of just $25K!

Meanwhile, on J!, we've had that person win $180K+ and Ken Jennings, who is at $920K at the moment

It would be much better for WOF's ratings if returning champs were brought back, since having a good player on the show can help spark interest in the show.

Look what's happened to J!'s ratings since Ken Jennings started! They're almost up to WOF's levels right now!

Of course, there's the wrong way to do it, like with $1MCOAL, which started at #1 because of its $1M prize, but then crashed and burned because of the weak format.

Also, it'd be nice for someone to win $100-250K on WOF(if they had their old 3-day limit back.)

That's why I think WOF should re-instate returning champs

[Brandon Brooks]

[quote name=\'digiblader\' date=\'Jul 9 2004, 08:05 PM\'] Well, historically WOF gives away more money than J!, their sister show. [/quote]
I do think that they try to give away more because the ratings let them to do so.

But this season has been different.. with no $100K winners and a lot of missed bonus rounds or wins of just $25K!

Boo-hoo.

Meanwhile, on J!, we've had that person win $180K+ and Ken Jennings, who is at $920K at the moment.

You do understand that J! gives about the same amount of money away, whether it's one person or a mulitiple champions.

It would be much better for WOF's ratings if returning champs were brought back, since having a good player on the show can help spark interest in the show.

Not necessarily.  When you've been number one for so long, why mess things around?  (I would like to see returning champions, personally, BTW.)

Look what's happened to J!'s ratings since Ken Jennings started! They're almost up to WOF's levels right now!

Almost, but they ain't there.

Of course, there's the wrong way to do it, like with $1MCOAL, which started at #1 because of its $1M prize, but then crashed and burned because of the weak format.

Doesn't apply in this situation.

Also, it'd be nice for someone to win $100-250K on WOF(if they had their old 3-day limit back.)

Not really.  Lotza money.  Yay.

That's why I think WOF should re-instate returning champs

Eh.

Brandon Brooks

[urbanpreppie05]

Isn't Wheel giving away an average of 30-50K per show? With figures like that, who needs champions?

[SamJ93]

I don't really see the need to bring back returning champs at this point...Frankly, not having them is the least of the show's problems, IMHO.

--Sam

[LA the DJ]

Let's also not forget that Wheel leaves L.A. quite frequently these days...As well as all the "team" week and themes.

Am I the only one who thinks this, or if it takes more than one of you to play WoF, you shouldn't be playing?

[Craig Karlberg]

[quote name=\'nWo_Whammy\' date=\'Jul 10 2004, 02:19 AM\'] Let's also not forget that Wheel leaves L.A. quite frequently these days...As well as all the "team" week and themes.

Am I the only one who thinks this, or if it takes more than one of you to play WoF, you shouldn't be playing? [/quote]
Not only does WOF leave 3 times a year for sweeps periods, so does J! in most cases.  I guess location may or may not be a quallifying factor here.  It really boils down to which show generates the most revenue when all the numbers are crunched at season's end.

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'Craig Karlberg\' date=\'Jul 10 2004, 03:43 AM\'] [quote name=\'nWo_Whammy\' date=\'Jul 10 2004, 02:19 AM\'] Let's also not forget that Wheel leaves L.A. quite frequently these days...As well as all the "team" week and themes.

Am I the only one who thinks this, or if it takes more than one of you to play WoF, you shouldn't be playing? [/quote]
Not only does WOF leave 3 times a year for sweeps periods, so does J! in most cases.  I guess location may or may not be a quallifying factor here.  It really boils down to which show generates the most revenue when all the numbers are crunched at season's end. [/quote]
 Which didn't answer the question at all. PJTP.

However....as bad as some of these teams may be, its a nice refresher to a show that has otherwise been mutliated by Sony.

[JasonA1]

Let's also not forget that Wheel leaves L.A. quite frequently these days

Actually, a good boon for returning champs back around 1989 (and probably on until they discontinued them) was that on road shows they'd pay for your trip back to LA to continue your reign.

As to the comment that considers ratings for an "interesting" returning champ, there's a totally different dynamic involved in having somebody win on "Jeopardy" 20 or 30 times than there is at "Wheel." If you don't understand that...well...

-Jason

[jalman]

[quote name=\'nWo_Whammy\' date=\'Jul 10 2004, 02:19 AM\'] Let's also not forget that Wheel leaves L.A. quite frequently these days...As well as all the "team" week and themes.

Am I the only one who thinks this, or if it takes more than one of you to play WoF, you shouldn't be playing? [/quote]
You make it sound like the contestants were so dumb that the producers had to put together pairs as an act of desperation.

It's just a novelty, really.  I don't think the intention was to add extra brainpower as it is to give face time to the famous athletes or loved ones.