Author Topic: Breakneck "Wheel" editing (Read 4284 times)

Robert Hutchinson · « **on:** May 06, 2005, 04:18:35 PM »

(I think this goes on the main board. I so rarely start a new topic . . .)

Now, it's one thing for me when a show has to be edited to shreds because it's cramming in sponsors, and Wheel is no stranger to that. But in the first four episodes they've done so far from Kansas City this week, it's been getting more and more insane. They've got six players to introduce for "Mom and Me Week", they've got the longer intro and the pointless bumpers ("We're in Kansas City!"), AND they're wasting about half a minute letting Vanna describe the Mystery Round prize.

It seemed to come to a head on (I believe it was) Thursday's show. From what I could tell, they retaped almost every bit that only had Pat on camera, so he could say things like "Jackpotroundnexthere'sCharlie" and save a few seconds. But that wasn't enough--so they edited out an entire set of turns in the first round. When the first Bankrupt is hit (that we see), Pat is talking like it's the third or fourth, and there's then an extremely clumsy edit where several letters magically disappear from the board.

I realize this post isn't really heading anywhere, but it just amazes me that the #1 show in syndication can be edited so poorly. You can't even tell where the wheel's going to stop anymore on a wide shot. "Oh, here comes $5000 <cut> . . . or the other side of the wheel, I guess."

johnnya2k3 · « **Reply #1 on:** May 06, 2005, 07:51:10 PM »

Do you always notice the disclaimer at the end credits: "Portions of the program not affecting the outcome of the game have been edited." On sone occasions, tapings can run long due to production problems or a puzzle having to be thrown out. Sometimes, the letters on the puzzle board had to be re-touched.

Jonathan Allen

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #2 on:** May 06, 2005, 08:27:13 PM »

Wouldn't it save time if they did away with the wheel and all that spinning? Or at least make it a computer generated wheel?

zachhoran · « **Reply #3 on:** May 06, 2005, 08:29:55 PM »

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'May 6 2005, 07:27 PM\']Wouldn't it save time if they did away with the wheel and all that spinning? Or at least make it a computer generated wheel?

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Don't want to give Sony any ideas...... They could add another million colors of light to the set with that idea.....

SamJ93 · « **Reply #4 on:** May 06, 2005, 08:30:54 PM »

Sure, do away with the Wheel. Contestants now press a button which instantly displays a dollar value on the video screen--accompanied, of course, by the requisite flashy sound effect and whooshing graphics each time to let us know whose turn it is, in case we forgot in the last 3 seconds.

Hey, while we're at it, why don't we replace Pat Sajak with a Sony RoboHost(tm)? Not like he has much to do these days anyways...

--Sam

MikeK · « **Reply #5 on:** May 06, 2005, 09:01:30 PM »

[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'May 6 2005, 08:29 PM\']Don't want to give Sony any ideas...... They could add another million colors of light to the set with that idea.....[/quote]
2.5 million colors of lights? Brandon, did you get any extra towels while you were at Bed, Bath, and Beyond?

BrandonFG · « **Reply #6 on:** May 06, 2005, 09:20:21 PM »

[quote name=\'hmtriplecrown\' date=\'May 6 2005, 08:01 PM\'][quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'May 6 2005, 08:29 PM\']Don't want to give Sony any ideas...... They could add another million colors of light to the set with that idea.....[/quote]
2.5 million colors of lights? Brandon, did you get any extra towels while you were at Bed, Bath, and Beyond?

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Damn the towels, I think I might need some shades.

Michi-Matt, this lovely mall you speak of...the one with the bookstore and ~~Blood~~ Bed, Bath, and Beyond...it wouldn't happen to have a Sunglass Hut would it? ;-)

Robert Hutchinson · « **Reply #7 on:** May 07, 2005, 01:54:51 PM »

[quote name=\'johnnya2k3\' date=\'May 6 2005, 06:51 PM\']Do you always notice the disclaimer at the end credits: "Portions of the program not affecting the outcome of the game have been edited." On sone occasions, tapings can run long due to production problems or a puzzle having to be thrown out. Sometimes, the letters on the puzzle board had to be re-touched.[/quote]

Every television show has production problems sooner or later. I wouldn't begin to fault them for those (unless they were a constant feature).

I still wish somebody besides me could confirm that WoF once decided to edit out an entire second-round puzzle because it took an amazingly long time to play, with Pat reporting the results after an edit. I just imagined it, I guess.

dazztardly · « **Reply #8 on:** May 07, 2005, 09:50:07 PM »

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'May 6 2005, 07:27 PM\']Wouldn't it save time if they did away with the wheel and all that spinning? Or at least make it a computer generated wheel?

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It would be interesting to see them setup the wheel, like the one used in the bonus round[with rainbow lights in the center shining off the wedges].

As for a computer generated wheel, I don't think that would ever happen. However, I do remember seeing an article in a magazine many years back, of the russian version attempting something like this.

-Dan

byrd62 · « **Reply #9 on:** May 08, 2005, 10:18:01 AM »

[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' date=\'May 7 2005, 12:54 PM\']I still wish somebody besides me could confirm that WoF once decided to edit out an entire second-round puzzle because it took an amazingly long time to play, with Pat reporting the results after an edit. I just imagined it, I guess.

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I vaguely recall this....it was when they taped some episodes in San Fransisco sometime in the early 1990's. The puzzle that was edited was "Vanna's pregnant"...except that it ended up being a miscarriage between taping and air, though Vanna would go on to have a son, Nick, and a daughter, Giovanna, by her first husband, George Santopietro.

The "filler" was some feature that Charlie O. narrated, after which Pat came on to say that someone won the second round, at which point a box on the screen showed a freeze-frame of the contestant winning that round.

goongas · « **Reply #10 on:** May 08, 2005, 02:31:38 PM »

[quote name=\'dazztardly\' date=\'May 7 2005, 08:50 PM\'][quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'May 6 2005, 07:27 PM\']Wouldn't it save time if they did away with the wheel and all that spinning? Or at least make it a computer generated wheel?

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It would be interesting to see them setup the wheel, like the one used in the bonus round[with rainbow lights in the center shining off the wedges].

As for a computer generated wheel, I don't think that would ever happen. However, I do remember seeing an article in a magazine many years back, of the russian version attempting something like this.

-Dan

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I read once that they focus tested the idea of replacing the old-fashioned wheel somehow, and they found that people enjoy the wheel.