Things you would done differently Wheel of Fortune

[TLEberle]

I've heard something like this before, but I believe it was in the vein of "Tossups meet Split Second Countdown Round".

Either way, I don't know how I feel about tossups being the final stage of the game. I'm on the fence.

That's ok. I don't know if people would love my daytime idea of first to solve three puzzles plays an endgame and meets two new challengers, and the TDV goes up throughout the show then resets to $750 the next day.

And yes, Toss Up Count Down is mine. TM, patent pending, not valid in Connecticut or Vermont.

[Kevin Prather]

I don't think there's anything wrong with the end of the game as it is. If you've played well enough to have a runaway game, then more power to you. (Unless that runaway comes from the Prize Puzzle, which is why I advocate getting rid of it.)

In my opinion, an end game that doesn't involve the wheel in any way is not it.

[SuperMatch93]

I really liked the short-lived hour-long daytime format (two 3-round games, winners face off in an all-cash final round). In the distant future, if Wheel ever leaves syndication and gets picked up as an hour-long weekly affair in primetime, I think I'd use that as a baseline for revamping the format sans shopping.

Other ideas for that:
-Add a prize on the Wheel in each round, and in the head-to-head all prizes unclaimed go back on the Wheel.
-Either play the bonus for a jackpot (starting at $25k and increasing by that amount til won) or have a prize wheel similar to the Australian show with a few cash spaces mixed in.

[Nick]

however, to add champions back you also have to likely reinstate those five tape dates.

There are two ways around that which I see.  You either:
- Get over the idea of the "theme of the week" always starting on Monday, or
- Just get rid of the "theme of the week"

I'm for the latter.  I don't even understand why they do it anymore.  Aside from a few such sponsored weeks where I can understand the money behind the madness, what does calling a week's worth of shows "Southern Hospitality Week" and squeezing in a few themed puzzles and the like doing for the show?  Is anybody going to be more enticed to watch because of a specific theme, sponsored or non-sponsored?  Considering Wheel's core audience, I don't think they even notice of care what theme is labelled across the video wall when going to commercial.

I'm for returning champions, because, why not?

[SuperSweeper]

however, to add champions back you also have to likely reinstate those five tape dates.

There are two ways around that which I see.  You either:
- Get over the idea of the "theme of the week" always starting on Monday, or
- Just get rid of the "theme of the week"

I'm for the latter.  I don't even understand why they do it anymore.  Aside from a few such sponsored weeks where I can understand the money behind the madness, what does calling a week's worth of shows "Southern Hospitality Week" and squeezing in a few themed puzzles and the like doing for the show?  Is anybody going to be more enticed to watch because of a specific theme, sponsored or non-sponsored?  Considering Wheel's core audience, I don't think they even notice of care what theme is labelled across the video wall when going to commercial.

I'm for returning champions, because, why not?

Most of Season 39 (2021-22) was unthemed, and it SUCKED. Truly. So, so bland. I'm sure a lot of it was because they were using the generic set almost every week, but unless they do something differently, I hope they don't do it again.

I agree that most of the themes are pretty silly, but man, is it ever noticeable when they disappear.

[BrandonFG]

To me, that's on the producers to make a more engaging show. The first, what 25 or so years (daytime and syndication) managed to make Hangman engaging without needing a particular theme. The Celebrity episodes were prolly the first time I watched Wheel regularly in years, and realized the show still had a little personality when they weren't on cruise control.

[Chelsea Thrasher]

when they weren't on cruise control.

Something that occurred to me when Pluto still had the massive cache of Wheel eps, including a couple hundred from 2016-2020:  Aside from minor cosmetic differences or "gimmick A is present, gimmick B is missing", an episode from 2014 is essentially interchangeable with an episode all the way to eps from spring 2020. They did years of paint-by-numbers episodes.

The problem isn't theme weeks, it's the way the entire show was produced for most of the years Harry Friedman was there, and became particularly apparent starting around 2008-09.  Things have improved under the current admin, but just only.

[Neumms]

Reminds me of the final three questions in the early days of $ale.

Here they’re playing for more than 10 bucks apiece, but good point. So….

What if they play as many as puzzles as possible in 60 seconds? (Or I dunno, 100.) The money doubles each puzzle, and maybe the letters speed up a little, too. Clock stops on ring-ins so Ryan can set up the next puzzle. Alternatively they could count down revealed letters rather than seconds. “The 26-Letter Countdown (Round).”

[colonial]

Honestly, you don't need the theme weeks if you had a better in-studio presentation. Watching WOF feels like lather, rinse, repeat. The producers found the cruise control button 10-15 years ago and kept it there for the rest of Pat's run.

I'll admit, I'm not a fan of the theme weeks -- most of them are borderline lame and don't bring anything to the show.  But I'm OK with a handful of theme weeks during the season as long as they are sponsored and can add a few interesting prizes to the mix (say, Disney week or an "NFL Week" where a contestant could win Super Bowl tickets).


JD