A 'Wheel' watcher's lament

[uncamark]

I've been meaning to post this, from the Beachwood Reporter blog--a "Wheel" fan who seems to agree wtih some of us (although she never was a Sajak fan):

http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/tv/wheel_weenies.php

The Beachwood, BTW, is a bar in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood where Steve Rhodes, who runs the web site, frequents.

[irwinsjournal.com]

The "Before and After" category has nearly always wanted to make me throw things.

However, I also remember when the contestant had to buy gifts with the winnings, at some rather "interesting" prices-- "Uh, I guess I'll take the can of coffee for $50, Chuck..." and at least the (mostly) cash prizes are easier to parcel out to the various Taxing Authorities.

[lobster]

The puzzle topics are even worse to behold. There was once a select few categories from which to pick puzzles: Thing, Person, Place, Before & After, Fill in the Blank, Phrase, Clue. Then there was Song Title/Lyric, Event (don't even get me started on what you consider to fit into this particular category),

"Event" is one of the originals way before Before & After came along..
But the writer is right about how it's now abused and much more vague..  Even back in the day, I recall "Labor Day Sale" being labeled an "Event" (which, really, could have been a "Thing" just as well), but now it's crap like "Cleaning out the garage", etc.  I guess (random verb) +the+ (random noun) can be an Event.  Milking the cow, Eating a rhubarb..

/George Carlin: The weatherman will often talk about an upcoming rain event .. I hope I can get tickets to THAT!

[tpirfan28]

...changing the channel is an event.  Daily, too, to get away from that show.

[Mr. Armadillo]

Actually, I think 'Cleaning Out the Garage' is now considered 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!' and not an 'Event'...they even had to create a new category since their Events were getting so non-Eventy...

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'lobster\' post=\'176685\' date=\'Jan 30 2008, 04:51 PM\']
"Event" is one of the originals way before Before & After came along..
But the writer is right about how it's now abused and much more vague..  Even back in the day, I recall "Labor Day Sale" being labeled an "Event" (which, really, could have been a "Thing" just as well)
[/quote]
I could give them a pass on it. The holiday sales you see advertised on TV are events so to speak.

Back in 1998, I remember ranting about "Setting Your VCR" being labeled as an "EVENT". If it's something you do on a regular basis (more than two or three times a year), it's not an event. A birthday party or losing your virgi......uh, bar mitzvah is an event. Shopping for groceries is NOT.

[Joe Mello]

Okay, just how can you lose a bar mitzvah?

[lobster]

[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'176706\' date=\'Jan 30 2008, 09:58 PM\']
Okay, just how can you lose a bar mitzvah?
[/quote]

If one went up to the lectern and started speaking in tongues.. that might go down in the Lose column

[TenPoundHammer]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'176696\' date=\'Jan 30 2008, 07:43 PM\']A birthday party or losing your virgi......uh, bar mitzvah is an event.
[/quote]

I lol'd. (Sorry, I know that's not my line...)

Seriously, though, even though I'm a diehard Wheel Watcher™, I agree with the blogger in question regarding some of the complaints about Wheel. Here are some of my own.

1. Too much sponsorship. I realize they have to come up with ways to compensate for all the cash being won, but I think that there are better ways to do it than by tacking so many brand names on.

2. Too much crap on the wheel. I would keep Jackpot, Big Money, and Wild Card. Swap the Mystery wedges for an additional wheel prize, and dump the prize tokens entirely. Also, make Free Spin a wedge again, since nobody these days knows how to spin strategically.

3. The fact that they almost never give out anything but cash, cars and trips. I'm not saying we have to go back to the shopping era, but for God's sake, why not show a little more variety?

4. The fact that they always have to do a Final Spin, especially when the puzzle is almost entirely filled in. (Last week, I swear they did a Final Spin with only one letter missing from the puzzle.) Why can't they just play out the rest of the round normally and not do a final spin at all? It worked in the old days.

5. Three Toss-Ups is two too many. Do interviews, then ONE Toss-Up to determine who starts Round 1; lowest scorer after Round 3 would then start Round 4.

6. Dumb puzzles. I'm fine with most of the specialty categories, although the rotation could be better (anyone else notice that "What Are You Making" and "Fictional Family" have only been used once each?). I do not like the fact, however, that they have to always tell you the occupation in a Proper Name (e.g. SINGER CARRIE UNDERWOOD instead of just CARRIE UNDERWOOD). Nor do I like seeing totally unrelated things hooked together (e.g. HIKERS BOATERS & FISHERMEN -- I can understand boaters and fishermen, as they both deal with the water, but what the hell are those hikers doing there?)

7. The fact that out of every ten conestants who hit a Wild Card, five lose it to a Bankrupt two spins later, and four more end up a distant third by the end of the game. I'm not sure how this could be fixed, except maybe by making Wild Card a wedge a la the old Free Spin.

Nevertheless, the gameplay is so solid overall and Pat is such a great host that that the show is far from sucking in my book.

[HYHYBT]

So... what brought on the comments about Pat being a pervert? I admit to not watching the show *that* closely, but it doesn't seem to have been mentioned here either.

[Jeremy Nelson]

[quote name=\'TenPoundHammer\' post=\'176708\' date=\'Jan 30 2008, 10:07 PM\']
3. The fact that they almost never give out anything but cash, cars and trips. I'm not saying we have to go back to the shopping era, but for God's sake, why not show a little more variety?
[/quote]
Because every contestant just about peed their pants over winning a new log cabin or an annuity. Seriously though, it seems odd to me why Sony doesn't offer more home entertainment packages as wheel prizes. They might as well call the Prize Puzzle the Trip Puzzle.

I have no clue why people would see Pat as a pervert, but apparently, the people at MadTV seem to agree with the author.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=F6ceN6uu5DY

[lobster]

[quote name=\'TenPoundHammer\' post=\'176708\' date=\'Jan 30 2008, 10:07 PM\']
7. The fact that out of every ten conestants who hit a Wild Card, five lose it to a Bankrupt two spins later, and four more end up a distant third by the end of the game. I'm not sure how this could be fixed, except maybe by making Wild Card a wedge a la the old Free Spin.
[/quote]

I believe I recall that the WildCard can be used to go twice in a round (per Wiki: "A player may then turn in the token at any time other than his or her initial turn before spinning and call an additional consonant for the cash amount most recently spun.") which made the possibility of someone using the WILD and scoring HUGE when Pat spun $5000 during the Final Spin getting two shots to knock out letters at $6k apiece -- but I've yet to see that happen (nor do I recall anyone using the Wild during the final spin round for that matter)..

Of course, I suppose to have that extra consonant in the bonus round could be the best use of the Wild, but if given the chance, it really would be cool to see someone sweep, say, 7 letters at $6k apiece ..

/of course, silly me actually expects someone on that show to actually know good strategy
//therein lies this not being a possibility afterall

[lobster]

[quote name=\'rollercoaster87\' post=\'176773\' date=\'Jan 31 2008, 02:43 PM\']
Because every contestant just about peed their pants over winning a new log cabin or an annuity.
[/quote]

haha.. i'll never forget back in the late 80s (when you got to pick the prize you were playing for in the bonus round -- about the time they first instituted the large six-sided green hanging $25,000 sign) one of the options besides the cash and a nice car was a RUG.  An actual freaking floor RUG, that was "valued at $30,000".  I remember it was prominently hanging from the ceiling with that little price placard on it and I remember laughing.

I know imported area rugs CAN be expensive with the markup and all, but a good friend of mine from Iran -- that goes back about once a year -- often offers to bring me back a real actual hand-woven Persian rug from the pros in Shiraz for near $500.  What on earth would make a rug worth $30,000???  

/thought they couldn't do worse than a $600 porcelain dalmation!

[Steve McClellan]

[quote name=\'lobster\' post=\'176782\' date=\'Jan 31 2008, 01:29 PM\']which made the possibility of someone using the WILD and scoring HUGE when Pat spun $5000 during the Final Spin getting two shots to knock out letters at $6k apiece -- but I've yet to see that happen (nor do I recall anyone using the Wild during the final spin round for that matter).. [/quote]
There's a good reason for that. You've probably never seen anyone use a Free Spin in the speed-up, either. That's because there's a different rule set in place after the bell. Don't take Wikipedia down to the letter.

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'HYHYBT\' post=\'176720\' date=\'Jan 31 2008, 01:48 AM\']
So... what brought on the comments about Pat being a pervert?[/quote]
I'm shaking my head over this one, too.
If anything, Pat seems to avoid engaging in physical contact with contestants whenever possible....a far cry from when The Chucker was the emcee (please no "left Wheel" retorts---the statute of limitations has got to be up on that one).