[quote name=\'wheelloon\' post=\'229493\' date=\'Oct 30 2009, 03:15 PM\'][quote name=\'Tony Peters\' post=\'229474\' date=\'Oct 30 2009, 11:42 AM\']IMO, while each new element by itself doesn't detract from the game that much, the sum of so many gimmicks detracts from the game and show so much.[/quote]
THIS!
*Rant coming, my apologies, all my personal humble opinion, as always, if you risk reading on.*
My major problem, as I've concluded over the past few years, however, I finally conclude can be summed up in one phrase: "Lack of Variety."
What!? With so many gimmicks it has now? Uh huh...
So let's look at the at the 70's through... erm... around 95 Wheel and compare some aspects to today. Again, as said before, just one of these things isn't overtly noticeable, but the whole is the sum of the parts, correct? As sayings go, it's the little things in life that'll be your biggest problems...
1. The Wheel's layout changed a bit from round to round, compared to a single layout for today.
[indent]1b. There were more non-TDV's used, i.e. 250, 750, 1500, (and 175 for Mr. Raygor), like 15 different ones on a regular basis, now only about 10 (and many used only once). How unnecessarily repetitive. [/indent]2. Contestants were chosen who could not only play the game but still also had varying personalities and interests. We're lucky for just one of the two these days.
3. Puzzles had more variety, in terms of subjects they addressed (from somewhat intellectual to pop culture to around the house-ish), as opposed to now where I can't remember the last time Title/Author, Clue, Next Line Please, or the like were used, and at least one puzzle every show, as is joked about often, is some form of "White sandy beach" and offers up a vacation.
4. The show had theme weeks, but the set changed moreso then compared to today (and didn't follow a minimalist interpretation... ever), partly because of more set pieces from then (and the existence of a thought process that a set/theme change takes more than a background change on your monitors), but also...
5. The show had a massive variety of stuff to give away, aka PRIZES. Outside of changing the theme every week, the prizes were changed out every week, giving the show that much more external variety than otherwise.
Merv originally envisioned the set of Wheel, in his own words, as "A stage full of prizes." It had glamour: outrageous pieces of jewelry, gallery-worthy art, vacations of a lifetime (or two), the biggest dream cars (Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, and Corvettes, remember?) etc. Now what do we have? Solely run of the mill vacations, some better than others (not that I wouldn't take just about any of them), but peanuts compared to some of those trips they used to offer ($30k 2 week Oriental cruises, $25k Australian/New Zealand getaways, just a couple off the top of my head), and absolutely... nothing else... No cars, no jewelry, not even any damn Sony electronics which seem like obvious crossover marketing strategies, and stuff I'm certain most any contestant would just as willingly take as a trip to X, Y, or Z. The argument that the show should also give away prizes contestants want also falls flat here, because the show (as has been argued here umpteen times) is meant to entertain viewers, earn money, and get ratings, not give away precisely what each contestant has always wanted. If that were the case, TPIR would've been sunk by the time Woolery left... *ahem*.
Cash is easier to work with, no argument here, but the show is one step away from giving away nothing but such, which takes away any sort of glimmer of glamour and/or surprise (and thus variety) the show once had associated with such. The show was marketed as being a glamorous show, something which is comparatively rare in the TV market from what I've ever seen. It can't be advertised as such anymore I'd say. Modern: yes. Simple: mostly yes. Exciting: at times yes. But, Repetitive: yes.
Predictability and Repetitiveness in TV=bad, we know well. Wheel has become both, greatly in part because it has lost so much of the variety it once had. The basic game itself doesn't provide the genre's greatest variety, I'll be the first to admit (there are only 26 letters in English, you do the math), but it was the show's approach and inherent style during those years that gave it the variety and feel it was at least somewhat popular for. Give a show some variety, you make the show unpredictable again, you make the show surprising again, you make the show lively again, you give the show a new lease on life. This is, IMHO, what Wheel needs to get back now.
Would any of this help Wheel's ratings and/or bottom line? 50/50 maybe at best, I don't have a crystal ball, so I couldn't say either way, but from a loyal fan's view, and the views of a few Joe Schmo's he's discussed the show with before, this would not even remotely make things worse. You could do a lot worse in TV Land...
*Rant concluded, back to lurking, fanboiz mode turned back off.*
[/quote]
I agree to a point- the Prize Puzzles/Prize Wedges/Mystery Round prizes could be more varied, and I don't think they should have gotten rid of the cars in the Bonus Round, but sometimes being comfortable is a good thing as people know what to expect, and it's not like they don't tweak it any at all (the Million Dollar Wedge was the best thing to happen to the show in YEARS).
The big moment will be when Pat and/or Vanna decide to call it a day- which will be sooner rather than later-I'd suspect they might make a major overhaul then (maybe make it look more like some of the modern European versions set-wise).
/You know who would be a good replacement for Vanna? Joanna Krupa...You'd only have to change one letter and add another on the dressing room door...
