You Produce "Wheel"

[Don Howard]

Let's just get rid of the damn wheel. The amount of money in play for each round will be determined by a check writer in the audience. It can be worth anywhere from one dollar to leventy billion dollars. No doubt the big wins will be held for sweeps. Each player in turn will begin picking letters for a puzzle chosen by the puzzle writer in the audience. Charlie O. can stand with each of these "writers" as they write what they write to enhance the drama. Keeping with the Less Is More [great phrase for a puzzle, future puzzle writers] mentality so prevalent within today's world, the title will be abbreviated to Fortune. Because you can win a fortune on Fortune.
I'm calling Sony to arrange a meeting.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Jun 7 2005, 12:25 AM\']Keeping with the Less Is More [great phrase for a puzzle, future puzzle writers] mentality so prevalent within today's world, the title will be abbreviated to Fortune. Because you can win a fortune on Fortune.
I'm calling Sony to arrange a meeting.

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Not to mention with the Less Is More mentality, Charmin will be signing on as a sponsor. And only first names of contestants will be revealed, just to tick off Da Perf.

[Jimmy Owen]

I say keep the wheel, but do we really need the puzzles?  Have the players earn spins by answering multiple choice questions.  After three rounds of q's, take a break, then start spinning, trying to avoid bankrupt. Then take a break and three more q's, commercial, then reset the wheel with higher $ values and more bankrupts.  4 bankrupts put you out of the game. The player with the most money at the end wins their earnings.

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'wschmrdr\' date=\'Jun 6 2005, 11:51 AM\']I fear in a few years we'll see the category "Word ending in -ictionary".[/quote]
That's not even your joke.  If you're going to try to be funny, at least be original.

On a different note, there is one show besides Street Smarts where a tournament of champions would be totally inappropriate, and it's Wheel of Fortune.

At this point, I'll either listen to the radio, or watch "The Simpsons."  Sorry, Wheel, you lost a viewer.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'mikeg\' date=\'Jun 6 2005, 04:37 PM\']Pat and Vanna will enter stage center from a raised area of the stage. A circle-shaped door will open and they will travel down several steps before meeting on a Wheel of Fortune logo center stage. The hosts will exchange a few words and then they separate.[/quote]
Gratuitous. The show is already strapped for time, and they chat enough at the end of the show.

Toss-Up: This round will change slightly. The value of the puzzle will start at $3,000 and decrease by $500 after a few letters are filled to a minimum value of $1,000. After someone has buzzed in and successful solved the puzzle, they will earn control.

This does exactly what? You do realize that it would only takes 4 letters for the puzzle to be worth $1,000, and how often is a Toss Up solved with 4 letters showing?

In a departure from previous years, there will be no contestant interviews at this point. I’ve found that this part of the show seems to drag and I would prefer to get right into the game.
At the end of the first round, Pat will chat briefly with the winning player. He will stay at his post. I’m eliminating his walk over to the player to save time.
-          -          -
Pat will chat briefly with the winning player after this round ends and then go to commercial unless it is the same person who won round one.

What if the same player wins?

PAT: Hey, you win again!
CONTESTANT: Yeah...
(cricket)
PAT: So...how bout those Cowboys?
CONTESTANT: Well, they...
PAT: OK, on with Round 2!

Round 3 will feature the Mystery Round as before. Pat will chat briefly with either one or two players that have not won rounds before it begins and then Charlie will describe the car featured on the wheel in the Mystery Round.

That's just ridiculously out of place. The interviews are fine where they are. Breaking them up would disturb the continuity.

The purpose of cutting down on the contestant interviews, Pat’s walk to the winning contestants and eliminating one Toss-Up is to make sure we get four full rounds completed on at least most of the shows. Right now, the Speed-Up round is often happening right after the third Toss-Up on many shows.

I'm sorry, but I like to get to know contestants. Otherwise, who do I root for. Damn it all, I'm just gonna root for blue, that's my favorite color!

Other changes are buying a vowel will cost $500. There is also a $500 penalty for guessing a letter that is already in the puzzle and $1,000 penalty for an incorrect puzzle solution.

What if I ask for an already used letter and I only have $450? What if I missolve the puzzle and I only have $950? This isn't Jeopardy, so I shouldn't go into the hole...only when I'm with a woman. {Quagmire}OH!{/QM}
 

Also, I totally agree with the lack of a gradually increase in money. In Round 1, I would have values of $300-$2,500 with a $1,000 and  Round 1 would have the $10,000 wedge. In Round 2, a $3,500 would replace my $1,000 space.

What is this, Dyslexic Week on Wheel of Fortune? The Packjot round is brought to you by Hooked on Phonics and LensCrafters!

(cut a whole bunch of mumbo-jumbo that made my head spin, no pun intended)

In the most radical move, the Pat/Vanna banter right after the commercial after the Bonus Round will be eliminated. Pat and Vanna will congratulate the winning contestant and sign off like Bob Barker does on The Price is Right or Richard Karn does right after the bonus round on Family Feud. I always thought it was pointless to go to commercial and then come back and sign off. Wheel used to end after the bonus round in the humble beginnings.

For the same reason I'd keep the contestant interviews, keep some informalities in the show.

(cut some more gratuitous mumbo-jumbo)

The ideas are just a little too much, and it seems like you're just changing things just for the hell of it. Your ideas don't do much to improve the actual show, and actually slow some things down. However, do send your resume and a copy of this post to Fremantle.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Jun 7 2005, 12:55 AM\']
What is this, Dyslexic Week on Wheel of Fortune? The Packjot round is brought to you by Hooked on Phonics and LensCrafters!

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If it's Dyslexic Week, then you've got the show's name wrong. It would be Fheel of Wortune, with the Packjot round brought to you by Pooked on Honics and CensLafters.

Toss up round worth $.0001, buy a vowel for $0.52, and win up to $.000001 in the Ronus Bound!

[MCArroyo1]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Jun 6 2005, 11:55 PM\']

Toss-Up: This round will change slightly. The value of the puzzle will start at $3,000 and decrease by $500 after a few letters are filled to a minimum value of $1,000. After someone has buzzed in and successful solved the puzzle, they will earn control.

This does exactly what? You do realize that it would only takes 4 letters for the puzzle to be worth $1,000, and how often is a Toss Up solved with 4 letters showing?

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While I agree that most of his ideas would permanently kill this dying show, he did say that the dollar value would fall in $500-increments with "a few letters," not with each letter.

[cmjb13]

What I'd like to know is since when did the requirement (at least it seems to me) take effect that you have  to be a sports fan (WNBA, NFL, Nascar) rather knowing how to play the game and being a fan of the show?

[Clay Zambo]

[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Jun 5 2005, 10:49 AM\']Although I do prefer the current bonus round (i.e. spinning the little wheel to determine the prize). I always found it interesting in the past that the bonus round had little to do with the main part of gameplay (i.e. a wheel).
[/quote]

Gee, I always thought the main part of gameplay was "guess letters, solve a puzzle."  I'm not complaining about the prize wheel, though if I were it would be to say that it seems odd that the bonus-round wheel is smaller than the one used for the main game.  Why not put the prizes on the big wheel and do the bonus round from the contestant's original position?

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'MCArroyo1\' date=\'Jun 7 2005, 10:31 AM\'][quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Jun 6 2005, 11:55 PM\']

Toss-Up: This round will change slightly. The value of the puzzle will start at $3,000 and decrease by $500 after a few letters are filled to a minimum value of $1,000. After someone has buzzed in and successful solved the puzzle, they will earn control.

This does exactly what? You do realize that it would only takes 4 letters for the puzzle to be worth $1,000, and how often is a Toss Up solved with 4 letters showing?

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While I agree that most of his ideas would permanently kill this dying show, he did say that the dollar value would fall in $500-increments with "a few letters," not with each letter.

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I see, said the blind man to the deaf man. :-)

[Esoteric Eric]

[quote name=\'rollercoaster87\' date=\'Jun 5 2005, 06:02 PM\']Let Pat spin prizes for the final spin. When he finally hits a dollar amount, any  prize(s) he spins are also given to the player who solves the final spin puzzle. This would also cause the "add a thousand" rule to be repealed.[/quote]Why repeal the rule? If Pat spun the wheel and it landed on a trip to Spain wedge, then he'd say, "...Vowels are worth nothing, consonants will be just a thousand apiece, but the winner also gets that $6200 trip to Spain!"[quote name=\'continued\']Add a jackpot space to the bonus wheel...[/quote]I'd just round it off to $1K for every full $10K not won, if only to give Charlie O'Donnell an even "THOUSAND" (add your own extra letters as necessary) to (EDIT) promote upfront without the (perhaps anticlimactic?) "...FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!";  I'd also include the value of the merchandise prizes, adjusted in the same way. [quote name=\'continued\']***RETURNING CHAMPS*** The shows aren't shown in a random order like pre-Karn Feud. Even a Friday Final from a few years ago would work, even on special player weeks.[/quote]I'd like that, especially with the Friday Final.  I'd also like to see the weekly winners return every thirteenth week, etc.; logistics aside, I'm always looking for a game show that is itself an open-ended tournament.

Esoteric Eric, erstwhile GameTweaker...<OUTTAKE> ...If Pat spun and landed on a trip to Spain wedge he'd say... well, he'd probably say, "DEAR GOD, SOMEBODY HELP ME, I'VE FALLEN ON THE WHEEL AND HAVE A SPINDLE STICKING THROUGH MY RIBS!!!" ((8=D))</OUTTAKE>

[Gromit]

Well, this is getting a bit off track, but I'll throw in my 3 cents.

o Ditch the toss ups. They're just wrong, because they work opposite of how Wheel normally works - all of one letter shows up at the same time. Yeah, it's a personal thing, but I just can't enjoy playing along with them.

o  As some suggested, a mid level value or two on the wheel seems like a good change.

o Vowels $500 seems like a good idea. They cost next to nothing now, and folks buy them even when they don't need them. I can't count the number of times I've seen folks buy the "U" when something like COLO_R TELEVISION is on the board. Drives me freakin' nuts.

o The big thing I've noticed is that they don't show the board as much nowadays. They show more of the spin, more of the contestants reacting to the spin, more of their reactions to their letters, etc. The wife and I are constantly yelling "Show the damn board!" at the tv.

o Control should always pass to the next person in line after a puzzle is solved. This makes sure the turns keep passing through everyone. I see all the time where someone will solve a long puzzle, win a tossup, solve a long puzzle, etc. I swear I've seen shows where some folks got something like two spins of the wheel the entire show.

[wschmrdr]

You have to remember with control that it always has been a place in Wheel, and they are using a toss-up to replace "Just before the show we drew numbers to see who would start our game." Maybe we should go back to such, as it would save time.

Concerning vowels, there's always that RARE possibility that the contestant doesn't know. I have a feeling considering how fast some contestants solve the puzzle that the producers almost encourage the players to solve the second they know it and not go for the money.

I think the whole board issue is probably the same reason why TPiR has ditched their Plinko sign. The directors think the home audience would rather see the contestants having fun than Vanna clapping. I think the amount of the spin shown has been about the same in the past few years.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'wschmrdr\' date=\'Jun 9 2005, 06:19 PM\']You have to remember with control that it always has been a place in Wheel, and they are using a toss-up to replace "Just before the show we drew numbers to see who would start our game."
[/quote]
They wanna save time? They're doing TWO tossups at the start of the show, one of which is meaningless aside from the grand they hand out. Idiotic. Do one, the winner of that gets first spin on the opening puzzle. Doesn't save a LOT of time, but every little bit helps.

[saussage]

Here's my 2 cents:

Toss-up rounds: Limit to 1 or ditch em. It screws up the flow of the game.
Bonus round: I didn't mind the W H E E L round as much. The bonus round the way is right now I guess is fine.
The Wheel $ amounts: Raise the $5000 space to a proper $10,000 spot (and have it kept on the wheel and not picked up like a prize). Make the wheel up to date with more amounts over $1000. At least the $150 space is gone.
Gfx: We don't need all the pointers and that Bankrupt on the screen drives me nuts.

Multiplier wedges on the wheel.... good or bad? (would be interesting and at least better then the Mystery wedge IMO)

Oh yeah one last thing: Who'd be interested to put back the "Free Spin" wedge back from retirement? Offering one free spin for the entire game seems pointless. I remember players keeping free spins like poker chips... it was funny sometimes since people would hold on to them like lost treasure... then the game ended

I lied... I have one more thing: Either crank up the price to buy a vowel or force players to spin to buy a vowel. If the $ amount exceeded the player's stash, they would either lose a turn or be able to buy the vowel but then reset their stash to 0$ (don't know what's the best option yet). Or, have a "Buy a vowel" wedge where it would be like the old "Free spin" wedge: Hit the space, get a token, and then spin again. Players could buy vowels as long as they had a "Buy a vowel" token.

Some of this might be trash but some ideas might work. I just don't know how much tinkering around WOF is going to have though in real life... problably minimal if the ratings don't start to slide.