MovieChat Forums > Wheel of Fortune (1983) Discussion > Things wrong with Wheel of Fortune...

Things wrong with Wheel of Fortune...

posted 10 years ago by rixrex
18 replies | jump to latest

Of all the game shows I watch, this one has the least problmes and the most willingness to come up with changes, but there are a few trouble spots...

1. Half a Car?! Come on, that's just silly.

2. The categories are often way tangential from the end resulting answer, often it's meaningless.

3. Don't be so uptight about pronunciation. Not everyone can enunciate perfectly and there are regional differences as well. If you know that they are saying the answer correctly in their own way, then let them have it, Scrooge. What would they do if somebody, a minority possibly, said "Libary" when pronouncing Library, a common colloquial pronunciation. I'd like to see that episode, and the resulting media reaction.

4. The last round, where the winner gets to answer a clue where the same automatic letters are granted each day stinks of manipulation. Since the show knows the gift letters and picks the phrase, this is too easily tweaked. Better to let the contestant pick ALL of the letters themselves.

Well, at least they actually give away the money won by all, unlike their cheapskate cousin Jeopardy.

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The Eyes of the City are Mine! Mother Pressman / Anguish (1987)

[–] movie_show_critic 10 years ago

Agreed with point 4.

[–] DontTouchtheWatch 10 years ago

Are you sure these things aren't more close to "things I don't like about Wheel of Fortune" instead of "things that are wrong" with it?

1. Okay, so what do you propose instead? Give the entire car away at once? Do away with them entirely? You offer no solution or improvement, so how wrong can they really be?

Now that all said, I will say that I hate that the car prize counts towards the contestants' overall winnings, because it makes it nearly impossible for anyone else to beat them. So you pretty much know that whoever manages to win the car is going to win the game. That's really the only thing I dislike about it.

2. Now this I agree whole-heartedly with. I can remember a few years ago, a puzzle was "Almond Joy." The category? Around The House. That made me say WTF back then, and it still does today. I don't think I'll ever forget that one.

3. Don't agree here, especially with proper nouns and places. And I am fairly certain there have been some instances akin to the "libary" example you give, and they have given it to the contestant.

4. Disagree again. R, S, T, L, N, and E are the letters that most people would call anyway -- and in fact, they are the ones most commonly called for during the first rounds. Most people would just call them again, because there's a very good chance they'll be in the puzzle. So therefore it makes sense that they're the freebie letters.

[–] Kwunschel316 9 years ago

I agree completely with number 4. That's what they used to do back in the early 1980s. Then again, that was the days of the gallery of prizes, lol.

Is this some sort of funhouse... Why, having fun?

[–] samsticka-1 9 years ago

The Toss-Ups are completely pointless. They take up time that would be better spent just playing the game.

[–] SBL84 9 years ago

4. The last round, where the winner gets to answer a clue where the same automatic letters are granted each day stinks of manipulation. Since the show knows the gift letters and picks the phrase, this is too easily tweaked. Better to let the contestant pick ALL of the letters themselves.

Leave the letters there, but make sure the puzzles have the same amount of given letters for fairness.

2-3 would be a good amount to have in a puzzle in general. If it's a long puzzle, have a few more, if it's a short puzzle maybe 1-2. But it's ridiculous when they have final puzzles like:

THINGS:

S T _ _ L E R S (STAPLERS)

THING:

_ _ _ _ _ _ R _ (BUZZWORD)

[–] glasshull 9 years ago

Years ago they did get to pick their own letters in the bonus round and they always said, s, t, r, n, l, e. Two or more were always in there. They were limited in what they could use. The present game is an upgrade.

[–] glasshull 9 years ago

#3 It's America speak English. If you're too ignorant to pronounce things correctly, you don't belong on the show.

[–] AnUnnamedGalaxy 8 years ago

As you say, it's America, if you're going to use that as an excuse then please don't forget that in America there are countless regional accents that will change how words sound.

[–] brian3151 8 years ago

I've noticed that the more money the winner has at the end of the game will determine how difficult their final puzzle is.
But what really gets to me is how often the $33,000.00 wedge is selected - just how many of those wedges have that same amount???

[–] RoyalPoodle 9 years ago

I hate to say but..

Sometimes the game is rigged when Pat spins the wheel, after the bell rings. My sister and I can predict when Pat will hit the $5000 plus $1000. I will not say what I am thinking but I have listed the dates: March 5, 2015 and June 2, 2015. There are more but we did not keep the recordings on our DVR. Henceforth, we will keep a running list to prove that the show is a little bias.

[–] shlbycindy 7 years ago

Add 2/1/17 to that list too.

[–] DontTouchtheWatch 7 years ago

It is not rigged when Pat spins the wheel, they just edit it out when he hits a bankrupt or a lose a turn.

They used to show it when he would do that, he'd make a joke, everyone would chuckle and he'd spin again. Now they just cut it out entirely.

[–] cygnusxjg 8 years ago

I'm as much of a capitalist as the next person, but it bugs me when:

Going into the final puzzle (after Pat spins the wheel) and the second person hasnt won anything, the third has won around 9-10 thousand, and the first has over 20,000.

So the second person has picked a couple letters and has 4-5 thousand, the third person called a wrong letter and the first person has no money. The first person calls a letter, gets 1500, then solves the puzzle.

Just seems greedy to me. Let the second person get a few grand for pete's sake. Person #1 is still going to win the day and will go on to the bonus round.

Don't piss me off. My mutha pissed me off once...ONCE!

[–] shlbycindy 7 years ago

I just hate it when one of the contestants win nothing and the others win loads of money. I really hate it when one of the contestants wins everything and both of the other contestants win nothing. It always seems like a 'screamer' wins all of those puzzles too.
As for the OP's comment about accents when solving puzzles: I have a very pronounced Southern accent and I've seen them debate on whether an answer is correct or not because a contestant also has a Southern accent. I can also see this happening with someone for which English is a second language. I believe a couple of years ago they mistakenly said a person's answer was wrong when in fact they just pronounced it differently. They ended up bringing them back another day because of their mistake.

[–] menotherapy 7 years ago

When the contestants are all successful doctors and lawyers and Pat leans over to them after the prize puzzle round and says, "You've won a fabulous trip to...Mexico!"

And they clap, stare at the camera and grin.

These people could bill their clients/patients vastly more than they win on the show.

Nobody to root for here.

One of the MANY reasons, Family Feud has toppled over Wheel as the #1 game show on television.

[–] LuckyLucius (342) 3 years ago

I wish Wheel Of Fortune could do away with the Mystery Round and Mystery Wedge because every single time a contestant seems to land on it it seems to be always be Bankrupt and contestants rarely win the $10,000 prize. How on earth Wheel Of Fortune invented this is beyond me?

[–] exithereplease (3553) 3 years ago

Or how about Express Train? I'm always left in a state of shock why anyone WOULDN'T want to hop on the train.

There are no bankrupts or lose a turns.

Also, why doesn't Pat ever land on the bankrupt? It used to happen back in the 1990's and early 2000's.

...And why are there always 2 women and 1 man. And out of the 5 men that appear in the week...2 of them are always gay.