Goodbye Australia....

...and G'day USA...I just saw a promo that the top prize is changing. if My stupid DVR was working I would have a screen cap.

sigh...

You have got to be freaking kidding me. Another reason to avoid that show like the plague.

He's not kidding...I saw it too.

So how long until "Even Mo'Money" hits J! again?

Where did you see it?

It's not there.

I just happened to be recording Wheel tonight for no apparent reason - hold on, I'll get the clip onto Youtube.

EDIT: The promo from tonight's show (Youtube)

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/7471/wordpuzzlejpgxv6.jpg

I'd like to buy a vowel, mate.

Okay.

Now I can sit and scratch my head for the right reason.

I hope that the format for winning the $1,000,000 isn't the same as the one in Austrailia.

See, this I don't get. Mo' Money Syndrome is the (usually) mistaken belief by producers (and especially wannabes) that having a huge grand prize makes a show better. But on the other side of that coin, I don't really see how having a larger jackpot makes a show, especially an established show, any worse. I mean, it's not your money, and if the producers want to throw it away, how the fact that a person might win a million dollars an plague-invoked reason to stop watching?

Why not? At least the Australian version makes you, oh, I dunno, EARN the million dollars. As if, spinning a wheel to randomly determine your winnings isn't too much already?

I think here it's a decent idea. It didn't work in Australia because it was a new show (it was trying to be a DoND killer- and it got killed in only 5 weeks), plus it was so out of whack with the rest of the prizes available (If the bonus wasn't won on the show, they only gave away about $5,000 in total- then other than the $1m and $200K, the top prize was a $30K car and the rest were in the $5-$10K range)

Here it's established, and they've been tweaking the game almost every year anyway- plus it's not so out of whack ($25K+ won by the players even without a bonus win is pretty much normal with the Prize Puzzle and $6K in tossups every show, plus the minimum in the bonus round is the $25K). I don't mind it, since they'll mess around with the schedule if it's won anyway to get the win in a Sweeps month (and if it happens on the road? The reaction from the audience would be amazing)....and I'll also admit it's a attempt to be a DOND killer as well (although I suspect DoND is more for the afternoon timeslots than 7-8pm)...I'm actually a little suprised they didn't do this a couple of years ago...

Even though it's evident to people who watched the video, I'm surprised no one mentioned that the promo features the words "one million" in a third-of-a-wedge previously occupied by $10,000. So if that promo is indeed from an already recorded show, and is not just speculative imagery, then the road to a million will parallel the Aussies in at least some fashion.

The fact the man in the promo is waving the "wrong" side of the wedge made me extrapolate and come up with a fun format for it, whether it be the real one or not: with "one million" on a third of a wedge...if somebody spins it and calls a correct letter, they can keep the wedge with that side up, and have it act as their "ticket" to a possible million in the bonus round. Or, they can flip it over and take the $10,000 as was the case previously? It's a bit confusing, admittedly, but gambling $10,000 now over a possible million might be interesting...at least for somebody Wheel-wise anyway, who can all but guarantee victory with superb toss-up skills.

-Jason

That's a pretty interesting idea. Do you take the almost guaranteed $10K (assuming you're a skilled Wheel player), or do you give it up for an almost guaranteed 1/24 shot at a million? I'd probably go for it, just because I'm confident in my abilities to almost make up the $10k throughout the game even if I don't nail the million.

Wheel's new season doesn't start taping until next week. I think they just put that together for the promo. (At the same time, I can't understand why they would build a prop for just a promo, so maybe that is how they'll give it away.)

My money's on it being computer-generated over the $10,000 wedge. We know they can display the back side of a Mystery Wedge at the appropriate angle over the wheel, and they can make the border of the Big Money Wedge glow, even as the wheel slows down. So it's not too far-fetched that they could change "$10,000" to "ONE MILLION" for a brief promo.

Besides, why would they go to the trouble of shooting Pat and a stand-in waving a new prop around for a fraction of a second of footage for a promo, especially since all of the other clips in the promo are taken out of context from normal episodes?

--
Scott Robinson

Every time I think WOF has "jumped the shark" for the last time, they take a lap around the bay and do it again! (How many laps are they up to now???)

Now I'm just waiting for some producer to do "Million Dollar 'Heads or Tails'" where a contestant climbs a 10 level money ladder just by correctly calling "heads" or "tails" to win the million.

Here's what the $1,000,000 wedge will look like:

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/2194/epicfailkx0.gif

Everyone, raise your hand if you give a damn what this guy says. Go on, I'll wait.

<tum te tummmm...>

I'm sure many of us here are better than average players, but I have never in all my years found someone who has heard of the show and admitted that they'd be perfectly awful as a contestant.

(For what it's worth, it would be trivial to make up the $10k, but if we go by what the Aussies are doing, you still have to 1) win and 2) spin the $1m envelope. I'm risk averse anyway and also love free money, so I'd be inclined to stick with the guaranteed money.

You forgot the last tum.

/That's what I hear when I read bandit-ese...

I apologize for straying from the topic, and am open to any Wows, Whooshes, or Fails I might get for saying this, but it is totally beyond me why bandit_bobby is so hated around here. Every time he makes a post, he gets at least 3 totally hateful and uncalled for comments thrown his way. He may not always have the wittiest thing to say, but all he seems to want to do is add a little to a discussion.

Again, sorry for going totally OT, and for standing up for someone who is apparently a troll. I just felt like that needed saying.

/Flame away.

No flames necessary...But the reason he gets flamed so much is that, IIRC, he has never added anything useful to a discussion.

I wouldn't say he's hated, and kenbob, your question is valid. The problem with bandit is that he has a history of making fairly ridiculous posts, treats his opinion as fact (and even tries to ridicule others when he doesn't agree), and his posts are somewhat condescending. I'm all about expressing opinions, but I can't go asking for everyone to respect my opinion, then trash others just because I disagree with them.

Give it time. I'm happy to explain. For me, bandit_bobby embodies everything that I don't like about the internet. Mr. Foster-Gray nailed it; his posts are laced with a condescension that isn't appropriate. Back when he first started here, he would "recap" Jeopardy! episodes. That is to say, there would be errors all over the place, important details missing, and so on. I don't know whether that was the haste to be first, or just laziness/non-caring on his part. But it kept up, and there was never any contrition on his part. One time he said "I'll try to be better," and he wasn't. Thankfully he took that part to his silly "game show results" blog, which he'd try to advertise here by saying "If you want to know what happened on tonight's episode of Wheel of Fortune, click on [my blog]." (Of course, when he made a goof on THAT site, he was all too ready to apologize to his eight adoring fans.)

1) The comments are called for, as long as they stay within the realm of the ERs we all signed on.

2) He wants to have this place as his own personal sandbox. He'll jump in with a nonsensical statement, and then run away, leaving us to clean up after him. I don't recall a single time that he followed up one of his comments by actually defending it. It was always "I think Family Feud should offer $100,000 in Fast Money." A reason was never given. When asked directly, no reply was forthcoming.

That's it. I don't like his behavior, and the fact that he has made no effort to change in the years he's been here.

Also, I believe in myself and a tiny pinch of magic, and so far, not all of my dreams have come true.

I blame him.

When you're Matt Ottinger, you don't NEED a pinch of magic.

/The absurd meme that just won't die.

My personal "favorite" is when he insisted American Idol would be better if the grand prize was raised to $10,000,000.

Ah, yes...the debut of Matthew Lesko on the GSF.

I could've sworn there was at least once where he defended something he said...maybe I'm thinking of one of the other post and run guys (perhaps Henke, maybe, now that I think about it)?

Wasn't the debut...he made that at my request. :) Just the first chance HE got to use it on someone. :)

Ah, I see.

/I suck at making stuff like that
//Surprised no one said anything about my "holy missing the point, batman" thing
///I know it's not a big deal, but hey
////I gotta stop doing the slashies, I'm going crazy

He has defended himself once or twice before, but I can't remember the post.


And my FAIL pictures! >:o ;-)

/Still my favorite one though...
//Although, this one from Lemon gives me a good laugh...
///*snort, chuckle* 69...

I have a new one I'm just waiting for the proper opportunity to debut... :)

You are all welcome. :)

Hmm...maybe Mr. Lesko should make an appearance here too.

/Here's where it all started.

He draws ire from people from posts such as this. He is absolutely the last person the last person to go around criticizing people...it doesn't help when he needlessly flames veterans without justifiable cause.

As for the original topic...at least GSN still shows reruns of a respectable era. $1,000,000. Good grief.

You got that last part right, for sure.

It's kind of understandable...you haven't been around the Bandit as much as everyone else.

(Then again, you are a guy who claimed persecution for being mildly criticized for your sig, so not getting it is kinda in your blood...)

*Extremely* mildly. And based on revisiting the thread to refresh my memory, I'd say by not pressing the issue he got it just fine.

True, and I didn't bring it up to pick on him...I just was trying to tell him that he's gotta be careful sometimes and that he's been down this road before at least once.

If he wants to be nice to the Bandit, then that's his prerogative. But he shouldn't just go off half-cocked and assume that those of us who do choose to pick on him (the Bandit, that is) don't have a reason to do so.

Hopefully now he does understand.

Probably not the best way to put that...

B & C just confirmed today that the Million Dollar Wedge format from the now-canceled Austrailian version will indeed come to the U.S. this fall.

And here's the link since Bobby couldn't be bothered to cite his source beyond "B&C."

CBS' Wheel of Fortune?

Didn't CBS buy out King World?

I hope this means $50 and $175 are coming back.

Yeah. CTD's, specifically.

/am I the only one who pays attention to crap like that?
//don't answer that...

Too bad.

No, you're not. Then again, it does involve my occupation to an extent. Then again again, the reason my occupation is what it is is because I'm a bit of a nerd about that stuff.

I suppose it's understandable. I just wondered because I'm fairly new here, added to the fact that a kind, forgiving nature runs in my family. I can't find it in me to bash someone so heavily just for saying the wrong thing on a message board. That's just me, though.

Back on topic, I must be one of about 3 people on this planet who's actually a little excited about next season. It's mostly out of curoisity though. I can only hope that they don't overplay the fact that A Million Dollaz is on the line so heavily that it interferes with what little of the actual game time hasn't alreay been eaten up by sponsor plugs.

Understandable, but most of us here have kind, forgiving natures.

In the Bandit's case, it's repeated wrong-headed sayings followed by a constant unwillingness to change his ways that gets him in trouble with most of us. Once or twice, fine. A pattern of behavior over five years? Not so much.




I can't say one way or another if they will or they won't beat the Million Dollar point to death, but Wheel's been doing all these gimmicks for the last few years and they still draw the most syndicated viewers every week. So while it may not seem that way to a lot of us here, they must be doing something right if they're still topping the charts (although with 2/3 less viewers than in their heyday).

I'm sure there are plenty of people excited...whether you find them here or not doesn't mean anything. Wheel's still popular, people are still gonna watch. We're just a message board group.

/if we were a planet, what would we be called?

I think you can expect "We have the chance of a million dollar win every night!" to be dropped every chance they can get, even though the chances of it are so remote that I don't think they will give it away once in the whole year.

Getting back on topic here, the Million Dollar Wedge won't be available in just the first round unlike in Austrailia. To see what I mean, visit this site and scroll down a bit to see part of the Sony Press Release for Wheel.

http://www.gameshownewsnet.com

I would think the odds of having a million dollar winner just increased.....I'd bet that WOF gets a million dollar winner before DoND does (primetime or daytime- since you know they'll increase the daytime values for Sweeps)

Here's an official announcement from WOF's website (Includes pic of the $1M wedge):

http://www.wheeloffortune.com/announcements/?article=18