May 2, 2013 recap

MARIOGS' WHEEL DEAL: PART IV

So the first session is finished and the crowd quickly empties out while the staff and presumably the contestants have a meal break. I was shocked at how long it took. It was about 6:30. I would have thought I'd have time to go back uptown for a while in between sessions, but there was no time at all. I figured it was taking longer than we all thought, so I had already called my mother to come down to MSG since we were going to go to the evening session together. When leaving, we had to go out a side door where several staffers with WOF bags were handing out WOF "blinky pins". We had to go back around the block to the front entrance. It was windy by this time and my sign, being made of foamboard, was flopping everywhere. We go back through the main entrance and we meet my mother waiting there. We bid goodbye to our friends who say they had a great time, and then us remaining to go in with our much better tickets to the next shows. We are among the first in line, and there are chairs for us to sit down on.

Eventually, we're filed in and the theatre is pretty much empty of most Wheel staff. No rehearsal games this time since all of the week's players and presumably the standbys played them at the start of the taping day. We get to sit in the front row this time! Well, technically. There was a small section of two or three rows at the very foot of the stage which I believe were reserved for press. One section to the right of us is where the other contestants sit, and behind them, with a gap of a few rows in between, are their guests. Alex would call the appropriate party down before each BR segment. I still had my sign, but I didn't really show it off as much this time, and I thought it looked better further up with all the people surrounding it. Jim soon comes out with the same introductory spiels as before. Again, he has us to do the chant, then is so impressed with how one kid did it that he has him yell it by himself. There were a lot more kids at this taping, likely because school had let out by this time. There were at least a couple more signs, too. One group held up pieces of paper that spelled out "We Vanna". I'm pretty sure that was posted online by Wheel as well.

I thought Jim's warmups and audience interactions were more entertaining this session. One young man told him that he had a bet with his girlfriend to see what color dress Vanna would be wearing on the first show, red or blue. A young kid asked if there could be a "Junior Wheel of Fortune" for kids. Jim said they'd put it in the suggestion box, and the audience applauded at that idea (If I were near him, I would have brought up Wheel 2000, but they were way in the back). Another kid asks him how long he's been with the show, and Jim mentions how he replaced Charlie O'Donnell, and asked for a round of applause for him. He points out the used letter board and mentions what they call the "finger board", which tells Pat how many letters there are, which used to be signified by a staffer holding up fingers (Anyone know what is displayed on the screen when the letter is a dud? A zero? An X?). He mentions Sheldon by name and says they usually have him on the set somewhere, but not here in NY, which leads into a discussion about "the room full of fabulous prizes", including a brief name-drop of Chuck.

The first show of this session starts, and like before, we're not off to a very good start, and even worse because of a rare MDW dud. Then things take a dive with three penalty hits in a row, which I knew would be cut out (only one of them wasn't. See my earlier post). Things only get worse when Isaac loses the France trip. I thought this puzzle was a bit stingy. In fact, it was used as a Toss-Up in Season 27. Pat and Vanna don't interact with the audience during this show besides the "chest microphone" bit, which I even remember them doing when I first saw a Wheel taping back in 1998. R2 starts with the week's THIRD null cycle! I can't believe I actually got to see three live, let alone one, and that was it. None of the other shows I saw had any. I really didn't notice Nicole's oddball U obsession. Sometimes in the video games when I hit FP early on, I call U, but I never buy it as my first vowel. R3 was a nice quick solve, though, and Isaac knows it's a trip he's getting. R4 also had an impressive solve. I believe I figured it out at that same time. The BR I was stuck on, and Pat's "That was my nickname in high school" joke is really getting old. -_- My mother hated that puzzle (mainly for being "Things"), but I thought it was OK, though pretty difficult, but not the worst, as you will see...