May 24, 2013 recap

Toss-Ups: Kind of an odd puzzle for #2... and a bit odd that our players' clothing colors are (more or less) the reverse of the podium colors.

R1: Jim is unlucky and can't get the prize wedge on his first spin, so Jessica will take charge for a bit. That bit lasts the rest of the round, and she succeeds in claiming the featured trip and $5,000 for some C's on the top dollar - over $18,000 after the first segment!

R2: Jessica opens the round with control, but she voluntarily gives it up by flipping the bad Mystery wedge (though it was a good gamble, only the turn was risked). After Angelica duds, Jim goes on a mini-run... and I have to call it a MINI run, because he left four L's, three C's, and who knows what else for a house-minimum solve. That's not a good move when you're in a five-digit hole - he's gonna need to get lucky with that Wild Card to get back in this thing.

R3: Angelica hits a dud again, and this time Jim tries to make something of it - but that something is Bankrupt and we wave bye-bye to the Wild Card. Jessica will jump on the trip to Hawaii and make that lead of hers even bigger... nothing short of a $6,000 speed-up will stop her now, with a $22,000+ lead.

R4: Jim shrinks Jessica's lead below the $20,000 mark but the $1,300 final spin torpedoes any chances of a non-Jessica win. Our gentleman on the panel does manage to cross into five-figure territory, albeit at the expense of Angelica, who gets the Pity Thousand.

Bonus: I got this with Jessica's picks... tough luck that she couldn't - the U was the way to go tonight. Sigh.

Overall: Well, it could've been worse. Jessica did pretty well and Jim did at least okay except for that one bad decision. I'll spot it a 7/10 to end the NYC trip.

Unlike last week, we really should've had at least one BR win this week (especially tonight). IMO, the bonus puzzles for last week & this week were mostly easier than the first two weeks of this road trip, but I think the NYC players got a dose of the "wrong place, wrong time" syndrome & are probably wishing they could've played before next week's episodes at Sony Pictures Studios got filmed (remember, the 20 episodes in NYC were the last ones taped for S30).

Furthermore, as it has been all season long, it's just NOT lucky to have the all-cash bonus wheel out for the BR- three of the four BRS's this season (including the most recent two) have come w/ those circumstances. 

Man, like in S20, they're making history all over the place. For those of you who played in NYC, please don't be so harsh on whoever royally cleans up next week.

Score: 6

TU1: Ooh, first one this week that's not Food & Drink, but still themed.

R1: I've never had those before, or even heard of them. Apparently they're more common in New York. Anyways, what a round this has been for Jessica! She did a great job here!

R2: I thought it was kinda funny how Angelica was struggling to pick up the 1/2 Car tag. Too bad her turn didn't last too long, though. Jim played this round rather modestly; he definitely could've gone for the L's and/or C's.

R3: Shame that Jim had to hit the Bankrupt after doing all that work...but congrats to Jessica on winning another trip!

Overall, not a bad episode, but would've been better to end Wheel in NYC with a BR win. The highlight of this episode was definitely R1. I'll give it a 7/10.

MARIOGS' WHEEL DEAL: PART X (FINALE)

Really not much to add regarding Jim. Pat again let a young kid go down and meet Vanna. I saw him come back up the aisle with a WOF lunchbox. What was really interesting to see what a thrown-out round. Here's how it went down...

R4 starts as a Speed-Up and it looks like the Wheel's going to stop on the Bankrupt, so the audience starts groaning and I start loudly booing and abruptly stop when it clicks over to the orange $300. Drat! I wanted to see a bad Final Spin! Anyway, it's a Phrase originally (notice how the camera cuts away from Pat right before he announces the category. Normally the camera stays on him as he says the category until right as the blanks show up), and Jim calls T, which there are four of. Right after the buzzer starts, Jim shouts "THAT'S IT IN A NUTSHELL!". The crowd gasps as there is a pause. Pat says "We're gonna stop" and tells the players to turn around and the Speed-Up music cuts off. Pat tells us the rule is you have to start your answer before the buzzer starts and Jim's answer was too close to declare it on time or not by ear, so the control room will play back the tape slowly and check it. An obnoxious man in the row behind me continually shouts "Give it to him, Pat!" which leads into the majority of the audience doing a sports-like chant of claps and shouting "Jim! Jim! Jim!". The man added "For the kids, Pat! Five of 'em! Take a vote, give it to him!" Pat responds by saying that you have to be fair to the other two players, followed by delivering the news that Jim was beaten by the buzzer, but because they had to stop, thereby indirectly revealing the answer, the puzzle will be thrown out. The audience applauded this action. As Vanna gets ready to shoot a reveal of the new puzzle, Pat is by the board talking with Harry and starts to walk back to his podium as Vanna reveals the puzzle. She shouts "Not yet, Pat!" and Pat quickly backs out of the shot and the reveal is shot again. Everything is picked up from the Final Spin wipe, $1,300 still being the value in play. Everyone was ecstatic that Joe got a successful second chance. That's why the crowd's applause and cheering were way louder than usual in the broadcast.



Yeah, they're very popular here. You can expect to see them at just about any public gathering that has desserts.

In the audience, I had the right answer on TU3, but I wanted it to be BORN THIS WAY as well. That song's way better, IMO. If I were on the show, I probably would have guessed that anyway.

I had that BR with RSTLNE and knew she was going to waste H and O. Winnings in this locale have been pretty pathetic, but we'll see why soon...

Before filming of the closing began, GUINESS WORLD RECORDS was displayed on two rows, then was changed to three at the last moment, which definitely looked better. It was certainly an interesting way to close NYC. I knew no audience shots from the credits would make it in this episode because everyone was getting up to leave as soon as the music started. After all, it was a Tuesday night and it was about 9:30.

A few days later, I heard that right after those tapings, they had a celebratory 30th anniversary party complete with a WOF logo cake (a pic of it was posted online by Wheel), a WOF-style prize wheel, and PS3's with the WOF video game ready to play. Pat, Vanna, and I assume many others gave toasts and speeches. I so would have loved to go to that party...but I probably wouldn't have been welcome there.

After the show, I get to spin the Wheel! The Wheel had not been touched since Pat's Final Spin, so I start on the green $500 and I land on the yellow $900, though if I had been spinning from the red podium instead of yellow, it would have been $5000. I made the mistake of grabbing the peg at the bottom, and the blue podium's flipper snaps against my pinky finger, and it HURT. Carol, the show's photographer, was very kind to take photos of me. I E-mailed wofhelp@sonypictures.com a while later and a pic was sent to me the next day. I will be getting it printed and framed soon. The staff was so nice, and I hope to see them again this summer either in Culver City or Las Vegas (I'll make another sign for the occasion )

I have to say, given I heard the thrown-out speed-up via Mario, that it was so clear he was late that the round really shouldn't have been stopped.

When I was at Chicago in March 2008, Pat, Vanna, and Charlie didn't do any questions with the audience at all. In fact, I was almost certain that Charlie was prerecorded until someone else told me otherwise. I wonder why.

I noticed that he was a lot less enthusiastic in most of the 1990s, so I wonder if he had health problems of some sort. I know he looked rather hefty when he was on-camera for #3000.

That was the contestant who said that, not Pat.