|
|
Post by pannoni1 on Jul 23, 2020 7:58:23 GMT -5
I'd still say the two most important factors are:
1) The duration and intensity of the pandemic. The longer production is delayed, the more likely "The Vault" would be needed.
2) Jeopardy!'s overall ratings performance as a result of its classic episodes. The more of a boost, the greater incentive there is to show classic Wheel.
But using a percentage guide regarding Wheel and the odds of not just classic reruns, but the resumption of production:
*Odds that Wheel will even return at all with new episodes: 98%. Barring an unlikely cancellation, you have to remember that Pat/Vanna still have contracts through the end of Season 38
*Odds that Wheel will return with Pat and Vanna still at the helm: 95%. As you know with Pat's recent treatment, you have to remember they're starting to get up there in age, and although that could mean a temporary departure like we saw this past season, its still looking good with the Pat/Vanna we know and love.
*Odds that Wheel will return with new episodes by spring 2021: 90% This is a function of course of the pandemic, along with preparatory measures that can be taken to resume production. Since Wheel taped two days without an audience right as the pandemic was unfolding, I just can't see why they couldn't start by then, especially given that international versions have done so. But this is hopefully around a time a vaccine will begin to be distributed, and thus the reasoning where contestants/staff are among the priority for early vaccination, making production safe again.
*Odds that Wheel will return with new episodes by November: 70%. It's likely that there will be some delay in terms of starting Season 38, given the new EP and the numerous restrictions and rollbacks for L.A. County. But I'd say its still important to have new content by the first Sweeps period, and see above.
*Odds that Wheel will start Season 38 on time or just a week or two late: 30%. Since there's no word on production yet, it's unlikely that S38 will get greenlit like usual or even just shortly after with a start in mid-to late September. See above.
As far as for classic reruns (i.e. pre-Season 33):
*Odds that Wheel will rerun episodes prior to Season 33: 40%. Given that Wheel has reran episodes outside of GSN more than a season or two old for the first time ever does hold out hope that Wheel will go deeper into the vault, potentially given the initial performance of classic J! reruns as well as potential production delays for Season 38. They would most likely be from Season 24, the first HD season, and up.
*Odds that Wheel will rerun episodes prior to Season 33: 20%. You never know, but if you have to reair classic Wheel, why not go back and air truly classic content, with eggcrate displays, the mechanical or early electronic (gold border) Puzzle Board, Friday Finals, returning champs, the "W-H-E-E-L" bonus round? It's highly unlikely, but you never know. I'd love to see brief intros by Pat/Vanna as well. But unlike Alex, Vanna and especially Pat feel ashamed about how they've aged compared to these earlier episodes, so its likely 2006 will be as far as they go back if they do go somewhere.
*Odds that Wheel will rerun episodes from the Shopping Era: 5%. As charming as the 1980s was to Wheel as well as Vannamania, the shopping element of the show is so bygone now that only hardcore aficionados as well as older demos will come to endure. Still, even if they did run an episode this far back, it would likely be one of the following three: Pat's first show, Vanna's first show, or the first ever nighttime episode. Yes, even daytime network episodes since those two still exist and since classic Jeopardy! is editing out the prize/consolation plugs, it would be easy to edit out the references.
|
|
|
|
Post by pakman on Jul 23, 2020 10:47:40 GMT -5
Is there any actual quote from someone saying that Pat and/or Vanna are ashamed of how they've aged? I've heard that multiple times but is there an actual quote from either one of them or from a representative? I know Pat made a comment on the April Fools' 1997 episode where he said he and Vanna looked like a bad prom couple during Vanna's 1982 flashback, but that was clearly meant to be a joke.
Don't get me wrong; I would LOVE to see some old episodes again (it's no secret that the 1995-1997 era is my favorite of the show's run, mostly due to nostalgia) but I just don't see them bringing back episodes from that era. I remember about 12 years ago when GSN reran some 1995-era episodes (Season 12 I think it was?) and the editing out of the Red, White and Blue contest information was really choppy, abruptly cutting to commercial and making it very obvious that something had been cut. Now, granted, GSN is unfortunately known for its choppy editing and Sony would hopefully have better editors (the editing on the Jeopardy! episodes is actually pretty seamless) but would they want that extra work?
|
|
|
|
Post by billygr on Jul 23, 2020 13:33:07 GMT -5
*Odds that Wheel will start Season 38 on time or just a week or two late: 30%. Since there's no word on production yet, it's unlikely that S38 will get greenlit like usual or even just shortly after with a start in mid-to late September. See above. As far as for classic reruns (i.e. pre-Season 33): *Odds that Wheel will rerun episodes prior to Season 33: 40%. Given that Wheel has reran episodes outside of GSN more than a season or two old for the first time ever does hold out hope that Wheel will go deeper into the vault, potentially given the initial performance of classic J! reruns as well as potential production delays for Season 38. They would most likely be from Season 24, the first HD season, and up. * Odds that Wheel will rerun episodes prior to Season 33: 20%. You never know, but if you have to reair classic Wheel, why not go back and air truly classic content, with eggcrate displays, the mechanical or early electronic (gold border) Puzzle Board, Friday Finals, returning champs, the "W-H-E-E-L" bonus round? It's highly unlikely, but you never know. I'd love to see brief intros by Pat/Vanna as well. But unlike Alex, Vanna and especially Pat feel ashamed about how they've aged compared to these earlier episodes, so its likely 2006 will be as far as they go back if they do go somewhere. For the first, they may have a minimal advantage, in that Price has (only occasionally, but they have) had situations where an episode was taped and then aired within a short time (like less than a week). Having their former person working with Wheel now, that may allow them to start airing more quickly once it is allowed to tape.
Quick question - what is the difference between those two titles that looks the same to give 40% vs. 20%? Should the second have had an earlier season number, possibly?
|
|
MarioGS
Made It and Played It VIP 
PhD in Wheeloffortunology
Posts: 14,932 
Airdate: 03/25/2016
Winnings: $76,086
SPIN ID: RS1363545
|
Post by MarioGS on Jul 23, 2020 15:14:08 GMT -5
Nobody ever talks about Wheel anymore except for when there's a funny missolve. Or if someone solves the puzzle with just a single and/or no letters showing, then asking, "Did they cheat?!" Um...no. Anybody who has watched Wheel for years knows that's actually quite common. Who's to blame for this? Is it Sony? Is it Harry? Is it a combination of factors? It's all of the above, but it's all rooted in Sony and/or Harry just letting the show run on autopilot and the changes they do make do not improve the show whatsoever, nor do things like house giveaway sweepstakes. Who would care about this unless they watched Wheel already? Since Harry took over, everything that actually made people talk about Wheel has been either taken away or does not happen nearly enough as it should: returning champions, tournaments, puzzles that resonate with social media, huge wins (the million hasn't been won in almost six years and $100K has been won only twice in the past three years). These are all things that get people talking about Jeopardy! (besides Alex's health) several times per season. Harry/Wheel has made so many illogical decisions like increasing the Bonus Round minimum and an overabundance of Toss-Ups, because they have a totally different (wrong) outlook on what will bring more eyeballs to Wheel. Harry once said in a 2017 interview that the Bonus Round category pick would "get people talking on social media", which I think is the dumbest thing Harry has ever said, honestly. Wheel's not "cool" to like anymore except if you're over 65 or if you just want to laugh at and shame a nervous contestant who messes up. Jeopardy! and Price is Right are the "cool" shows now, and if you even dare to say on social media that you like Wheel better than Jeopardy!, you'd get eaten alive. Or if someone solves the puzzle with just a single and/or no letters showing, then asking, "Did they cheat?!" Um...no. Or when they use a bad puzzle. Like the "Brushing Up On My Italian Sausage" puzzle What was really sad about that is that it was almost certainly unintentional on the writers' part because they were too naive. They always do B&A's where the Before is "I/DO YOU SPEAK FLUENT..." or "BRUSHING UP ON MY..." followed by a nationality word and the After is a food (e.g. I SPEAK FLUENT SWEDISH MEATBALLS). The current writers are so squeaky clean and overly positive with the puzzles that they avoid anything that may offend even one snowflake. If they knew "haha that can be a sex metaphor", there's no way they would have let that puzzle get up on the board. It's not the first time they had a puzzle like that, either. I remember BEND OVER THE RAINBOW a few years ago. People naturally ate that puzzle up, as well as CRY LIKE A BABY BOOMER on an episode that reran last week because of the "ok boomer" meme that rose well after that episode originally aired. Check #jeopardy on Instagram any given day and you'll see a ton of pictures of TV's with clues involving relevant material like movies, TV shows, music, and video games. "They did a clue about #fortnite on #jeopardy! So cool!" That brings exposure to the show. People rarely post pictures of Wheel puzzles unless it's maybe their local city or sports team in a puzzle, or a clip of somebody missolving. Wheel needs to have less boundaries in the puzzle writing, like in the 80s and 90s. Not necessarily full of double entendres that would make Steve Harvey's eyes widen, but just stuff that doesn't have to look like it came out of the mouth of a robotic, bubbly tour guide in 1990. |
|
|
|
Post by pakman on Jul 23, 2020 15:50:24 GMT -5
^ I hate to say this, but if it happened today, Wheel would probably not have aired the A GROUP OF PILL-PUSHERS puzzle, or the MINERS & HOES missolve. It's almost like Wheel's afraid to have fun anymore. I know the episodes I've been watching are a few years old, but even then, the show is just so structured. You know I've been recapping several 20-year-old episodes in my collection, and one thing I'd forgotten is all the banter that used to happen between Pat and Charlie. You don't see that with Pat and Jim (or if it does, I haven't seen it happen). The show used to have this relaxed environment. Even last night, the one contestant said "I'll take a P" and Pat didn't even say anything about the verbal faux paus. Jeopardy! on the other hand has a lot go on that's not very serious. I was watching an episode a few weeks ago where nobody buzzed in at any of the answers in a football category, and Alex was joking with the contestants, saying something like, "Clearly none of you are football fans."
|
|
MarioGS
Made It and Played It VIP
PhD in Wheeloffortunology
Posts: 14,932
Airdate: 03/25/2016
Winnings: $76,086
SPIN ID: RS1363545
|
Post by MarioGS on Jul 23, 2020 16:04:33 GMT -5
one thing I'd forgotten is all the banter that used to happen between Pat and Charlie. You don't see that with Pat and Jim (or if it does, I haven't seen it happen). The show used to have this relaxed environment. Even last night, the one contestant said "I'll take a P" and Pat didn't even say anything about the verbal faux paus. Jeopardy! on the other hand has a lot go on that's not very serious. I was watching an episode a few weeks ago where nobody buzzed in at any of the answers in a football category, and Alex was joking with the contestants, saying something like, "Clearly none of you are football fans." There have been a few fun bits with Jim. There was one a few years ago where Jim made a corny pun and Pat asked him to come up on stage so he could reprimand him for it to his face. But considering the show is very pressed for time now, a lot of cracks probably get edited out, or Pat just doesn't add much side comments anymore because he knows there's not the time. Despite both Wheel and Jeopardy! being rated TV-G, the latter has noticeably much more "adult" material. Not just with the clues, but with the contestants. There was one instance in the past couple of years of someone on Jeopardy! dropping an F bomb and getting bleeped out, and the show even showcased that moment on its social media, IIRC. However, in the rare case that a Wheel contestant "swears", they just get muted to make it look like they didn't say anything at all. Wheel bleeps/mutes any contestant that says "crap" (as tonyscv did on his second episode after winning the Bonus Round), but I'm pretty sure that word, among other not-so-G-rated words, have been used on J! several times. There was also that one J! contestant a few years ago who allegedly snuck in a middle finger during his interview, and the media made a fuss over it; they edited out the shot when they reran the episode. That all being said, the last PG+ missolve I recall making it on air on Wheel was PROFESSIONAL GYNECOLOGIST (the second word was GENEALOGIST, and the puzzle was a $1,000 Toss-Up on a Family Week, so of course it had to be themed). Pat clearly saw that missolve coming, too. And who could forget BRIDAL & GOLD SHOWER. Per witnesses at the taping, Pat did make a comment about it afterwards, but it was edited out. |
|
|
|
Post by pannoni1 on Jul 23, 2020 17:19:58 GMT -5
*Odds that Wheel will start Season 38 on time or just a week or two late: 30%. Since there's no word on production yet, it's unlikely that S38 will get greenlit like usual or even just shortly after with a start in mid-to late September. See above. As far as for classic reruns (i.e. pre-Season 33): *Odds that Wheel will rerun episodes prior to Season 33: 40%. Given that Wheel has reran episodes outside of GSN more than a season or two old for the first time ever does hold out hope that Wheel will go deeper into the vault, potentially given the initial performance of classic J! reruns as well as potential production delays for Season 38. They would most likely be from Season 24, the first HD season, and up. * Odds that Wheel will rerun episodes prior to Season 33: 20%. You never know, but if you have to reair classic Wheel, why not go back and air truly classic content, with eggcrate displays, the mechanical or early electronic (gold border) Puzzle Board, Friday Finals, returning champs, the "W-H-E-E-L" bonus round? It's highly unlikely, but you never know. I'd love to see brief intros by Pat/Vanna as well. But unlike Alex, Vanna and especially Pat feel ashamed about how they've aged compared to these earlier episodes, so its likely 2006 will be as far as they go back if they do go somewhere. For the first, they may have a minimal advantage, in that Price has (only occasionally, but they have) had situations where an episode was taped and then aired within a short time (like less than a week). Having their former person working with Wheel now, that may allow them to start airing more quickly once it is allowed to tape.
Quick question - what is the difference between those two titles that looks the same to give 40% vs. 20%? Should the second have had an earlier season number, possibly?
Oops, I meant to say Season 24 for that 20% line. |
|
|
|
Post by wipeoutman33 on Jul 23, 2020 19:54:41 GMT -5
*Odds that Wheel will rerun episodes prior to Season 33: 40%. Given that Wheel has reran episodes outside of GSN more than a season or two old for the first time ever does hold out hope that Wheel will go deeper into the vault, potentially given the initial performance of classic J! reruns as well as potential production delays for Season 38. They would most likely be from Season 24, the first HD season, and up. * Odds that Wheel will rerun episodes prior to Season 33: 20%. You never know, but if you have to reair classic Wheel, why not go back and air truly classic content, with eggcrate displays, the mechanical or early electronic (gold border) Puzzle Board, Friday Finals, returning champs, the "W-H-E-E-L" bonus round? It's highly unlikely, but you never know. I'd love to see brief intros by Pat/Vanna as well. But unlike Alex, Vanna and especially Pat feel ashamed about how they've aged compared to these earlier episodes, so its likely 2006 will be as far as they go back if they do go somewhere. Why is Wheel afraid of the pre-HD episodes? Television has been 4:3 for most of its' existence. They air the classic puzzles every week, so it certainly wouldn't kill them to dig into the archives. |
|
MarioGS
Made It and Played It VIP
PhD in Wheeloffortunology
Posts: 14,932
Airdate: 03/25/2016
Winnings: $76,086
SPIN ID: RS1363545
|
Post by MarioGS on Jul 24, 2020 18:40:03 GMT -5
I'd still say the two most important factors are: 1) The duration and intensity of the pandemic. The longer production is delayed, the more likely "The Vault" would be needed. Not counting Secret Santa, UK Getaway, or Carnival Week of Fun!, there are still 24 weeks of episodes from Season 37 alone Wheel can rerun that they haven't already. Add in Season 36 and you have 30 more possible weeks when you deduct the S36 weeks that already reran on weekdays since March, plus Secret Santa, Home for the Holidays, and Thanksgiving weeks. They'll never need to dig into the vaults; the only reason they are going as far back as Season 33 is because they have chosen to rerun most of the Great American Cities weeks, which started in that season. Which brings the whole issue of Sony having completely different outlooks on what brings increased ratings to Wheel versus Jeopardy!. Wheel's pretending they're taping in Chicago? Who cares unless you actually live in Chicago? Since Wheel doesn't do tournaments, there's nothing "big" for them to rerun from the modern era. Sony never does anything like this to Wheel when J! gets a ratings boost or media spotlight. By this logic, Wheel would have brought back champions in 2004, would have had its own Battle of the Decades and All-Star Games or something similar to them, and there would have been an ABC Wheel primetime series by now. We saw how horribly Sony and the media as a whole neglected Wheel when everyone was talking about Holzhauer. Sony doesn't want Wheel to have equal or greater success than J! anymore; those days are over for them. My opinion of those odds, in order: 5%, 1%, 0.5%. I find it interesting that it was around the time Merv Griffin passed away that Wheel and Jeopardy!'s levels of popularity began reversing. Ken Jennings was just a temporary thing. We know for a fact that Merv was biased towards Wheel, which Alex Trebek has stated multiple times in interviews as well as his new memoir. Seems that now that he's gone, everyone's giving J! the love that Merv never really gave it. Regardless, Merv would be shaking his head at how Wheel is treated nowadays. |
|
|
|
Post by jjc927 on Jul 24, 2020 22:04:01 GMT -5
Well it's pretty natural that Merv would've favored Wheel over Jeopardy considering how huge Wheel was from the mid-late 1980s into the 90s, it was a gold mine for him. Wheel for several years was appointment every night viewing for a large portion of the country while Jeopardy was more for the high-brow crowd. Jeopardy has since become a show that everyone watches as they've made things less high-brow and more approachable to average viewers, and starting with Ken Jennings' run it's become the appointment viewing show that Wheel once was. I don't see classic Wheel airing mainly because it's too different from modern Wheel and because there's likely a lot of editing that would be required. It would be a huge shock if they did. Is there any actual quote from someone saying that Pat and/or Vanna are ashamed of how they've aged? I've heard that multiple times but is there an actual quote from either one of them or from a representative? I know Pat made a comment on the April Fools' 1997 episode where he said he and Vanna looked like a bad prom couple during Vanna's 1982 flashback, but that was clearly meant to be a joke.
I haven't seen any official quote from either of them, just speculation and rumor online. |
|
|
|
Post by gameshowfandanny on Jul 26, 2020 11:54:14 GMT -5
In response to pannoni1 's post saying that he thinks there is a 30% chance that Season 38 will start on time, this Facebook post from Randy West on July 8 said that Wheel and Jeopardy! would resume production in two weeks and it has been two weeks since that post, so this likely means that they've resumed production ( MarioGS linked this post on Reddit). |
|
|
|
Post by jjc927 on Jul 26, 2020 15:22:30 GMT -5
Did the shows or Sony make any official announcement about resuming taping?
|
|
|
|
Post by gameshowfandanny on Jul 26, 2020 16:00:46 GMT -5
^ They did not.
|
|
MarioGS
Made It and Played It VIP
PhD in Wheeloffortunology
Posts: 14,932
Airdate: 03/25/2016
Winnings: $76,086
SPIN ID: RS1363545
|
Post by MarioGS on Jul 28, 2020 11:44:04 GMT -5
Don't get me wrong; I would LOVE to see some old episodes again (it's no secret that the 1995-1997 era is my favorite of the show's run, mostly due to nostalgia) but I just don't see them bringing back episodes from that era. I remember about 12 years ago when GSN reran some 1995-era episodes (Season 12 I think it was?) and the editing out of the Red, White and Blue contest information was really choppy, abruptly cutting to commercial and making it very obvious that something had been cut. Now, granted, GSN is unfortunately known for its choppy editing and Sony would hopefully have better editors (the editing on the Jeopardy! episodes is actually pretty seamless) but would they want that extra work?
The editing in GSN airings versus syndicated airings is vastly different. GSN just makes cuts and leaves it at that. Any edits to syndicated reruns of Wheel are usually seamless. For modern episodes, they can even go back and substitute other camera angles to mask edits. When they edit out SPIN ID's following $10K Mystery wins on reruns, plus that one first-run episode where they excluded it, you can hardly tell anything was cut. Also, remember that Seasons 33 and 34 had $5K Every Day SPIN ID's drawn after the Bonus Round. In the current reruns we're seeing (before they added the $1K A Day thing), they would simply fade to black and then fade back in on Pat and Vanna for the closing. On GSN airings of Seasons 30-31, which also had $5K Every Day, they would just abruptly cut from the Bonus Round to the closing, and since the closed captioning was carried over from the original airings, the captions would often show, " Vanna: IT PAYS TO BE A WHEEL WATCHERS CLUB MEMBER." during said cut. I believe for the Seasons 33-34 episodes that have been rerunning, the captions are the same as the original airings but revised to add the newer plugs and $1K A Day, but I'm not entirely sure. |
|
|
|
Post by pakman on Jul 28, 2020 14:57:32 GMT -5
That's good to hear at least! I just remember how inconsistent GSN's editing was. I think once they even left in the sweepstakes information.
|
|
MarioGS
Made It and Played It VIP
PhD in Wheeloffortunology
Posts: 14,932
Airdate: 03/25/2016
Winnings: $76,086
SPIN ID: RS1363545
|
Post by MarioGS on Jul 28, 2020 15:09:20 GMT -5
^ When they first started airing Season 31, they left only the first part of the classic bonus puzzle feature in. Vanna would say, "We'll tell you the answer right after this.", then they'd abruptly cut to commercial and never reveal the answer. A few weeks in, they realized this and then began cutting the entire feature out of the rest of the episodes in their package (including when they added part of Season 30, which had this feature in every episode), but they never went back to the early S31 episodes to edit out the parts they left in.
What was also inconsistent was that they would cut the Mystery Round sponsor plug on S31 episodes, but leave in the Jackpot Round sponsor plug on S30 episodes (Mystery was not sponsored in S30).
|
|
