Season 37 Entire Season Recap and Review/acwof's Final Spin
Sept 11, 2020 17:29:15 GMT -5
spinthewheel123, woffan9821, and 2 more like this
Post by acwof on Sept 11, 2020 17:29:15 GMT -5
Hi, everyone. This is acwof.
Now that Season 37 has (finally) come to a close, I thought it would be a great idea to reflect on the season, and what went down throughout the season, from statistics, to the good, the bad, and the ugly. So, without further ado, let’s get started!
Following a somewhat quiet Season 36, Season 37 was, to be blunt, quite a bizarre season.
This season was Harry Friedman’s last season as Executive Producer for Wheel of Fortune. Season 36 of Jeopardy! was also his last season as EP for that show, as well. Despite this being his last season, it was definitely a challenging season, for him.
As always, we began this season with Teachers’ Week. There were a few notable changes to this season.
The 1/2 Car was retired, this season, having lasted from Season 29-Season 36, not including the time it was used on Road Trip Week back in Season 28.
Prize Wedges and Prize Puzzle trips were now valued at a minimum of $7,000.
The biggest change for this season was the Triple Toss-Up. Replacing the $3,000 Toss-Up, the Triple Toss-Up is where three Toss-Ups worth $2,000 each would be played back-to-back-to-back. All three puzzles had the same category, and most of the time, there would be a certain theme in the Triple Toss-Up. (For example, the category is THING, and the puzzles are ENCYCLOPEDIA, DICTIONARY, and WORLD ALMANAC. All three have to do with books.)
Other gameplay elements used previously, such as the $10,000 Mystery Wedge Giveaway and the Bonus Round Category selection, remained in place for this season.
For the first time ever, Vanna White took over as host. Back in November, Pat Sajak underwent a surgery, and while he was recovering, Vanna hosted in his place for three weeks worth of shows. To make her less nervous, the episodes were filmed without an audience. Vanna hosted the two Secret Santa Weeks sponsored by Disney, where Mickey and Minnie Mouse took over the puzzleboard, and Vanna also hosted Weekend Getaways, where Pat’s daughter, Maggie, took over the puzzleboard. Vanna did take over as host for a a 90’s episode in the Bonus Round since Pat (who took her place at the puzzleboard for this particular scenario) was losing his voice, but this was the first time she took over the role as host for an entire episode. (In this case, fifteen episodes.)
When Pat eventually returned to the studio, we thought that things were back to normal. Sadly, not long after Pat returned to the studio, production for this season had to be cut short due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. While they tried to finish off the rest of the season, albeit filming without an audience, the stay-at-home order forced the crew to end production early. To make up for the lack of the episodes that never taped and aired, reruns from this season and seasons past, going back as far as Season 33, aired throughout the spring and summer with new episodes sandwiched in-between. As a result, Season 37 presumably becomes the first season to not have a complete 195 episode season.
And now, some statistics for this season. These statistics are courtesy of the following: andynwof.wordpress.com/author/andynwof/
This season, we gave away a total of $8,753,674. This is probably the lowest overall winning total for a season (at least for the past ten/fifteen years), but keep in mind that the season was cut short, and some weeks never got to tape, and therefore never got to air. The overall total would’ve been much higher had this been a regular, 195 episode season.
There were 61 Bonus Round wins for this season, and 106 Bonus Round losses.
America’s Game IV gave away the most amount of money this season with a whopping $375,557 in cash and prizes, while Weekend Getaways gave away the least amount with $173,800 in cash and prizes.
We had 12 Million Dollar Bonus Rounds this season, double the amount from Season 36. One contestant was one space away from winning the million, despite solving their Bonus Round puzzle.
The Yellow Podium came out on top this season with 63 wins in the Main Game, followed by the Blue Podium in second with 55 Main Game wins, and the Red Podium in third with 49 Main Game wins.
And now, it’s time for the good, the bad, and the ugly of Season 37. Let’s start with the good.
We had a lot viral moments this season, from amazing solves like the A PLACE LIKE NO OTHER and BUYING A JUICER, to hilarious moments like Blair’s interview during Pacific Northwest Week.
We also had quite a cast, this season, from former Jeopardy! contestants, to a former Big Brother houseguest appearing as contestants for this season.
We got to see Vanna host the show, and she did a spectacular job as host. We must also give a shout-out to Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Maggie Sajak for doing a great job at the puzzleboard.
Some weeks that did not do so well last season (Gone Fishin’, Rail Tour, etc.) improved, this season.
We had one contestant (wheelmasterdave ) win over $100K in cash and prizes without landing on the $100K/$1Mil envelope. This is the first time that an event like this has happened (winning over $100K without landing on the $100K/$1Mil envelope) since Season 33.
Just like last season, we saw the extremely rare instance of a former contestant return to play for a second time. Tony Harrison, previously a contestant on Season 35, returned after his puzzle in the Bonus Round from his first appearance was mis-categorized. Like his first appearance, he made it to the Bonus Round, and this time, he solved his Bonus Round puzzle correctly. Thankfully, the puzzle was categorized appropriately.
We had a lot of representation from the BuyAVowel forum, this season, with a lot of our members becoming contestants for Season 37. This was also the season for the staff of BuyAVowel, as we had not one, not two, but THREE of our staff members become contestants this season, as well.
The following members were contestants for Season 37 of Wheel of Fortune. Please note that this list is in no particular order.
Spinner123
Jack521
thaum15
wheelmasterdave
hopefulinlb
elle1723
aurora
hosh
alysab
RoonilWazlib
woosewoo
noahzierhut
jjman920
donahco
acwof
tailskid
tonyscv (2nd appearance)
CDixie
If my math is correct we had 18 members become contestants, this season!
And now, it’s time for the bad.
We had 3 $100K losses, this season (11/28/2019, 02/26/2020, 04/28/2020). Thankfully, we had no $1 Million losses, this time around, so at least the amount of grand prize losses was not as bad as the past few seasons.
We did not have a perfect Bonus Round week, this season. We did come close, though, with a 4-1 Bonus Round win week during Home Sweet Home week.
We had three puzzles go unsolved this season. All three unsolved puzzles were Toss-Ups, and two of the three puzzles were from the Triple Toss-Ups.
There were no episodes filmed on location, this season. With the ongoing pandemic, we likely won’t have any episodes filmed on location for a long time.
We were “skunked” for three weeks, this season. (Skunked means no Bonus Round wins throughout the week.)
We were skunked on the following weeks:
Bed & Breakfast
Shopping Spree
World Tour
At least it wasn’t as bad as the number of shutouts in Season 35 and Season 36.
And now, it’s time for the ugly.
For the first time since Season 21, the top prize of $100K/$1Million was not won. In this season’s defense, though, it was not a complete 195 episode season.
Several weeks were not filmed this season for a variety of reasons. “On Holiday” did not tape due to Pat still recovering from surgery (and probably for other undisclosed reasons), while the rest of the weeks that were supposed to tape during the coronavirus pandemic, again without an audience, including a make-up taping for “On Holiday”, were cancelled because of the stay-at-home order forcing the season to end their tapings early. As a result, only 167 episodes were taped this season instead of the usual 195 episodes for a season. This leaves Season 37 lacking 28 unique/new episodes.
The following weeks were supposed to tape, but did not:
On Holiday
Aulani Resort Hawaii Vacation: Mothers’ Week
Passport to Adventure
Margaritaville Resorts Family Week
Father’s Week
Three America’s Game episodes from some of the above weeks for America’s Game V
Like every season, there were some cringeworthy mis-solves. Some of these mis-solves went viral, like the crossword mis-solve that cost a contestant a Nashville Trip, and a Bonus Round mis-solve of CHASING TAIL (actual answer KICKING BACK).
And as always, we had lots of difficult Bonus Round puzzles. Ironically, words used in Season 36 that led to $100K losses (GLITZY, AFFAIR, etc.) were used again, this season, and some of these same words also led to $100K losses for this season, too.
All in all, Season 37 was definitely a bizarre season, from lots of moments that went viral, to Vanna hosting, and the season being cut short due to COVID-19. As I stated above, this season followed a somewhat quiet Season 36, as there were hardly any viral/memorable moments from the previous season, sans the 7,000th episode. There were also no noteworthy changes to the gameplay or wheel for Season 36.
Like I said above, this was definitely a challenging season for Harry Friedman, and on his last season, too. While it’s definitely not the way we wanted the season to end for him and his time as EP on the show, his final season (Season 37) certainly provided a lot of memorable moments that gave everyone something to talk about.
So, it might not have been the best season ever like I predicted, but it’s definitely one of the better seasons, performance wise. (We seemed to be improving in the Bonus Round front, not as many shutout weeks, etc.) It’s unknown how the rest of the season would’ve played out had the rest of the season actually taped, but I want to say that we would have at least had a better Bonus Round win count than Season 35 and Season 36. I’ll even give Season 37 the benefit of the doubt, and say that we probably would have had a $100K/$1Million win towards the end of the season, like what happened in Season 31.
So, what did YOU think of Season 37? What were your favorite/least favorite moments? Any final thoughts on the season, and Harry’s impact on Wheel? And finally, what are your initial thoughts as we head into Season 38, with Mike Richards as the new EP?
As always, please be mindful if you post your opinion on here. I don’t want to see any negative remarks towards this show, other BAV members, Harry Friedman, Mike Richards, etc. (And if you’re going to mention Jeopardy! on here, DO NOT call it names like “the other show”.)
With that being said, this is acwof signing off for Season 37, and unfortunately, for good. As therealcu2010 stated in the recap guide job posting, I have decided to step down from being the recap guide.
I am stepping down because work is getting in the way for me (I started a full-time job back in June), and I plan to go to graduate school really soon, as it has been almost four years since I graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree. (I have a long term goal to go for a PhD.)
It has been an honor being the recap guide on this forum for the past three seasons. Throughout my time as the recap guide, I recapped several noteworthy episodes, such as the Flamingo Dance Lessons episode, the 7,000th episode, and even the episodes that Vanna hosted. I even got to recap a few $100K Bonus Round wins, too.
But sadly, my time as the Recap Guide has come to an end. I’ll do my best to stick around and be active on this forum, but I’m afraid that I’ll eventually fade away from this forum, and move on to other things in life.
I personally want to thank you all for making my time on BuyaVowel enjoyable whilst being the Recap Guide. I’ve been with you all through the good times, the bad times, and those in-between times. I feel like joining the forum, being the recap guide, and even playing the Daily Puzzle Game helped me become a better Wheel of Fortune player, and it definitely showed when I finally got to be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune, and on this season, to boot. I’m going to miss being the Recap Guide, but like I said, I’m moving on to other things in life, and I felt like it was time for a change.
This may be the end of my time on BuyAVowel, but keep your eyes peeled. You never know where you’ll see me next! I’m hoping that my appearance on Wheel of Fortune can lead to future game show/reality show appearances, and hopefully a potential career in television media. (Fun Fact: I now have my own IMDB profile thanks to appearing on Wheel of Fortune.)
Please continue to take care, everyone, especially during a time like right now. I hope you all enjoy Season 38! With Mike Richards now as EP, who knows what Season 38 will bring.
Also, be nice to the new Recap Guide, please.
You all mean so much to me.
Forever and Always,
- acwof
Now that Season 37 has (finally) come to a close, I thought it would be a great idea to reflect on the season, and what went down throughout the season, from statistics, to the good, the bad, and the ugly. So, without further ado, let’s get started!
Following a somewhat quiet Season 36, Season 37 was, to be blunt, quite a bizarre season.
This season was Harry Friedman’s last season as Executive Producer for Wheel of Fortune. Season 36 of Jeopardy! was also his last season as EP for that show, as well. Despite this being his last season, it was definitely a challenging season, for him.
As always, we began this season with Teachers’ Week. There were a few notable changes to this season.
The 1/2 Car was retired, this season, having lasted from Season 29-Season 36, not including the time it was used on Road Trip Week back in Season 28.
Prize Wedges and Prize Puzzle trips were now valued at a minimum of $7,000.
The biggest change for this season was the Triple Toss-Up. Replacing the $3,000 Toss-Up, the Triple Toss-Up is where three Toss-Ups worth $2,000 each would be played back-to-back-to-back. All three puzzles had the same category, and most of the time, there would be a certain theme in the Triple Toss-Up. (For example, the category is THING, and the puzzles are ENCYCLOPEDIA, DICTIONARY, and WORLD ALMANAC. All three have to do with books.)
Other gameplay elements used previously, such as the $10,000 Mystery Wedge Giveaway and the Bonus Round Category selection, remained in place for this season.
For the first time ever, Vanna White took over as host. Back in November, Pat Sajak underwent a surgery, and while he was recovering, Vanna hosted in his place for three weeks worth of shows. To make her less nervous, the episodes were filmed without an audience. Vanna hosted the two Secret Santa Weeks sponsored by Disney, where Mickey and Minnie Mouse took over the puzzleboard, and Vanna also hosted Weekend Getaways, where Pat’s daughter, Maggie, took over the puzzleboard. Vanna did take over as host for a a 90’s episode in the Bonus Round since Pat (who took her place at the puzzleboard for this particular scenario) was losing his voice, but this was the first time she took over the role as host for an entire episode. (In this case, fifteen episodes.)
When Pat eventually returned to the studio, we thought that things were back to normal. Sadly, not long after Pat returned to the studio, production for this season had to be cut short due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. While they tried to finish off the rest of the season, albeit filming without an audience, the stay-at-home order forced the crew to end production early. To make up for the lack of the episodes that never taped and aired, reruns from this season and seasons past, going back as far as Season 33, aired throughout the spring and summer with new episodes sandwiched in-between. As a result, Season 37 presumably becomes the first season to not have a complete 195 episode season.
And now, some statistics for this season. These statistics are courtesy of the following: andynwof.wordpress.com/author/andynwof/
This season, we gave away a total of $8,753,674. This is probably the lowest overall winning total for a season (at least for the past ten/fifteen years), but keep in mind that the season was cut short, and some weeks never got to tape, and therefore never got to air. The overall total would’ve been much higher had this been a regular, 195 episode season.
There were 61 Bonus Round wins for this season, and 106 Bonus Round losses.
America’s Game IV gave away the most amount of money this season with a whopping $375,557 in cash and prizes, while Weekend Getaways gave away the least amount with $173,800 in cash and prizes.
We had 12 Million Dollar Bonus Rounds this season, double the amount from Season 36. One contestant was one space away from winning the million, despite solving their Bonus Round puzzle.
The Yellow Podium came out on top this season with 63 wins in the Main Game, followed by the Blue Podium in second with 55 Main Game wins, and the Red Podium in third with 49 Main Game wins.
And now, it’s time for the good, the bad, and the ugly of Season 37. Let’s start with the good.
We had a lot viral moments this season, from amazing solves like the A PLACE LIKE NO OTHER and BUYING A JUICER, to hilarious moments like Blair’s interview during Pacific Northwest Week.
We also had quite a cast, this season, from former Jeopardy! contestants, to a former Big Brother houseguest appearing as contestants for this season.
We got to see Vanna host the show, and she did a spectacular job as host. We must also give a shout-out to Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Maggie Sajak for doing a great job at the puzzleboard.
Some weeks that did not do so well last season (Gone Fishin’, Rail Tour, etc.) improved, this season.
We had one contestant (wheelmasterdave ) win over $100K in cash and prizes without landing on the $100K/$1Mil envelope. This is the first time that an event like this has happened (winning over $100K without landing on the $100K/$1Mil envelope) since Season 33.
Just like last season, we saw the extremely rare instance of a former contestant return to play for a second time. Tony Harrison, previously a contestant on Season 35, returned after his puzzle in the Bonus Round from his first appearance was mis-categorized. Like his first appearance, he made it to the Bonus Round, and this time, he solved his Bonus Round puzzle correctly. Thankfully, the puzzle was categorized appropriately.
We had a lot of representation from the BuyAVowel forum, this season, with a lot of our members becoming contestants for Season 37. This was also the season for the staff of BuyAVowel, as we had not one, not two, but THREE of our staff members become contestants this season, as well.
The following members were contestants for Season 37 of Wheel of Fortune. Please note that this list is in no particular order.
Spinner123
Jack521
thaum15
wheelmasterdave
hopefulinlb
elle1723
aurora
hosh
alysab
RoonilWazlib
woosewoo
noahzierhut
jjman920
donahco
acwof
tailskid
tonyscv (2nd appearance)
CDixie
If my math is correct we had 18 members become contestants, this season!
And now, it’s time for the bad.
We had 3 $100K losses, this season (11/28/2019, 02/26/2020, 04/28/2020). Thankfully, we had no $1 Million losses, this time around, so at least the amount of grand prize losses was not as bad as the past few seasons.
We did not have a perfect Bonus Round week, this season. We did come close, though, with a 4-1 Bonus Round win week during Home Sweet Home week.
We had three puzzles go unsolved this season. All three unsolved puzzles were Toss-Ups, and two of the three puzzles were from the Triple Toss-Ups.
There were no episodes filmed on location, this season. With the ongoing pandemic, we likely won’t have any episodes filmed on location for a long time.
We were “skunked” for three weeks, this season. (Skunked means no Bonus Round wins throughout the week.)
We were skunked on the following weeks:
Bed & Breakfast
Shopping Spree
World Tour
At least it wasn’t as bad as the number of shutouts in Season 35 and Season 36.
And now, it’s time for the ugly.
For the first time since Season 21, the top prize of $100K/$1Million was not won. In this season’s defense, though, it was not a complete 195 episode season.
Several weeks were not filmed this season for a variety of reasons. “On Holiday” did not tape due to Pat still recovering from surgery (and probably for other undisclosed reasons), while the rest of the weeks that were supposed to tape during the coronavirus pandemic, again without an audience, including a make-up taping for “On Holiday”, were cancelled because of the stay-at-home order forcing the season to end their tapings early. As a result, only 167 episodes were taped this season instead of the usual 195 episodes for a season. This leaves Season 37 lacking 28 unique/new episodes.
The following weeks were supposed to tape, but did not:
On Holiday
Aulani Resort Hawaii Vacation: Mothers’ Week
Passport to Adventure
Margaritaville Resorts Family Week
Father’s Week
Three America’s Game episodes from some of the above weeks for America’s Game V
Like every season, there were some cringeworthy mis-solves. Some of these mis-solves went viral, like the crossword mis-solve that cost a contestant a Nashville Trip, and a Bonus Round mis-solve of CHASING TAIL (actual answer KICKING BACK).
And as always, we had lots of difficult Bonus Round puzzles. Ironically, words used in Season 36 that led to $100K losses (GLITZY, AFFAIR, etc.) were used again, this season, and some of these same words also led to $100K losses for this season, too.
All in all, Season 37 was definitely a bizarre season, from lots of moments that went viral, to Vanna hosting, and the season being cut short due to COVID-19. As I stated above, this season followed a somewhat quiet Season 36, as there were hardly any viral/memorable moments from the previous season, sans the 7,000th episode. There were also no noteworthy changes to the gameplay or wheel for Season 36.
Like I said above, this was definitely a challenging season for Harry Friedman, and on his last season, too. While it’s definitely not the way we wanted the season to end for him and his time as EP on the show, his final season (Season 37) certainly provided a lot of memorable moments that gave everyone something to talk about.
So, it might not have been the best season ever like I predicted, but it’s definitely one of the better seasons, performance wise. (We seemed to be improving in the Bonus Round front, not as many shutout weeks, etc.) It’s unknown how the rest of the season would’ve played out had the rest of the season actually taped, but I want to say that we would have at least had a better Bonus Round win count than Season 35 and Season 36. I’ll even give Season 37 the benefit of the doubt, and say that we probably would have had a $100K/$1Million win towards the end of the season, like what happened in Season 31.
So, what did YOU think of Season 37? What were your favorite/least favorite moments? Any final thoughts on the season, and Harry’s impact on Wheel? And finally, what are your initial thoughts as we head into Season 38, with Mike Richards as the new EP?
As always, please be mindful if you post your opinion on here. I don’t want to see any negative remarks towards this show, other BAV members, Harry Friedman, Mike Richards, etc. (And if you’re going to mention Jeopardy! on here, DO NOT call it names like “the other show”.)
With that being said, this is acwof signing off for Season 37, and unfortunately, for good. As therealcu2010 stated in the recap guide job posting, I have decided to step down from being the recap guide.
I am stepping down because work is getting in the way for me (I started a full-time job back in June), and I plan to go to graduate school really soon, as it has been almost four years since I graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree. (I have a long term goal to go for a PhD.)
It has been an honor being the recap guide on this forum for the past three seasons. Throughout my time as the recap guide, I recapped several noteworthy episodes, such as the Flamingo Dance Lessons episode, the 7,000th episode, and even the episodes that Vanna hosted. I even got to recap a few $100K Bonus Round wins, too.
But sadly, my time as the Recap Guide has come to an end. I’ll do my best to stick around and be active on this forum, but I’m afraid that I’ll eventually fade away from this forum, and move on to other things in life.
I personally want to thank you all for making my time on BuyaVowel enjoyable whilst being the Recap Guide. I’ve been with you all through the good times, the bad times, and those in-between times. I feel like joining the forum, being the recap guide, and even playing the Daily Puzzle Game helped me become a better Wheel of Fortune player, and it definitely showed when I finally got to be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune, and on this season, to boot. I’m going to miss being the Recap Guide, but like I said, I’m moving on to other things in life, and I felt like it was time for a change.
This may be the end of my time on BuyAVowel, but keep your eyes peeled. You never know where you’ll see me next! I’m hoping that my appearance on Wheel of Fortune can lead to future game show/reality show appearances, and hopefully a potential career in television media. (Fun Fact: I now have my own IMDB profile thanks to appearing on Wheel of Fortune.)
Please continue to take care, everyone, especially during a time like right now. I hope you all enjoy Season 38! With Mike Richards now as EP, who knows what Season 38 will bring.
Also, be nice to the new Recap Guide, please.
You all mean so much to me.
Forever and Always,
- acwof
