Podcast Interview with Pat

^ Now I know why.



Still, the show could use some modern pop culture puzzles during College Weeks, especially when most contestants from that week nowadays are Gen Z...

Pat's explanation for song puzzles doesn't make much sense. He basically says it's hard for them to do any song puzzle that's not a Christmas song because some generation won't know it (and yet the only time to date they did a puzzle referencing "All I Want For Christmas Is You", they categorized it as Phrase, and they don't even like doing CHRISTMAS in puzzles anymore; HOLIDAY or GTFO)... and yet the show basically says screw it and just assumes everyone still listens to doo-wop, disco, rock 'n roll, and 80's? Even most oldie stations today play songs from the 90's and 2000's now. My parents always played our local oldies station in the car and in the house, and that's how I learned to know more 60's-80's songs than the average person my age. But in 2020, they rarely play anything earlier than 1978 or so, and I have now begun hearing songs as recent as Shakira's "Whenever, Wherever", on a station that, like Wheel, never used to tackle anything later than 1989.

True, nearly all generations know songs like Yellow Submarine, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Dancing Queen, but that also is true for songs from this century like Uptown Funk, All About That Bass, Bad Romance, Shake It Off, Cake By the Ocean, and Despacito. Don't tell me you've never been to a wedding, birthday party, dance party, or any public event where they blast Uptown Funk amongst other dance hits from all the different decades. Even elders know that song by now.

Besides, the mere existence of Beat Shazam pretty much goes against every point Pat was trying to make. That show has had contestants of all ages and, naturally, features music from all decades, not just 60's, 70's, and 80's with the occasional early-90's hits.

And Jeopardy!'s writers would also have a lot to say about that. They don't shy away from old or new popular culture based on the contestants' age range. My philosophy has always been, anything that can be part of a Jeopardy! clue or correct response can be in a Wheel puzzle. I'm sure Merv Griffin agreed back when he wrote the puzzles.

Pat also failed to realize that the writers still mostly avoid pop culture even when it's Teen Best Friends or College Week. When they do have Song Title or Lyrics on those weeks, they're still oldies! It seems less like "we don't want to give unfair puzzles to any contestant" and more like "we don't want to lose viewership from our stereotypical demographic that's still keeping us alive more than a small group of teens and twenty-somethings on a fan message board". But if Jeopardy! doing clues on rap music hasn't driven them away, then having a contestant solve "KIKI DO YOU LOVE ME" or "SWIPING RIGHT" won't, either.

If Celebrity WOF has the same writers, they're going to be the laughing stock of the ABC game shows. Never mind the writing on Celebrity Family Feud and Pyramid. Even Supermarket Sweep has managed to tie in references to Tinder and other modern phenomena that Wheel won't touch.

They could also just not use the Song Lyrics/Title and Artist categories if they're afraid of it being unfair or certain generations not knowing them. There's plenty of songs that pretty much anyone would know by hearing it, yet a majority of what they use as puzzles aren't exactly in that category. They do use mostly modern movie titles at least, though I think most of them are Sony movies and Sony owns the show...

Perhaps Mike will eventually make the puzzles more modern-- he's getting there a little bit with the increased use of The 90s. When he took over as EP of The Price is Right they got rid of grandfather clocks, dining rooms, and other prizes that only appeal mainly to old people and started offering more prizes that appeal to younger people.

I rest my case.


Also, YOUTUBE was featured in a WHEEL puzzle at least thrice.

^They’ve done FACEBOOK and TWITTER though right?

Instagram appeared last season on March 16 in TTU 3

I think there's more validity to this argument than you are giving it credit. While it's alright for contestants to struggle if they can't figure out which letters fit in the blank, there is an unfairness if a puzzle comes up that you have never heard of before. Particularly with names, because besides knowing common first names you probably aren't going to figure out "D'AMELIO" without filling in the blanks.

It not the same because there's a natural avoidance by the contestants away from subjects they don't know and with 61 clues it's over quickly if they don't have a response. Sure there are edits, but compare that to an endless round of spinning and guessing similar to the REGIS PHILBIN & KELLY RIPA disaster.

That being said, now that we have more Toss Up puzzles I think those would be a great place to start mixing in more pop culture.