CWOF Premiere, January 7, 2021 Recap

Wow the $25,000 is back. Why is the BR minimum lower than the syndicated BR minimum?

Overall it was a pretty fun show, but I would've liked a little more gameplay and a little less banter and other stuff between the celebs and Pat that got annoying at times. Very nice that Vanna was miked and spoke during gameplay though. The graphics look really good, though I thought the Toss Up graphic was a little cheap looking. I like the remixed theme and cues also, though I thought the theme song was a little too slow. The set is great, a bit much with the gold though and I wish the backdrop behind the contestants was a little larger.

The three round format was certainly a surprise. I wonder if this could eventually carry over into the syndicated version. The bonuses for the solves are fine for this version, but I hope they don't carry over into syndication. But $20,000 for the third round pretty much means whoever wins round 3 wins the game.

It was definitely odd to have Wheel without the Mystery wedges and the Prize Puzzle, and no Express wedge. Having the four MDWs felt more than needed-- and whenever they did the overhead shot of the wheel with them they had the $2,500 wedge on the wheel.

Wow, it's been a while since a game ended without a Speed Up. Having no commercials between some rounds was nice too, and having no commercial between round 1 and 2 was a throwback to the days before season 21.

Very interesting bonus prize distribution too-- something else I wonder if it could carry over to syndication but with the car included. Strange to have the minimum be over $10,000 less than what it is on the syndie version.

Gee, where have we heard this before?

The scoring is a hot mess. Tony Hawk immediately exposed the problem when he opted to solve without spinning. I agree with those who say that increasing the values on the wheel itself would be a much better call. Loading the wheel with million dollar wedges didn't work for me either - it's prime time, why not just make $1M the top value in the bonus round by default? On the other hand, I really didn't miss the gimmicks like the Prize Puzzles, Mystery round, and Express wedges; though a trip or two on the wheel would have been nice. And the puzzle writing was mercifully free of extraneous words added for fake difficulty.

All that aside though, I agree that the show felt fun and lively in a way that it has not in a LONG time. Pat seemed really engaged for once, miking Vanna was a good call, and I thought all of the celebrities themselves were fun to watch. The set and graphics looked great too.

It was an enjoyable watch and I'll definitely keep tuning in, but I hope they patch up the format if they do another run.

Leslie is that obnoxious everywhere she goes.

The On Demand/Hulu version edits out most of the $10K giveaway references. During the first half, Vanna's outro after R1 was cut down to just, "We'll be back right after this." The first half's giveaway plug and Pat's throw to it were skipped entirely. However, Vanna's bumper for the giveaway after the second half's R1 was still intact. Despite that, the second half's R2 fades to black right after Pat recaps Tony's second-half total.

EDIT: Actually, the version available On Demand on Xfinity leaves the giveaway stuff intact, probably because it lasts through Saturday afternoon. The edited version will probably replace it soon, though.


...So what notation are we going to use for rounds in this version? R1A for first half, R1B for second half, etc? Or 1R1, 1R2... 2R1, 2R2?

Whew! Recap is finally up!

Supermarket Sweep is well worth the watch unless you consider Leslie a dealbreaker. I really do like her energy and her genuine love for the game she's hosting, but agree she could tone back on the shrillness a bit.

Also seconded on the no-lettering of Karma Chameleon.

I really enjoyed this first episode of Celebrity Wheel.

Everyone cracked me up, especially Chandra (who’s funnier than I previously assumed). As for Leslie, I expected nothing less than hilarity from her. And I thought Tony’s gameplay was pretty strategic.

Tony and Leslie impressed me in the second game with their solves in the Triple Toss-Ups of the second game. I wouldn’t have guessed NUCLEAR. And Tony also stunned me with his solve in that game’s R1, despite the fact that I distinctly remember that song from the video game Saints Row. But I got TU1 in game 1 with just the N and no-lettered R4 in game 2.

I also got both BRs with RSTLNE. Considering there are only four amounts in the BR, I think the hype surrounding $100K won’t be so huge to me. Still, any win for charity is awesome. Speaking of charities, it’s interesting that everyone played for organizations focused on food.

I doubt I’ll rate celebrity episodes.