Wheel of Fortune Recap: 12/11/1995

I'm ready for action and so are these three contestants who have the possibility of winning all the cash and all the prizes!

John Ismel: He's an engaged civil service worker and also a staff sergeant in the Air Force Reserve.
Todd McCormick: A musician, a waiter, a rich man with $37,249 in cash and prizes, a motorist with a new Jeep, and you know you did well on Wheel when Pat says you're his pal.
Carl Davis: An aspiring broadcaster and he's also a musician, just like Todd.

And for this show, we have an all-man panel! Time to see what these three can do on the wheel.



Green glory is around as usual, $1,000 is our top dollar and it's all cash for this round. Wordplay starts early with Before & After.



John will begin this round since he's the red player and he starts with a lost turn, no Ts on the red $300. Now Todd can spin, but his odd call of F on $150 is too odd for this puzzle. Carl manages to avoid triple duds in a row with an S on the blue $500 and then makes a perfect spin, hitting $1,000, but a P is not available. John and Todd then call nonexistant Rs and Hs on the Free Spin and the yellow $500 neighboring the top dollar, moving play back to Carl. He flirts with trouble, but escapes Bankrupt for a C valued at $350. After receiving $150 for a D, Carl spends $250 on a single E. He gets lucky afterwards when a K he wants appears in a different place than he probably expected for $450. $250 of that goes to an A and he gains $500 for a sole G. Carl goes on to discover the only consonant multiple in the puzzle, revealing three Ls for $200 a piece, unfortunately just missing the top dollar. A purchase of O helps out Carl considerably...



...and cashes in $1,800 for endorsing OLD KING COLE SLAW!

John:
Todd:
Carl: $1,800

Bankrupts: 0
Lose a Turns: 0
Duds: 5 (John (2) - T, R - both with $0), (Todd (2) - F, H - both with $0), (Carl - P - $500)
Missolves: 0
Top Dollar Hits: 1

ROUND OF DUDS!

Prize #1 on the Wheel: It's a beautiful watch made by Franchi-Menotti! They handcrafted this armwear, combining Swiss accuracy with stylish design from Italy and this $1,295 prize can be all theirs by hitting the WATCH wedge.



The top dollar's been upgraded to $2,500 and a lot of good stuff is now available: Double Play, the watch, Surprise... etcetera. Thing's the category for this small puzzle.



Todd will begin and he makes his start count with a D on the red $200, but Todd buying an E now and owing WoF $50 isn't how things work, so he has to spin again. Unfortunately, that results in a Bankrupt, so we'll go to Carl who duds with S on the red $400. John also loses his turn with a non-existant T on $700, so it's back to Todd and he makes it three in a row by calling a C on $750. Carl breaks the streak via D on the pink $250, but LaTs out on his next turn. Back to John, who grabs $200 with R, and attempts to pick up the neighboring Double Play... but P's not going to let him do that. Todd hits $750 again for no Ms, so Carl has his turn back and a B on the red $400 works. He finally goes for a vowel and E appears twice on the board. Carl spins again and note this, the whole wheel is shown as he makes the spin. Lose a Turn's revenge victimizes him, so we end up at John's door again. He repeats his spin of Double Play and duds yet again via K. Meanwhile, Todd barely escapes Bankrupt, only to find that there's not a single L on the board. Carl lands on the orange $400, but G's only a good try, so it's back to John and after almost landing on Double Play again, he finds that elusive F...



...but he needs a vowel, so he goes for the A and that'll do it for him. BONA FIDE OFFER's the answer to this tricky puzzle and John rakes in $550.

John: $550
Todd:
Carl: $1,800

SECOND ROUND OF DUDS!

Bankrupts: 1 (Todd - $200)
Lose a Turns: 2 (Carl (2) - $250, $400)
Duds: 8 (John (3) - T, P, K - $0, $200, $200), (Todd (3) - C, M, L - all with $0), (Carl (2) - S, G - $0, $400)
Missolves: 0
Top Dollar Hits: 0



Carl's ready to go and so is the $10,000 slice of gold and the new top dollar of $3,500! We've got a pretty good sized Phrase here.



Carl quickly gets us going with a $450 T and just avoids Bankrupt for an R. After sliding past top dollar for an S, he purchases a duo of Es and grabs the Surprise off the wheel with a single N! He buys two As next, but stops where he started with a dud C. Now to John and he escapes Bankrupt, but it won't matter anyway because L isn't in there. Todd goes M for money and big money comes his way, $3,000 for a triple! He's trying to decide whether to gamble or rake in the three grand...



YOU MUST HAVE READ MY MIND if you guessed that Todd would solve, he did it for $3,000 and first place!

John: $550
Todd: $3,000
Carl: $1,800

Bankrupts: 0
Lose a Turns: 0
Duds: 2 (John - L - $0), (Carl - C - $700 + Surprise)
Missolves: 0
Top Dollar Hits: 0
$1,000 Hits: 1
$10,000 Wedge Hits: 0

Prize on Wheel #2: It's a cruise. If you want to know more about it, hope that someone wins it because no details were mentioned.



$5,000 is now available for cashing in, but don't expect to get too much from this small Thing.



John begins the round in the wrong way when his pointer clings to Bankrupt and Todd's confidence in T doesn't get him the Double Play. Carl gets $400 via S, but duds out with R on $550. John glides past LaT to find out that P isn't in the puzzle while Todd clings to Bankrupt just like John did earlier. Carl manages to go that extra step to $1,500, but no Ms are available.



Neither is time, which is why Pat has to give the wheel that final spin.



John:
Todd:
Carl: $400

Final Spin Result:
$600

Not that bad, consonants will be a value of $600 and vowels will get you one step closer to solving that puzzle.



This is a crucial table, so view it carefully.





Todd goes for it with LENSE EYE, but eye don't believe that's correct (lousy joke, but eye won't be here all day).





Carl pulls it out with DENSE FOG for $1,600 and the victory!

John: $550
Todd: $3,000 (2-day total: $40,249)
Carl: $3,400

THIRD ROUND OF DUDS!

Bankrupts: 2 (John - $0), (Todd - $0)
Lose a Turns: 0
Duds: 6 (John (2) - P, C - $0, $600), (Todd - T, Repeat N - both with $0), (Carl (2) - S, M - both with $400)
Missolves: 1 (Todd - LENSE EYE - $0)
Top Dollar Hits: 0
$1,500 Hits: 1
$10,000 Wedge Hits: 0

Maingame Winnings: $6,950



Total Lost to Bankrupt: $200
Bankrupt Count Total: 3
Lose a Turn Count Total: 2
Total of Duds: 21
Total of Missolves: 1
Top Dollar Hit Count Total: 1
$10,000 Wedge Hit Count Total: 0
Highest Total at One Point : $700 + Surprise



Carl took over Todd's position as champion and now gets to do what every champion does - play the Bonus Round. Five great prizes, five great cards and here they are:



A couple great cars, a trip, an art collection, and the good ol' $25,000 are up for grabs tonight! Carl draws the line in the middle, hoping the first E gives him whatever prize he wants. Now, a Bonus puzzle is up and loaded and it is a Person, which never means Proper Name.



It's a huge one as well, now RSTLNE will be prominently displayed.



A ton of help might work to Carl's advantage... now for some extra help with his choices of CMPA.



Looks like he missed all of the consonants and his vowel help is very limited. Though it can be done if he puts his mind into work...



Ten seconds went by just like that and no DESIGNATED DRIVER can help him out. An appropriate puzzle too, look at this...



So all in all, Carl got a little bit of cash in $3,450, but he can get a whole lot more cash and prizes on his next show!

-----------------------------

Not sure whether there was a post-game chat or it got cut out (pretty sure it's that), but that theme music's catchy)