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Post by jacobr1020 on Jan 15, 2014 23:02:58 GMT -5
BTW, I did put this on the Bigjon Board.
I read on the Wheel of Fortune Syndicated History Timeline of some interesting events that made me curious as to whether they really happened.
1. A contestant on an episode sometime the 1985-1986 season racked up over $60,000 with the puzzle STAR LIGHT STAR BRIGHT FIRST STAR I SEE TONIGHT, but was DQ'd for forgetting the 7th word.
2. A contestant on an episode in the 1993-1994 season failed to solve a fully-revealed bonus puzzle due to being unable to properly pronounce it.
3. On their first appearance, Peter Argyropolous and Deborah Cohen (the couple that won $146,529) used Double Play on the $10,000 space, which was doubled to $20,000.
4. A contestant on an episode sometime in the 1995-1996 season claimed and won all four prize wedges (Round 2 and 4 Prizes, Surprise, and the $10,000 space) in Round 4.
5. A contestant at one point already knew their bonus puzzle with just the RSTLNE and tried to solve it without giving any extra letters, but was not allowed to do so.
FYI, I'm the one that added these to the timeline. I heard these rumors from word of mouth, what people on the alt.tv.game-shows board said, etc. However, some recent thinking got me to ask for some clarification
Is it possible that these events happened but no one taped them?
Here are my personal opinions on them.
1: GSN never reran the 1985-86 season, so it very well may have happened. Hey, we do know that a $31,000+ Cadillac was a Wheel Prize sometime that season.
2. Highly unlikely, unless they were presented with a foreign word or got "tongue-tied".
3. Possibly. Numerous people on the alt.tv game show forum insist that it happened. I do know that a contestant did use it on the $5,000 space once, but didn't solve the puzzle.
4. If the puzzle was big enough and the contestant had enough luck, it's entirely possible. However, it's more likely that they won all four prizes, but not in the same round.
5. Seems the likeliest out of them all. If true, why would they force the contestant to waste time in giving 4 extra letters if they already know what it is?
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Post by tenpoundhammer on Jan 15, 2014 23:55:25 GMT -5
I've left them all on the timeline because I have no reason to doubt them.
People have flubbed up fully revealed maingame puzzles (REGIS PHILBIN & KELLY RIPA, anyone?), so I would say there's a nonzero chance of it happening in the BR.
Zach Horan confirmed the Double Play on $10,000 at least once. Despite his questionable status in the game show community as a whole, he does seem to have quite the eidteic memory for this kind of thing.
tl;dr: Anything based on recollections is presumed true until proven otherwise.
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Post by MarioGS on Jan 16, 2014 0:31:05 GMT -5
The "STAR LIGHT STAR BRIGHT" loss was also a claim from Horan. Most of his recollections have been correct, but not all, mind you. Still, he definitely has a great knowledge and memory of WOF (which I admit I'm jealous of, but I know he's older than me, so...  ) and I do trust him. He is a member here but hasn't posted in a long time. The Double Play for $10K thing is driving me crazy because I see so many posts about that, mostly for Horan who mentions it nearly any time someone mentions DP on any forum, and there are posts on ATGS that mention it within a month of the original airing, so it's probably safe to say that's true. I believe Horan also posted that the episode reran on a Saturday in 1997. On the subject of DP, there are also recollections of it being used before landing on cardboard, and a player winning thanks to using it on $1000 in R3. Too bad out of all the S13 episodes that survive publicly, only a small handful have any DP action, and the only one with a decent use was Peter & Deborah's second episode where they used it on $1500 (Ugh, why didn't the person who taped that episode for circulation also tape their first one just for that amazing $20K feat?  ). If only Joe Capitano's WOF recaps on ATGS were more elaborate. I really want to know what letter the lady who used it on $5000 called. The crowd must have went crazy. If only more people recorded and shared stuff back then. There's so many "recollections" of very notable 80s/90s moments but only exist in the vaults at Sony (or in the houses of the contestants who were on the episode and taped it)... ...GSN really needs to run S13 again. I'd give anything to access the vault or the database of episodes assuming the reels have been digitized. |
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Post by jacobr1020 on Jan 16, 2014 11:57:19 GMT -5
Yeah. I agree with both of you.
What do you guys have to say about #4 and #5? Are either of those possible?
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Post by tenpoundhammer on Jan 16, 2014 12:30:10 GMT -5
^ I would say there's a VERY good chance 5 happened. Many contestants have obviously known their bonus puzzle before picking their letters, so I could easily see someone just trying to solve first.
4 is curious and still not impossible. Statistically, it's not too likely, but given the other odds-defying oddities in the show over the years ($1,000,000 being won only a couple months after its introduction, S27 going without a $100,000 hit until Mid-March against 99.6% odds, etc.), it's not out of the question.
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Post by jacobr1020 on Jan 16, 2014 12:51:56 GMT -5
^ I would say there's a VERY good chance 5 happened. Many contestants have obviously known their bonus puzzle before picking their letters, so I could easily see someone just trying to solve first. 4 is curious and still not impossible. Statistically, it's not too likely, but given the other odds-defying oddities in the show over the years ($1,000,000 being won only a couple months after its introduction, S27 going without a $100,000 hit until Mid-March against 99.6% odds, etc.), it's not out of the question. Yep. I agree with those two, though, with #4, I wonder if maybe a contestant did win all four prizes, but not in the same round. That does seem more likely. |
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Post by mechamind on Jan 16, 2014 18:46:43 GMT -5
6. Somebody wrote that nobody rang in on the WHAT A RELIEF Toss-Up from Season 20. It went unsolved, but I do remember the blue contestant ringing in.
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Post by MarioGS on Jan 16, 2014 18:59:27 GMT -5
^ Pretty sure that was a claim from Bobby.
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Post by MarioGS on Jan 17, 2014 1:24:24 GMT -5
^ I would say there's a VERY good chance 5 happened. Many contestants have obviously known their bonus puzzle before picking their letters, so I could easily see someone just trying to solve first. 4 is curious and still not impossible. Statistically, it's not too likely, but given the other odds-defying oddities in the show over the years ($1,000,000 being won only a couple months after its introduction, S27 going without a $100,000 hit until Mid-March against 99.6% odds, etc.), it's not out of the question. Yep. I agree with those two, though, with #4, I wonder if maybe a contestant did win all four prizes, but not in the same round. That does seem more likely. Actually, it's more plausible than it seems. In S13, ALL available extras for R4+ were clustered within an 11-wedge span of the layout, and as I have helped illustrate here, the full-size wedges can easily be obtained with a consistent 22-wedge spin power.  |
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Post by mechamind on Jan 17, 2014 1:54:39 GMT -5
^ It seems more plausible to me that the spins would weaken after a bit, and the contestant would go from Surprise to the pink $200 to the other prize wedge.
And let's not forget the possibilities of consistent 26-wedge spin power.
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Post by WarioSajak on Jan 17, 2014 3:16:10 GMT -5
Long(er) answer about recollections and their use on the Wiki: Anything based on recollections is presumed true until proven otherwise. Further, recollections are noted as such on the pages and timelines. Certain info for certain seasons (particularly 3-4 and 8-9) and daytime years (including 1977 and most of 1988) come from recollections, print articles, photos, press releases, adverts, and summaries from the holdings of UCLA/Paley Center. It took a lot of tracking down for some of those things. Recollections from contestants about their runs on the show (such as Tad Dunlap and Debi Muchow), or about relatives who were on the show (such as Paul Hermosillo regarding his mother), are usually taken at face value. Same goes for recollections from Wheel staff. It's entirely possible that some recollections are wrong or simply muddled with the passage of time, especially if recollections are all we have to go on (such as the format for the hour-long era). Still, while I haven't been able to prove everything the various recollections have claimed, I've certainly found some fun stuff while trying.  TPH and Mario noted that Zach Horan's a good resource for research. While I don't disagree, I think he was especially good early in the ATGS days when he wasn't trying as hard to be "cool" (the whole "Celebrity Bucket Kickers" thing isn't worth my time to get worked up about). Speaking of which, how old is Zach? He was definitely born by about the mid-1970s. All that said, there is a reason why ATGS and The Game Show Forum used the acronym ZHIFOS. |
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Post by Bryce L. on Jan 17, 2014 3:41:01 GMT -5
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Post by tenpoundhammer on Jan 17, 2014 7:03:44 GMT -5
^ Pretty sure that was a claim from Bobby. Yeah, the WHAT A RELIEF Toss-Up was my recollection. I definitely remember that being the answer, and being stunned that no one rang in. I mean it's not like we're not talking a more obscure Phrase like FROM SOUP TO NUTS (which I remember two of that day's contetants on the old Sony forums saying they had never heard of). Some of my other recollections from that era don't have dates pinned down since I wasn't paying as much attention then. For instance, the S20 recollections I have of Giavonna appearing in the last segment (Pat said that he could make her cover her ears by singing to her, which she did), and the one round where I'D LIKE TO SOLVE THE PUZZLE was the answer (seems that one was on YouTube, but it disappeared long ago, along with the KELSEY GRAMMER AS DR. FRASIER CRANE round). |
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Post by therealcu2010 on Jan 17, 2014 10:41:46 GMT -5
He is a member here but hasn't posted in a long time. I assure you, Mr. Horan is not a member of these forums in good standing. |
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Post by mechamind on Jan 17, 2014 13:22:14 GMT -5
I don't think we're alone when it comes to spotting notable events. The fact that Guint's recap has only 21 episodes from S20, but 150 episodes from S21? The latter season must be when pretty much everybody started paying attention. There must have been a season when that began concerning TPiR.
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Post by woffan4ever on Jan 17, 2014 23:56:56 GMT -5
...and the one round where I'D LIKE TO SOLVE THE PUZZLE was the answer... The only time I remember seeing that puzzle was on the April Fools '97 episode, and it was PAT I'D LIKE TO SOLVE THE PUZZLE. I would love to see the week where Alex Trebek hosted for Chuck. I am sure there are tons of people who have some of these rare events on VHS stored away somewhere and we will never get to see them because they would never think of share them with the public. On the other hand, I think there are people who have some of these events and could share them with the public and won't... |
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Post by MarioGS on Jan 18, 2014 0:34:19 GMT -5
For instance, the S20 recollections I have of Giavonna appearing in the last segment (Pat said that he could make her cover her ears by singing to her, which she did) I can attest to that. I remember in S23, the Friday before Mothers' Day, a montage of various appearances of Nicholas and Giovanna was shown as a "card" to Vanna from them, and that was one of the clips. I actually taped that segment because they mentioned earlier in the week that it would be shown that Friday. I have no idea where the tape is, but I'm almost sure I still have it. I am sure there are tons of people who have some of these rare events on VHS stored away somewhere and we will never get to see them because they would never think of share them with the public. On the other hand, I think there are people who have some of these events and could share them with the public and won't... Just about every episode should have at least one taped copy sitting somewhere in existence if not three. Surely the contestants tape them and keep them somewhere safe. These days, we're seeing more and more episodes from various seasons new and old posted online thanks to social media and such. |
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Post by mechamind on Jan 18, 2014 1:26:06 GMT -5
^ There must be a limit to how early that contestants started keeping tapes of their own episodes, assuming it was not prohibitively expensive. Could 1977 be a hint?
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Post by Bryce L. on Jan 18, 2014 2:48:46 GMT -5
Just how early did they start saving daytime shows? We know nighttime has a complete archive... and where exactly would the daytime tapes be? In a vault in Culver City? Possibly still in Burbank?
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Post by tenpoundhammer on Jan 18, 2014 7:41:58 GMT -5
...and the one round where I'D LIKE TO SOLVE THE PUZZLE was the answer... The only time I remember seeing that puzzle was on the April Fools '97 episode, and it was PAT I'D LIKE TO SOLVE THE PUZZLE. There was definitely one around Season 20, without the "Pat" in front of it. |
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) and I do trust him. He is a member here but hasn't posted in a long time.
). If only Joe Capitano's WOF recaps on ATGS were more elaborate. I really want to know what letter the lady who used it on $5000 called. The crowd must have went crazy.
