Season 33: What We Know

I have to give credit to "Harvey Feud" for what they've got going on. It's dumb, but it attracts a lot of people. If Wheel's base is decreasing greatly, I doubt Sony Pictures knows what works, even if their approach was what I'd want.

Are we getting a new theme for this board in season 33?

I think you answered your own question, there. The show still attracts millions each week, but I gotta wonder how much of that audience only watches because it's comfort food and "always been there".


The problem is that they've made vowels into a pittance. Vowels costing $250 when $1,000 was the top value made sense, as that was one-fourth the Biggest Freaking Deal and hence veered more towards a hint than just...something. They haven't changed it with inflation, and the only time it has changed was twice on the Goen version to make them easier to buy.

Wheel needs to adapt to inflation. $250 vowels just look bad when the minimum value is twice that.


*raises hand* I've been guilty of believing the Million wasn't insured, but frankly with said bonus puzzles following that win it was hard for me to think otherwise.


But...but then the winner might finish with less than $10,000! And players would be more likely to take the trips!


I say oust the $2,000 one, so you can go straight from the interviews to Jim. That said, the show's clearly dead set on having a specific order to things prior to Round 4. Even if Round 2 lasts one turn, for instance, it's still gonna be its own segment.


Um...I think it's been made pretty obvious that the show/Sony thinks all publicity is good.

I remember one episode within the last few years where Pat and Vanna were discussing that evening's contestant and why she did so well. Vanna looked at the camera and said that the contestant "bought vowels." I nodded in agreement.

Now as for the Wheel, if that yellow wedge ends up being something other than $900, I take comfort in the fact that none of the values from last season have been retired. Furthermore, I understand why the show chopped down some of the values. The show may have a lot of money, but I don't think they have as much money as Bill Gates does. Last season was a very expensive season for them. They gave away more money that season than any season before it. On top of that, their remotes, especially to Hawaii, cost quite a bit. If they're trying to save a few bucks, lowering some of the values and not going remote would be their best options at the moment.

There's a difference between the public whining about a costly penalty per the game rules and the show being so blatantly cheap compared to last season that even casual fans would notice.

What they're actually doing to save, exactly as germanname described above, is the most discreet way they can think of doing it for the time being. (Makes me wonder if the car cash will go back down to $3,000 or something)




It's on a two-week vacation.  I actually did try to get a picture sent to me personally from somebody but they said that security is so tight on the set right now that the Wheel is under a 24-hour watch. No joke. :huh:

^ Or to keep people from breaking in overnight trying to paint over the $500's.

^ "Security violations on set", apparently. I didn't ask.

What do you want that mystery yellow wedge to be?

$600, $800, or $900

Here's what the layout would look like with the above amounts:

$500/$600/$700/$600/$650
$500/$800/$700/$600/$650
$500/$900/$700/$600/$650

When the express wedge is on the wheel in round 3, this is how they'd look:

$500/$600/EXPRESS/$600/$650
$500/$800/EXPRESS/$600/$650
$500/$900/EXPRESS/$600/$650

I want it to be either $800 or $900. I don't think the $600 looks good there, especially in round 3 with the express wedge.

I doubt that doing both of these would have much effect on the budget, especially considering that the trips are all sponsored.