March 18, 2016 recap/discussion (for Joanna)

Joanna, you did a pretty good job tonight! $4,500 is a nice total.

But honestly, that you were on this episode and that you played against two other women (only the second time that's happened this season) were the highlights of this game. We just couldn't get the momentum going, in terms of winnings, and unfortunately, a perfect Bonus Round week was denied. Too bad. I dunno what combo would've worked for the Bonus Round. I just wish you won instead of Robin.

My rating: 4

This week's rating: 8 (would've been a 10 if you-know-what happened)

Despite this negative outcome, I liked this week! Five Bonus Round wins in a row is a great sign for this season! Too bad it was the exact opposite of last week - we were close to a shutout then, and now we were this close to a perfect Bonus Round week. You know what, I just had a dream last night about this - tonight's players were all female and the maingame wasn't so exciting. And we were on the verge of a 5-0 week. Too bad my dream came true - in a bad way. Drat.

It's really hard to get a 5-0 week on America's Game Weeks, considering the different tapings. At least we got one late last season.

Joanna, CONGRATS and WELL DONE! Your ep was totally worth staying up for! You solved 2 puzzles more than I ever did and kept the game close. I personally thought your game had a tougher set of puzzles than average and all your missed letter calls were understandable (from what I can remember given the current time at least!)

This was the first episode of Wheel I've ever watched that started past 3am. It was supposed to air at 3:07, but ended up airing at 3:30.

It was painful for me to watch Joanna pick up that Mystery Wedge when Blue had hit the same one previously and they had already shown us that it was the Bankrupt.

That BR was painful to watch too. What a tough puzzle! Only hope of anyone solving it was a lucky guess or Emil-esque puzzle solving skills.

The ending with Pat chatting with Vanna in that bright multicolored dress in front of the giant screen with the US flag fooled me into thinking for a brief moment that it was Fourth of July. Probably didn't help that it was 4am either!

This was the lowest maingame winner ($8400) since a 8200/4000/6750 ($18950) game on 4/12/13. This was also the first maingame to score under $20000 total ($18900) since that same date, and the lowest maingame since a 2000/8200/8000 ($18200) on 5/17/12.

I fully agree with everyone in the fact that it wasn't the most exciting episode. And if we seem tired or lackluster, it's just because it was an incredibly long day with ups and downs. I'll write a full experience post soon, but for now I'll just give a quick rundown on what happened.

We were the last taping of the day, and everything was mostly on-schedule up until our show started. We got hooked up with our mics, took our positions (I was Blue at the time), and just as Pat walked out, we heard "CUT!" The contestant coordinators immediately pulled Todd to the side and left Debbie and I just standing there, wondering what was going on. Even Pat seemed confused. Fast-forward, we found out that Todd's wife needed to go to the hospital (I think she told the audience coordinator that she was feeling dizzy). The CC's insisted that Todd go with her, and that was that. Now, we were one contestant short, and we needed an alternate. But, it's not just as simple as flipping a coin and moving on. No; first, we had to give both alternates time to contact family members and inform them that they may possibly be on the show. Then, we had to give said family members time to get TO the show. Then, the CC's had to figure out which alternate would get chosen. They pulled a ball out of the bag like we do when determining show/position/etc. Now that Robin was chosen, we had to do a random color/position selection again. This bothered me because all day I was prepping for the Blue spot; I was mentally prepared for Blue, and I had practiced all of my spinning on Blue. To anyone else, this may sound silly; but for someone with severe anxiety, I was kind of upset to have to get switched at the last second. Moving along...now, with new colors, we had to switch out our mics. Finally, after an hour of chaos and confusion, we get to start the show. Being the last show of the day, it's already exhausting...but add in this extra time and stress, and it was downright madness. Meanwhile, all of the Sony staff members were upset that they were missing out on the Sony employee Christmas Party which was taking place during all of this. No one was particularly cheerful, especially since we ran into overtime.

Anyway, I know what you're thinking: the natural adrenaline should have kicked in and we should have been hyper no matter what. And for the most part, I was. My older counterparts might have been a little extra tired from the long day, but we were all good sports and never stopped hoping for our chance at the BR. I personally couldn't handle being on stage; I thought I could do it, but in the end I was all but hyperventilating. I managed to put on a smile, but I was dying on the inside!

Watching the show last night, I was angry about how slow I was with the toss-ups. And angry about the mistakes I made and the letters I chose. I was SO CLOSE to getting to the BR, but I just wasn't myself on stage. Oh well. I hope this explains a little about why our show was lackluster. And, at the very least, it may give you some insight as to what happens when an alternate is needed!

That sounds fairly unprofessional re: Sony employees being impatient for a party when they were the ones perhaps being overly cautious over a dizzy spell.

Atlantagirl you looked and sounded amazing! I would have taken a chance on that mystery wedge as well..... sometimes the word or words just don't come to you! Hope you had fun despite all the weirdness of the taping day!!

Yes, I can second the feeling of watching the show after taping. It's almost physically painful to see a contestant hit a BR or LAT. But, hey that's part of the game right?!

I couldn't agree with you more! After taping, watching the show is totally different for me! I just empathize so much more than previously, when actually being a contestant was just a hope and a prayer!!!

Final Spin was cut?!