Wheel on "Fresh Off the Boat" featuring eggcrates, Free Spin

Another image from the episode which shows Jessica and Honey practicing with the Wheel board game.




Even though the box is the 1992 Tyco game, the contents are from the old Pressman games.

Just watched it. Overall, I enjoyed the episode even though I have never seen FOTB before. The best parts were when Vanna was speaking through gritted teeth at Pat.

Jessica: "Don't buy vowels. They're a waste of money."
Pat: "There are 11 O's! That's the hardest Vanna's ever worked in her life."
Vanna: "Ignore him, Vanna. Just do your job."


Upon first viewing, here are all the inaccuracies I spotted. I am not doing this to be picky, I'm just doing this just because. If you have a problem with me doing this, too bad. It's not to be mean to FOTB's cast and crew or Wheel's. I just notice these things, okay? Wouldn't you do the same if some TV show featured your favorite game show in one of their episodes?

- The episode is indirectly stated to take place in summer 1997. The movie "Contact" is mentioned (released July 11) and the Wheel episode uses the 1997 theme (though the closing theme is used during the intro) and solve cue, which would mean the show would be taping for Season 15. Near the beginning of the episode, the family is watching Wheel at Honey's house in the morning. Jessica says it's on "the game show channel", but the episode they're watching (featuring the CINCINNATI puzzle from one of the Instagram posts but with Vanna in a different dress) would have to be very recent, as it still features the digital puzzle board and a category strip similar to the style used from mid-Season 14.
- Jessica gets "the letter" well after she applied or auditioned, if she auditioned at all, as it was only mentioned that she "applied" to be on the show as soon as she became a legal U.S. citizen. I don't know if they had the "two weeks" rule back then, but surely it would not happen after that long. Also, the letter arrived at their old house after they moved out, so Jessica probably wasn't expecting it.
- The letter mentions that Jessica will be on Best Friends Week with a teammate of her choice. In reality, she and her teammate would have had to audition together and both get letters. It is also personalized to Jessica. IRL, the letter is generic and does not insert the contestant's name.
- The letter also mentions that the taping will be in Orlando (ironic since the Disney World tapings are in one week), even though the actual gameplay was filmed at Sony Pictures Studios, complete with a shot of audience members taking their seats.
- Jessica and Honey practice with a Wheel board game. The box is that of the 1992 Tyco game, but the contents are from the 1985 Pressman game. The puzzle they play is BIRTHDAY CARD (missolved by Honey as "BIRTHDAY CAKE"). I didn't catch the number on the puzzle card, but does anybody know if this is an actual puzzle in one of the Pressman games?
- While practicing with the board game, Jessica makes a comment implying that the show has returning champions, even though the real show had changed to Friday Finals at the time.
- As stated earlier, the faux eggcrate scoreboards are center-aligned and display "$0", even before the cameras start rolling.
- There is no announcer. The opening of the show is simply the chant and only audience cheers as Pat and Vanna enter. Granted, they would have probably had a hard time finding someone who sounded like Charlie O'Donnell...
- Like the current show, $2500 is the top value for Round 1 and presumably all other rounds, though only two rounds are seen and there is no clear shot of the Wheel in the latter round, but they taped all the footage from the set with the same wedges.
- None of the podiums flash when a team has control.
- In Round 1, Jessica and Honey's score increases from $1200 to $1800 after they call three N's on an unseen spin, but the full layout was clearly seen earlier and there were no $200 wedges.
- Jessica solves immediately after spinning (and landing on the sole $900 wedge at that).
- Contestant interviews are done after Round 1 starting with the team who solved, similar to the $1,000 Toss-Up today.
- Song Lyrics is used despite not being a category in 1997; Quotation would have been used instead.
- Later in the episode, we cut back to the Wheel storyline with the red team calling an incorrect T, at which point there are only two N's on the board and Jessica and Honey are the only ones with money with $600, meaning they called those N's on $300. Now in control, Honey buys 11 O's, after which Jessica solves for $350 and Pat announces that they've won a trip to Cozumel. Since they had money from their earlier, unseen turn, they could not have had a Prize Wedge and the Prize Puzzle was not a thing yet. Although it was being tested in early Season 15, it was only used on Friday Finals episodes, and even then, the puzzle they solve had nothing to do with their prize. Its value was also not stated.


Now as for things they got right:

- As said earlier, the 1997 theme and solve cue are used.
- The category strip is very similar to the one used on the show at the time, though the font was different.
- The players were composed of four women and two men, which is usually how non-couple team weeks are arranged at least in the modern era.
- Letters were called in a simple manner, such as "An N" or "T" rather than "Is there an N?" like how most Wheel parodies and appearances do it, which is discouraged by the contestant coordinators.
- When Jessica is watching Wheel on "the game show channel", the puzzle CINCINNATI is categorized as Place, as On the Map was not a category at the time.
- Before the show starts, Jessica comments on how much smaller the Wheel looks in person, a sentiment shared by pretty much anyone who has seen the Wheel in person.

Because namedropping Game Show Network was too hard. And no, GSN wasn't airing Season 14 at this point - they wouldn't get to it until 2000.


It's possible this was allowed in the earliest (Teen) Best Friends Weeks, but yeah that "teammate of your choice" bit could lead to all kinds of issues.


Leaving aside the whole "actually taping in Culver City" thing, Wheel never went to Orlando during Season 15. In fact, their last trip there was back in Season 12 and their next one wasn't until Season 17.


I guess using actual audio of Charlie from that timeframe wasn't an option?


Funnily enough, this would be in line with most of the board games, including the two seen earlier in the episode.


Isn't that allowed, though? (I know it was definitely allowed at one point.)

I'm not sure how to react to this. Am I impressed? A little. Scared? Slightly.

How much WOF and early 90s trivia is stored in that magical brain of yours?

I wonder if they'll actually use FRESH OFF THE BOAT as a puzzle this season.