For as long as I’ve been alive, there has been one certainty five nights a week, 52 weeks a year. Every night on ABC at 7 PM, there would be an hour-long block of game shows. It’s that last bastion before primetime brought with it whatever programs the network wanted to potentially make a hit. I cannot recall how long this has been true, but for most of my life going back to childhood, this was the hour when Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune would air. As I’ve mentioned before, the former is one of the most significant parts of my TV viewing schedule. Alex Trebek is a personal hero for how he embraces the world of knowledge, making everyone feel welcomed into the regimented structure.
I feel less that way about Wheel of Fortune.
It is true that I love a good competition and find joy in simple novelty. Few programs over the past 40 years have embodied it with such efficiency as this Pat Sajak/Vanna White program that has warranted a handful of memes. In the early 2000s, White even became a popular reference in many rap songs. There’s a good reason that many call it “America’s game,” because it is one of the most noticeable, able to be played by adults and children alike. It’s your basic puzzle game, finding ways to fill boxes with letters and make words. Add in a wheel that does everything from cash values to prizes and bankruptcies and there’s enough of a hook to keep the viewers engaged.
To be fair, the long-term success of Wheel of Fortune makes more sense than Family Feud, if just because there is a strategy to how the game is played. There is enough iconography and legacy that it makes sense that the three contestants could lose their minds just by talking to Sajak about their mundane lives. Personally, I don’t find many of them as interesting as a Jeopardy! contestant, though that may just be because the effort to be a champion on that show requires a wide berth of knowledge, even several games of building empathy and a sense of purpose. Wheel of Fortune could never achieve a contestant with the charm of Matt Amodio because, quite simply, the winners are in and out after only one game.
I think the most obvious way that the show fails to be interesting is what moments end up becoming news stories. Everybody loves wrong answers. There is something completely baffling about one that appears out of left field. Jeopardy! has so many that you could make hours upon hours of highlights. Wheel of Fortune doesn’t have the same energy because of how visual it is. Maybe White forgets to flip a letter, which is comical. However, getting a word wrong often lacks immediacy because it’s so clear that the contestants are looking at the board, having time to calculate an answer. To Sajak’s credit, he is able to control the shows in these moments. However, there is so little going on and the stakes feel so low that none of it really has the lasting comic appeal.
I suppose for me another issue is that their biggest asset is also it's most confusing. It makes sense as the chaos factor on the show. There is no guarantee that anyone will get the desired value, that jackpot will suddenly land in their favor. Like Press Your Luck, there is something to the spontaneity of that final land. You watch the values come and go, growing eager as certain ones approach. As things slow down, that’s where the drama occurs. Quadruple digits could be next to triple, or even something sabotaging. Much like playing a slot machine in Las Vegas, NV, there is no rhyme or reason to how this goes. You just have to hope for the best. In that regard, the show is exciting. As the logo for the show, it represents endless opportunities and mystery. This doesn’t require intellect or strategy. Anyone who likes living fast will love the wheel. It has as much potential to make you rich as it is poor.
But here’s the thing. I don’t really understand how point values work on Wheel of Fortune. Yes, I understand that bankruptcy can make someone lose their bank, but the amounts are so random that they don’t feel important. While Sajak consistently reminds audiences of who is in the lead, it never feels like any player is in the lead. While this plays into the spontaneity of the show, it’s what makes it feel inferior. Jeopardy! has such a noticeable hierarchy that you can anticipate. You can imagine a player in third place pulling a surprise victory in Double Jeopardy. What is there to predict in Wheel of Fortune? At best they can guess a puzzle with only three letters on the board.
This isn’t to say that entertainment value cannot be derived from the show. If one doesn’t have a whole lot of investment in the actual competition part of it, the show is sort of brilliant. The contestants honestly don’t matter, quickly fading (especially if they lack personality). The puzzles are the real draw, especially as they deal with categories like “Rhyme Time” or “Crosswords.” There are moments where the game even requires strategy. For those who like filling in blanks, there is a comforting lull to the show.
Though to be completely honest, pairing the show with Jeopardy! only highlights all of the ways that the show is kind of empty. White doesn’t even flip the letters, merely touching a lit-up button that reveals the answer. As far as iconography, it makes sense why she’s there. It adds something. However, the quick rounds aren’t enough to make up for the parts of the show that drag. Once you figure out the puzzle, there’s no guarantee that the contestants will get it. For those who guess it way too early, there’s a lot of dead time of watching them stumble to get letters figured out. Given the lack of personal investment the audience has in these players, there’s no real sense of tension, just a desire to get a move-on.
I do love how the show finds infinite possibilities in such a simple premise. The idea that any number of words can be put together to make a puzzle is fun. Yes, they are often made fun of for being cornball expressions that nobody uses, but there is something about getting to that final round and seeing a puzzle like that. If the phrase is convoluted, there is a chance for the contestant to get annoyed that they could never guess the answer. At the same time, it’s the only chance where having a bizarre personal lexicon really pays off. Given that the final prize reveals itself on a card, there’s even more emotional investment at this moment that is sorely missing from almost everything else about the show.
I understand how the show has lasted so long in its simple form. Quite honestly, it’s one of the greatest formats that I’ve seen in a game show. There is an accessibility to it that makes everyone feel like they could play it. Whereas Jeopardy! can be perceived as too intimidating, Wheel of Fortune is the even ground. If you watch with the right people, you can bring your own entertainment to things. It’s true that there’s some value in Sajak being one of the legacy hosts with plenty of charisma. In that regard, he rivals Trebek even if he’s given less chance to be as entertaining for spontaneous reasons. It especially shines in the promotional portions of the show, where Sajak gets to have friendly banter with White, making them feel more personable. There is no darkness on the show. Everyone is supposed to have a good time, and they deliver.
With that said, I personally believe that it is the worst edited game show of the modern era. The simple format shouldn’t be this hard to convolute, and yet the modern interpretation of the show is a frustrating beast. Given that there are fast rounds where the contestants are seen on a split-screen with the board, it doesn’t make sense why more of the game isn’t presented in this form. The biggest appeal of the show is that it is interactive, capable of having everyone look at those squares and try to figure out what is supposed to go there.
For the longer puzzles especially, it becomes frustrating to try and play along because the producers think the audience is as invested in watching the contestants spin the wheel or even stand, confused, trying to guess the letter. There is value to that component, but for those who want to play along, they are constantly interrupted by the transitions, sometimes having to wait 15 seconds before a return to the board that switches the anticipation into annoyance. Again, the solution is simple which makes its failure much more glaring. The only place it moves fast is from a letter appearing on the board back to the contestants, not allowing any of it to resonate.
Sure, as a Jeopardy! obsessive, I do take some umbrage with the idea of calling it “America’s game.” To me, it says something damning that it didn’t go to the more intellectually complex show. With that said, it’s perfect marketing for a show whose image is one of the most concrete I have ever seen. Everyone knows what to expect. There are no surprises, save for the various Atlantic Ocean islands that they send contestants off to. There is enough suspense in the wheel to make up for all of the shortcomings. The show may be downright boring and slow to me, but for those who need to relax after long days of work, its purpose makes sense.
I have no advice on how to make it better (besides fixing the editing). The show fits that gambling mentality from a very wholesome perspective. There is something comforting about seeing White stand next to that board, watching the letters light up. The idea that anything can happen gives the show enough anticipation without making it tense. This is a cool down show, one designed to not be taken too seriously and just appreciate the 26 letters in the English alphabet. To some, that’s all they need for a half hour. While I would personally bring back the ceramic dalmatians, there’s not much that has changed for the worse over the years. Not too many shows can say this and that is why it is a quintessential game show.
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