‘Wheel of Fortune’ Speak Out on Big Change to Bonus Round Puzzles
‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Speak Out on Big Change to Bonus Round Puzzles.
Wheel of Fortune YouTube
Wheel of Fortune fans think the bonus round should come with a little more bonus. Fans debated whether or not the last round of the game show should make a change during its 44th season.
“Wish that the categories that debuted in Seasons 42 and 43 would be used as Category Choices in the Bonus Round,” a Reddit user said. Categories such as “Life’s a Beach,” “Colorful Language,” “Happy Hour,” and “Travel Trips” were added to Wheel of Fortune in recent seasons.
“I like that the bonus round categories are still limited to the traditional choices,” one fan said. Most of the time, the Bonus Round categories consist of “Thing,” “Phrase,” “What Are You Doing?,” “Food & Drink,” and “Fun & Games.”
“I think people are under enough stress at that moment that they shouldn’t have to spend the next 10 seconds trying to figure out what the hell ‘Life’s a Beach’ has to do with the final puzzle,” another fan argued.
“My issue with most of the categories are either really vague (THE NEXT 50 YEARS making up something futuristic, ON MY PLAYLIST can be a music genre, artist, song title, album) or have both the literal and figurative meaning are valid (SAY CHEESE! is allowed to be something either photo/picture related or the type of a cheese, SHOW ME A SIGN can be both Zodiac symbols or road signs, SWEET TALK can be a sweet edible item or phrases related to flattery),” a third Reddit user said.
“I’m fine with it if the category doesn’t really cause category confusion (like ACRONYM, MOST LIKELY TO, PET LIFE, TRAVEL TIP(S), TECH TALK, etc), but like I think even like COLORFUL LANGUAGE meaning a puzzle with a color word in it or SMALL TALK having something literally small (like mini golf) is a little too confusing to risk $40k on?”
Although this is only a fan request, the game show is reportedly changing how the toss-ups will work in Season 44. BuzzerBlog reported that audience members who attended Season 44 tapings shared that the toss-up round will have contestants solving as many toss-ups as they can within 30 seconds.
Each contestant has one guess to solve each toss-up. If a contestant buzzes in with the correct answer, they win $1,000. If they buzz in with the incorrect answer, the puzzle board displays the correct answer and then the next puzzle, in which that contestant can still compete. Also, a contestant can still provide an answer to the current toss-up puzzle after 30 seconds have elapsed, as long as they buzzed in before the clock ran out.
The new round will be called the Toss-up Sprint, and audience members have reported that contestants go through an average of five to six toss-ups per round. After the final toss-up, the game continues on with the last player to solve the toss-up going first. After that puzzle is solved, the contestant introductions will take place, and the game will resume.
In recent seasons, Wheel of Fortune episodes started with a $1,000 toss-up puzzle, then had the host introduce the contestants, then continued with a $2,000 toss-up. The game ended with a Triple Toss-up. It is not clear if the Triple Toss-up will still exist in the new format.
What do you think of the changes above? Let us know in the comments.
Wheel of Fortune, Season 44, weekdays beginning September 14, check local listings
