‘Wheel of Fortune’ fans complain about a silly show mistake after Jim Thornton gets fired
‘Wheel of Fortune’ fans complain about a silly show mistake after Jim Thornton gets fired.
WHEEL of Fortune fans have pointed out a massive error in a voiceover after the show fired its longtime announcer, Jim Thornton.
Sony confirmed in early September that Jim’s employment had been “terminated” following an investigation into allegations about his activity on a pedophile website.
Wheel of Fortune fnas have pointed out a massive error in a voiceover in a recent episodeCredit: CBS
The show replaced fired announcer, Jim Thornton, with a voiceover in episodes he recorded before his departure last monthCredit: Getty
The U.S. Sun exclusively revealed that producers had removed Jim, 61, from all episodes recorded before his departure, including Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.
However, fans noticed a major blunder in those edited episodes that now include a new voiceover replacing the disgraced announcers.
Clips from a recent episode circulated on Reddit, showing captions that read completely differently from what the announcer said.
One clip shows contestant Autumn celebrating with her family on stage after winning the Bonus Round.
“Autumn, congratulations. You’ve just won $40,000,” the announcer is heard saying, as host Ryan Seacrest watches the sweet moment.
But the captions don’t match the voiceover, instead reading, “Autumn, you’re making West Virginia proud. Here’s…”
Fans speculated that the captions were Jim’s original words when the episode was taped and were later changed.
Viewers also suspected that Jim was part of Ryan’s earlier exchange with Autumn but was spliced out by airtime.
While chatting with the contestant earlier in the show, Ryan said, “Autumn Martin from Charleston, West Virginia. Oh, I know all about the pride in West Virginia.”
The camera then cut to Autumn, who nodded toward Jim’s former booth and then back at Ryan, saying, “Yes.”
Fans shared their reactions to the mistake in the thread.
“Wow, that seems like a pretty clumsy audio splice. I know they had short notice, but… I feel this is surprisingly amateur for a production with the resources they have access to,” one person wrote.
Fans noticed the captions didn’t match the voiceover, speculating that the captions were originally Jim’s wordsCredit: CBS
Ryan Seacrest hosts Wheel of Fortune with longtime letter-turner, Vanna WhiteCredit: Getty
Another called the entire scene “awkward” and wondered when episodes with a new announcer will start airing.
A source told The U.S. Sun earlier this month that the show had yet to find a full-time replacement for Jim, who had been the game show‘s announcer since 2011.
He took over for the show’s former longtime announcer, Charlie O’Donnell, following his death.
Jim was initially suspended from WoF after a fellow plane passenger snapped a photo of disturbing content on his laptop during a May flight.
The photos, published by TMZ, appeared to show Jim accessing a website described as a support chat for people with pedophilic thoughts, with alarming conversations visible on the screen.
Jim was allegedly active in the chat for 57 minutes.
The passenger alerted a flight attendant, and law enforcement questioned Jim after the plane landed in Los Angeles, though he was not arrested or charged with a crime.
Jim’s attorney claimed his client intended to visit a suicide prevention forum and was inadvertently directed to the wrong website.
