Why? You want to watch only half an episode and not see how it ends?
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Its 2 rounds including bonus rounds though isnt it? Would just be a bit weird having the same contestants 2 nights in a row.
They do a lot of padding with silly non-wheel games in between the regular wheel rounds. At times it felt like the show could do with a bit more pace.
I miss the end of round shop and the end game is played only for cash, no cars or holidays etc.
These are stock parts of the US version.
The old Australian version is too slow for modern audiences and time has moved in and theyâre innovative by in different ways. People also win more money with these new features.
From watching the first episode of the UK revival, itâs all the same game of Wheel of Fortune. At the episodeâs midpoint, there is a special round (I think it was a toss-up), to determine who plays in a prize round with a pre-determined prize, no bonus wheel is spun but is otherwise the same format as the bonus round. I believe in this case I believe it was a holiday.
After that, that contestant returns to the wheel to play the remainder of the rounds. Like always, the player with the most banked cash (from solving puzzles) plays the real bonus round, including spinning the bonus wheel for a bonus envelope.
I would be OK with seeing the same format used for the Australian version, even though it probably will take time for audiences to get used to it, whether or not they have watched the US version.
The new version is slower, and people winning more money in the element of the game which doesnât use the centrepiece is bad formatting. Last week ÂŁ9000 was up for grabs on the Toss Up puzzles and less than ÂŁ5000 from the actual wheel.
Weâre quite used to half hour shows being revived and expanded to an hour now in the UK and to be fair more recent efforts manage it better. The UK had six regular wheel games, the bonus round, the jackpot round and four sets of three âtoss upâ puzzles. A bit repetitive but no more so than some other format. The show had many faults but I thought the pacing was OK, but for an hour is a much bigger ask than half an hour.
As far as one hour WOF goes, I think this is about as good as it can get. It looks like Wheel (the set is fantastic), sounds like wheel and there are plenty of puzzles which wasnât always the case in classic series. I donât have a problem at all with non-wheel puzzles if it means they can play a high quantity of puzzles as this increases the play along factor. Iâm glad they got rid of the âletter turnerâ as that has been redundant for 20+ years. The US series should do away with it too when Vanna retires.
The best thing about the UK/US versions is they cut out most of the dead time waiting for the wheel to stop spinning, so it only takes around 5 seconds per spin. This was a massive issue (one of many) with Channel 9âs Million Dollar WOF series and as the wheel would take 15-20 seconds to stop every time which lead to a lot of dead air time (the wheel on The Price Is Right has the same problem).
Any news on this?
Surely Ten would have to be thinking about the prospect of a âWheel and Dealâ hour returning to Australian TV, with how successful for them the Deal reboot has been, a lower budget properly local show at 6:30 weeknights would be a better use of the format rights than a weekly show done in the UK.
Iâd almost worry that airing this version might be a negative on the format returning for a more normal weeknight slot, as it will change expectations about what the show would be.
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Nime are airimg Jeopardy with Stephen Fry on Saturdays at 7.30pm from April 20. If successful, i wonder if 10 will air Wheel with Graham Norton om Saturdays too?
As for a local 30 minute version, would a game show double (with Deal) work these days?
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7 successfully did Celebrity Family Feud and Celebrity Wheel on Saturdays back in the early 90s.
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A Saturday timeslot would seem to suggest Nine arenât expecting it to do great business.
And, if the Australian version of Wheel is the same as the UK one (which youâd expect it will be). Itâs pretty dire. That is one show that does not need to be 1 hour per episode!
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I can see this line of thinking, however Nine have really put in the effort with Saturday nights with adding a Sat edition of ACA and first run content the last few years etc.
They obviously see value in programming week round and it seems to be paying off for them, especially if they are able to further add new first run âlocalâ programming into those slots.
Whilst i donât think the show will be great, and is obviously done on the cheap off the back of the UK version, canât fault them for trying something different on a Saturday.
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I agree. I think it was deliberately commissioned for Saturdayâs.
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It could also be because movies are tanking on Saturdays so far this year despite VOZ total/national (more than recent years AFAIK and even lower than Sevenâs despite theirs on m/c in some markets - albeit earlier starts).
Seven donât need to rely on the 7:30pm and 9:45pm movies as much even if x3 markets, due to having the AFL split schedule to fall-back on and this is evident in the ratings each week.
Space Invaders does decent and maybe theyâre hoping for similar, to at least drive some better share and advertisers maybe, with this new show.
It should be noted, in recent times, Married and other programming would get Nine out to a big lead WTD, before Sevenâs AFL clawed them back on Thursday to Saturday and often itâs that last day of a ratings week that can decide results.
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Did the Aussie version have branding in line with the US version? One of the biggest barriers of the UK revival was they ditched everything that was familar about the UK version (from 20 years ago now, but fondly remembered) and replaced it with a far inferior US theme and gameplay elements from the US which just arenât that great.
Aussie networks just arenât really set up now for weekly one hour game shows although Seven have had some success with 1% Club, though it seems to move about a bit and just fills the gaps in between the reality franchises. Iâd guess Wheel will be buried at the backend of the week, or perhaps paired with the Graham Norton show, although thatâs not due back till towards the end of the year.
The branding in Australia I believe has always been distinct from the US and UK versions. The YouTube channel below contains many examples of Australian Wheel for comparison.
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I canât believe they removed the co-host.
Surely even Ten wouldnât do that here? Would be instant DOA.
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Ten is getting the UK Graham Norton version so Iâd say itâs definitely happening.
If everything else worked there would have been no complaints about removing the co-host, arguably unnecessary in terms of revealing the puzzles - though missed in terms of giving the host someone to bounce off.
If they had had a co-host the complaint would have been whatâs the point in a co-host when the letters reveal themselves?
Having seen a few eps of the UK version with Norton, if ever there was a show that didnât need to be expanded out to an hour - itâs surely wheel of fortune.
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