Wheel Of Fortune Making Big Changes To Bonus Round After Fan Backlash?
Fans are putting pressure on The Wheel of Fortune to change the Bonus Round.
Longtime fans of game shows can be just as hardcore as fans of anything else, and just as resistant to change. However, now fans of the iconic Wheel of Fortune are calling for a change to their favorite game show. After a number of recent contestants found themselves at a loss for words in front of Pat Sajak during the Bonus Round, fans are saying they think the extra component to the game needs to be changed.
The Sun reported on an active online thread, in which fans aired their grievances about the Wheel of Fortune bonus round. The complaints include those who thought the show needed to start bringing only “good players” to the Bonus Round, that the game needed to “improve the puzzle writing,” and that the round needed “more cash prizes and more expensive cars.”
The fan criticisms come after a number of recent Wheel of Fortune contestants struggled more than usual with the popular Bonus Round. For example, there was the heartbreaking example of Elizabeth Sweetly last week, who had gone on the show specifically in the hopes of getting a new car at the behest of her young daughter. Sweetly was in the running to win a new Chevy which would have been perfect, but unfortunately, she failed to name the answer “CANDY JAR” out of “__N_Y J_R”.
A month earlier there was the Wheel of Fortune contestant Octavia who understandably failed to guess “AUTOGRAPHED COPY” out of “A_____A____D ____”. Even host Pat Sajak, who has had some issues being a little mean to fans in the past few months, admitted it was a pretty tough puzzle.
Earlier that month there was Tom who, like Elizabeth Sweetly, lost out on a car in the Bonus Round — in his case, it was a Volkswagen. Confronted with only “______ ___H _H_ _D_A” the Wheel of Fortune player got relatively close with “Taking with the idea… toning, taming the idea.” Unfortunately, it was “TOYING WITH THE IDEA.”
The fan frustration with Wheel of Fortune perhaps should be unsurprising considering a growing list of recent controversies about the show. Just last month, fans praised Ben Tucker for calling out Pat Sajak for a puzzle being placed in the wrong category. The answer, which Tucker failed to get was “Taking a quick jog,” and was under the “Fun & Games” category.
Tucker argued jogging didn’t fit under “Fun & Games” and a lot of fans agreed with him.
At the same time Wheel of Fortune fans aren’t any happier with a lot of the recent choices for contestants. There was the eager contestant who chose to skip following the rules and pick up the million-dollar wedge before she was supposed to, and just a couple of weeks ago one player was called the worst contestant ever by many fans when she guessed the wrong letter on an absolutely obvious word.
