Here’s a nice little Halloween video for you all. It’s from the new Dutch edition of Wheel of Fortune. I know a lot of game show fans complain about our version, but after watching theirs I’m pretty happy with whatever we cobbled together. That little shanty town they have there is screwed up. The entire set is a video wall. The entire set. The backdrops, the decorations, the contestant podium, the puzzle board, everything. It’s all a giant LED video wall. Dollar values are tiny. It’s airing in the same time slot where a few times a year they play Deal or No Deal for five million euro and on Wheel there’s a few 0 euro spaces and some 50s and 100s. The highest is 500 it seems. You’re lucky to win more than 5,000 euro. The end game is equally as cheap. The game is unbearably slow as well. We go through two puzzles and that final spin thing in 27 minutes. Here’s the first round. I’m not throwing up the entire video because the site would weep in misery if it were to show up. They threw so much money onto their set it looks like they had no budget for anything else.
The one thing I will say is whenever our Wheel of Fortune gets a new set I’d love to have the audience on camera like they have. I do think it adds something to see their reaction and it’s better than the vast world of emptiness they seem to have from the YouTube clips of this season I’ve seen.
50 Responses
Hey, that's Carlos from Cash and Carlo!
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Ever get the feeling that the hostess is quite literally nothing more than eye candy on this version? She pretends to sweep the letters on a projected board.. and as they did the reveal, someone forgot to wait for her cue to start the reveal.. lol
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 4:35 pm
I actually like the look of this set, at least in theory… with some tweaks, I wouldn't mind seeing it imported to our version. But other than that, yeah, throw this show under the bus with that execrable Wheel 2000 thing from the '90s.
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Wow! This show is horribly slow. That set is giving me seizures, the money amounts are small, especially coming in the same time slot as DoND occasionally shows up, and the hostess is useless in this version. Million Dollar Wheel from Australia was 100x better than this mess, and it was canceled.
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 4:56 pm
When did Kelsey Grammer become a Dutch game show host? Just wonderin'.
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 5:05 pm
(Sorry for the double post here) What exactly happens when you land on "0"? "Joker"?
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 5:08 pm
When you land on 0, you have to call a correct letter to keep your turn–you don't get any money for it. The Joker is their version of the Free Spin. Verliesbeurt is "Lose a Turn", and Bankroet is "Bankrupt". I don't know about "Overval" (Attack)–no one's landed on it yet.
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 5:32 pm
To be fair on the original wheel pilot they did have a $0 space, but didn't work so they dropped it. Wheel is a tough show to mess up but they succeeded here. i mean even the uk version was cheap and a little slow paced but they still managed to get a long run.
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Agreed. And probably the one thing that irks me most is that the value of the spin is a flat rate–it doesn't multiply if you get multiple letters.
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Once, a long time ago, I had heard about someone proposing a Wheel space, probably for one of the international versions but maybe for ours (I honestly don't remember), that worked something like this: If you spun it, you could force one of your opponents to solve the puzzle right then and there, and if they couldn't do it you got their money total. However, if they were able to solve the puzzle they not only got the money in front of them, but your total as well. Unfortunately, that's all I remember, and my memory is so hazy that it's just possible my imagination made the whole thing up.
Still, since "Overval" evidently translates to "Attack," I wonder if it's not similar to what I've described; at the very least, some kind of "screw an opponent" twist to the game we haven't seen in our Wheel in nearly 35 years.
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 6:11 pm
The Filipino version has something similar, I think…
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Well, those are the Australian rules. That's the way they've played the game ever since it was introduced to the Continent way back in the 80's.
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Slow show perhaps, but that contestant over by the host is quite pleasing on the eyes.
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 6:23 pm
This Wheel isn't half as bad as some of the other international versions I've seen. Some of the ones from central Africa and Western Asia… oh my… make me die a little inside…
What's obvious to me here is the Dutch based their version on the French version and maybe a bit of one of the Italian incarnations. In both cases, the show is aimed more for being both half variety show, half game show (as a lot of games are seemingly approached the pond), as opposed to ours. If you've ever seen the French version, you'd see how slow theirs can go at times. BTW, if you pay attention to the one guy's turn, you'll see the wheel values ARE multiplied by the number of consonants that appear in the puzzle.
As for the set, it doesn't bother me that much, it works for their version, and there are some nooks and crannies I like, and the graphics package looks well done. It's not the Wheel I'd prefer and I'd gloat over, but then again, neither is ours here right now, and the same basic game is there, so if it's aimed at being half-variety and half-game, they didn't do half-bad. (There's a joke in there somewhere)… :P
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 6:24 pm
VANNA WHITE HAS BEEN USELESS ON THE AMERICAN VERSION OF WHEEL OF FORTUNE FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS! THEY PAY HER TO DO NOTHING BUT CLAP!
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Yes, it's called the "POWER" Space. One of the better ideas for a wedge I've seen the past few years…
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 8:49 pm
I was wrong. (Not the first time, not the last time.) "Overval" actually means "robbery" in Dutch. My guess is whoever spins it can steal an opponent's score, much like the Filipino version's "Power" space.
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 9:02 pm
What are you talking about?? Who would touch the letters without her??
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 10:45 pm
if they wanted they could just pop the letters up themselves, notice when the puzzle's solved it all just fills in. and Vanna hasn't been totally useless, her and Pat banter at the end, she's done a couple of prize plugs and models prizes aswell, but yeah, her main role was turnign the letters.
Posted on October 31st, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Holy hell it's even worse than you described!
I'd hit the host, though :)
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 12:03 am
Crap, I meant the hostess… Sorry…
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 12:04 am
I suppose it could always be worse… it could have some unholy abomination like the endgame of one of the German versions (Glüksrad, from the early '90s), which featured five criss-crossing words all on the same 13×4 matrix. (The same size as our puzzle board at the time, in fact, except ours had the four corners deleted just as they are on the modern board.) Talk about a visual mess!
Here's a sample of the "Superspiel," which actually ends well. Still, this thing just gives me a headache trying to contemplate (and not just because I don't speak German).
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 1:10 am
Sorry, I botched the YouTube link in that last comment. Here's the correct one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq4-JlIlKvg
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 1:11 am
I say get rid of Pat. Vanna could host the show by herself, and the board could be automated.
Because it really comes down to one thing — who would you rather stare at during the bulk of the show, Pat or Vanna?
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 2:27 am
Yes, I know about the German "Super Puzzle," it was there from day one of the German version, which started in the 80's, and the show itself, with its iconic Superpiel, reached comparable levels of ratings/shares success in Germany at one point as the American version did.
I liked the idea of the Super Puzzle, but I also know it wouldn't work here for a boatload of reasons I don't think I need to go into. However, it was a neat idea, and definitely a fresh take on otherwise the same basic ideas for puzzles on the show.
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 2:33 am
Maybe I should be less hard on our version — at least it didn't spend all of its budget on something stupid like a huge LED video wall (or did it?).
The wheel layout made Goen's layouts look good in comparison, while the puzzle board was cool but painfully out-of-sync with the hostess.
And even though I couldn't understand it I can still say that, due to its pace and the guy trying to solve by hitting his buzzer (which is actually a cool idea), this show feels rigged. Even moreso than our version, which is sad since the payouts here are painfully-small.
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 2:39 am
If you remember the 100E the woman started with from the Toss-Up (what a weird way to do it), the contestants earned no money during the whole thing… What a round! @_@
Also, I find it funny that, given the incredible glitziness and flashiness of that entire set, the wheel looks like something some guy built in his backyard with spare parts.
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 4:04 am
I can't help thinking that, given how much everyone feels like they can talk, and the one guy tried ringing in when it wasn't his turn… are those celebrities playing? That would explain some of the awfulness of the show.
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 10:43 am
Um…dude…have you played the video games?? She could NOT host the show, her hosting skills suck and that's nowhere near at best.
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 11:37 am
Just out of curiosity, in the bonus round, what letters would they use in place of R, S, T, L, N, & E?
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 11:39 am
It burns….IT BURNS!!!
It seems the show is more geared toward the contestants having fun, than the viewers being interested, however. But the puzzle board is just…just no. I love our puzzle board now. :D
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 12:04 pm
This show proves the old saying “Be lucky for what you have”. Sure we can complain about Wheel of Fortune here in the states, but compared to the Dutch, our set is great.
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 9:25 am
The good part, to me at least was the letter reveal. I kinda like the slide out of the Orange and the "flip" of the letter.
The Puzzle board is actually kinda awesome, in it's own right. If we went to a completely rectangular touch monitor like Glucksrad did for a while, we could have 5 row puzzles for long extremely.
JC, if memory serves, they use DRSTK E . K is a common used letter in Dutch
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Oh, by the way Attack/Overall is similiar to POWER on the Philippines version. You get to steal all of a contestants current score for the round.
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 3:03 pm
They give you R, S, T, and E, then you pick 3 consonants and a vowel.
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 3:18 pm
@ Daniel: Why get rid of Pat? He’s been doing a good job since 1982 (1984 on the nighttime version). Plus, it wouldn’t make sense for Vanna to host the show (not that she can’t).
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 5:56 pm
That is an updated theme. The original sounds like Production Music. Anybody know which company created the original; productions music?
Posted on November 2nd, 2009 at 3:19 am
As much as I like Vanna, if it's hosting the show, I'd rather stare at Pat. Vanna would be cute and funny because she's Vanna, but at least Pat is kinda humorous and kinda knows what he's doing in hosting…I say.
Posted on November 2nd, 2009 at 4:56 am
In addition, she truly is so instrumental to the show that it would honestly be an outrage to the hardcore "Wheel" viewers out there…and, OBVIOUSLY, there's a lot of them still (it's #1 for a reason!). It literally would be a tragedy! Her role though…is not needed though. Truly. It would probably also ruin Pat's hosting ability and some of the things we've loved about "Wheel". Some of the BEST moments of the show have been from the banter between them. Yes. She's needed in that sense I say…
Posted on November 2nd, 2009 at 4:59 am
I think it is. It had that feel to it that it was a special episode.
Posted on November 2nd, 2009 at 5:00 am
That was my feeling, too. Civilian contestants just aren't as gabby as this lot.
Posted on November 2nd, 2009 at 8:37 am
When Vanna decides to retire, Sony will likely discuss whether to replace her with another model, or let the game board operator do all the work. But until then, as long as she can still look fabulous in a gown and banter with Pat, Vanna's not going anywhere!
On the local lottery show I produced, we also went from trilons to a computer-animated game board…giving the hostess less to do. But she was so popular with the fans, eliminating her was not an option, either! So, instead of living the lie that she was still controlling the game board by merely touching squares, we had her introduce the contestants and model the prizes. We would have saved a lot of money by cutting her loose, but the fan outcry would have been deafening.
Posted on November 2nd, 2009 at 4:31 pm
I actually hadn't considered that, but looking at it again with that consideration in mind… yeah, it's certainly possible. I really wish I spoke Dutch (especially since it's precisely one-half of my heritage!).
Posted on November 2nd, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I'm not disagreeing with you, but you know… I can't help but wonder how much of Wheel's audience these days is comprised of "hardcore" Wheel Watchers from back in the day, and how many just enjoy the show for what it is and don't give a toss about the show's history.
You know the kind I mean: The ones who don't realize there was life before September 1983, who wouldn't know Susan Stafford from Eve or who think "Rolf Benirschke" is some kind of bronchial disease, who know nothing about the magical words "On Account," or even remember a time when you weren't spotted RSTLNE automatically. Or would care much if they did know about all of these things. For a show like this to be a successful as it has been for so many years, despite numerous re-inventions and format tweaks to the point where it now only superficially resembles the show that debuted on NBC in 1975, it must appeal to more than just the die-hard game show fandom (many of whom have demonstratably been turned off by all the changes to the game over they years), and I would suspect that casual Wheel viewers who just like the show and aren't concerned with where it came from probably outnumber the "hardcores" by about a 4:1 ratio. And that's probably conservative. If anyone ever takes this poll for real, the differential could very likely be much wider.
Posted on November 2nd, 2009 at 6:13 pm
And I thought CBS version was the only one I know that has the cheap wheel.
Posted on November 3rd, 2009 at 2:43 am
It would seem that the reason it took FOUR MINUTES to play one round was because the host and the contestants talk way too much. That kind of stuff should be saved for between rounds or at the end of the show.
Posted on December 7th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
I enjoy shows with LED video walls, but I think the use of the LED video wall is better in a news or sports setting. This show was giving me a headache with all the lights going non stop. Great use of technology, but it needs to be minimized. Although, it might be hard to watch this version of Wheel of Fortune no matter what the background is.
Posted on December 14th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
I enjoy shows with LED video walls, but I think the use of the LED video wall is better in a news or sports setting. This show was giving me a headache with all the lights going non stop. Great use of technology, but it needs to be minimized. Although, it might be hard to watch this version of Wheel of Fortune no matter what the background is.
Posted on December 14th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
I enjoy shows with LED video walls, but I think the use of the LED video wall is better in a news or sports setting. This show was giving me a headache with all the lights going non stop. Great use of technology, but it needs to be minimized. Although, it might be hard to watch this version of Wheel of Fortune no matter what the background is.
Posted on December 14th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
I enjoy shows with LED video walls, but I think the use of the LED video wall is better in a news or sports setting. This show was giving me a headache with all the lights going non stop. Great use of technology, but it needs to be minimized. Although, it might be hard to watch this version of Wheel of Fortune no matter what the background is.
Posted on December 14th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
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