06Jul2008
Weekend Replay: NZ “Wheel of Fortune”
It was announced over the past few days that the United States edition of Wheel of Fortune will be adding a chance to win a million dollars to the game. A complete contrast of our version would be the New Zealand edition of the popular Hangman on Crack game. Check out the game where a five grand plasma television is a great end game prize and where around $3,000 is a pretty decent final end game score. But hey, they do offer a car at least. Basically it’s our version with a tenth of the budget.
Well, been away for a week, so now I’m playing catchup…
While I like some of the stylistic features, including the set, wheel design *excluding the wheel layouts that give me flashbacks to CBS’s version*, even the little half-humorous hint the hostess gives in introducing the puzzle, they NEED, desparately, a new host.
Very generic, he spends too much time describing the game status throughout the puzzles, instead of just keeping the game moving with “1 C” or “150″ he goes “and the wheel stops at 150 dollars for you,” not to mention that he tries to “tempt” players with vowels at seemingly random points in the game…
My “time-wasting, doesn’t matter, why bother” suggestion: watch Woolery a few times to work on your speed and tone *guy does seem bored too*, and watch Sajak a few times to work on your sarcasm/humor and rhythm…
Well, this seems like the bastard child of the Australian rules, i.e. land on a value and you get that value not multiplied by the number of letters in the puzzle, and a few of the American sounds and set designs. The audience behind the host idea comes from France. It’s not that bad, though. The host needs some help, but what do you expect from a small country where there are more sheep than people? Not much to choose from.
BTW, the budget is not as bad as it seems. For a small country like that, it’s actually pretty nice. If you wanna check out a small budget, check out the Finnish version. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsDZTj0TBKo&feature=related
I found a few clips on youtube. It looks like a college TV affair. Heck, the sound effects sound like they came straight from an original NES.
OMG, that Finnish version made me smile :)
I’m sorry, what was the topic? That Tracey is a hottie. :-)
I liked the NZ version. I guess the made the show a more relaxed atmosphere even though this is “The Wheel” were talking about.
Wow…I know NZ is a small country but I think that’s the first time I’ve seen a set so small the audience had to be on set lol!