Wheel of Fortune

Wheel of Fortune was a game show loosely based around the game of Hangman, and as everyone likes Hangman, the show was sure to be a success.

Initially, the show would begin with the host asking a 50/50 question and if the contestant was correct, they could spin the wheel. If a player was incorrect, or lost his/her turn, the next contestant alongside would be asked another question to win control. This took far up too much time and there wasn't always time for the fourth round, which was rather annoying. This was changed much later on, with the host asking a question and whoever buzzed in first with the right answer got the first go, with no questions in between, and worked much better.

There were some good tactics of play during the main game; the contestant could carry on spinning the wheel and choosing letters until they hit a 'Lose a Turn', 'Bankrupt', guessed a letter incorrectly, or knew the answer, so would you carry on spinning even though you could lose it all, or just answer straight away? And whenever a contestant solved a puzzle correctly, they could choose from one of three prizes, which was a nice feature.

Afterwards, the highest scoring contestant would go on to play for one of the star prizes, and in the final, the contestant would be told what subject the puzzle was, and then had to choose 5 consonants and 1 vowel, with any letter appearing being lit up. The puzzle was either very easy or very hard, depending on the letter choices.

The first host was Nicky Campbell, who was rather smarmy. He might be a really good presenter on current affairs programmes, but he's not the best game show host. Bradley Walsh was quite good and it was a shame he didn't do it for longer. John Leslie was wooden and used the same script each show, and Paul Hendy was more or less the same as John Leslie.

Wheel of Fortune had a good concept, but with an acquired taste of presenters.

My favourite presenter was Nicky Campbell who was a class above the other presenter, showing a genuine warmth and regard for the contestants. Answering the initial question is secondary to having the skill to identify the necessary names or phrases. Potential winners must have the nerve to carry on spinning the wheel for more points even after it is clear that they know the answer. The eventual winner gets to go for £20,000 or a brand new car. Most winners seem to go for pick the envelope for the car, making me suspicious that the car was in both envelopes. The final puzzle is either very easy or very difficult dependant on how lucky the winner is with their letter choices. More letters in the answer can be helpful. Very short answers can be very difficult.

The cringe factor of this show is incredibly high.

I remember watching Nicky Campbell on it, kissing some ladies on the show and not others. I thought it weird he would go up and kiss contestants. Very cringe and a bit 'creepy'. You wouldn't see that today.

Bradley Walsh is awful on it. He's so unfunny it's ridiculous. He's very different to the character he is today. On the show he would usually belittle and ridicule the contestants in a way that wasn't even funny. His sense of humour was simply rubbish. A loud mouth annoying character. You don't have to look at the contestants faces for long to realise most of the time they feel uncomfortable in his presence.

Makes me wonder why they would apply for the show. Maybe just for the prizes.

I'm currently watching some of the 1988 shows and surprised by how loud the audience are for the time. I expect they were told to act like that maybe to reflect its American cousin. I don't think the over-the-top shouting was on later episodes, more just clapping as the wheel went round (for some reason)! The set of the early series is distinctive, seemingly made of that big mess of wrapping paper that ends up covering the living room floor on Christmas morning. At the time of the first series, I was a teenage geek playing computer games and remember my parents watching it with that theme tune echoing up the stairs. As for the Metro City, I can almost feel the hard plastic and picture all that exposed paintwork in the interior. The shows I remember actually watching at the time were from around 1997, and on re-watching them I'm struck by how hyperactive the young Bradley Walsh was, like a child after having too much Ribena. I'm sure the resistance of the wheel varied over time, it seems 'fast' on the early series. Anyway, it's quite entertaining and broadcast at least a couple of times a day on the Challenge channel if you're craving a bit of quiz nostalgia.