Hi, everyone. This is acwof.
Another season of Wheel of Fortune has come to a close, so while we are soaking in the tomato bath from our season finale week’s skunking, I thought it would be a great idea to reflect on how the season went. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
Season 36 followed a milestone 35th season, and we ended up celebrating another milestone during Season 36, that milestone being the 7,000th episode.
There were not many changes, this season. The only changes were the letters the contestants call showing up on the screen in a small white circle in black print, with a red slash if the letter wasn’t in the puzzle. The other change was the yellow $900 wedge, which was only used in Round 3/Prize Puzzle Round, now being used throughout the entire Main Game, replacing the yellow $600 wedge.
Changes used last season (Mystery Round $10K Spin I.D. Giveaway, choosing your Bonus Round category, etc.), were used for this season.
We started Season 36 off strong with a 4-1 Bonus Round win week with Teacher’s Week, and then got skunked the following two weeks. We wouldn’t get skunked again until early April, and despite a stellar Wheel Around the World Week and an above average Aulani Hawaii Vacation II week, things went downhill in Bonus Round Land, after that, and continued until the end of the season, where we would see only ONE Bonus Round win from the last six weeks of the season.
Now, it’s time to go a little more in-depth, and see what REALLY went down with the statistics, and the good/bad/ugly moments.
Note: Statistics courtesy of the following source:
andynwof.wordpress.com/author/andynwof/
This season, all of our contestants won a combined grand total of $9,322,621 in cash and prizes. Compared to Season 35’s $9,392,010 given out, this is about $70K less than what was given out last season.
Girlfriend Getaways gave away the most amount in winnings this season with $331,674 in cash and prizes, while Island Hopping gave away the least amount with $165,174 being given away.
There were only 6 Million Dollar Bonus Rounds this season, which is probably a record for lowest amount of Million Dollar Bonus Rounds for a season ever since the inception of the Million Dollar Wedge back in Season 26.
The
Blue podium came out on top this season with 75 wins in the Main Game, followed by Red in second with 69 wins, and Yellow in third for the second time in a row with only 51 wins.
Now that we’ve covered some statistics, let’s move on to the good moments.
First of all, we celebrated Wheel of Fortune’s 7,000th episode, which happened during Big Money Week. This was a big milestone that followed another milestone, which was the 35th season.
We had a $100,000 win, which happened on 11/16/2018, and this saved us from a skunking the week it was won (GAC: Washington D.C.). This would be our only $100K win of the season, and our first solo $100K win since Season 33.
We had a handful of 4-1 Bonus Round Weeks, those weeks being Teacher’s Week, GAC: Nashville, and Wheel Around the World.
We had some epic moments, from Sheena’s $64K plus Main Game win during Shopping Spree Week, to Monica’s come from behind victory and $45K Bonus Round win during the first Secret Santa Week, and even some impressive Bonus Round solves, like PORCELAIN GRAVY BOAT and COZY NOOK.
We even saw the extremely rare instance of a former contestant returning to play Wheel of Fortune for a second time since the ‘one and done’ rule was established. Immani Brown-Turner returned this season for European Vacation Week after a technical difficulty in her first appearance back in Season 34. She bested her first performance by winning more in cash/prizes, and also won the Main Game, to boot.
We also had some representation from the BAV Boards, with some of our members becoming contestants, this season.
The following are a list of members who were on Season 36. Please note that this list is in no particular order.
serogo
gmaslen
psychdrdoug
bevy
sandiegolady
wheelwin3
pattybakes
zluvr
gjt
ikorian
mrszimme2001
gameshowqueen
magicman
tyrannasaurus
Note: If I forgot to add anyone, please let me know.
If my math is correct, we had 14 members become contestants this season.
It may not be as much as last season, but at least we still got some representation.
Now, it’s time for the bad.
We only had 62 wins in the Bonus Round, this season. This is 3 less than Season 35’s 65 Bonus Round wins.
Even though we came close, we did not have a perfect Bonus Round week, this season. We haven’t had one since Season 32.
There were no episodes filmed ‘on location’. This means that Wheel of Fortune did not film any episodes outside of its Culver City comfort zone.
We had one Main Game puzzle go unsolved this season. This puzzle was a Toss-Up (SNEAK PREVIEW), and happened towards the end of the season.
And now it’s time for the ugly. Brace yourselves, everyone.
This season, we had six $100K losses (11/09/2018, 12/13/2018, 01/25/2019, 04/04/2019, 04/05/2019, 05/30/2019), and two $1 Million losses (01/11/2019 and 01/16/2019). The Million Dollar losses happened just a mere five days apart from each other, and two of these $100K losses happened back-to-back on a skunked week. This wasn’t as bad as what happened in Season 35, though.
Speaking of getting skunked, this season also set a record for highest number of skunked weeks, with EIGHT skunked weeks. FOUR of these skunked weeks happened back-to-back-to-back-to-back, resulting in TWENTY straight Bonus Round losses.
We were skunked on the following weeks:
Gone Fishin’
California Coast
Delicious Destinations
Island Hopping
Big Money Week
America the Beautiful
R&R
Rail Tour
Like every season of Wheel of Fortune, we had some cringy mis-solves (BRIDAL & GOLD SHOWER, ELECTRIC COFFEE DRINKER, etc.).
And as always, our Bonus Round puzzles were more difficult than ever before (GLITZY AFFAIR, SWIFT JACKRABBIT, etc.), with constant appearances by letters not usually called in the Bonus Round, like J, K, and Q. A handful of these puzzles used just one word towards the end of the season.
I know some of you may not have enjoyed this season, and probably deem it as Wheel of Fortune’s worst season, but when you look at all the positive things that came out this season over the negative things, Season 36 wasn’t as bad as we perceived it. After all, it is just a game, and it’s the fun and thrill of the game that matters the most.
Now that we’re through with the season, what did YOU think of Season 36? What were your favorite moments/least favorite moments? Any final thoughts of this season? And finally, what are your initial thoughts as we head into Season 37?
Note: Once again, please be mindful when posting, and do not go overboard with your comments. As I’ve mentioned before, posts going overboard WILL be deleted.
With all of that being said, this is acwof signing off for Season 36! I plan to be back for Season 37, and trust me, I have a feeling that the upcoming season will be our best season yet.
We already have a handful of our members in the contestant pool, and with tapings for Season 37 on the horizon, who knows what Season 37 will bring.
But now that we’ve reflected on Season 36, it’s time to find something else to do as we continue to get rid of the skunk smell, and wait for Season 37 to commence.
Anybody know any good songs?
- acwof
