Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune

Infobox Television
show_name = Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune


caption =
genre = Game Show
creator = Merv Griffin (USA)
developer =
presenter = Host
Tim Campbell
Hostess
Kelly Landry
starring =
voices =
narrated = Simon Diaz
theme_music_composer = Ross Inglis
opentheme =
endtheme =
country = AUS
language = English
num_seasons = 1
num_episodes = 25
list_episodes =
producer = Jodi Boylan
executive_producer = Paul Waterhouse
Aaron Smith
location = GTV-9, Richmond, Victoria, Australia
camera =
runtime = Approx. 22 minutes
network = Nine Network
picture_format = 576i (SDTV)
audio_format = Stereo
first_run =
first_aired = 26 May 2008
last_aired = 27 June 2008
preceded_by = Wheel Of Fortune (1981-2006, formerly broadcasted on the Seven Network)
followed_by =
related =
website = http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/tvshow.aspx?sectionid=8685&sectionname=wheeloffortune
imdb_id = 1222527
tv_com_id =

"Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune" was an Australian television game show, broadcasted on the Nine Network from 26 May 2008 to 27 June 2008. It was a revamped version of the classic Seven Network game show "Wheel of Fortune", which was retired from the network in July 2006 after 25 years. The show was hosted by former "Home and Away" star Tim Campbell [cite web|first=David|last=Knox|title=Nine confirms the Wheel deal|url=http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2008/03/nine-confirms-wheel-deal.html|date=2008-03-23|accessdate=2008-03-27] , with Kelly Landry as the letter spinner [cite web|title=Can Kelly change 9's wheel of fortune?|url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,26278,23635456-5013560,00.html|date=2008-05-02|accessdate=2008-05-04] .

Due to a strong competition win to rival Seven Network's "Deal or No Deal" hosted by Andrew O'Keefe, the series was axed on June 27, 2008, after only five weeks on air. [cite web|first=David|last=Knox|title=Axed: Wheel of Fortune|url=http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2008/06/axed-wheel-of-fortune.html|publisher=tvtonight.com.au|date=2008-06-27|accessdate=2008-06-27]

Gameplay

The rules were exactly the same as the show's predecessor on the Seven Network:
*Scoring - The Australian version gives the player a flat rate of the amount they spun up, rather than multiplying the amount spun up per instances of the consonant in the puzzle. For example, if a player landed on $530 and called a T, of which there were three in the puzzle, they would be awarded only $530, rather than $1,590.
*Buying a Vowel - Like before, vowels are $50 each, and are a flat rate. They can be purchased at any time during a contestant's turn before the wheel is spun, but not only at the beginning of a player's turn.

pecial Wedges

*Bankrupt/Million/Bankrupt: Round 1 featured a four-part wedge with a Million prize sandwiched by two Bankrupts (where the million took up two parts of the wedge and each bankrupt took up one part of the wedge). The wedge was treated like a prize wedge, and if the contestant landed on the Million and guessed a consonant correctly the space was removed from the wheel.
*Mystery Wedges: Round 2 featured the "Mystery wedges," similar to the US version. A player who landed here could either take $500, or decline that money and turn over the wedge to reveal either a prize or a Bankrupt. After one Mystery wedge was revealed, the other acted as a $500 cash space for the rest of the round. Unlike the original version, the contestant won the prize whether or not he or she solved the puzzle of the round.

Differences from previous versions

One major difference from the predecessor was that contestants no longer play for prizes, but for cash. The "securing money" rule was still also in place, however, money that was locked in was not displayed and was only added to the final scores at the end of the show.

Justifying its name, "Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune" introduced a $1 million value prize wedge on the wheel during the first round. If a contestant managed to both land the wedge during the first round, solve the puzzle for the first round, avoid Bankrupt for the remainder of the game "and" proceed to the final round, the $1 million wedge appeared on the prize wheel, giving the contestant a chance to win the money if they again spun it up and managed to solve the final puzzle. Otherwise, the top prize was $200,000. [cite web|first=David|last=Knox|title=A night at Nine's top dollar|url=http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2008/05/night-at-nines-top-dollar.html|date=2008-05-22|accessdate=2008-05-22] . For every night the $200,000 was not won, another $200,000 wedge was added to the Bonus Wheel on the next episode until it was won, meaning that $200,000 was guaranteed to be won.

Other minor differences included the Flip Ups being renamed to their American counterparts; they were called Toss Ups. The first Toss Up was done in the cold opening before Tim and Kelly were introduced, while the second one was done before the fourth (and usually final) round. The Prize Puzzle switched to a Cash Up, in which $500 was given away, instead of a prize related to the puzzle.

On the eleventh episode, contestant Carl Young, landed on the one of the eleven $200,000 wedges and managed to solve "Little Miss Sunshine" to win it and become the biggest winner in Aussie Wheel history with $207,910. After this episode, instead of adding $200,000 wedges for each night the $200,000 was not won, car wedges were added and kept on increasing in frequency on the wheel until the car was won.

"Celebrity Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune"

From June 23 to 27, 2008, "Celebrity Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune" aired as the celebrity version of the show. Celebrities that appeared on the series of specials included Bert Newton, Kerri-Anne Kennerley, Denise Drysdale, Michala Banas, Dawn Fraser, Livinia Nixon, John Wood, Andrew Gaze, Nicole Livingstone, Rachael Beck and Blair McDonough. On June 25, 2008, Rachel Beck was the first celebrity and the second and last contestant ever to win $200,000. The final special also resulted in being the final episode of the show itself.

Ratings and critical response

Ratings for the new series was expected to top now-rival "Deal or No Deal", and to lead-in to the 6:00 news. However, from the start, ratings were dismal, peaking at 700,000 viewers on the first night. Since then, viewership went on a decline, and by the end of its short run, Wheel had around on average 450,000 viewers a night, compared to the almost-1,000,000 watchers for Deal.

Initially, a report stated that former host and hostess John Burgess and Adriana Xenides didn't like the show, calling it "dry," [cite web|first=Richard|last=Clune|title=Reinvent the Wheel Burgo|url=http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23827051-2902,00.html|date=2008-06-08|accessdate=2008-06-08] Adriana has given positive feedback stating that it was "refreshing" and she loves the "... very cool colours ... and the opportunity of winning a million dollars, that's excellent." She also stated that John was "probably misrepresented." [cite web|title=Xenides doesn't hate new Wheel show|url=http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/06/13/Xenides_doesnt_hate_new_Wheel_show|date=2008-06-13|accessdate=2008-06-20] No other former emcees of the show have given their opinion on the now-cancelled show.

Legacy

The show's million dollar wedge concept was adopted for the 26th season of the US version that began in September 2008, with one change: instead of the One Million Dollar Wedge appearing only in the first round, it is available during the first three rounds until claimed. The traditional US bonus wheel structure will still be used, with the $100,000 envelope on the wheel being replaced by the One Million Dollar envelope only if the player can advance with the same win conditions, with the dollar amounts being concealed.http://www.wheeloffortune.com/announcements/?article=18

References