WoF Retro Recap: June 1, 2001 — SEASON 18 FINALE

EPISODE #3510: GARAGE SALE

Toss-Up #1: SHOW BIZ

_ H _ / _ _ _ _ S E N
R _ T I N _ _

Abel knew that this show was measured on THE NIELSEN RATINGS. The final panel of S18…

Abel Colon: had served 23 yrs. in the Air Force as a helicopter technician and a resource advisor for the A.F. commander married with two kids from Albuquerque, NM

Brian Holt: computer science major who did some independent software development (and he even toured and built the stages for the boy band *NSYNC) from Tampa

Jackie Vickrey: sign language interpreter married to Corey w/ two nieces from Florissant, MO

Round 1: THINGS

T for trouble was how Abel started. Brian did all the work here — a $350 P, two N’s for another $1,400, two I’s, a $450 L, O, a $700 S, a $2,500 C, a $600 G, and a $600 R pair.

C L I P – O N
_ _ R R I N G S

He solved CLIP-ON EARRINGS for $6,100.

SOLE DUD: T (Abel)

FEATURED PRIZE: ScubaPro.com scuba gear (SCUBA) worth $2,500

Jackpot Round: WHERE ARE WE?

Brian was off and running w/ a $600 S pair, but then LaT. Second, Jackie called up four T’s for $1,200, two I’s, three H’s for another $900, but then a baddie of G. Third, Abel tried an R for the Free SPIN, a $900 N, O, but then F for flunk. Back to Brian who said three P’s for $1,200, but LaTed out again. Jackie next BANKRUPTed near Jackpot to lose $1,850 (she was right in saying “nuts”). Abel followed w/ a $10,500 L trio, a $1,200 C pair, but he then squandered his opportunity on Jackpot ($12,300) w/ a questionable call of J. Luckily, he had that FS. After saying the last consonant of a $600 D…

I T ‘ S / C _ L L_ D
T H _ / H _ P P I _ S T
P L _ C _ / O N / _ _ R T H

…he solved IT’S CALLED THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH and got the bonus answer of Disneyland for $15,950 in that round alone.

DUDS: G (Jackie), F (Abel), J (Abel)
LaTs: 2 (Brian)
SOLE BANKRUPT: Jackie
UNCLAIMED JACKPOT: $12,900

Abel: $16,950/Brian: $6,100/Jackie: ZIP

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FEATURED PRIZE #2: FireMagic BBQ from Robert H. Peterson Co. worth $4,500 (BBQ)

Round 3: SAME NAME

The scoreless Jackie led the way w/ a $7K S pair, two A’s, a $550 T, three E’s, a $600 L, a $300 N, and two I’s and O’s to clean out the vowels. But after a $500 V, she said F for flunk. Abel next said a C and two P’s at $400 apiece, and a $600 R pair. Board…

T E L E V I S I O N / &
S P A C E
P R O _ R A _

He solved TELEVISION & SPACE PROGRAM for $1,800.

SOLE DUD: F (Jackie)

Abel: $18,750/Brian: $6,100/Jackie: BAD SHAPE

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Toss-Up #2: RHYME TIME

N E A _ / _ _ D
_ _ _ R

Brian took too long on the third word (and he said it after the time’s up signal), allowing Abel to win the money that’s NEAR AND DEAR to his heart.

Speed-Up: PEOPLE

It’s a $6K Final Spin to wrap up the season!

Abel: 2 T’s
Brian: S
Jackie: 2 R’s
Abel: H (DUD)
Brian: I (WHY?!)

_ R _ T _ R _ _ _
T _ I _ S

Brian nailed FRATERNAL TWINS for $6K, but he should’ve said the two N’s to win the game.

SOLE DUD: H (Abel)

FINAL SCORES
Abel: $19,750/Brian: $12,100/Jackie: LAST PARTING GIFTS VICTIM THAT SEASON 

GT: $31,850
BANKRUPT TRASH: $1,850

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Bonus Round

The remaining prizes besides $25K were…

• Volkswagen Beetle
• Jeep Wrangler
• Infiniti G20 sedan

From W-EEL, Abel chose the W.

Category: AROUND THE HOUSE

Stingy RSTLNE help…

_ _ _ _
_ R _ _

BMDO added nothing but three B’s…

B _ B _
_ R _ B

He got BABY CRIB to become the second and final $25K winner this week, giving him a final all-cash total of $44,750.

MY RATING: 7

WoF Retro Recap: May 18, 2001 — DALLAS FINALE (and 3,500TH SHOW)

This episode was the last one of their two-week stay at the Dallas Convention Center.

EPISODE #3500: BEST FRIENDS WEEK (DALLAS)

Toss-Up #1: TITLE

T H _ / _ _ R _ E
M _ _ _ _ T E _ R S

Becky & Sherri solved the Alexander Dumas classic “THE THREE MUSKETEERS”. Playing on this milestone episode were…

Becky Barr & Sherri Spradlin: Becky was married for 30 years to David with two kids, two kids-in-law and three grandkids while Sherri was married to Larry w/ two daughters and her parents were married over 55 years; they met while shopping

Kurt Dieckman & Mike Chase: Kurt, married to Kristin, worked for a healthcare company wholesaler while Mike (born in Ohio) was a sports marketing specialist for a major regional sports network; they met as sophomores while they were working at a residence dorm on opposite sides of the same floor

Amelia Mena & Kirk Moreno: Amelia was a labor & delivery nurse who graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington while Kirk graduated in broadcast communications with a minor in theater and wanted to pursue a computer science degree; they met in 2nd grade and had been friends since 9th

Amelia also said that Kirk’s zipper on his pants was undone in a class photo — oops.

Round 1: PROPER NAME

B & S started w/ a T for the AA.com gift tag, a $1,600 R pair, a $1K S duo, but then E for end of turn. Second, the men BANKRUPTed right out of the gate. Third, A & K called up a $700 F, but then M for mistake. On B & S’s second turn, they picked an $800 L pair, but then a not-so-victorious call of V. The men then said a $400 D, a B for the Free SPIN, a $500 Y, and a $300 H to clean out the consonants. We had…

F _ R S T / L _ D Y
L _ _ R _ / B _ S H

They IDed former FIRST LADY LAURA BUSH for $1,200. And Pat slumped over the railing before realizing the zipper of his pants went undone — LOL!

DUDS: E (B & S), M (A & K), V (B & S)
SOLE BANKRUPT: K & M

FEATURED PRIZE: pair of Lee Iacocca bikes worth $2,788 (EV BIKES)

Jackpot Round: PHRASE

Kurt & Mike led off w/ a $1,400 R pair, but then T for trouble and used their FS. Next up were a $600 S, two A’s, five N’s for another $4,500, six E’s, and a $1K F pair. Board…

A / F R _ E N _ / _ N
N E E _ / _ S / A
F R _ E N _ / _ N _ E E _

They realized that A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED for $7K.

SOLE DUD: T (men)

B & S: $1K/K & M: $8,200/A & K: NIL

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FEATURED PRIZE #2: AA Vacations trip to the Hilton Beach Resort & Spa in Hawaii worth $9K

Round 3: BEFORE & AFTER

An $800 R got A & K started, but they got DQed for picking a T as a vowel. Second, B & S spotted a $600 N, a $900 S, two E’s, two T’s for the bikes, and an $800 H before buying A for awful. Third, the men BANKRUPTed via the $10K’s left side after picking an $800 F. On A & K’s second turn, they lit up a $600 M pair, four O’s, but then D for dud. B & S missed again w/ L. The men followed w/ a $350 P but then a baffling dud of K. A & K then uncovered a $600 W, the last vowel of U, a $500 B, and a $300 C to leave only one letter remaining…

C O W B O _
S P U R / O F / T H E
M O M E N T

In a COWBOY SPUR OF THE MOMENT, they won their first $2,050.

DUDS: A (B & S), D (A & K), L (B & S), K (men)
SOLE BANKRUPT: men
SOLE DQ: T pick as a vowel by A & K

B & S: $1K/K & M: $8,200/A & K: $2,050

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Before the other Toss-Up, Pat acknowledged this was their 3,500th show.

Toss-Up #2: PLACE

A / _ _ D / _ _ D
_ _ _ _ _ F _ S T

Take away the redundant A, and you get a theme week that’s coming up on Monday in our current season — Kurt & Mike solved A BED AND BREAKFAST.

Speed-Up: RHYME TIME

The last Final Spin from Dallas was $1,600.

K & M: 2 R’s
A & K: 2 T’s
B & S: S
K & M: 3 L’s

S _ _ / _ _ _ / L _ T _ R
_ L L _ _ _ T _ R

The men solved “SEE YOU LATER, ALLIGATOR” for $8K and the win.

FINAL SCORES
B & S: $1K/K & M: $17,200/A & K: $2,050

GT: $20,250
BANKRUPT TRASH: $800

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Bonus Round

The remaining non-$25K prizes were a pair of GMC Yukons (over $64K) and 1,000,000 American Airlines advantage miles (this roughly translated to $25K in travel). Kurt chose the H.

Category: PHRASE

Stingy RSTLNE help…

_ _ _ _ / _ T
_ _

PMKU filled in an entire word…

_ _ _ _ / _ T
U P

…just the third one, and they got the first word wrong w/ CHARGE, PUMP and JUMP, so they didn’t JAZZ IT UP for the AA Miles.

MY RATING: 6

WoF Retro Recap: April 13, 2001

On this theme week, they paid tribute to the shopping era back in the 80’s. According to the timeline, this was second and final time they did this theme (the first was in the previous season). Here’s the conclusion of that week.

EPISODE #3475: RETRO WEEK

Toss-Up #1: PHRASE

_ _ _ _ / T _
T H _ / _ C C A S I _ N

Greg was here to RISE TO THE OCCASION. Wrapping up this week were…

Greg Austin: a guy said that he’s the “best waiter in Grand Rapids” (Pat wanted to challenge that) from Wyoming, MI

Dorothy Veneklasen: married lady of 49 years w/ two kids and three grandkids who formerly inspected the Space Shuttle program from Tehachapi, CA

Cat Carvelli: student at Arizona State majoring in psychology who was on the Dean’s list from Sudbury, MA

Gift Tag: ourhouse.com

In the front game, they threw in special shopping wedges. If a player solved w/ that wedge without hitting BANKRUPT, they would choose one of three prizes offered. For this game, we had…

• Retro music package ($9K+)
• Trip to New Orleans ($5K+)
• Trip to Paris ($5K+)

Round 1: PROPER NAME

Greg started w/ a $300 R, but then S for sorry. Dorothy controlled the rest of the round for a $400 T, a $1,600 L pair, and a $450 D.

D _ L L _
_ _ R T _ _

She IDed country music legend DOLLY PARTON for $2,450.

SOLE DUD: S (Greg)

The first Shopping wedge was in play (this one’s decorated with the Dalmatian).

Jackpot Round: FILL IN THE NUMBER

But Dorothy BANKRUPTed near Jackpot right out of the gate. Second Cat called up an R for the Free SPIN, three S’s for the Shopping wedge, an $1,800 T trio, six E’s, an $800 H pair, a $1,200 L pair, and two O’s, followed by a $900 F pair, a $600 D, a $500 M, three I’s, but then LaT. Luckily, she had that Free SPIN and obviously turned that in. Next up were four A’s… a $600 V…an $800 B pair…and a $600 N before we finally looked at…

T H E / F A M E D
H E I N _ / L A B E L
B O A S T S / O F
# # / V A R I E T I E S

She correctly solved THE FAMED HEINZ LABEL BOASTS OF ## VARIETIES (She said BLANK for a substitute of ##, which was accepted.) and IDed the missing number as 57 for $9,800. But she also has that Shopping wedge, and she chose…the trip to Paris (6n stay at the Concord Senzonar Hotel courtesy of Collette Vacations) worth $5,314.

SOLE LaT: Cat
SOLE BANKRUPT: Dorothy
UNCLAIMED JACKPOT: $9,750

Dorothy: $2,450/Cat: $15,114 cash & Paris/Greg: $1K

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The second Shopping wedge was put in play (it shows shopping bags).

Round 3: THING

Cat’s initial choices were a $350 M, but then S for sorry while on $3,500. Greg, however, cashed in on top dollar w/ a T, then he said an E, a $1,200 N pair and repeated the S (NOT acknowledged as a duplication). Dorothy next missed w/ D. Cat then said a $700 L pair, two A’s, a $1,200 R duo, and three G’s for the ourhouse.com gift tag. Board…

R _ L L _ N G
G A R M E N T / _ A G

She would put another $3K cash & gift tag in her ROLLING GARMENT BAG.

(NOTE: Greg’s $600 spins in this round mistakenly used video from Round 1 w/ $2,500 visible.)

DUDS: S (Cat), D (Dorothy)
SOLE DQ: Greg’s S repeat

Dorothy: $2,450/Cat: $18,114 cash & prizes/Greg: $1K

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Toss-Up #2: CLASSIC TV

T H E / O _ D
C _ U _ _ E

Dorothy IDed “THE ODD COUPLE”.

Speed-Up: BEFORE & AFTER

Watch out Cat — it’s a $6K Final Spin!

Dorothy: T
Cat: R (DUD)
Greg: N (DUD)
Dorothy: L
Cat: S
Greg: C (DUD)
Dorothy: W
Cat: two H’s
Greg: D (DUD)
Dorothy: foolish D repeat right after
Cat: M

H _ L _ / T _ M _
S H _ W –
_ _ _

Cat may very well have lost $24K and the win w/ an incorrect response of HALF TIME SHOW-BIZ. Greg then inserted triple F’s…

H _ L F / T _ M _
S H _ W –
_ F F

…he solved HALF TIME SHOW-OFF for $18K and the upset win!

DUDS: R (Cat), N (Greg), C (Greg), D (Greg)
DQs: 2 (Dorothy’s D repeat, Cat’s missolve)

FINAL SCORES
Dorothy: $3,450/Cat: $18,114 cash & prizes/Greg: $19K

GT: $40,564
NO BANKRUPT TRASH!

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Bonus Round

Besides the cash, the three vehicles remaining to be won are the PT Cruiser, the VW Beetle, and the Mustang Convertible. Greg picked the L.

Category: FICTIONAL CHARACTER

This is the name of the rabbit from “Bambi”…

T _ _ _ _ E R

GMCI added just one more letter…

T _ _ M _ E R

He IDed THUMPER and after beating up the host for a little bit, we learn that he won a Chrysler PT Cruiser worth $24,832, giving him a final total of $43,832 cash & car. His supporter was his good friend Marvin.

In the end, there was a video montage of what Vanna wore in the past.

MY RATING: 7

WoF Retro Recap: April 2, 2001

EPISODE #3466: TRAVEL USA

Toss-Up #1: THING

_ O O _ / & / P L _ _ T Y
C _ N _ _

Steve probably had some GOOD & PLENTY CANDY. He wasn’t the only man to open this month…

Steve Kanaby: electrician w/ a girlfriend and daughter both named Kristen who’s taking up power parachuting from Florissant, MO

Kevin Palmer: social family teacher part of a non-profit organization married to Alean w/ a three-year-old daughter Ashley from Kapolei, HI (originally from Virginia)

Keri Brown: senior at Texas A&M studying speech communications who owns four snakes and was formerly frightened by Pat Sajak from Bryan, TX

Gift Tag: Blockbuster

Round 1: PHRASE

This round’s all Steve — a $2,400 T trio, three O’s, a $600 S pair, three E’s, a $600 V, two I’s, and a $2,500 H.

_ O _ / T H I S / I ‘ V E
_ O T / T O / S E E

NOW THIS I’VE GOT TO SEE — him scoring a PR of $5,350 and $6,350 so far.

FEATURED PRIZE #1: Ghurka leather gift certificate worth $2,500 (LEATHER)

Jackpot Round: NEXT LINE PLEASE

Kevin got the leather gift certificate right away w/ three T’s, followed by a $350 S, an $800 N, O, a $700 C pair, four A’s, but then H for hush. Keri secondly lit up a K for the gift tag, an $800 J, a $600 P, a $500 R, a $350 L, and a D while on Jackpot…but she didn’t solve and went on to say B for bad while on the Free SPIN. As luck would have it, Steve said the final consonant of F on Jackpot…

J A C K / S P R A T
C O _ L D / _ A T
N O / F A T

…and won the $9,200 pot w/ “JACK SPRAT COULD EAT NO FAT”. But he didn’t know the next line for the $3K bonus was “…his wife could eat no lean”.

DUDS: H (Kevin), B (Keri)

Steve: $15,550/The K’s: ZERO each

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FEATURED PRIZE #2: trip to House of Blues Hotel in Chicago (BLUES) worth $3,837

Round 3: SAME NAME

Keri first said an unfortunate dud of T while on $3,500. Second for Steve were a $300 S, E, a $900 N, an $800 C pair, two I’s, but the H let somebody down again. Going down Kevin’s road third were $300 R, and D singles, an $800 B, but then the $10K’s right side to lose $1,400. After Keri BANKRUPTed near $600, Steve picked a $550 G…

N I C _ _ _ S / &
B I R D
C _ G E

…and solved NICOLAS & BIRD CAGE for $2,050.

DUDS: T (Keri), H (Steve)
BANKRUPTS: 2 (Kevin, Keri)

Steve: $17,600/The K’s: NOTHING a head

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Toss-Up #2: TITLE

_ H _ _ _ / _ F
_ O R T _ _ _

What else did you expect? Keri IDed the name of this game show as “WHEEL OF FORTUNE”. After it was solved, Pat joked that “we have officially run out of puzzles, apparently” and he threw in a possible puzzle of PAT’S SHOES under Show Biz. I’ll tell you that SHOW BIZ is not the next category for this round…

Round 4: THING

After Keri’s initial choices of a $600 T pair and an $800 R…

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ T T _ R

…the remaining consonants were worth $1,450 a pop.

Keri: B (DUD)
Steve: L
Kevin: C (DUD)
Keri: M
Steve: S
Kevin: P (DUD)
Keri: 2 N’s

_ N _ N _ M _ _ S
L _ T T _ R

Keri was incorrect w/ UNANIMOUS LETTER, even though that fit the blanks. Steve then requested for the Y…

_ N _ N Y M _ _ S
L _ T T _ R

…he read this ANONYMOUS LETTER for $4,350.

DUDS: B (Keri), C (Kevin), P (Kevin)

FINAL SCORES
Steve: $21,950/Kevin: PARTING GIFTS/Keri: $1K

GT: $22,950
BANKRUPT TRASH: $1,400

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Bonus Round

Besides the $25K, these cars were up for grabs on this week…

• Jeep Grand Cherokee ($37K+)
• maZDa Miata
• Ford Explorer
• Lincoln Navigator ($46K+)

Steve picked the W.

Category: PHRASE

The RSTLNE provided 40% of this puzzle…

R _ _ _ R –
S _ _ R _

CDPO added two more…

R _ _ O R –
S _ _ R P

His puzzle-solving skills proved to be RAZOR-SHARP, so he won the Navigator worth $46,980 and left w/ a final total of $68,930 cash & SUV! The two ladies he brought along were Kristen the girlfriend and his mom.

MY RATING: 8