WoF Retro Recap: May 1, 2000

This week and the next were the WheelOfFortune.com Sweepstakes, sponsored by EarthLink. Some notes according to the timeline…

• The Preview Puzzle and Puzzler are not used.
• The Round 2 Prize is moved to Round 1 and the Jackpot Round is moved to Round 2.
• The $3,500 wedge is used in Rounds 2 & 3.
• Round 3 is a “Dot com” puzzle, which may be entered through the show’s website for a chance to win prizes sponsored by various websites. Among the prizes are $25,000 cash from USABancShares.com, trips from Marriott’s Vacation Club.com, and other prizes sponsored by Sprint PCS and The EarthLink Mall.
• EarthLink also sponsors the Wheel Prizes.
• The set has computer-themed decorations, including a giant computer.

EPISODE #3291: WHEELOFFORTUNE.COM SWEEPSTAKES

Heather Worley: substitute teacher hoping to open her own preschool and born on her brother’s 6th birthday from Berryville, AR

Yos Ligtenberg: involved in wine sales and had a Dutch background from Davis, CA

Chris Munson: accounting mgr. married to Vicky who came in 4th place in the Mr. Natural Wisconsin bodybuilding competition from Phoenix

FEATURED PRIZE: $3,500 Amazon.com SS (AMAZON.COM)
Gift Tag: Disney.com

Round 1: EVENTS

Heather started w/ two T’s for $1,200, an $1,800 S pair, a $900 H pair, but then L for loss. Second, Yos called up an $800 M, an $800 D pair, and an F for the disney.com gift tag. We had…

M _ T H _ _ ‘ S / D _ _
& / F _ T H _ _ ‘ S
D _ _

He solved MOTHER’S DAY & FATHER’S DAY for $2,600 cash & GC.

SOLE DUD: L (Heather)

FEATURED PRIZE #2: trip to Orlando from Marriott Vacation Club International worth $3,300 (VACATIONCLUB.COM)

Jackpot Round: LANDMARK

Yos LaTed out right away. Chris secondly picked three S’s for $900, four T’s for $3,600 more, five E’s and two A’s, an $800 R pair, but the L tripped him up while he’s on Jackpot. Heather also whiffed w/ D for dud. Yos lit up three G’s for the Free SPIN and a W for the Orlando trip. We had…

G E _ R G E
W A S _ _ _ G T _ _ ‘ S
_ _ _ T / _ E R _ _ _
E S T A T E

He IDed GEORGE WASHINGTON’S MOUNT VERNON STATE for that VacationClub.com trip.

DUDS: L (Chris), D (Heather)
QUICK LaT: Yos
UNCLAIMED JACKPOT: $7,150

Yos: $5,900 cash & Orlando FS/Others: $0 each

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Dot Com Puzzle of the Night: THING

Chris opened w/ a $600 R, a $300 S, an E, but then H for hush. Heather also missed w/ C for crud. Yos turned his FS after saying N for no. He followed w/ a $450 L, but then A for awful. Chris lit up a $1,600 D pair, two I’s, but then BANKRUPT near $600 to lose two grand. Heather followed w/ a $300 V, a $300 K, the final vowel of O, but then T for trouble. Yos then said a $600 P pair…

_ L O P P _ / D I S K
D R I V E

…and powered up a FLOPPY DISK DRIVE for $800.

DUDS: H (Chris), C (Heather), N (Yos), A (Yos), T (Heather)
SOLE BANKRUPT: Chris

Yos: $6,700 cash & Orlando/Others: ZERO a head

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Round 4: BEFORE & AFTER

Heather instantly BANKRUPTed near $500. Yos found two T’s for $600, a $300 R, a $600 N, but he LaTed out and it’s S-U time…

_ _ _ _ T _ N _
T _ _ _ / _ _
_ _ R _ _ _

…and it’s a $1,600 Final Spin.

Chris: 2 S’s
Heather: C (DUD)
Yos: G
Chris: M
Heather: F
Yos: L (DUD)
Chris: H
Heather: D
Yos: 2 O’s
Chris: 3 E’s
Heather: 2 A’s
Yos: B

D E B A T _ N G
T E A M / O F
H O R S E S

Yos finally got DEBATING TEAM OF HORSES for $4,700 and the maingame sweep.

DUDS: C (Heather), L (Yos)
SOLE LaT: Yos
INSTA-BANKRUPT: Heather

FINAL SCORES
Yos: $11,400 cash & Orlando/Others: PARTING GIFTS EACH

BANKRUPT TRASH: $2K

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Bonus Round

Five prizes loaded in (one of them’s a $25K Sony Card) and Yos picked the W for “Whee!”.

Category: THINGS

I’m not a fan of these as a pizza topping…

_ N _ _ _ _ _ E S

CPGI added two more…

_ N C _ _ _ I E S

He got ANCHOVIES at the last second for a $25K amazon.com shopping spree for a final total of $36,400 cash & prizes. The woman celebrating w/ him was his girlfriend Randi.

MY RATING: 7

WoF Retro Recap: February 15, 1999 — HAWAII OPENER

This was the start of their two-week stay at the Hilton Hawaiian  Village.

EPISODE #3041: HAWAII WEEK

Kicking off this road trip were…

Lei Kahaialii: reservations manager married to John (they met over 20 yrs. ago when she was employed for his family’s luau show as a hula dancer) w/ four kids from Lahaina

Karen Socher: preschool teacher married to Greg from Honolulu (orig. from Scotland)

Sean Miller: lifeguard, landscaper and guitar teacher from Pearl City, HI

Before the game started, Pat introduced three PGA pro golfers participating in the SONY Open golf tournament on Oahu: John Cook, Jim Furyk, and Jesper Parnevik.

Round 1: BEFORE & AFTER

Lei made it past BANKRUPT, but there’s no T anyway. Second, Karen called up a $250 N, but then S for sorry. Sean won’t find any R’s, nor will Lei w/ C. Karen got a $350 D, three E’s, but no M. Sean picked two L’s for $500, a single A, but then H for hush. Lei lit up two B’s for $800 and a $2,100 P trio to clean out the consonants.

B _ B
D _ L E
P _ N E A P P L E

There’s no politician named BOB DOLE PINEAPPLE, but she scored first for $2,900.

DUDS: T (Lei), S (Karen), R (Sean), C (Lei), M (Karen), H (Sean)

FEATURED PRIZE: $2,500 shopping spree at the Hilton Hawaiian Village (SHOPPING SPREE)

Round 2: PEOPLE

Karen’s first w/ two S’s for $600, a $1,200 R pair, three E’s, but then A for awful. Sean struck out w/ P. Lei lit up a $400 T, two N’s to triple up, four O’s, a $600 M, and a $550 H. We had…

_ O _ E S T R _ _ _
H O N E _ M O O N E R S

She’s one of the LOVESTRUCK HONEYMOONERS for $2,100. For $3K more, she needed to solve a PHRASE…

_ O / N O _
_ I _ _ _ _ B

You see this on hotel rooms, but she blanked out on “DO NOT DISTURB”.

DUDS: A (Karen), P (Sean)

Lei: $5K/Others: $0 each

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FEATURED PRIZE #2: Italjet Formula 50 LC scooter worth $3,399 (SCOOTER)

Jackpot Round: SHOW BIZ

Sean’s off and running w/ three S’s for the shopping spree, a $700 T pair, two E’s, a $1,050 R trio, but then a bad U buy. Both women struck out w/ P and D, respectively, so we’re quick back to Sean who landed on the scooter, but there’s no L. Lei got four N’s for $3,200, but BANKRUPTed near Jackpot. Karen won’t go for any B’s, nor will Sean w/ M. Lei didn’t quite get to $3,500, but there’s a $300 H. After a $600 W pair and a $500 G pair to clean out the consonants…

S _ N G E R –
S _ N G W R _ T E R
S H _ N _ _ / T W _ _ N

…she IDed SINGER-SONGWRITER SHANIA TWAIN for $1,400.

DUDS: U (Sean), P (Lei), D (Karen), L (Sean), B (Karen), M (Sean)
SOLE BANKRUPT: Lei
UNCLAIMED JACKPOT: $9,900

Lei: $6,400/Others: ZERO a head

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Speed-Up: EVENT

Consonants were worth $600 apiece.

Lei: 2 T’s
Karen: N
Sean: 2 S’s

T _ _ _ _ _ _ _
S _ N S _ T

Sean realized there was a TROPICAL SUNSET in Hawaii for his only $1,200 on the night.

FINAL SCORES
Lei: $6,400/Karen: PARTING GIFTS/Sean: $1,200

GT: $7,600
BANKRUPT TRASH: $3,200

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Bonus Round

The four cars offered on this first week from Hawaii were…

• Chrysler Sebring Convertible ($27K+)
• Ford Expedition ($32K+)
• Chrysler Town & Country Limited minivan ($32K+)
• Mercedes-Benz SLK convertible ($44K+)

Lei appropriately picked the L.

Category: THINGS

Last two letters of this answer…

_ _ _ _ _ E S

She WIPED OUT of the game w/ DCMA and wasn’t even close w/ MOVIES or WOLVES. These would later trigger the third $100K loss of S25, GUPPIES, and she lost the minivan.

Golfer’s charities:

John Cook: Desert Junior Golf Association in Palm Springs
Jim Furyk: Jake Gittlen Memorial Golf Tournament
Jesper Parnevik: a charity that helps find a cure for Multiple Sclerosis

MY RATING: 4

WoF Retro Recap: October 20, 1998

This episode had a moment you would see on their 3,000th show.

EPISODE #2957: SAND & SEA

After the hosts came out, we got a close up of Vanna sticking her tongue out and it’s red since she was eating a piece of candy backstage.

David Brown: reservation agent for a major airline married to Diana w/ one son (Joshua) who did some improv comedy from San Antonio

Yvette Madueno: housing services assistant for the city of Burbank Redevelopment Agency and a senior at Cal State Northridge studying public administration and communications from Burbank

Lisa Thomason: newlywed to Jason and public accountant for a national accounting firm in Atlanta from Roswell, GA

Round 1: QUOTATION

David said an automatic dud of S for sorry. Second, Yvette called up a $400 R, a $1,200 T pair, a $600 M pair, and an E, followed by a $2,400 L trio, but then N for no. Lisa next said a $900 B and a $450 D. We had…

M _ R _ / _ _ D / _
L _ T T L E / L _ M B

She recited “MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB” for $1,350. And this was a PUZZLER, so she had a chance to win $3K more by solving thing THING…

F _ _ _ C _

The lamb had this as white as snow, but she said FENCE instead of FLEECE.

DUDS: S (David), N (Yvette)

FEATURED PRIZE: Modern Home Products gas grill worth $2,300

Round 2: BEFORE & AFTER

Yvette’s first w/ a $1,200 R pair, three T’s for $750 more, a $1,600 S pair, but then the $10K’s left side to lose $3,550. Lisa secondly got the regular-sized BANKRUPT. David thirdly picked three N’s for $1,200, a single O and two E’s, a $1,200 H pair, but he repeated the N while on the BBQ. Yvette next lit up a $250 M, a $400 L, but then a baddie of G on $2,500 (nearly got buzzed out there). Lisa tried a $900 C, a single I, but she LaTed out. David followed w/ a $250 P, a $400 F, two A’s, but then the other side of the $10K to hand over $2,300. On Yvette’s third try, she chose a $250 D and a $300 W to clean out the consonants.

A / S H A R P / L E F T
T _ R N / D O W N
T H E / M _ S I C

She’s NOT making A SHARP LEFT TURN DOWN THE MUSIC, but winning $1,200.

SOLE DUD: G (Yvette)
SOLE LaT: Lisa
BANKRUPTS: 3 (everybody)
SOLE DQ: David’s N repeat

David: ZIP/Yvette: $1,200/Lisa: $1,350

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FEATURED PRIZE #2: Eden Roc Resort & Spa in Miami worth $3,737

Jackpot Round: LANDMARK

Lisa led off w/ a $3,500 R, an $1,800 S pair, a single E, but then LaT. David’s second in line w/ an $800 T pair, a P on Jackpot, a $7K D pair, and three L’s to get the BBQ that time. Board…

S T . / P _ _ L ‘ S
_ _ T _ E D R _ L
_ _ / L _ _ D _ _

He IDed ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL IN LONDON for $7,800 and the BBQ.

SOLE LaT: Lisa
UNCLAIMED JACKPOT: $13,300

David: $10,100 cash & BBQ/Yvette: $1,200/Lisa: $1,350

Round 4: OCCUPATION

David got the Miami trip right away w/ four T’s, then he said S for sorry and it’s S-U time…

_ _ _ _ T
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ T T _ _ _ _ _ T

…w/ a $300 Final Spin.

David: R
Yvette: three N’s
Lisa: D

_ _ _ _ T
_ _ R _ _ N _
_ T T _ N D _ N T

No David, COURT PARKING ATTENDANT won’t work w/ just one R up there.

Yvette: P
Lisa: G
David: L

_ _ L _ T
P _ R _ _ N G
_ T T _ N D _ N T

David rebounded w/ the right one of VALET PARKING ATTENDANT for $600 plus the Miami trip.

SOLE DUD: S (David)
SOLE DQ: David’s missolve

FINAL SCORES
David: $14,437 cash & BBQ/Yvette: $1,200/Lisa: $1,350

GT: $16,987
BANKRUPT TRASH: $5,850

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Bonus Round

The non-$25K prizes this week were…

• trip to Australia ($15K+)
• Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder convertible ($24K+)
• fishing trip for four to Los Cabos, Mexico ($17K+)
• sport boat ($24K+)

David picked the second E.

Category: THING

This eight-letter answer started as…

_ L _ _ _ N _ _

DMPO added two more…

_ L _ M _ N _ O

After initially saying FLAMENCO, he spotted the pink bird of FLAMINGO to win the trip to Australia (he’ll learn to scuba dive in a 3-day course and then go to the open sea w/ a week of diving and meeting sharks) worth $15,156, giving him a $29,593 cash & prizes. Friends Todd and Teresa celebrated w/ him.

At the end, the hosts stuck their tongues out to the camera after eating the same candy and Pat commented that “we look like a pair of Rolling Stones albums”.

MY RATING: 7

WoF Retro Recap: October 9, 1984

EPISODE #217

Over $97K waiting to be won including…

• $11K+ Isuzu Impulse
• $19K+ Ski Nautique ski boat
• 2-week Caribbean adventure ($4,908)

Andy Ginsberg: 5th grade teacher married to Valerie who enjoyed running marathons from Rochester, NY

Michael Parnell: not much about him, but he’s a keyboardist

Kathy Rice: flight attendant for a major airline who was a HS and collegiate state gymnastics champion from Elkhart, IN

Round 1: PHRASE

The man with my namesake began w/ a $100 S, but then T for trouble. Second, Michael called up three N’s for $450, but then a baddie of G. Third, Kathy took a $300 R, but then L for loss. Andy BANKRUPTed out of $100. Michael got a $150 P, three O’s, a Free Spin, a single I, a $1K C, a $250 M, a $250 H, three E’s, and a $150 D before we looked at…

_ E _ O N D
C O M P R E H E N S I O N

It’s not really BEYOND COMPREHENSION that he won $1,500. We’re going to outdoor fun…

• $1,021: Pinseeker golf clubs
• $408: Dupont Cordura luggage
• $71 on an American Express GC

DUDS: T (Andy), G (Michael), L (Kathy)
SOLE BANKRUPT: Andy

FEATURED PRIZE: Dicker & Dicker blue mink jacket worth $3,500

Round 2: THINGS

Michael said an automatic dud of L. Kathy secondly found two S’s for $1,100, a $200 T, but then N for no on $1K. Andy thirdly picked two R’s for $300, a $150 P, a $1K B, and a $200 Z to clean out the consonants.

Z _ B R _
S T R _ P _ S

He solved ZEBRA STRIPES for $1,650, which he would spend in the gourmet’s delight.

• $1,299: Admiral refrigerator
• $236: Dessert of the Month
• $100: Oneida wine cooler
• $15 on a GC

DUDS: L (Michael), N (Kathy)

Andy: $1,650/Michael: $1,500/Kathy: ZERO

Round 3: PHRASE

Kathy nearly got into BANKRUPT trouble near $1,500, but there’s four T’s for six grand. Next up were a $1,200 H pair, four E’s, a $350 R, a $1K N pair, a $400 G pair, two I’s, but then the BANKRUPT near $300 to give up $8,450. Ouch. Moving on to Andy who spun the same $200 near LaT for L, S and two F’s to clean out the consonants.

G E T T I N G
T H E R E / I S
H _ L F / T H E / F _ N

I just recently recapped the Feb. 26, 2007 episode (their first episode after the Charleston shows) and this was the answer to that night’s Prize Puzzle; he rightly said “GETTING THERE IS HALF THE FUN” for $800. The next area’s the family room and the one item he bought was a stereo system for all of that money.

PAINFUL BANKRUPT: Kathy

Andy: $2,450/Michael: $1,500/Kathy: TERRIBLE SHAPE

Speed-Up: THING

This would make Kathy feel better, we hope — it’s a $5K Final Spin! Andy said the L at the start…

_ _ _ _ L _ _ _ _ _

…but it ain’t CHALKBOARD.

Next Picks: N, two T’s, S (DUD), B

B _ T T L _ N _ _ _

Michael got out of a BOTTLENECK for $10K. After a break, here’s what he bought from the family room…

• Habersham Plantation end tables ($275)
• John N. Hansen board games ($284)
• Habersham Plantation coffee table ($395)
• Michael C. Fina mantel clock ($425)
• Mohawk carpeting ($650)
• Simmons hide a bed ($795)
• SHARP 8 hr Slimline VCR ($899)
• Habersham Plantation hutch ($1,175)
• trips to Ocho Rios Sheraton Hotel in Jamaica and Frenchman’s Reef Beach Resort in St. Thomas ($4,908)
• $190 on a GC

SOLE DUD: S (Andy)
SOLE DQ: Andy’s missolve

FINAL SCORES
Andy: $2,450/Michael: $11,500/Kathy: PARTING GIFTS

GT: $13,950
BANKRUPT TRASH: $8,550

Bonus Round

Michael’s playing for the Isuzu Impulse worth $11,887.

Category: PERSON

JNCLSA only added the vowel…

_ A _ _
_ _ _ _

…and it wasn’t football star and coach BART STARR according to him; it was baseball star BABE RUTH.

MY RATING: 6