WoF Retro Recap: November 24, 1997

This episode had the very first deaf contestant on the show.

EPISODE #2791: BEST FRIENDS WEEK

Melanie Dickson & Amy McCutchen: Amy’s a stay-at-home mom of two kids from Burleson, TX who met her partner at church; Melanie’s a principal secretary at Burleson HS and also from that city

George & Darren Galarza: Darren’s from Fillmore, CA and married w/ one son who had known George for 7 yrs.; George, the first ever deaf contestant, was married w/ five kids and worked for the government plus he also restored old cars like his 1956 Ford

Rick Kizzee & Darryll Brown (both from Bellflower, CA): Rick’s a carpenter for L.A. county who knew his partner for 17 yrs. (both met in junior HS); Darryll’s an electronic technician for the city of Paramount, CA

Round 1: BEFORE & AFTER

The ladies started w/ two N’s for $800, two T’s for $500 more, two E’s, a $600 S, but then D for dud. Second, G & D called up two R’s for $1,600, a $600 C, a single A, two G’s for the Free SPIN, an $800 F, two O’s and I’s to wipe out the vowel shop. After a $1K P pair…

S _ O P P I N G
C E  N T E R / O F
G R A _ I T _

…they defied the SHOPPING CENTER OF GRAVITY for $3,250.

SOLE DUD: D (ladies)

FEATURED PRIZE: trips to Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs, CA worth $4,200

Round 2: CLASSIC TV

G & D were first w/ two R’s for the SURPRISE, a $400 S, an $1,800 N pair, a $900 L, and four E’s, followed by a $250 D, a $250 V, two A’s, but then the $10K’s right side to lose $3,100 and their SURPRISE. The opposition quickly struck out w/ B and C, respectively, so we’re right back to G & D. They chose two T’s for $800, but then a baddie in G. R & D spotted two X’s for $1,800, a $550 Y, two I’s and O to clean out the vowels, and a $250 J. Board…

T A X I ‘ S
A L E X
T O N Y / &
R E V E R E N D / J I _

They solved “TAXI”‘S ALEX, TONY & REVEREND JIM for $2,100. They were then asked a $2K bonus question on who played Alex on that show…and they were correct w/ Judd Hirsch.

DUDS: B (R & D), C (M & A), G (G & D)
SOLE BANKRUPT: G & D

M & A: NIL/G & D: $3,250 FS/R & D: $4,100

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Jackpot Round: SAME NAME

R & D led off w/ a $250 R, three N’s for $900 more, but then the BANKRUPT near green $500 to lose $1,150. Second in line, M & A said T for turnover. Third, G & D used their FS after saying D for dud. Next up were a $3,500 L, but then S for sorry. R & D won’t find any M’s. M & A tacked on a $250 G, an $800 C pair, two A’s, and a P on Jackpot, but they passed up the chance to solve for an $11,350 pot. Next up were three I’s, a $400 W, a $900 K, and an $800 H to clean out the consonants.

A I R P L A N _ / &
C H I C K _ N
W I N G

They solved AIRPLANE & CHICKEN WING for $2,650.

DUDS: T (M & A), D (G & D), S (G & D), M (R & D)
SOLE BANKRUPT: R & D
UNCLAIMED JACKPOT: $13,450

M & A: $2,650/G & D: $3,250/R & D: $4,100

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Speed-Up: PHRASE

Consonants were worth $5K apiece to start the week!

M & A: S
G & D: N
R & D: two R’s
M & A: two L’s
G & D: Y
R & D: two F’s

_ _ _ _
Y _ _ R S _ _ F
_ _ _ F _ R T _ _ L _

MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE w/ this Melanie & Amy — $20K and the game! The men left behind $10K (G &D) and $15K (R &D), respectively.

FINAL SCORES
M & A: $22,650/G & D: $3,250/R & D: $4,100

GT: $30K even
BANKRUPT TRASH: $4,250 plus SURPRISE

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Bonus Round

Melanie chose the H.

Category: THING

The last letter of this four-letter answer…

_ _ _ T

CBMO’s totally useless, so GAME OVER (they had FOOT). Their GIFT would’ve been the annuity, but they would be coming back for the Friday Finals, which I already recapped.

MY RATING: 7

WoF Retro Recap: December 17, 1992

Let’s go back to the 10th anniversary season for this one.

EPISODE #1829

Skip Harrison: 2-day champ w/ $19,570 from Anaheim Hills, CA

Jim Pent: ran a law care business from Fort Madison, IA (orig. from Alton, IL)

Frank Horton Jr.: sales rep for a major insurance and investment firm from Omaha, NE

Round 1: THINGS

Skip kicked off w/ a $300 S, a $900 T trio, but then BANKRUPT to lose $1,200. Second, Jim called up four N’s for $4K, three I’s, an $800 G pair, a $400 H pair, a $600 L pair, three E’s, and a $1,400 D pair. Board…

T H _ N D E _
L I G H T N I N G
_ I N D / &
S L E E T

He solved THUNDER, LIGHTNING, WIND & SLEET for $6,700.

SOLE BANKRUPT: Skip

FEATURED PRIZE: 18-karat yellow gold quartz watch w/ a green band from Fred Joaillier worth $3,300

Round 2: PHRASE

Jim’s first w/ a $450 N, four T’s for $2K more, an $800 H, three E’s and O, a $250 D, but then I for invalid. Frank secondly spun his way to BANKRUPT trouble. Skip thirdly picked a $250 L, a $900 R, two A’s, a $200 S, a $1,350 P trio, and a $200 C to leave the U remaining.

D O N ‘ T
_ P S E T / T H E
A P P L E C A R T

He solved “DON’T UPSET THE APPLECART” for $2,650.

SOLE DUD: I (Jim)
SOLE BANKRUPT: Frank

Skip: $2,650/Jim: $6,700/Frank: ZERO

Round 3: BEFORE & AFTER

Here went Frank w/ the calling of two R’s for $1,800, two T’s for $400 more, three C’s for $1,500 more, a single O, a $1,200 N pair, and two E’s, followed by a $2K L pair, a $600 H, two I’s, but then LaT to leave $6,750 on the table. Moving on to Skip who said a $500 S pair, and an $1,800 K trio to clean out the consonants.

C H I C K E N
L I T T L E
R O C K
_ R K _ N S _ S

He solved CHICKEN LITTLE ROCK ARKANSAS for $2,300 and was asked this surprise $1K bonus question by Charlie:

What did Chicken Little proclaim?

He’s right w/ “The sky is falling”.

SOLE LaT: Frank

Skip: $5,950/Jim: $6,700/Frank: ZILCH

FEATURED PRIZE #2: Toyota Tercel 2-dr sedan worth $7,758

Round 4: OCCUPATION

Skip opened w/ two T’s for a grand, a $10K N pair, three E’s, a $10K R pair, and three I’s, after which came a $300 D, and a $1K S pair. Big solve attempt…

_ N I _ E R S I T _
_ R E S I D E N T

He won $21,800 from the UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT — MAJOR PR! And the other men would have to leave, because the game was over right there.

FINAL SCORES
Skip: $27,750 ($47,320 so far)/Jim: $6,700/Frank: PARTING GIFTS

GT: $34,450
BANKRUPT TRASH: $1,200

Bonus Round

The non-$25K prizes that week were…

• Beverly Hills Christmas shopping spree ($16K+)
• Corvette Convertible (almost $44K+; he didn’t win that the last night)
• Van Cleef & Arpels ballerina pin ($25K)
• Exotic Far East cruise (Indonesia and Hong Kong) ($18K+)

Skip got the second E from WHEE-.

Category: PHRASE

Here’s the last letter of each word…

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

CMPO should do it…

P _ T / _ O _ R
_ O O T / _ O _ N

He finally got a BR win in his 3-day run! After solving PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN, he’s won the cruise of Indonesia and Hong Kong from Pearl Cruises worth $18,500, giving him $65,820 cash & prizes! Terri the wife finally came on the stage to congratulate him.

MY RATING: 8

WoF Retro Recap: May 6, 1996

This was their first night back from their 2-week stay in Atlanta.

EPISODE #2506: WHEEL ACROSS AMERICA

Mark Breitenberg: freelance story analyst and 1-day champ w/ $8,700 who finished a book called “Anxious Masculinity” from Venice, CA

Carl Mueller: woodworker who has a 2-yr.-old doaughter Claren from L.A.

Sonja Hayden: full-time student at Texas Southern Univ. studying healthcare administration and an advertising firm worker engaged to Michael Hall from Houston, TX

Round 1: PHRASE

A trip to the Ozarks was placed on the wheel.

Mark started w/ a $750 N, three A’s, but then S for sorry. Second, Carl called up a $450 L, but LaTed out. Third, Sonja instantly BANKRUPTed. Back to Mark who said a $400 T, three E’s, but then R for rats. Carl resumed his run w/ two D’s for $600, a G for the Free SPIN, a $200 V, a single I, a $500 M, and a $450 H at the beginning. We had…

H _ M E / _ I E L D
A D V A N T A G E

He solved the baseball term HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE for $1,950. Pat and Vanna did the plug for the WoF Olympic T-shirt.

DUDS (both by Mark): S, R
SOLE LaT: Carl
INSTA-BANKRUPT: Sonja

This night marked the beginning of he Olympic Games Sweepstakes lasting until the 24th, with each Round 2 puzzle having red-and-blue letters that spell out an Olympics-related word. Viewers had to unscramble those letters to form a word related to the Olympics. Grand prize winners would receive a Ford Taurus valued at $23,445. Other prizes included a trip to Atlanta, a Zodiac watch and Ray-Ban sunglasses. And these games used the $1,000/$3,500/$5,000 round structure, but the Free Spin is removed for Round 2.

Round 2: THING

This round’s all Carl: a $600 T, four E’s, a $200 R, a $4K N quartet (one’s red and blue), two A’s, a $400 D pair (one’s red and blue), a $1K G (that’s red and blue), and a $1,200 C pair.

C _ _ N –
_ _ E R A T E D
_ E N D _ N G
_ A C _ _ N E

He solved COIN-OPERATED VENDING MACHINE for a $6,900 PR. See if you can unscramble these red/blue letters…

_ _ _ _ –
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ D
V _ _ _ I _ G
_ _ _ _ I N _

Carl: $8,850 FS/Others: $0 each

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Round 3: BEFORE & AFTER

Sonja got the SURPRISE right away w/ three T’s, followed by two S’s for $1,800, two E’s, a $700 R, a single A, a $10K N pair, four O’s, but then a CRITICAL DUD of B for bad to leave $11,750 and the SURPRISE on the table. Moving on to Mark who said a $200 D, a $250 M, a $1,400 H pair, but he LaTed out. Carl then picked a $400 W and a Y for the DOUBLE PLAY to clean out the consonants.

W H _ T N E Y
H O _ S T O N
A S T R O D O M E

Too bad my current city doesn’t have a place called the WHITNEY HOUSTON ASTRODOME, but he solved for the four Benjamins and a new subtotal of $9,250.

SOLE DUD: B (Sonja)
SOLE LaT: Mark

Round 4: THING

Mark opened w/ a $250 T, a $1,500 N, two E’s, a $350 S, but then A for awful. Carl turned in the DP and this spin was…$200 x 2 and there’s one R. But time’s running out…

_ _ _ E
_ E N _ _
S _ _ R T

…and consonants were worth $200 apiece.

Carl: H
Sonja: C (DUD)
Mark: D

_ _ _ E
D E N _ _
S H _ R T

Fitting under WAYW? nowadays, Mark donned a BLUE DENIM SHIRT at the last second for $1,800.

DUDS: A (Mark), C (Sonja)

FINAL SCORES
Mark: $1,800 (out w/ $10,500)/Carl: $9,250/Sonja: PARTING GIFTS

GT: $10,050
NO BANKRUPT TRASH

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Bonus Round

The non-$25K prizes that week were…

• Ford Windstar ($27K+)
• Amtrak train trip ($20K)
• Mustang Convertible ($28K+)
• Winnebago Rialta ($41K+)

Carl got the H.

Category: THING

Here’s one of the four letters…

_ _ L _

He WIPED OUT w/ DMCA and was wrong w/ GOLD, HOLD, COLD, MOLD, WOLD, PILL, and BILL. I thought it was GOLF, but it was the yellow part inside of an egg called the YOLK and he lost the Amtrak trip. He would be back the next night to improve on that total.

MY RATING: 5

WoF Retro Recap: November 3, 1995

This was the last night before they went to Seattle for two weeks.

EPISODE #2385: SKI HOLIDAY WEEK

It’s an all-male panel on this Friday…

Carl Acquaviva: painter for the county of L.A. married to Carrie w/ one son (Derek) from Canyon Country, CA

Brian Miksa: 1-day champ w/ $38,667 cash & prizes (including the Chevy Tahoe) from Redmond, WA

Vinscent (yes, w/ an S in his name) Price: actor, gospel musician and a major airline worker from L.A.

Round 1: EVENT

Carl, who tried to spin before Pat finished talking about the “drew numbers” spiel, kicked off w/ three N’s for $2,250, two S’s for another $900, three E’s, but then T for turnover. Second, Brian called up two D’s for $600, a $300 G, a $200 W, a $2K V pair, a $300 L, a $1,500 R trio, and a $500 Y to clean out the consonants.

S _ L _ E R
W E D D _ N G
_ N N _ V _ R S _ R Y

The SILVER WEDDING ANNIVERSARY happens if you’re married 25 yrs., and he scored first for $5,400.

SOLE DUD: T (Carl)

FEATURED PRIZE: Michael C. Fina 8.5-9mm pearl necklace worth $3,995

Round 2: QUOTATION

Brian’s off and running w/ two L’s for $800, six T’s for $1,800 more, five E’s and I, a $400 H (not quite to the pearls), but then R for rats. Vinscent secondly picked two C’s for $900, two B’s for $400 more, a $350 F, a $400 V, and a $700 G. Board…

_ _ _ ‘ V E / G _ T
T H E / C _ T E _ T
L I T T L E
B _ B _ / F _ C _

He recited “YOU’VE GOT THE CUTEST LITTLE BABY FACE” for $2,750.

SOLE DUD: R (Brian)

Carl: NIL/Brian: $5,400/Vinscent: $2,750

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Round 3: CLUE

Vinscent said an automatic dud of T, however. Second in line, Carl got two N’s for a grand, but the R failed him while he’s on the SURPRISE. Third, Brian found three S’s for three grand, two L’s for $600 more, two E’s and three O’s, two G’s for the pearls, and two I’s, after which came two M’s for $1,100, a $200 F, two A’s, and a $450 D. We had…

_ _ G E
L A N D / M A S S / O F
S L O _ – M O _ I N G
I _ E

He solved “HUGE LAND MASS OF SLOW-MOVING ICE” for $4,350 and the pearls. He then got the $500 bonus saying glacier.

DUDS: T (Vinscent), R (Carl)

Carl: NADA/Brian: $14,245 cash & pearls/Vinscent: $2,750

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FEATURED PRIZE #2: marked JET BOAT ($10K+)

Round 4: PEOPLE

Carl’s next chance at greatness began w/ two R’s for $1,800, two S’s for $700 more, a single E, a $700 T, a $900 N, but then I for invalid. Brian’s up second w/ two Y’s for $800, but time’s running out…

S Y _ _ _ _ N Y
_ R _ _ E S T R _

…and the leftover consonants were worth $5K apiece! He then said two H’s…

S Y _ _ H _ N Y
_ R _ H E S T R _

…and the SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA played as he won another $10,800!

SOLE DUD: I (Carl)

FINAL SCORES
Carl: PARTING GIFTS/Brian: $25,045 cash & pearls ($63,712 so far)/Vinscent: $2,750

GT: $27,795
NO PENALTIES

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Bonus Round

Two prizes remained: the cash and a bonus room (consists of a pool table, jukebox and a piano). With W and the second E lit up, Brian chose the W.

Category: PLACE

Almost 1/2 the letters already…

_ _ _ S T
T _ _ N

HDMA only added…

_ H _ S T
T _ _ N

He didn’t quite make it out of this GHOST TOWN (he had the second word late, but said FIRST TOWN after the buzzer), so he lost the bonus room package. Still, he would come back “home” next week w/ $63,712 cash & prizes.

MY RATING: 7