WoF Recap: May 24, 2024 — 🎉EPISODE #8000!🎉 – WHEEL of FORTUNE with Andy Nguyen

Hopefully this 8,000th episode milestone will turn out good. 🤞🏻

EPISODE #8000: 💰BIG MONEY💰

$1K Toss-Up: EVENT

A / H U _ E
M I _ E S T _ N E

Yes, Sarah– 8,000 episodes is A HUGE MILESTONE for this show. Last contestants this week…

Sarah McCabe: former English teacher who raises pigs and cattle and just got chickens last week and donates onesies every year married to farmer (not “former”) husband Kevin with a 2 1/2-year-old son named Colton (he was born two months early) from Mankato, MN

Michael Bystrzycki: master electrician (he works with standby generators, electrical paneling, wires, and transformers) who likes mani-pedis from Drummons, TN

Lillian Devane: Jersey girl and word nerd (she has a word app on her phone and she says the word for the day is “grateful”) from Atlantic City by way of Wildwood, NJ

$2K Toss-Up: SONG TITLE

E _ _ _ T / _ A Y S
A / _ E E K

Michael IDs “EIGHT DAYS A WEEK” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Crossword Round: FIRE ______

Michael: $1,400 R pair, 2 E’s, $1,400 T pair, 3 O’s, BANKRUPT near $2,500 ($2,300 lost) (he originally thought of solving at this point)
Lillian: other BANKRUPT
Sarah: MDW’s left side
Michael: D for DJ near $700, solve for $1K & DJ…

_	O	R	_	_
O									_
O									_
D	E	_	_	R	T	_	E	_	T

WORKS, DEPARTMENT, WOOD, and PIT are the things associated with “fire” to secure the special golden wedge.

Mystery Round: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Lillian: $600 G, 3 N’s for other DJ, 3 I’s, 5 A’s (NMV), 3 C’s on MW near $650, passes, solve for $6,100 & DJ…

_ I C _ I N G / _ A C _
I N / A / C A _ A N A

She’s got a golden wedge of her own and someone who solves the next puzzle would be KICKING BACK IN A CABANA- PR.

Sarah: $1K $ Michael: $3K DJ $ Lillian: $6,100 DJ

Fan Friday Word of the Week: SUSHI (enter for your chance to win a Collette trip to Japan)

PP/Express Round: PHRASE

Sarah: 3 T’s for WC, $1,400 N pair, no S on $850
Michael: $500 R, 2 I’s, O, $700 H, 5 E’s, A (NMV), 2 L’s for $10K, solve for $10,200…

L E T / T H E
_ E L E _ R A T I O N
_ E _ I N

LET THE CELEBRATION BEGIN– in addition to all that cash, he’ll be getting a mani-pedi on his trip to the Avila Beach Hotel in CURAÇAO worth $8,710!

Sarah: $1K WC $ Michael: $21,910 cash & Curaçao DJ $ Lillian: $6,100 DJ

Triple Toss-Up: FOOD & DRINK

T _ P / _ A _ E R

Lillian drinks a glass of TAP WATER.

_ _ _ _ _ G
_ _ _ _ _

She nails SPRING WATER…

C _ _ _ _ _ _ _ E

…but she blows the Toss-Up sweep with CRANBERRY JUICE.

C H _ M P A _ _ E

Sarah pops open a bottle of CHAMPAGNE.

Round 4: THING

She lands on the $8K wedge right away… but says an unfortunate dud of T- darn. Michael then completes the $1,500 Final Spin sweep.

Michael: S
Lillian: T repeat
Sarah: N
Michael: R
Lillian: 2 M’s
Sarah: P
Michael: B
Lillian: 2 Y’s

M Y / _ _ _ _ Y
N _ M B _ R

Though I don’t have MY LUCKY NUMBER, Lillian solves for $6K.

PENALTY BOX	DUDS	BANKRUPTS	REPEATS
Round 1		3 (everybody)
Mystery Round	PERFECT ROUND
PP/Express Round	S (Sarah)
Round 4/Speed-Up	T, P (Sarah), S (Michael)		T (Lillian)
8 TOTAL	4	3	1

FINAL SCORES
Sarah: $3K WC $ Michael: $21,910 cash & Curaçao DJ $ Lillian: $16,100 DJ

We get a shot of one of Michael’s shoes which is pink and sparkly. And wouldn’t you know it — we were this close to an all-male sweep again just like the previous milestone week.

FINAL JACKPOT AMOUNT: $21,250

GRAND TOTAL: $41,010
BANKRUPT TRASH (Michael): $2,300

I don’t think we’ll have a Double Jackpot win because Michael’s unfortunately stuck with THAT list again…

PHRASE
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
THING

$100K Bonus Round

After we see his “pops”, he lands on WIN. Opening setup…

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

CDMO gives him…

_ O C _ E _ / _ O R
_ O S _ T _ _ N

He will JOCKEY FOR POSITION on winning the $42,500 Jackpot plus…

…

…the Infiniti QX50 for a final total of $111,160 cash & prizes! Furthermore, we have our SECOND CAR SWEEP THIS SEASON!!! WTG, sir!

Postgame Chat: As we see a cake on stage to commemorate 8,000 episodes, Pat states that they’ve done the daytime version of this show before so he’s done almost 10,000 shows. Vanna has stayed a couple extra years in daytime so she’s done over 10,000. The show was on for seven years before he started; it has been on for over 12,000 episodes, which is crazy. Pat then thanks us for allowing that to happen.

MY RATING: 10! (A+) (despite a few bumps)

And now, w/ 8,000 episodes complete, we shall celebrate this magnificent milestone w/ a celebratory song.

“We Didn’t Spin The Wheel” (To the tune of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire”, written by @nickskapower)

Play this if you want to sing along: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNtmT5n4jwE

(VERSE 1: @andynwof)

Colored wedges, dollar amounts, bankrupt wedges, lose a turns
Free play, wild card, half car plates, million dollar wedges
Mystery wedge flips, express runs, prize wedges, jackpots
Gift tags, puzzle board, categories, used letter board

(VERSE 2: @dannymargulis)

Before and after, phrase, thing, place, what are you doing
Person, event, food and drink, fictional character
Living thing, rhyme time, same name, song lyrics
Title, proper name, crosswords, triple tossup puzzles

(CHORUS: ALL)