Pet Peeves part 1

Corrie and I are living at her parents’ house right now until we move to Nevada in a couple of weeks. Since living here we've grown accustomed to watching Wheel of Fortune at 7:30 every evening. I wouldn't consider myself an amazing Puzzle Solver, or even a possible contestant on the show, but there are a number of things that bother me about the show, and I thought I'd share them here.

Constant Clapping
If you've ever watched this game show, you may have noticed that whenever Pat isn't talking or someone isn't calling a letter the contestants are clapping. Why do they clap? I know it's probably because the show’s producers mandate it, so that there is as much excitement generated as possible. But seriously, it's a little too much. I know if I was on the show, I wouldn't want to be clapping while the wheel was spinning. I would be more interested in making sure I didn't hit a Bankrupt or Lose a Turn, and that's just when it's my turn. I wouldn't want to clap when my opponents were spinning either. This would instill in them a false sense of encouragement, as if I truly care that they've landed on the trip to Mexico, or the $5,000 space. The thing that bothers me the most about this is that every once in a while you get some idiot on the show who wants to impress Vana with his ability to clap and all you hear for the entirety of the 30 minute program is the contestant clapping as loud as he can. Just stop clapping.

Buying a Vowel before solving a Puzzle
For those of you who aren't familiar with the show, you wouldn't know that if you want a vowel you must purchase it for $250 from your prize money. This has been a staple of the show since its inception. Sometimes you can make a good decision to buy a vowel like an "e" and get 5 of them and only have to pay $250. I am not against buying vowels, as they are significant pieces that are needed to solve each puzzle that Vana throws up there on the board. My annoyance stems from the fact that a contestant will be spinning the wheel, and making a lot of money and have the entire puzzle almost nailed down, and they look to Pat ask to buy a vowel, and without even thinking about spinning the wheel to make their $250 back they solve the puzzle. What's the point? If you know the solution and you don't want to risk hitting a bankrupt by spinning the wheel again, then just solve the puzzle. Why would you waste $250 for a vowel that you already know is there? I know that there are circumstances when this happens and the contestant does not know the answer before they buy the vowel, but it seems that more often than not the case is that they're just being stupid and throwing away their money.

Bonus Round puzzles with Q, Z, and J
At the end of each show, the contestant with the most prize money moves onto a bonus round where they can win anything from a new car to money ranging from 25,000-100,000. They must spin a mini wheel to randomly select a prize card that is held by Pat until the completion of the Bonus Round. The Puzzle is then brought onto the board and the Letters R-S-T-L-N-E are entered into the puzzle if they are of course part of the solution. The contestant then must provide three more consonants and one more vowel. Here is where I get annoyed. The most common set of letters that are given by a contestant are C-D-M-A, sometimes using an F or an H or a different vowel to help complete their puzzle. It makes me angry when the answer is Zoology or Qualified of Jumping Jacks. Who in their right mind would pick those letters? The contestant had just gone through 6 or so puzzles during the regular puzzles in the normal round and not once has one of those letters come up in a puzzle. This instills in the contestant a false sense of security. They probably quickly say to themselves "There's no way a Q, Z or J would be in the puzzle, I'll just go on with what I know works" Roasted. If I were a contestant and they pulled that kind of stunt on me I would take that card that Pat opens up telling me I just lost a new Jeep Cherokee, rip it up and throw it into his face as I stormed of the stage. I wouldn't clap as they would probably want me to, and I wouldn't find solace that I walking away with $6,000 cash and a trip to Martha’s Vineyard. Because I know if they just had a normal Bonus Round Puzzle I could have won, and that sweet Cherokee would be mine.

The Pat Sajack and Vana White Minute
After the show is over you may notice that it's only 7:54pm. If you're like me you might say, why they end so early. The answer is because Pat and Vana get to talk about what's going on in their life. No one care that Pat is an honorary deputy sheriff, or that Vana has trouble with dry skin in her armpits. You're C-List celebrities, and if anyone really cared then we'd see your names in the tabloids more often. Get rid of the Pat Sajack and Vana White Minute and add another puzzle to the show.

That's my two sense. Another thing that kind of irks me but not to the point of annoyance is when Pat gives the wheel a final spin for the last puzzle of the game. He's been doing this for 20+ years, you'd think that he'd hit the $5,000 place a little more often.

This is just the beginning of my pet peeves as I will call them. I plan on posting more, so look forward to them.