Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune

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Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune
Genre	Game Show
Created by	Merv Griffin (USA)
Presented by	Host Tim Campbell Letter Spinner Kelly Landry
Narrated by	Simon Diaz
Theme music composer	Ross Inglis
Country of origin	Australia
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	15 (as of 13 June 2008)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Paul Waterhouse Aaron Smith
Producer(s)	Jodi Boylan
Location(s)	GTV-9, Richmond, Victoria, Australia
Running time	Approx. 22 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Nine Network
Picture format	576i (SDTV)
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	26 May 2008 – present
Chronology
Preceded by	Wheel Of Fortune (1981-2006, formerly broadcasted on the Seven Network)
External links
Official website
IMDb profile

Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune is an Australian television game show, broadcasted on the Nine Network since 26 May 2008. It is a revamped version of the classic Seven Network game show Wheel of Fortune, which was retired from the network in July 2006 after 25 years. The show is hosted by former Home and Away star Tim Campbell^[1], with Kelly Landry as the letter spinner^[2].

[edit] Gameplay

The rules will be exactly the same as the show's predecessor on the Seven Network:

• Scoring - The Australian version gives the player a flat rate of the amount they spun up, rather than multiplying the amount spun up per instances of the consonant in the puzzle. For example, if a player landed on $530 and called a T, of which there were three in the puzzle, they would be awarded only $530, rather than $1,590.
• Buying a Vowel - Like before, vowels are $50 each, and are a flat rate. They can be purchased at any time during a contestant's turn before the wheel is spun, but not only at the beginning of a player's turn.

[edit] Differences from previous versions

Host Tim Campbell with the first 3 contestants at the end of round 3 during the premiere episode.

One major difference from the predecessor is that contestants no longer play for prizes, but for cash. The "securing money" rule is still also in place, however, money that is locked in is not displayed and is only added to the final scores at the end of the show.

Justifying its name, Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune introduces a $1 million value prize wedge on the wheel during the first round. If a contestant manages to both land the wedge during the first round, solve the puzzle for the first round, avoid Bankrupt for the remainder of the game and proceed to the final round, the $1 million wedge appears on the prize wheel, giving the contestant a chance to win the money if they again spin it up and manage to solve the final puzzle. Otherwise, the top prize will be $200,000.^[3]. For every night the $200,000 is not won, another $200,000 wedge is added to the Bonus Wheel on the next episode until it is won, meaning that $200,000 is guaranteed to be won, as all 24 spaces on the wheel can have $200,000.

Other minor differences include the Flip Ups being renamed to their American counterparts; they are now called Toss Ups. The first Toss Up is done in the cold opening before Tim and Kelly are introduced, while the second one is done before the fourth (and usually final) round. The Prize Puzzle has been switched to a Cash Up, in which $500 is given away, instead of a prize related to the puzzle.

[edit] Ratings

Viewer response to the revival has been rather tepid. Though its first episode garnered a respectable 700,000 viewers, placing a very close second to now-rival Deal or No Deal, viewership has dropped steadily, and after three weeks on the air, Wheel's current viewership is 500,000, a far cry from the 900,000 watchers for Deal. Even former host and hostess John Burgess and Adriana Xenides have given negative feedback, calling it "dry." ^[4]

[edit] References

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