September 14, 2023 Recap | Buy a Vowel Boards (2024)

From Sony Pictures Studios, it's America's Game!

WHEEL OF FORTUNE
EUROPEAN VACATION
EPISODE #7819

Ding!

Quentin's KICKING A SOCCER BALLinto the goal!

Here are today's contestants!

Ariana Brothersis from Winston-Salem, NC. She does fitness coaching online and is a professional bikini bodybuilding competitor. She's married to J.D. for four years, although they've been together for six.
Melissa Schmidtis from Lake in the Hills, IL. She's been married to Erwin for 26 years. She has two daughters in college - Paige and Lauren - so she's planning on starting a food truck with her trained chef husband.
Quentin Leeis from Oxford, AL. He's Superintendent of Talladega City Schools. He's married to Doctor Anita Lee and has three children, includingKiesha. He played tuba in the marching band at HBCU Alabama A&M and loved it!

Ding!

I'm COUNTING THE NUMBERS, Quentin, and your guess is one letter too short.

Ding!

I'm CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS, and it looks like Ariana has $2,000!

Prize:

ITALY

Melissa, you'll have EXPREIENCES YOU WON'T SOON FORGETon an Overseas Adventure Travel tour of Italy! It's a $9,000 trip, and she's already got $5,000 in spending cash!

I'd hate to see what DENTIST OFFICE POLITICSlook like, but Melissa has another $2,100.

Quentin, pick up a COFFEE-TABLE BOOKas reading material to your trip to France! It's a Trafalgar tour wroth $9,748!

Ding!

Quentin scarfs up some GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE!

Ding!

Melissa's enjoying that POLISH SAUSAGE!

Ding!

Quentin's ending this regional tour with a CORN DOG ON A STICK.

DING-DING! DING-DING!

Final Spin: $900 ┐

+$1,000 =

Quentin: R (x2 - $3,800)
Ariana: T (x2 - $3,800)
Melissa: S ($1,900)
Quentin: B (DUD!)
Ariana: N ($5,700)
Melissa: L ($3,800)
Quentin: G (DUD!)
Ariana: C ($7,600)
Melissa: F ($5,700 (*NMC*))

Melissa, you might be able to hire a FREELANCE ARTISTfor the graphics on that food truck. That $5,700 locked up the game!

What isn't necessarily free is the Bonus Round. Melissa's choices are:
THING
PLACE
PHRASE

We'll see if

Melissa's in the right PLACE.

$100,000 BONUS ROUND

Melissa's husband, Irwin, is ready to cheer her on!

Melissa lands on the E in GAME.

RSTLN E...

DGH A... well, have some As.

Melissa can just say A over and over again. She gets A POPULAR at the buzzer, but can't shop in A POPULAR BOUTIQUE with $40,000. She's still going to Italy though, and she's still eating up $23,800, cash and trip!

Pat Chat: There's a Wheel Winners segment highlighting people who won trips to Europe, including Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, and other places. There's a compilation of a few people winning trips, as well as a collage of photos on tour.

Afterwards, Pat notes that German Chocolate Cake isn't even German; it was just invented by a guy whose last name was German.

I actually had the bonus puzzle, knowing that the show likes to reuse words…

0-4 in the first week, this is concerning.

Glad that the prize wedge was picked up and won in R1.

"COFFEE-TABLE BOOK" as a Prize Puzzle? Interesting. IMO, R1 puzzle was more suitable to be the Prize Puzzle but I'm not sure how frequent has the word "EXPERIENCE(S)" appearing in the Prize Puzzle. Anyway, it would be good to see more variety.

I also had the BR puzzle. "BOUTIQUE" was solved last season but this word is still proven to be a tough word to contestants. Sadly, the vowel that Melissa chose was a trap.

I'm curious to know if there's a full credit roll because I heard a bit of the extended theme during the closing?

Once again the Prize Puzzle had nothing to do with the trip. Round 1's puzzle would've fit better.

Another tough bonus puzzle, BOUTIQUE strikes again. Really hope we can salvage the week with a win tomorrow!

Have they finally ditched the "brochure" puzzles in Round 3? Even Monday's puzzle didn't seem all that cringe worthy.

Now we just have the prize itself to worry about.

So what exactly is the trajectory for PPs this season? Monday’s and Wednesday’s made sense, as kinda did Tuesday’s, but I fail to see how a COFFEE-TABLE BOOK ties into France.

Are we really aiming for a shutout during premiere week? Seems like M-W were all set up for wins in spite of the classic “start with a vowel so it’s hard” trope in all three cases, but I don’t think tonight’s was appropriate for the first week.

This episode was better than the previous three, thanks to Quentin and Melissa’s match. And boy, Quentin was quite the enthusiastic contestant. But I knew the Bonus Round was trouble thanks to RSTLNE. Maybe the O’s would’ve given Melissa a better shot.

By the way, I no-lettered the Prize Puzzle. It makes sense to me, since France is famous for coffee. Oh, and Pat’s connection to Melissa’s hometown and fact about German chocolate cake shocked me.

I sure hope we get a Bonus Round win tomorrow. 🤞🏾

My rating: 6