MEAWW.COM / ENTERTAINMENT / TV

‘Wheel of Fortune’ has a major problem it needs to fix and it's not just repeated puzzles

On social media, a viewer requested the makers, “Dear Wheel of Fortune, stop with the recycled puzzle redundancy.”

The ever-loved game show 'Wheel of Fortune' might be indirectly preparing its future contestants to win without effort. Viewers have begun to notice a pattern of repeated puzzles, raising concerns about the writer’s room. Since Ryan Seacrest took over hosting duties after long-time host Pat Sajak left the game show, many viewers have come across a few puzzles being repeated in the same season and sometimes during the overall run of the show. 

On the November 25, 2024 episode, the puzzle “Ocean Kayaking” was given to a contestant. What made it interesting was that the same puzzle had previously appeared on the game show, that too during the run of the same season. Shockingly, “Ocean Kayaking” was the puzzle that had appeared on the October 18, 2024 episode, a month from when it made its way into the long-lasting show again. This raised concerns about the lack of surprise for viewers. Similarly, this would even undermine the core challenge, and in a worst-case scenario, if the contestant has had a chance to watch the previous episode, they could benefit unfairly and win the round without the skill of guessing. Moreover, the same puzzle had even appeared on the December 2017 episode, that too during the Bonus Round. As per TV Insider, die-hard fans of the show even took their frustration to Reddit, writing, “Dear Wheel of Fortune, stop with the recycled puzzle redundancy.” Under the same thread, some others were seen commenting, “That's pretty bad they repeated a puzzle just a little more than a month later.” Another user’s comment read, “Wheel Watchers know this very well,” while some users were seen explaining, “Pretty sure they tried that years ago with some overly specific new puzzles, and it was received poorly, so they went back to recycling previous puzzles.”  

According to Collider, the aforementioned puzzle is not the first one repeated on ‘Wheel of Fortune’ during its long run. In 2023, “School Auditorium” was the puzzle that appeared several times on the show. It was seen for a good three times that too in the span of merely seven months, during the same season. This pattern, once noticed by the participants, may act as a huge peril for the reality game show. In case the future contestants get a grip of this pattern, and how the creators of the show allow it, they could watch the past episodes and prepare themselves for potential repeats. Repeated puzzles could make the game show predictable, reducing the challenge. and instead of using their thinking strategy, the contestant would simply rely on learning the previous puzzles. 

Another big issue that is being noticed by the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ viewers is that the puzzles are being spelled incorrectly. During the Thanksgiving episode that aired on November 21, 2024, the contestants were given the puzzle, “Corn Bread Stuffing.” However, Cornbread is actually just one word. ‘Wheel of Fortune’ has completed its Season 42 and is airing reruns, before the brings back Seacrest for Season 43.