WHEEL of FORTUNE with Andy Nguyen

Pat’s final season as host is coming to an end, so here’s the list of S41 summer rerun weeks.

Jun. 10-14: Sand and Sea that aired Jan. 22-26

On Monday, we had no penalty spins. Jeremy Wilson cleaned up nicely with $39,080 cash & Barbados plus the WC and he won the $44,735 2024 Mustang Ecoboost Premium in the BR for TIDYING UP THE HOUSE.

On Tuesday, Marilyn Campos’ name tag came loose in Round 1. She handed it to Pat and he fixed it before the start of the next round. Before the first commercial break, there was a Wheel Winners segment of Scott Kolbrenner who won $145K on Mar. 18, 2021 and donated all his cash winnings to Pacific Clinics and the L.A. Regional Food Bank. The third Triple Toss-Up READING GLASSES was categorized as AROUND THE HOUSE instead of WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?. We had a MDBR #5 by Micah White, but she was unable to eat those FLUFFY FLAPJACKS for…

…

…

…

…$40K.

On Wednesday, there was another Wheel Winners segment of Roger & Toni Bushong from Valentine’s Day 2023 who won a brand-new Mercedes-Benz GLA 250 in the BR; they’ve never had a brand-new car before and they love it (their final vehicle color was white instead of the red one on the set). Dustin Downing a.k.a. dudotx on Discord did a fine job in the maingame even though Deanna Palmer overtook him in the end. But I’m SPEAKING FRANKLY to you that she only got the first word towards the end of the timer, and she wasn’t the second Mustang convertible owner this week.

Thursday’s maingame wasn’t the best aside from a 5-round game, but not too bad, either. Reesa Cooper, who lucked out thanks to the Prize Puzzle says “I WANT TO BUY A FEW THINGS”, and she’ll certainly do so with $40K.

Friday’s episode was pre-empted in some CBS stations including Andy’s due to coverage of the Farmer’s Insurance Open. There were too many duds to end the week, but Carla Householder’s Triple Toss-Up sweep and perfect letter combo were the highlights. I JUMPED AT THE CHANCE to see her win $40K and secure a winning BR week.

Overall, an ok week besides Jeremy’s dominance on Monday.

Jun. 17-21: Fabulous Food that aired Mar. 4-8

Nickskapower covered this week in its entirety since he’s a foodie.

This week didn’t get off to the best start and Stephen Sanders needed the PP to win, which meant bad news for the BR. That proved to be the case when he was unable to solve SUPPORTIVE COLLEAGUE for $40K since he only got help from his vowel. In the postgame chat, we saw various vintage clips of Pat and Vanna eating various types of food.

On Tuesday, Joey Covey hopped on EXPRESS with just one consonant left (the C in COMPARING APPLES TO ORANGES). He went on to take both the MDW (MDBR #6) and WC to the BR, but he wasn’t STAYING ABOVE THE FRAY to win…

…

…

…

…$40K.

In the postgame chat, we saw vintage clips of Pat and Vanna stuffing their faces with cream puffs and pies.

On Wednesday, we saw a WoF Memories clip of Pat and Vanna eating hot dogs from Johnny Pastrami’s on Oct. 19 from last season. Courtney Tibaldi had a nice maingame performance and was the second player in a row to take both cardboard pieces to the BR. She admitted “I AM LOVING LIFE RIGHT NOW” for…

…

…

…

…$40K.

On Thursday, Sonta Henderson solved the second Triple Toss-Up MAIN HALLWAY with only the Y revealed. It was Temika Irving who had yet another dominant performance in the maingame and she was the third player in a row to take the WC to the BR. However, she didn’t realize that the puzzle board WORKS LIKE MAGIC for $40K.

On Friday, we had a rough Round 1, but Ryan McAdams cleaned up nicely like the previous three winners (albeit by a smaller extent) and he was the FOURTH player in a row to take the WC to the BR. Although he didn’t win $40K (second consecutive minimum sweep and fourth this season) in the BR due to limited help, YOU SHOULD BE PROUD of him. In the postgame chat, we saw a clip from 2016 of Vanna promoting the closed captioning plug while Pat was eating butter.

Not a bad week overall compared to last season’s edition thanks to some dominant performances this week aside from Monday, even though we went 1-4 on BR wins.

Jun. 24-28: Collette Show You the World that aired Jan. 8-12

This week got off to a TERRIBLE start. Even though there weren’t too many penalties, things started to fall apart when Kelly Kozlowski got slapped with a painful BANKRUPT in the Mystery Round to deprive her of $11,648 cash & Alaska trip. In the end, Christine Petrivelli needed the PP to win and she lost the BMW X1 in the BR since she hasn’t checked her DAILY HOROSCOPE.

On Tuesday, we had a tight match between Brian Parker and Ashley McFarland. Brooklyn Olumba, on the other hand, got a painful BANKRUPT in the Mystery Round to deprive her of $16,100 cash & Patagonia trip. It was Ashley who won the match, but she wouldn’t be BROWSING THE AISLES (which has at least one of each freebie letter and reveals more than half the answer) and collecting the keys to the BMW X1. In the postgame chat, we saw photos of contestant Tricia Scaglione’s trip to Croatia from Jan. 18, 2023.

On Wednesday, Diana Ardehali cleaned up from the Prize Puzzle onwards but was unable to solve her BR puzzle ON A WHIM, and the BMW X1 was lost yet again.

On Thursday, Resti Magtoto finished in second place with $22,998. The winner TaRhea Marshall, however, wouldn’t be ordering BAGELS & DOUGHNUTS in the BMW X1 despite getting a complete first word (also the first time since Apr. 17, 2009 where an ampersand appears here).

On Friday, we had another tight match between LaVonda Sharp and Casey Frederick. And after an all-male sweep from the S38 edition of this theme, we got ourselves an all-female sweep on this season’s edition. Even though LaVonda lucked out thanks to the PP, she was able to MAKE A WISE CHOICE of letters in the BR to kick out the skunk and complete the car landing sweep (first time since The Good Life week in early S28)!

Thank goodness for her in saving us on a rather interesting week this was- the first car sweep in over 13 years plus an all-female sweep.

Jul. 1-5: Great American Cities that aired Apr. 1-5

On April Fool’s Day, Jared Leto appeared in place of Pat during the intro and was introduced by Jim. Jared also introduced the first Toss-Up, but Pat’s voice was heard prompting the contestant for an answer (although it’s possible that they’ll use a normal intro instead). Afterwards, Pat remained in place, and the prank was not acknowledged. Also, this episode was taped using the Winter Wonderland set on Oct. 27, as Jared Leto was present in the studio to film a skit promoting Thirty Seconds to Mars’ upcoming world tour. Alicia Gregg solved the $2K Toss-Up THE JOKER IS WILD without ringing in. But Kylee Hatch made a BIG FOOL of herself especially in the Mystery Round when she thought there was a West Coast city called SUN FRUNCISCO, hence the U purchase to cost her $12,450 including the $10K MW. She ended up with the DESERVING $1K GOOSEEGG award by Andy as a result. In the end, Alicia ate a piece of DRIED PAPAYA for $40K.

On Tuesday, Pat gave Willie Harris his necktie at the end of the maingame, and during the postgame chat, we saw clips of various road shows from the past. However, this episode just plain sucked. We had a low-scoring game, and because Lauren Mailhiot didn’t remember her collective pronouns, A POD OF DOLPHINS swam away with the $40K she could’ve won and we set a new SEASON-LOW in winnings for a single episode.

On Wednesday, there was a WoF Memories clip of Pat attaching a $1 to the left of Diane’s scoreboard on Oct. 23, 1989, which was cut off from Canadian broadcasts for unknown reasons. This was an improvement over yesterday’s disaster, but the messy PP/Express Round and the fact that Sherold Haynes was really ON SHAKY GROUND in the BR since the PP mattered for her to win and lost $40K brought this episode back down to average.

On Thursday, even though we had all three contestants finishing with $10K+, we had this in the PP/Express Round…

T H E / E N T R A N C E
T _ / A / C A _ T _ E

Kim Weisenberg BOMBED OUT BIG TIME with a CRITICAL PURCHASE OF U to throw away $17,300– seriously, ma’am?! Though Ryan Skinner won with an all-cash total, he didn’t prove to be an AVID FAN of the show and also lost $40K.

Pat taped his final episode on Friday. This maingame was ok, and Kiley Klug would CHECK YOUR HER INBOX telling her that she won $40K (fifth minimum sweep this season).

It was nice that we started off that month with two BR wins, but Tuesday’s massacre and that EPIC FAIL vowel purchase on Thursday left something to be desired.

Jul. 8-12: Wheel Around the World that aired Jan. 29-Feb. 2

I covered the first three episodes, and this was the last time this season where Andy assigned some recaps for another admin without a provided reason.

This week got off to a poor start even though we had no monetary BANKRUPT trash and Nicole Paynter solved the third Triple Toss-Up A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH with only the second N revealed. Because Ryan DiMarco couldn’t solve his BR puzzle, WE CAN(not) BOUNCE BACK from this episode with him winning the Infiniti QX50 and he went down as the second lowest-winning champ of the season with just $11,550 cash & trip.

Tuesday was pretty much the same story. Round 1 was a pain to watch, and late in the round, Corey Colwill BOMBED OUT thinking the last vowel was U thinking the first half of the puzzle was ORCHESTRA PUT. In the round after that, Latonya Tatum cashed in $21K from 6 N’s, but she really dropped the ball on both her chances. And like yesterday, the Prize Puzzle mattered for Megan Carvale to win which meant bad news for the BR, and it showed when this PINK ORCHID wilted along with $40K.

On Wednesday, the show opened with a shot of the UK’s then-new version of the show: host Graham Norton walked out on the set of the UK version and mentioned Wheel Around the World Week then threw to Pat and Vanna, who were shown standing at center stage on the American version’s set. The $2K Toss-Up OUT-OF-OFFICE NOTIFICATION tied for the longest Toss-Up in terms of overall spaces, using 25 of the 52 spaces on the board. We saw a WoF Memories clip of Pat and Vanna in Portugal from 2018. Everyone finished with five figures in this episode with Kelsie Grant finishing third with $16,500 cash & HI. But Tonniece Greene didn’t win $40K towards going to a HOLIDAY BASH.

Thursday’s rerun was pre-empted in the Mountain Time Zone due to a special report on Biden’s press conference. Shalocmont Jacobs’ BIG PR in the PP/Express Round made up for a slow first half, but IT’S BEYOND ME why some people like her try to fill in the obvious, and because she didn’t get enough help in the key word where she needed it most…

…

…

…

…SHE WAS THE FIRST $100K LOSER THIS YEAR AND THE FOURTH OVERALL THIS SEASON.

Although we had another nice five-figure match like Wednesday with Joel Crandall finishing second with $21,640 cash & trips, Pam Keel wouldn’t INQUIRE WITHIN at the car dealership about her new Infiniti QX50, and we’ve been SKUNKED on this theme for the first time S34 (and second overall this season).

Aside from the five-figure matches on Wednesday and Friday, everything else left something to be desired.

Jul. 15-19: Destination Relaxation that aired Apr. 22-26

The first four episode reruns are pre-empted in the Pacific Time Zone and Alaska for the Republican National Convention.

We got off to a good start this week with a triple $10K+ match with Jeff Commings winning $50K in the BR towards going to a PICNIC PAVILION. We saw a Wheel Winners segment of Rana Aryan from New Year’s Eve 2021 who won a PP trip to Costa Rica and took husband Adam there.

On Tuesday, the camera cut away too soon during the first Toss-Up, showing a brief shot of Vanna getting in place at the puzzle board before the wipe appears. Vanna was shown on-camera during the contestant interviews due Laura Trombino saying that she met Pat and Vanna shooting promos while on her honeymoon. Mikeya Trombino’s microphone shorted out when the R’s were revealed in the Mystery Round resulting in a five-minute pause in recording before her microphone is fixed and the reveal of the R’s was reshot. After that round, there was a bumper where a partially revealed puzzle themed to travel is shown with Jim saying via voiceover, “Can you solve this special Holland America Line puzzle?”. Laura cleaned up nicely, but she was unable to solve WHIRLWIND YEAR for $40K because she picked THING.

On Wednesday, Jim appeared on-camera before the Prize copy. After Alex Harrell won the prize in the Mystery Round, Pat began to throw to Jim before realizing he already read the copy, at which point Jim was shown on-camera a second time. We saw a WoF Memories clip of Pat and Vanna sitting in a hot tub in 1991 (which, as usual, was incorrectly dated to “the 1980s”). Alex cleaned up nicely in the first half of this BANKRUPT-free game, and ate up some TAPIOCA PUDDING for $40K!

Thursday was definitely a step down from the previous episodes this week, although we had a decent match between the ladies. Some episodes can be KIND OF WEIRD when people make questionable decisions while on stage, and this Shannon Schneider didn’t win $40K.

Oh boy, Friday sure threw this week down the toilet. -___- Things started to go wrong when we had this in Round 1…

T I _ _ E T S
T O U R S
T R A I _ S / &
T R A _ S

Kate Metz decided to spin again… and SHE PAINFULLY BANKRUPTED NEAR $2,500 TO FLUSH AWAY $29,750!!! Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. -___- The next two rounds were filled with penalties, and although she made a $10,500 comeback win in the end, she was unable to untangle this amount from this HONEYSUCKLE…

…

…

…

…BOY, DID HER EPIC BANKRUPT REALLY SET THE TONE FOR A HORRIFIC NIGHT- SHE WAS THE EIGHTH $100K LOSER THIS SEASON.

In the postgame chat, Pat showed the correct pronunciation of Antigua on his cue card.

This week started off promising but took a really deep nosedive towards the end.

Jul. 22-26: Great Outdoors that aired Nov. 27-Dec. 1

We had a decent match by all three players to start the week, although I was baffled on why Lissa Zingerman declined to hop on EXPRESS with most of the puzzle revealed. But Lynette McClelland didn’t quite eat some HANDPICKED VEGGIES for $40K.

Thank goodness for Tuesday’s $6K Final Spin, because the rest of this episode was really shaky. Even though Lindsey Ziegenfuss made the $18K comeback win, I don’t know if she would PAY US A VISIT after WIPING OUT with her letter picks and losing $40K.

On Wednesday, Tyler Bleeker spun only twice landing on BANKRUPT both times. He did solve the $2K Toss-Up and the second Triple Toss-Up, however. There was a WoF Memories clip of the $100K trifecta from Bed and Breakfast Week from S39. Jenny Moore was FOLLOWING A PATH to her new Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend worth $35,180.

On Thursday, though Katie McKenzie cleaned up in the front game, Jack Bennett gave two unfortunate missolves in the second Triple Toss-Up and Speed-Up (the NMC beeps didn’t sound) which sealed his $1K GOOSEEGG fate. But Katie’s BR puzzle was way more than just A BIT FUZZY to be solvable for $40K.

The summer reruns from Jul. 26 through Aug. 9 will unfortunately not be seen on almost all NBC affiliates (which is the network I watch this show on) due to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Oh good lord, not another dismal Friday episode. -___- We may have had two PRs and a one-letter solve of RED PEPPERS by Reggie Rodgers in the second Triple Toss-Up, but this whole game had way too much conservative playing and too much lost to BANKRUPT. Even though Kristen McKenney didn’t need the PP to win, she didn’t request “GIVE ME ADVICE” for $40K. Furthermore, she went down as the lowest-winning champ this season and tied Carolyn Pittman from S37 for the record-low winning total in the Triple Toss-Up era. It may be a blessing in disguise that this episode is pre-empted on NBC stations for the reason above.

Thank goodness for Jenny on this not-so-Great Outdoors week.

Jul. 29-Aug. 2: Fan Favorites that aired May 27-31

Jpgenius covered Mon.-Thurs. while I wrapped up the week.

This week got off to a rather shaky start. After Rufus Cumberlander incorrectly answered DON’T LOOK AWAY, his opponents, Vanna, and the audience applauded while Pat shouted he was incorrect. His opponents put their buzzers away before looking at the board and realizing the situation, at which point they both rush to pick the buzzers back up and ring in, but were too late and we had our sixth TRIPLE STUMPER of the season; the answer was CAN’T LOOK AWAY. Cynthia King was the winner in a tight match with Luidgi Altidor, but she wouldn’t attend an OPULENT WEDDING with $40K.

On Tuesday, after Brian Davis flipped the MW near $650 to find a BANKRUPT on the reverse, he threw it across the set, hitting one of the pillars. Carla Householder solved the second Triple Toss-Up SAUNA with only the second A revealed. We also had a Final Spin that wasn’t edited out (Brian landed on the BANKRUPT near $5K and Pat commented “Normally, we would edit out a Bankrupt, ’cause who wants to see someone land a Bankrupt, but we all enjoy seeing you do it.”). The ladies had a tight match, but Rhachel Royal-Fortune needed the PP to win, and she blanked out in her BR puzzle and lost $40K despite later admitting she drove at least one DIVIDED HIGHWAY.

The midweek episode was definitely an improvement over the last two episodes, maingame-wise. While Lee Mack Turner finished with a decent second place total, Larry Brown Jr. cleaned up at the end. While I’M JUST SHOWING OFF my recapping skills, Larry hoped there isn’t a big amount in his envelope…

…

…

…

…BUT THERE WAS- HE WAS THE NINTH AND FINAL $100K LOSER THIS SEASON.

On Thursday, there was a WoF Memories clip of Liz and KC’s interview from Nov. 14, 2023. They were initially invited to appear on this week but were ultimately unable to return for medical reasons. This was just another lackluster game, and regarding the $40K that Courtney Tibaldi could’ve won, IT WAS OUT OF VIEW.

The last episode this week consisted of teams playing. The maingame was a little shaky, but Kennedi Williams & Dr. Kchristshan Howard saved the week from being skunked and won an extra $40K towards GOING PLACES on their Italy trip.

Thank goodness for them, because the rest of this edition of Fan Favorites wasn’t that great.

Aug. 5-9: Rail Tour that aired Sept. 25-29

Nickskapower covered the Tuesday episode but was unable to cover the next two days since he wasn’t feeling well.

The original Monday airing was pre-empted on ABC affiliates due to Monday Night Football starting at 7:00 PM Eastern instead of the usual 8:00. Things started to take a downturn in the second half of the game when Jason White bombed out thinking M was the last remaining consonant on the WC in the word NUTRITIOUS. Later in Round 4, Jessica Washington blew the $1,350 solve with DINING IN THE DINING JAR– you really think people would do that, girl?! -__- Teresa Jones (she went by the name “Terri” despite her name tag) may have cleaned up, but she wouldn’t GO FOR A WALK with $40K.

Tuesday’s episode was pretty rough, but Tameka Stephens’ perfect letter combo in the BR gives her a $40K deposit in her bank that was OVERDUE FOR AN UPGRADE.

We had a $20K+ match on Wednesday (Mario Mendez finished second with $21K while Devin Hruska finished third with $20,200 with only a $1,399 gap between first and third place, setting a record for highest third place total) thanks to Mario giving us our first $6K Final Spin of the season! Mark would be visiting a FORMAL GALA in the Lincoln Corsair Standard worth $44,180!

On Thursday, the Wheel was not preset at the start of the show, and none of SAME NAME, BEFORE & AFTER, or crossword were used. Derek’s PR in the PP/Express Round was the only good part of this game. WE BEGAN A PROJECT (or I in this case) on documenting each summer rerun week this season, but he lost $40K.

On Friday, Eric Peterson and Alessandra McKay had a decent match, but the Speed-Up was a mess and because Eric made the mistake of picking THING for his BR, he wasn’t even close to conquering A DIFFICULT UPHILL HIKE (this should’ve been FUN & GAMES, IMO) for $40K.

There may have been a few flaws (especially on Monday and Thursday), but this week overall was decent compared to previous editions of this theme.

Aug. 12-16: National Geographic Expeditions that aired Feb. 26-Mar. 1

During this week, contestants had a chane to win a cruise in the BR. There were two EXPEDITION CRUISE wedges on the Wheel on both $500 spaces during Rounds 1-3, and consonants were worth $1K when one was picked up. Nickskapower covered this week in its entirety.

This week didn’t get off to a great start no thanks to the many duds. Jason Barrett lucked out thanks to the PP and he asked for trouble in the BR by picking THING. He wouldn’t be taking up A FUN NEW HOBBY with $40K.

On Tuesday, the Triple Toss-Ups MORNING TALK SHOW, DAYTIME TALK SHOW, and LATE-NIGHT TALK SHOW were rare instances of the category (SHOW BIZ) being part of the answers, and none of SAME NAME, BEFORE & AFTER, SAME LETTER, or CROSSWORD were used. Although the game wasn’t too bad (despite the short intro), Amy Chumbley also lucked out thanks to the PP and was unable to take the $40K from this WIDE EMPTY FIELD.

On Wednesday, Ivan Johnson solved the second Triple Toss-Up THE WRONG WAY with only the G revealed. Not too good of a maingame especially in the first half, but Cynthia King, DO YOURSELF A FAVOR and solve the BR… she did just that $40K and the National Geographic Iceland expedition!

On Thursday, Vincent Lassiter solved the second Triple Toss-Up ROCK CLIMBING also with only the G revealed and went on to finish second with $22,804 cash & Alaska. Zoe Tsongalis made a nice comeback thanks to his $6K Final Spin, but she wouldn’t be attending a FABULOUS SHINDIG with $40K (SHINDIG is not an easy word to get).

The maingame to start the month of March and end the week was lackluster at best, and once again, a contestant needed the PP to win which meant bad news for the BR, and that proved to be the case for Sarah Vach. During this segment, YOU HAVE OPTIONS on which letters to call and you need to pick them wisely, but she didn’t follow this advice for $40K.

Thank goodness for Cynthia’s expedition cruise win in the BR on Wednesday, because most of this week could’ve been better.

Aug. 19-23: Teacher’s Week… from S40?!

Aug. 26-30: Margaritaville Resorts Week that aired Apr. 29-May 3

Andy did his last two recaps of the season on Monday and Tuesday, and Nick did the rest of the week. During this week, the bumpers featured parts of Jimmy Buffett’s album Equal Strain on All Parts.

Not the best start of recovery from last Friday’s disaster maingame-wise, but Krystalanne Curwood got the BR at the last second and would be escaping to the PRIVATE HIDEAWAY of St. Thomas with $40K.

On Tuesday, Vanna was shown getting in place at the puzzle board before the wipe for the first Toss-Up appeared. There was a WoF Memories clip of Pam guessing Pat Sajak on the WHO IS IT? puzzle TV HOST WHO GAVE BRAND-NEW CARS TO ENTIRE AUDIENCE. on Dec. 7, 2004. The first half of this game was quite a modest one and Kimberly Wright BOMBED OUT big time with F to throw away $7,250, apparently thinking DUCK-FILLED was a thing. She deserved to leave with the gooseegg after that big mistake. Russ Gergely, on the other hand, helped pick things up with his Triple Toss-Up sweep, but he wouldn’t be WAXING THE CAR which was the Ford Escape.

Wednesday was definitely a crazy start to this month. A big BANKRUPT early by Gail Farrell, a BIG PR by Kimberlei Davis in PP/Express Round (Pat cleaned her eyes with his necktie after the PP description), then a TRIPLE STUMPER in the first Triple Toss-Up (ELECTRIC BILL), and a nice comeback by Greg Moss (whose daughter appeared next to the puzzle board during the contestant interviews). He would be EMBARKING ON A NEW CHAPTER with an extra $40K.

Thursday’s game was pretty lackluster even though there were no penalty spins and we had a MDBR #9 by Charlene Hering. But this amount would be going OUT OF SIGHT because she didn’t win it…

…

…

…

…$40K.

Friday’s game was also lackluster, but we ended with a Ford Edge win by Tracy McBride FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH. We also saw Jim on camera after the PP description in this episode.

It’s nice that we got ourselves a winning BR week, but the maingames could’ve been better.