# Great Wheel of Fortune Screwups **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321 "2006-05-18T21:30:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/61 "2006-05-20T13:38:47Z")
> [@The King of Soup](#): > > The check was in the m **a** ll? THE CHECK IS IN THE M\_IL sORRY, i NEED A NEW KEYBOARD ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/62 "2006-05-20T17:06:19Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Well, I would have gone with comic book and movie heros the X-men yeah, that is better. wow I feel dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/63 "2006-05-21T04:42:40Z")
> [@dogbutler](#): > > THE CHECK IS IN THE M\_LL > > Contestant: “The check is in the mill!” > > Me: :wally The check is in the…mall? ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/64 "2006-05-21T04:44:10Z")
Mental note: Refresh threads when you come back from being out all day. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/65 "2006-05-21T05:00:59Z")
> [@The King of Soup](#): > > The check was in the m **a** ll? Maybe the check was in the moll (“Alright, Rico, where’d you stash that check?”) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/66 "2006-05-21T05:11:17Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > Slightly off topic, here is a famous [video clip](http://gprime.net/video.php/whatsaho) of long-time Jeopardy contestant Ken Jennings missing a question. > > I still think he should have been given credit. Does it make me a Jeopardy geek that I remembered what you were referring to before the video started? And yeah- that was too funny. Technically wrong, but I think he should’ve been credited. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/67 "2006-05-21T09:07:58Z")
This was on a mother/daughter (two contestant) day. MEXICAN CHI\_AHA\_ Mother/daughter: Uh, can we have an L? However, a true story is my mother, who loved watching the show but mom, well…she was mom…the answer to the puzzle was ROOSTER but mom, in the room with guests visiting, said, “I know the answer!” and shouted out “it’s Cockadoodledo!”…she was close, and had the right idea, but didn’t get the proverbial cigar for her quick thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/68 "2006-05-21T17:27:20Z")
I don’t get the last one, **DMark**. Is the clue supposed to be CHIH\_AH\_A? ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/69 "2006-05-21T23:57:11Z")
Boxer David Tua, not the brightest of bulbs even among the ranks of men who get punched in the head for a living, won everlasting fame here in New Zealand for requesting to buy the vowel “O for Awesome!”. He later compounded the matter by insisting that he had been misheard, and really wanted “O for Olsen”. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/70 "2006-05-22T01:06:34Z")
Actually, that’s something I’ve wondered about. When I’ve watched the show, I’ve never seen people say something like M as in Mary, but just M. So how often do they misinterpret the letter called out? ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/71 "2006-05-22T01:35:17Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I don’t get the last one, **DMark**. Is the clue supposed to be CHIH\_AH\_A? But if that was the case, wouldn’t Pat Sajak inform the contestants that only vowels were left? (For what it’s worth, “CHI\_AHA\_” makes no sense at all…I can’t figure it out.) ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/72 "2006-05-22T04:43:38Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > **"The Exception That Brokes The Rule!"** Yeah, I saw that one too, and I gasped along with the audience, heh. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/73 "2006-05-22T08:23:31Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I don’t get the last one, **DMark**. Is the clue supposed to be CHIH\_AH\_A? Yes, I screwed up that one…and I believe Pat did indeed say vowels only and the mother and daughter still asked for an L. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/74 "2006-05-22T08:37:25Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > Actually, that’s something I’ve wondered about. When I’ve watched the show, I’ve never seen people say something like M as in Mary, but just M. So how often do they misinterpret the letter called out? Never, that I’ve seen. If there’s any doubt, Pat asks them to repeat and/or clarify. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/75 "2006-07-13T16:34:55Z")
We were howlin’ at this one yesterday… The board was set up something close to: BEL\_GA \_\_ALES And the contestant yells out “BELUGA SNAILS!” ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/76 "2006-07-13T18:56:04Z")
[QUOTE=Fern Forest] Isn’t that also the one that Nell Carter flubbed on the sitcom? She said something like “Give me liberty or give me money.” My brain really needs to run its cleanup program. [/QUOTE] This is the first thing I thought of when I opened this thread! The show was _Give Me A Break_. In that episode, Nell appeared on _Wheel of Fortune_. The puzzle was nearly solved, and she got all cocky and excited and said (with attitude), “Give me liberty or give me a car!” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/77 "2006-07-13T19:26:27Z")
[QUOTE=NailBunny] “I want to solve the puzzle! TAKE ME WHERE IT HURTS!” 😃 [/QUOTE] The back seat of a Volkswagen? I saw one where the _complete answer_ was on screen: “Frankly, Scarlett, I don’t give a damn” (or whatever that quote really is.) The contestant tried to solve the puzzle. She said “Frankly, Scarlett, I don’t give a darn.” Pat didn’t give it to her! ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/78 "2006-07-13T20:58:13Z")
This was from back in the 80s and I felt the judges were being dorks, but the hint was “people” and the puzzle showed: P\_TTSB\_RGH P\_RATES Contest #1:“Is it ‘The Pittsburgh Pirates’?” WRONG! Contest #2:“Umm, the Pittsburgh Pirates” WRONG! Contest #3:“I don’t know, the Pittsburgh Pirates?” WRONG! They denied all three because they said “the” before “Pittsburgh Pirates”. How anal. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/79 "2006-07-13T21:09:36Z")
One from the 80’s I vividly recall: THE NEW YORK \_ETS Contestant #1, with a small fortune: “I’d like to solve it. The New York Jets!” “…no, I’m sorry, that is incorrect.” Contestant #2, with $200 or something: “The New York Mets!” DING DING DING!!! Hard to blame him for being stupid on that one, though. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321/80 "2006-07-13T21:24:16Z")
[QUOTE=randwill] That’s why the smart people are on Jeopardy and everybody else is on Wheel. [/QUOTE] The smartest people were on _Win Ben Stein’s Money_. Next came _Jeopardy_. Further down the line was _Who Wants to be a Millionaire_. I often commented that the smarter one was, the less likely they would win big. If you beat Ben, you knew your stuff…and you would walk home with five grand. In Millionaire, it was multiple guess, you could reach out for help, and there was no time limit. The rest of America was on _Wheel of Fortune_, _Press Your Luck_, and _Card Sharks_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-wheel-of-fortune-screwups/357321.md?page=5)