Notes From: Wheel of Fortune

There is something special about walking into a production studio lot in Los Angeles. It feels like a small connection to the golden age of the silver screen. We were invited to visit Wheel of Fortune in Los Angeles. Since the girls love the show, they got to come too. A few observations:

• The show films on Stage 11…the same room in which they filmed the tornado scene of The Wizard of Oz. 
• If you look up in the rafters, you can see past crew members who signed their names with the year and show they were working on. (We weren’t supposed to take pictures in the studio but Samm is always Samming.)

• Today we filmed the episodes for Thanksgiving week. Vanna mentioned that “41 years ago, thanksgiving Eve, was the night she heard that she got the Wheel job.”
• Whatever you’ve heard about Vanna White, she’s even more kind and pleasant than that. 
• Pat Sajak retires after this year. He’s so done. There was one contestant that he was tired of within about two minutes. But ever the professional, he remained as smooth as butter. 
• They film three episodes before lunch and three episodes after lunch, 36 days a year. The shows on the rest of the year are rerun. (That’s why you see travel shows still even though they haven’t travelled since 2017.)
• One person had “A _ocket in my _ocket.” and she said “a locket in my rocket.” You should have seen the face of the contestant who had an opportunity to solve it next. I hope they show his reaction on TV.

• They gave us some playing cards with the wheel on the front and the card faces circular on the back. They’re cool to look at but hard to shuffle. 

Overall, it was a fun adventure. We definitely view the show differently when we see it on tv. 

Plus, we got to try the wheel…

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“Notes From” is a series where I share observations from recent adventures. You can read more of these in the “Notes From” category.