American television show “Wheel of Fortune” is one of the longest-running Game Show aired. No doubt its popularity has been immense and it has maintained its high-ratings for decades.
However, recently, this game show is storming internet due to the public opinion of injustice on the show.
Wheel of fortune is a staple of evening television with international fan following. It’s an engaging game show where contestants solve word puzzles to win cash prizes.
The contestants first take turns to spin the wheel to accumulate money and then guess the word puzzles right to win the accumulated money. With every passing levels, the game gets more difficult but grants special bonuses.
In the recent episode of Wheel of Fortune, contestant Megan Carvale brought her A-game to bonus round with the category of living thing.
Megan, a high school choir director from California, was all excited and determined to solve the puzzle and win the bonus amount.
The puzzle opened with partially filled phrase _ _N_ in the first line and _R_ _ _ _ in the second one. Interestingly, Megan rightly guessed the needed three letters unveiling a clearer picture “P_N_ ‘_RC_ _ D.”
As the clock was ticking, Megan devotedly tried to solve the puzzle. While she had 10 seconds to go, before the buzzer, Megan hurriedly guessed it right “PINK ORCHID” or she might have said “something orchid” but her response was not recognized correct by judges.
The buzzer rang and words unfolded on screen rightfully as “PINK ORCHID”. Megan said it again aloud but clearly this time with a surprise and disappointment on her face.
Host Pat Sajak, in an attempt to sympathize with her, said “You might have been overthinking a type of orchid”
Megan’s disappointment was even deepened when the bonus prize was revealed to be massive $40,000 cash prize which she narrowly missed.
Despite the near hit, she still took $14,007 in her winnings. But the thought of missing such a big bonus prize, that too, over a potential miscommunication feels disheartening.
Viewers turned to social media, particularly X (formerly known as twitter) to express their disappointment and this sparked widespread debate among fans. Many argued the decision was too strict or not fair altogether while some supported judges’ perspective too.
One X user insisted “she totally said ‘pink orchid’ right at the start.”
Megan’s clips of the show have since gone viral and people are now headed towards YouTube to replay the footage again and again to deduce what was actually said.
One consumer commented, “She said pink orchid the first time, but they (judges) didn’t give it to her”. Another claimed “first thing she said was pink orchid. Shame on the show for not acknowledging and correcting”.
Some viewers, on the other hand, sided with judges supporting the narrative Megan actually did not guess it right. They said don’t you think that if she had actually said pink orchid, she would have protested with the judges.
Supporting this, one commenter wrote “on low volume it sounds like pink orchid but on high volume it’s definitely something orchid”.
These interpretations from the fans further fueled the online debate – dividing the audience on whether Megan should have won the bonus prize or not.
