Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, the spin-off featuring celebrities playing for charity of their choosing and competing to win $1 Million plus any winnings from other games, is currently airing. Hosted by Pat Sajak and Vanna White with announcer Jim Thornton serving as host, this show marks the first time since People Celebrity Week back in November 2007 that celebrities have participated as contestants on any TV game show.
Nikki Glaser came close to winning one million dollars during this episode. She played for Ocean Conservancy charity and raised over $50K; unfortunately she missed out on winning $1 Million due to an incorrect guess in the bonus round. Tig Notaro and Thomas Lennon also participated and raised significant sums of money for their charities through this show.
This episode marks the third of three to feature celebrity contestants; previous episodes aired on December 27 and January 2. Tara Lipinksi from America’s Funniest Home Videos fame plays for Baylor Scott & White Dallas Foundation Amy Selkirk Breast Cancer Research Fund; she’s also co-hosted The Big Bang Theory!
As opposed to its main version, this one of the game is rated TV-PG due to the more mature puzzle writing and banter between Pat and celebrity guests compared to what can typically be found on its main version of the show. Furthermore, celebrity guests play much more cooperatively among themselves during this version.
The set remains unchanged, while some modifications to the show have been implemented. For example, the Wheel of Fortune logo has been modified into a blue circle while its usual yellow and gold appearance was removed; Bleeding Fingers Music updated and rearranged the theme music; plus there has been an approximately one hour reduction and special bonus segment added at the end.
Jack and Kal both collect a million-dollar wedge during this episode; however, when asked for their answer it should have been “Fun & Games”, not “Show Biz”. This is believed to be the only instance where an answer category has been utilized twice during any single Wheel game game ever created. Sherri and Brendan successfully solved in the bonus round and both won over $300,000. This marked only the second time this season that someone won more than $300K without taking home a million-dollar prize. This figure marks the highest amount won by any non-millionaire in an ordinary, non-celebrity game this season. All Canadian airings of this episode were edited to remove references to Pat’s home giveaway and his mention of going on vacation after solving Prize Puzzle copy, consistent with other episodes edited for reruns in this manner.