Wheel of Fortune (New Zealand game show)
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Wheel of Fortune | |
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Genre | Game Show |
Created by | Merv Griffin |
Presented by |
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Narrated by | Grant Walker |
Country of origin | New Zealand |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 8 |
Production | |
Running time | 24 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | TV2 (1991–1996) TV ONE (2008–2009) |
Release |
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Wheel of Fortune was a long-running
History
1991–1996 original
The original New Zealand version of the popular American game show
2008–2009 return
On 14 April 2008 the New Zealand version of Wheel of Fortune returned again to TVNZ channel TV ONE. The show returned with new hosts Jason Gunn and Sonia Gray. The show now airs at 5:30pm local time. At the conclusion of filming of the 2008 season TVNZ announced the show will return in 2009 bigger and better. Additionally Jason Gunn officially announced that his co-host Sonia Gray was pregnant with twins and that she would return to co-host the show after her pregnancy. Greer Robson temporarily took Sonia's role on the show until she returned in May, 2009.
It was announced on 2 May 2009 that the series was being cancelled after only one year on air. The reasons given by TVNZ for the cancellation were lower ratings than the previous season, decreased advertising revenue and the high cost of producing the show. Lower ratings may have resulted after reformatting of the show interrupted its flow due to an increased emphasis on 'Speed Digits'. The last show was screened in June 2009.
David Tua incident
One notable episode which appears from time to time in blooper specials was boxer David Tua's game on October 10, 1992: at one point, he asked for P when buying a vowel; at another, he tried to buy a consonant. He was also believed to have tried to call "O for awesome" which went on to become a famous quotable saying in New Zealand, although the main problem was that he was supposed to call a consonant.[1]
References
- ^ Hunt, Tom (5 October 2013). "'O for...awesome'". Dominion Post.