‘Wheel of Fortune’ New Puzzle Board Sparks Mixed Reaction From Fans

Martin Holmes September 13, 2022, 9:14 am

Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune — YouTube/Good Morning America

Wheel of Fortune introduced some big changes on Monday’s (September 12) premiere of its milestone 40th season, and fans have mixed opinions.

Among the new looks was a brand new puzzle board. The original version of the show, which premiered in 1975, had a puzzle board where co-host Vanna White had to flip the letter tiles manually. This was updated to a digital board in 2013, with host Pat Sajak saying, “The new board… it’s heat-activated if you will.” Now, the latest board is even more advanced, even using technology that was used on the Mars rover.

“The technology behind how Vanna interacts with it is something that’s used in self-driving cars. It’s used on the Mars rover… so now we can put up our logo or any graphics we want to; we can also change it [back] to the puzzle board,” said the show’s executive producer Bellamie Blackstone.

“Before this, I would have to touch the TV monitor; now it’s a flat screen!” White told Good Morning America, which gave viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the new puzzle board. “There’s a laser, and I can run my hand over it; I don’t even have to touch it!”

Fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the board, and it’s safe to say the feedback was mixed. “Wheel of Fortune changed their font on the puzzle board, and I hate it,” wrote one viewer.

I mean, look at the difference! The colors 🤢 the font 🤢 the size of the letters 🤢 pic.twitter.com/DxnlNoIHlt

— COURTer-life crisis (@itsaul_good) September 12, 2022

“I’m not entirely certain of the direction Wheel of Fortune is going with the upgrade to the puzzle board,” added another fan. “The large screen has been done before overseas to great success. However, the board apparently is sticking to the same 52 square setup, as opposed to being more creative.”

Maybe an extra row? You could have made room.
Also, letters are revealed by the XY coordinates, where Vanna touches the square.
Give her something to actually do, please.

— Trenton “Trent” Girone (Twitch: tk4293) 🇺🇦 (@TKristofferG) September 4, 2022

“Why are some fans unhappy with the change to a single display on Wheel of Fortune’s puzzle board? I think it’s really cool,” tweeted a more optimistic viewer. “I previously have been thinking that Jeopardy should do the same with its board since 2012.”

“For the record the Wheel of Fortune puzzle board is clearly not cheap, good for them for modernizing because it needed it, and they spent time and care to get it to be what they know works best for their fans,” wrote game show blog BuzzerBlog.

Why are some fans unhappy with the change to a single display on Wheel of Fortune’s puzzle board? I think it’s really cool. I previously have been thinking that Jeopardy should do the same with its board since 2012. pic.twitter.com/mL3DvP1OP7

— Veggie Fan 2019 (@2019Veggie) September 12, 2022

For the record the Wheel of Fortune puzzle board is clearly not cheap, good for them for modernizing because it needed it, and they spent time and care to get it to be what they know works best for their fans. As we said the photo made it look weird and it was just the photo.

— BuzzerBlog (@buzzerblog) September 6, 2022