‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Notice Editing Error After Jim Thornton’s Firing
Wheel of Fortune fans have noticed an editing error in the new season of the game show after announcer Jim Thornton was let go.
Thornton was fired before the season began after he was seen viewing a disturbing website on a plane in May. His voice was taken out of all of the previously recorded episodes, which began filming in May. Although his replacement has not been announced, another man’s voice is doing the announcing for the time being. The new announcer dubbed over Thornton’s voice for the episodes already filmed, which has seemingly caused some awkward editing on subtitles forepeople who like to se the words on screen
The new mystery announcer has done every episode since. Some fans think it could be the showrunner, while others thought it was AI.
Fans noticed the error early on this season. Autumn Martin, from Charlestown, West Virginia, won $66,850 on September 28.
The voiceover said, “Autumn, congratulations! You just won $40,000!” However, Reddit users pointed out that the captions said something completely different.
The captions of tonight’s episode were apparently written before the episode was redubbed
by
u/RAS310 in
WheelOfFortune
“The captions of tonight’s episode were apparently written before the episode was redubbed,” the poster wrote. “After Autumn won the Bonus Round, the captions showed a completely different line versus what the redubbed announcer (believed to be Marc Elmer) said.”
The captions said, “Autumn, you’re making West Virginia proud. Here’s $40,000.” Fans also noticed another error with one of Martin’s head movements.
When host Ryan Seacrest introduced the game show contestant at the beginning of the game, he talked about her West Virginia pride. “Oh, I know all about the pride in West Virginia,” he said.
“Yes!” she said, turning her head towards the announcer booth, indicating that Seacrest and Thornton had a conversation about West Virginia, but it was edited out. Thornton was born in West Virginia, which must have sparked a reaction from the former announcer.
“Wow, that seems like a pretty clumsy audio splice. I know they had short notice, but… I feel this is surprisingly amateur for a production with the resources they have access to,” a fan said.
“The dubbed announcer is awkward,” another commented.
Did you notice the change? Have you noticed any other errors at the beginning of the season? Let us know in the comments.
Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
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