Wheel of Fortune is changing its opening act for season 44. The show will launch a new rapid-fire game called Fortune Frenzy at the beginning of episodes, giving contestants a shot at $1,000 before the usual pace of the show settles in.
Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White unveiled the Wheel of Fortune season 44 format change on Good Morning America on Tuesday, just as viewers start looking ahead to Monday, Sept. 14, when the season debuts. Seacrest said the idea is to squeeze more gameplay into the top of the show, and that the speed may help shake off contestants’ nerves right away.
That matters because the opening minutes of a game show set the tone, and this one is being redesigned to move faster from the first spin. White said contestants will have nothing else to think about except solving the puzzle, which is the point of a game built to force quick decisions instead of slow buildup.
The bigger question around the new format is how it will work in practice, beyond the short description offered so far. The show has said only that contestants can pocket $1,000 for various puzzles they solve on air, which suggests a string of quick attempts rather than one long round, but it has not laid out the full mechanics of Fortune Frenzy yet.
The timing also puts the format change beside a more difficult reset behind the scenes. Jim Thornton’s employment with Wheel of Fortune has been terminated, and he had already been suspended after allegations concerning him were made public. The alleged incident took place on May 14 aboard an American Airlines flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Los Angeles, and law enforcement met the flight when it arrived at Los Angeles International Airport after concerns were reported by a customer onboard.
Allison Hart said Thornton did not engage in any illegal conduct, was not arrested and has not been charged with any crime. Even so, the show is moving ahead with a visible on-air change while it continues to recast and move through the fallout from that suspension, a reminder that the season’s reset is happening on more than one front.
For viewers, the practical answer is simple: Fortune Frenzy will be there from the start when season 44 opens on Sept. 14, and it is designed to push the action forward immediately. What still remains to be seen is how much of the opening minutes will belong to the new game once the season actually begins.
