Could a timer malfunction be responsible for a Wheel of Fortune’s Bonus Round loss?
Wheel watchers are sounding off following a recent episode in which a contestant named Jamel was deprived of winning a new car.
Jamel earned his way to the Bonus Round by winning the main game with a correct puzzle solution and accumulating the most money during the regular rounds—a whopping $40,998 in total.
During his Bonus Round, Jamel was joined by host Ryan Seacrest, who cheered him on and instructed him to give the mini wheel a big spin.
The segment was shared on Wheel of Fortune’s YouTube page and captioned, “Jamel made an amazing comeback tonight, but does he have enough momentum to push through and win the Bonus Round?”
“Let’s go for even more, Jamel!” Ryan said in the clip as Jamel spun the wheel enthusiastically.
Jamel’s spin landed on the letter “N,” and Ryan picked up the card as the duo headed downstage for the big game.
Jamel prepares for his Bonus Round
Jamel chose the “Phrase” category and was given the customary freebies, R, S, T, L, N, and E.
After tile-turner Vanna White touched the letters, Jamel was left with a partial puzzle that read, “_ L _ _ _ S / _ N / _ E _ _ N E.”
Jamel was instructed to provide Ryan with three more consonants and one more vowel, choosing the letters W, Y, P, and A.
Jamel’s letters left him with the puzzle he needed to solve to win big. It read, “ALWAYS / _N / _ E _ A N _.”
Ryan reminded Jamel that he had 10 seconds to solve the puzzle and wished him good luck before the timer began counting down.
Wheel of Fortune’s timer suffers a malfunction
As Jamel rattled off several guesses, the timer in the upper right corner of the screen appeared to stall.
Although time continued to tick away and the sound effects kept up, the graphics did not.
Since the graphics and the sound were out of sync, it appeared that Jamel still had time left when he offered his final guess, “Always On Demand.”
Although the buzzer sounded, the graphic showed that Jamel’s timer had only moved halfway, implying he should have had five more seconds left.
Unfortunately for Jamel, his guess was incorrect. And to make matters worse, he was only off by one letter.
The correct solution was “Always In Demand.”
Wheel of Fortune viewers complain that Jamel lost due to a timer freeze-up
Wheel watchers who witnessed the clip on YouTube were in disbelief when they noticed the clock malfunction.
“Is no one also gonna point out about that timer that took forever to get 15 seconds?” queried one such Wheel watcher.
@chris.twentyeightt joined the chorus and added several YouTube time markers from the video.
According to their observation, the Bonus Round spin music was not played until the wheel had stopped at the 0:09 mark, the virtual timer malfunctioned at the 1:13 mark, and they were “shocked” at the 1:24 mark when Ryan revealed Jamel’s answer was incorrect by telling him, “Nope.”
@viewfromeastnwest pondered, “Did the clock break and freeze during the ten seconds?”
Another Wheel of Fortune fan questioned why Jamel wasn’t allowed to continue guessing while the on-screen timer showed he still had time remaining.
“He still had a few seconds left,” they wrote. “Somebody dropped the ball on that one.”
Another YouTube commenter added that Jamel may have correctly guessed the puzzle if he was given more time.
“Buzzer didn’t go off after said Always On Demand then Jamel might have said Always In Demand! That could be a questionable call though!” they commented.
One outraged Wheel of Fortune viewer was convinced that Jamel still had more time to change his answer because the time on the digital clock hadn’t run out yet.
“He still had some time left,” they griped. “They cut his answer off too damn soon.”
Offering clarification for what happened, @mervinhocsonart1921 intervened, revealing that the amount of time that passed was correct, although the digital clock had a hiccup.
As they explained, “The graphic on the screen malfunctioned for some reason.”
“The buzzer sounded 10 seconds after the music started,” their explanation continued. “So he ran out of time, even though that was not accurately displayed.”
Jamel was a good sport about his Bonus Round loss
After all was said and done, it was Ryan’s turn to reveal which card Jamel had chosen during his spin.
As it turned out, Jamel was robbed of the new car. But after a brief moment of dismay, Jamel displayed a positive attitude and took the loss like a true champ.
“But you know what?” he said to Ryan. “I got $40,000, I’m going to Alaska… it’s all good!”
Ryan and Jamel exchanged a hug as the studio audience cheered on Jamel’s efforts.
Ryan complimented Jamel, telling him, “You have the greatest spirit and energy. We needed you tonight. Thank you very much for coming.”