Tune in Reminder: Wheel of Fortune Season 27, September 14

Monday, September 14th will bring us the premieres of the two longest-running syndicated game shows currently on television: Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. We'll give you a preview of the new Jeopardy! season shortly, but first let's look at Wheel of Fortune.

Wheel, which is going into its 27th season, has a couple of changes in store for us. The biggest change, of course, is the addition of the new Free Play wedge (which, if you follow that link, you'll see a picture of), replacing the Free Spin wedge that's been a staple for as long as I can remember. Landing on the wedge allows contestants to guess a vowel for free, or if they choose to guess a consonant, there's no penalty for an incorrect guess and their turn at the wheel continues. Correct consonants are worth $500. Contestants can also try to solve the puzzle, but if their guess is incorrect they won't lose their turn.

According to one of the comments posted, contestants seem to be favoring free vowels rather than "fishing for uncommon letters." This is a bit surprising to me - wouldn't you use the Free Play to act on a hunch, or even try to solve the puzzle, without risk?

I've also heard that there are some changes in the frequency and placement of the bonus puzzles, so we'll have to tune in to see what that's all about.

Wheel of Fortune kicks off on Monday, September 14th, with two weeks of shows that were taped in Las Vegas, at The Venetian and The Palazzo hotels.

Photo courtesy Sony Pictures