C_icag_ist at W_eel _f F_rtune

By Amy Mikel in Arts & Entertainment on May 2, 2008 7:00PM

Last March, Wheel of Fortune came into town to tape three weeks of shows, and Navy Pier’s Festival Hall was gussied up to serve a dual purpose – half of the hall was transformed into a shiny Wheel of Fortune set, while the other half was roped off into a holding corral for the thousands that came to catch a free taping. The episodes filmed in Chicago have been airing since Monday, and since the episode we attended is scheduled to run this evening, let’s go ahead and revisit the memory, shall we?

After being hustled through the bag inspection and security check, we turned the corner and entered a room filled with thousands of people standing in line. After an hour of waiting, we were finally ushered onto the set, which had been redesigned with a great mini-skyline of the city, complete with tiny L train running throughout. "At least that train runs” jokes ensued. We were made to sit in some darkened outcast bleachers in the back, which was kind of funny, and allowed us a great vantage point of audience members acting a bit hyperactive every time the camera panned past.

Our Wheel of Fortune taping theme was College Week, so contestants were students at area universities. They were all pretty sharp at the puzzles, Pat Sajak was charming and Vanna White was … skinny. The Northwestern University Marching Band jazzed up the taping before and after the commercial breaks, and the University of Iowa contestant solved a pretty hard puzzle in the bonus round, winning a Pontiac Solstice and about $25,000.

After the taping, we were left with two thoughts: show tapings are actually not that fun or interesting, and why do audience members always get so worked up about getting on TV?

Wheel of Fortune episodes taped in Chicago run through May 16th

Image via olivialeigh