‘Wheel Of Fortune’ Showrunner Bellamie Blackstone Is Using Her Magic Touch To Keep The Venerable Game Show Spinning

deadline.com:

In the pantheon of unforgettable Wheel of Fortune outtakes, a moment from an episode this past May definitely rises to the top: A contestant by the name of Tamaris Williams made the baffling decision to declare that a four-word phrase on Vanna White’s puzzle board was meant to read “Right in the Butt.” The actual answer was “This is the best.” Williams stood silent, his eyes wide, while a fellow contestant exclaimed “what?!” The audience roared with laughter. “Everyone was like, no, no,” recalls executive producer Bellamie Blackstone. “Then Tamaris said, ‘I’ve never said those words in my life.

I don’t know why I said them out loud on TV.'” If only his moment of shame ended there. The clip would end up going viral, with multiple outlets reporting on the NFSW pronouncement and some even asking Williams to relive the humiliation in interviews.

Although Blackstone could sympathize with Tamaris (“that poor man, he was so sweet”), she couldn’t help but feel invigorated by the continuing power of the brand. “In the zeitgeist, there’s a normalcy to it,” says Blackstone, who’s just kicked off her third season as showrunner. “When they see a clip like that, people go, ‘Oh, that’s funny’ because you don’t have to explain what’s happening.

It’s Wheel of Fortune. All they have to do is cut to someone saying it and then cut back to the puzzle. The joke and set-up is done for you.” *** When Sony was looking for someone to replace Mike Richards as EP of WoF and Celebrity WoF in 2022, scores of applicants applied for the plum job of running one of the most successful syndicated game shows in TV history.