Wheel of Fortune once again proved that the popular game show is most compelling when it’s going poorly, as evidenced by a viral clip making its way around the internet.
In the clip, the puzzle is mostly solved, reading: “ANOTHER FEATHER _N YO_R _A_. As it’s abundantly clear to nearly anyone whose first language is English, the phrase is quite obviously, “A feather in your cap,” a saying that indicates an achievement to be proud of.
When the clip opens, a contestant named Laurie attempts to solve the puzzle with a very close guess, “A feather in your hat.” But not close enough!
From there, a contestant named Christopher spun and guessed a letter “G,” which was likewise unsuccessful. And from there, it went to the third contestant, Thomas, who landed the wheel on “Bankrupt.”
When it finally circled back to Laurie, this time, she went with “Lap,” which was equally incorrect, before Christopher guessed a letter “D.” This time around, Thomas spun to lose a turn.
Clearly, the agent of chaos here was that Thomas was the only contestant who knew what the phrase was, but the cruelty of fate kept passing him over so that Laurie and Christopher could continue to fail β as the former went on to guess, “A feather in your map” before Thomas was finally given a chance to successfully guess.
As several versions of the clip began to go viral, people couldn’t wrap their minds around what they had just witnessed. “Please tell me someone else is watching this wheel of fortune fail,” tweeted Andy Isaac, the Sausage King of Detroit.
“The Baseline host Warren Shaw suggested that the moment might have been the worst two-minute stretch in Wheel of Fortune history.
“This is Shakespearean,” tweeted TV writer Olga Lexell, while ESPN’s Sarah Spain wrote: “I. Am. Deceased.”
“A woman on Wheel of Fortune got this puzzle wrong three times,” tweeted another woman named Lindsay. “I’m yelling at the television like I’m watching a football game.”
“99.9% of the time I don’t believe in God but Thomas knew it the whole time and the Lord blessed us with back-to-back Bankrupt and Lose Your Turn for him so we could watch Laura work her magic,” quipped comedian John Cullen.
“Wordle players could never,” deadpanned NASCAR Xfinity driver Myatt Snider.
Truly, it was a Wheel of Fortune for the ages. If Pat and Vanna retired today, they’d be going out on a high point.