Did the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ set accidentally resemble a tragic event? Some fans think so
It was obviously a mistake without any malicious intent, and no one was slammed.
Nov. 20 2025, Published 9:36 a.m. ET
"Wheel of Fortune" has been a show that has entertained viewers for many years now without any controversy. Sometimes, however, the showrunners could get a few things wrong. That’s what happened in a recent episode of the show, in which fans saw something resembling one of the most tragic incidents in American history. The set was decked up to look like the inside of a plane, but at a certain point, it reminded fans of 9/11.
September 11, 2001, was a dark day not just in American history, but in the history of the world. It’s not in good taste to represent any of that in a game show unless a tribute is being paid to those who lost their lives. But the mistake was seen during the toss-up rounds, according to a TV Insider report. During these rounds, a television viewer sees the contestants in tiny boxes under the board.
If it is a themed event, the background of these boxes will be related to that theme. On this occasion, the theme was called ‘Now Boarding’, and the showrunners made the set resemble air travel. The boxes in which the contestants were on TV were supposed to resemble the windows of an airplane, with a blue sky and clouds visible outside. Unfortunately, that’s not the only thing that fans saw.
The background also had a building-like structure, and the clouds seemed like smoke coming out of it. It had an eerily similar appearance to the smoking towers on that fateful day in 2001. Obviously, this made a lot of people uncomfortable. However, it was clear that this was a mistake and in no way intentional. Fans still had a discussion about the matter on Reddit, which the showrunners might even take an interest in.
“Am I trippin or did the background look like the morning of 9/11/2001??” one fan asked in r/WheelOfFortune. Several people agreed that it was exactly what they thought as well, upon first glance. “I immediately thought it looked like the towers encased in smoke on 9/11. Really freaked me out ~ happy to see I wasn't the only person thinking this,” one user commented. “Probably because 9/11 happened at such a pivotal point in my childhood & those images are burned into my mind. Oof,” added another.
“Yeeeaah... It was supposed to be a cute background with airplane windows & clouds, but they really shouldn't have put the clouds in front of the windows, or made the windows 10x their normal size, or spaced the window panels with gaps in between them... 😬 Definitely looks bad unless fully zoomed out,” one more viewer commented.
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