Pat Sajak mocks Neil deGrasse Tyson after he was outsmarted on 'Celebrity Wheel of Fortune'
"Wheel of Fortune" may sound like a game that's all about luck, but it's not simply a gamble as it involves the presence of mind, knowledge, and puzzle-solving skills. This was demonstrated by actor and comedian, Robin Thede who outsmarted an astrophysicist and science nerd such as Neil deGrasse Tyson, on the celebrity edition of the show.
The special episode of the fourth season of "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" featured the panel of Neil deGrasse Tyson, "Veep" star Tony Hale, and "A Black Lady Sketch Show" fame Robin Thede, playing for different charities. Right from the beginning, the three were locked in a fierce competition to win the games to get to the bonus round. Before the final round of general gameplay, Hale was in the lead with over $20,000, followed by Thede with more than $16,000. The final puzzle for the trio was from the "People" category with a maximum prize of $20,000 on the line. Thede spun the wheel first and landed on $700. She asked for the letter N and got $1,400 as the letter appeared twice in the puzzle.
She then completed the final spin and landed on $700 again. She then guessed D and got $700 more, since there weren't enough letters, she passed on her attempt to guess. The turn went to Hale who guessed the letter R. That too didn't do much for the puzzle and next up was Tyson, who guessed the letter G. Since there was only one G in the puzzle, Tyson couldn't make the guess either.
The turn went back to Thede, who this time chose the vowel, "A". According to the rules, players don't get money for guessing vowels but Thede's guess appeared in three different spots. With a lot of letters filled in, it was a do-or-die situation for Thede.
Thus, after hesitating a bit, she took a very long shot and guessed, "ALL OF MY ADORING FANS". The answer turned out to be correct and the entire panel was stunned. Both Hale and Tyson took a step back in astonishment.
Sajak then went up to Thede to congratulate her, but he quickly turned to Tyson to get a comment. "As an astrophysicist, how do you explain that?" he asked Tyson. However, all Tyson could say was "WHAATT??" in response.
On the other hand, Thede was visibly shocked as well as she couldn't believe that she had come up with a near-impossible solution. "I am shaking!" she told the host. To add to her delight, Sajak told her that with the $20,000 guess, she had just won the game and she would be the one to proceed to the Bonus Round.
She chose the category "Phrase" for her bonus round and went on to spin the wheel along with the host. After picking out the golden envelope, she took on the three-word puzzle. With all the letters filled in, the final puzzle read, "_OR_S _ _ _ L ME." As the 10-second timer started ticking, Thede fired off a confident guess, "WORDS FAIL ME," which turned out to be correct, winning her an additional $75,000. To sum things up, Thede won a total of $139,200 for the charity called Girls Inc.
