‘Wheel of Fortune’ fans couldn’t help but laugh at one contestant’s ‘straight fail’ guess

On Wheel of Fortune Thursday, during what marked the 47th Anniversary of the game show a contestant named Shafi - who plenty on Twitter thought sounded just like actor Joe Pesci - had a bit of an up-and-down day. And that included what many considered to be a major guessing mishap.

The category was “Song Lyrics” and the puzzle on the board was showing:

“TH_S _AND _AS MADE FOR YOU AND ME”

And that’s when Shafi guessed, “This band has made for you and me.” And of course plenty of viewers called out the “straight fail” on Twitter with comments like, “We may need to implement some sort of test for contestants hereafter.” One person even implemented Shafi’s guess as the new lyrics into the famous song - Woodie Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” - on which the puzzle was based.

But as one person pointed out the joke was on us, because Shafi ended up making his way to the bonus round, and winning. So he walked away from the game maybe slightly embarrassed, but definitely satisfied with $71,150 in total winnings.

Video Transcript

- S, please.

PAT SAJAK: Yeah, two S's.

[APPLAUSE]

$2,100.

What you want to do?

KYLIE MAR: On what marks the 47th anniversary of "Wheel of Fortune," Thursday, a contestant named Shafi, who, many on Twitter, thought sounded just like actor Joe Pesci, had a roller coaster day that included a bit of a dip in the form of a guessing mishap.

- Let me solve it.

PAT SAJAK: OK.

- This band has made for you and me?

PAT SAJAK: Ah, no, a lot of nice words, but not a puzzle. Deborah, you have 1650. What are you going to do?

- I'll follow.

PAT SAJAK: OK, go ahead.

- This land was made for you and me.

PAT SAJAK: There you go.

[APPLAUSE]

KYLIE MAR: Plenty of viewers called out the straight fail on Twitter with comments like we may need to implement some sort of test for contestants hereafter. And one person implementing Shafi's new lyrics into the famous song on which the puzzle was based. But as one person pointed out, the joke was on us because Shafi ended up making his way to the bonus round.

- Pool cues.

PAT SAJAK: I think-- I've just had--

[CROWD CHEERS]

[LAUGHTER]

I don't know why I thought you might get that. It was just a wild guess, and I thought you might get it. And then I would open this up and find $39,000.

- Yes.