5711: Garf of Fortune

== Explanation ==
The first paragraph of the author's notes are intended to let readers set an ideal atmosphere for reading this strip; this atmosphere setup as well as the 1975-related trivia dump that comprises the third paragraph of the author's notes were inspired by Wheel of Fortune's retrospectives of each thousand-episode milestone during the celebration of the American syndicated version's 6000th episode in 2013, wherein the period-appropriate theme played to an explanation of trivia corresponding to the timeframe of the milestone in question, said trivia always ending with the value of a vowel on the show still being $250. The trivia dump in the author's notes does not use the word "still" before the $250, as the vowel value was first established during the timeframe of the trivia; the trivia dump also throws in some international-related trivia to reflect Square Root of Minus Garfield's international scope, as well as what Jim Davis was doing around that time to better pertain to the Garfield source material.
The second and fourth paragraphs of the author's notes basically boil down to the history of the Wheel of Fortune franchise; this strip ran on the 50th anniversary of the franchise as a whole. There is also a very brief mention of the events in Washington, D.C. on 2021-01-06 and its significance to the January 6th date, without further elaboration on that matter.
The strip itself was made quite a bit in advance of its run date; it was initially made before but submitted after Pat Sajak announced his retirement from the host of the American versions, much less Ryan Seacrest being announced as his successor (and to further illustrate the fact that this strip was made in advance, the original host of Wheel of Fortune from 1975-81, Chuck Woolery, died between this strip's submission and runtime). The author nevertheless opted not to specify a host in the transcript just in case something unexpected were to happen around the American host position between submission and runtime; as the Australian adaptation resumed between submission and runtime, a viewer there could also potentially see this strip as their version paying tribute to the history of the entire franchise (not so much as in Britain, who also saw their version resume between submission and runtime, due to the reference to currencies using the specific dollar sign). The production lead time also required this strip to be sent in advance of actually knowing the stated theme for the week of episodes airing starting on this strip's run date--a theme that interestingly did see the nighttime version recognize the franchise's 50th anniversary.
The author did not use the author's notes to draw attention to another pop-culture reference he threw into the strip basically to make clear that very little is truly safe from "rule 34G". If one reads the strip in the recommended manner, or even a left-to-right top-to-bottom manner, they'll quickly notice the contestants' names are "Kotonoha", "Makoto", and "Sekai"; these are the names of the primary love triangle of School Days (Makoto being the protagonist and the center of the triangle), a visual novel that is very much not family-friendly (its original release was pornographic, although it does have versions lacking said pornographic material as well as non-pornographic adaptations into other media). The final panel shows that at least Kotonoha is the corresponding character from School Days, as she is shown to have won the game, the Tokyo skyline depicted on the video wall behind her.
Kotonoha's winning total, $42,805, is derived from the original Japanese release of the original School Days visual novel, specifically in MM-DD-YY format (a typical American date denotation); this total is among the high side amongst Wheel of Fortune front-game winnings, but still somewhat believable based around game mechanics. YY-MM-DD or YY-DD-MM would have yielded slightly higher amounts still within believable range ($50,428 or $52,804); DD-MM-YY (a typical European date denotation), on the other hand, would have produced $280,405, a figure clearly unheard of in the front game unless one were to use a currency not closely valued to the American dollar. Japanese yen, the currency from School Days's setting, would have made the European denotation viable for reference; however, there has not been a Japanese adaptation of Wheel of Fortune to date.
In a nod to two particular incidents involving the final episode of School Days's anime adaptation, one real-world and one within the adaptation, one of the prizes Kotonoha has won is a boat--the prize wedge basically reads the commonly-cited "nice boat" phase with some primarily Scandanavian diacritics thrown in. The real-world incident involved the planned air date of the episode being pre-empted due to a violent incident and replaced with a travellogue involving Scandanavian boats; the Scandavian diacritics on the prize wedge primarily reference this travellogue. The in-universe incident is best not elaborated on here, let's just say the School Days adaptation also ends aboard a boat.
== The author writes ==
(For best results, listen to a retro Wheel of Fortune theme while reading these author notes. No such themes will be linked to for legal reasons. The original theme was "Big Wheels" [composed by Alan Thicke] from 1975-83, although a sizable chunk of the fanbase is likely partial to one of the various mixes of the subsequent "Changing Keys" theme [composed by multitalented series creator Merv Griffin] from 1983-2000 and reinstated in 2021.)
Wow...Has it been fifty years already since the world was first introduced to Wheel of Fortune? Yep, January 6, 1975, the day Wheel of Fortune was first introduced to the world as a daytime show over NBC network airwaves. Did anybody involved at the time know just how big of a phenomenon the show would become?
Back in 1975, a gallon of gas in America averaged about 57¢ per gallon. All in the Family was the top-rated American primetime program. Jaws was the highest-grossing film. The Pittsburgh Steelers won their first Super Bowl. Derby County won their second English top-flight title. Australia regained and later defended The Ashes. The Cincinnati Reds won their third World Series. A single-topping large thin-crust pizza from Pizza Hut cost $4.70. Jim Davis was still doing Gnorm Gnat for a single newspaper. And the value of a vowel on Wheel of Fortune...was $250.
Nowadays, though, Wheel of Fortune rarely acknowledges its original daytime version and thus anything prior to September 19, 1983, when the more well-known syndicated nighttime version first took to the air, beginning a run that continues to this day; this is why the show's only admitting to being in its forty-second season (since it's indeed the forty-second season of the syndicated nighttime edition on just its own merits—the daytime and nighttime versions always kept separate counts of its seasons). Don't be surprised if tonight's show is run-of-the-mill. (Daytime and nighttime shows ran concurrently for precisely eight years and one day, the timeframe between the start of the syndicated nighttime version and the end of the network daytime version on September 20, 1991. This means the original daytime version was quite the long-runner in its own right, although not quite to the mileage the nighttime version would eventually rack up...) Also not helping matters is that the January 6 date nowadays has another meaningful significance in American history (and that's all I am going to say about THAT matter)...though thankfully the more significant anniversary figures won't overlap...
And yes, I am aware the puzzle would make more sense if it read "HAPPY FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY WHEEL OF FORTUNE"...but that sadly doesn't fit the dimensions of the puzzle board as of the time this strip was made (the combination "Happy Fiftieth" fits in the middle rows, but not the top one)...
Original strip: 
== Transcript ==
{The top panels show what's being shown on the television screen in the bottom panels. For best results, read the panels in a snaking order as follows: top left, bottom left, bottom center, top center, top right, bottom right. The transcript will assume you do this}
{The puzzle board reads: "__EEL __ __RT_NE _APPY _I_TIET_ ANNIVERSARY". The category is a "Phrase".}
Kotonoha, on TV: I'd like to solve the puzzle.
Host, on TV: Please do.
Kotonoha, on TV: Wheel of Fortune, happy fiftieth anniversary.
Host, on TV: You got it!
{The puzzle board now reads the completed "WHEEL OF FORTUNE HAPPY FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY". With Kotonoha's correct solve, Makoto's and Sekai's round scores have disappeared, though Kotonoha's still-displayed round score has not been added to her game score.}
{The scene on the television shifts to show Kotonoha, with a skyline projected on the video wall behind her, standing behind her podium holding a prize wedge reading "NÏCÊ BØÅT" with the podium displaying her winning total.}
Host, on TV: Our big winner tonight, with $42,805, cash and prizes!
Garfield: Where's she going to take that nice boat?
Category:shiningpikablu252
Category:Television references
Category:Visual novel references