Wheel of Fortune (Australia) - Steve Oemcke Hosting (26 Feb 2004) 

James Michael Harding yeah I agreed. Since Rob Elliot was dumped from Wheel of fortune and replaced by Steve oemcke as host in 2004 the ratings began to decline sharply. Rob Elliot was a fantastic host during that time until his axing. when Steve oemcke was the new host, this was the worst replacement as host of this show. I didn’t know why Channel 7 picked Steve as the host of this show. I can’t stand him, he forgets the letters in the puzzle.

@@syc9675 Why was Rob Elliot axed?

@@planetX15 I believed that Channel 7 decided not to renew rob Elliot’s contract at seven, therefore he was let go from Seven. Replacing rob with Steve was the final straw for this show.

@@syc9675 I didn't mind Rob myself actually, John Burgess was a much better host for the show

@@planetX15 He wasn’t axed, he decided to walk once his contract was up according to John Deeks.

+lawandorder888 boy i wish the american had an audience with excitement

_Top Dollar's gonna swing by..._

It was interesting to hear it called a flip-up after hearing called a toss-up in the States for a good time.

That's because the word "toss" in Australian lingo has a very different connotation 😂

+Kevin Piland It's because Hungry Jacks is the trading name for Burger King here in Australia. The name "Burger King" was already claimed by an existing small business here, and the BK US operators were unable to convince them to make it available for them to use, and therefore was unable to be used here. But Hungry Jack's offers pretty much the same product range as BK in the States (and elsewhere in the world).

That's the only thing which makes Oemcke's hosting tolerable!

Haha, don't knock Hungry Jacks - they are quite good ;)

Joshua92ification Well, as long as they are, Josh.

germanname1990 Actually, Hungry Jack's is the Aussie version of Burger King.

Greg Palmer Yeah, I know. Sorry, I was trying to be sarcastic.

He wasn't much chop as a contestant either - he appeared in Celebrity Week in 1996, and so far is the only one known (I remember reading an article promoting him becoming host and he admitted doing it) to have spun the wheel anti-clockwise, and got a Bankrupt for his troubles. Funny how Celebrity Week has had a tendency to breed new hosts - Oemcke in 1996, and Rob Elliott also appeared in 1992.

I think in hindsight the backlash would’ve been less if everyone knew the full story. John Deeks gave an interview to someone’s website/podcast in 2018 and he mentioned a little bit about working with Rob Elliott - he was not sacked, in fact HE decided to walk when his contract ended. Deeksy said Elliott was a great bloke but one of the most reluctant hosts he’d ever seen on the show. Another thing that came out in that interview was that in 1984 when Ernie Sigley left the show, Burgo was not initially who they wanted, they wanted to make Deeksy the new host. Grundys got their way in the end arguing they wanted to keep Deeksy in the booth for The Price Is Right, which lasted another 13-14 months anyway.

I still preferred Rob

Apparently that was the original plan. David Leckie the man who had done the deal at Nine to bring Burgo over had joined Seven in 2003 and his idea was to bring Burgo back in 2004 once his contract at Nine was up (Burgo’s Catch Phrase was cancelled at the end of that year as well). Nine somehow got wind of it and gave him an extension on his contract. He was eventually released from the contact by Nine at his request in 2005 when he heard Seven was planning to bring the Wheel back for 2006 and wanted to make himself available for it. The ship had sailed by then and the gig went to Larry Emdur. I doubt Burgo coming back would’ve saved it - Burgo’s Catch Phrase when it was revived in August 2002 didn’t rate as well as it did between October 1998 and November 2001, in fact it was eventually pushed out of the 5:30 timeslot in June 2003 in favour of the revived Price Is Right (Burgo’s Catch Phrase went to 5:30 in October 1998 following the cancellation of The Price Is Right, having seen off “Concentration” and “Hot Streak” in the 5pm timeslot, Nine was confident “Burgo’s Catch Phrase” could do very well against the Wheel, and it did until Nine pulled it in favour of the new show called “Pass The Buck” in 2002 which was cancelled after 8 weeks).