The venerable Wheel of Fortune celebrated its 47th anniversary during last night’s (Jan. 6) episode, and with that milestone came yet another amusing contestant. Shafi Khan, whose voice was a dead ringer for Joe Pesci’s, played a monumental game full of incorrect answers, funny quips, and an oddball response that had viewers spiraling into fits of hilarity. After their little tiff with Audi, Wheel of Fortune needed a contestant like Khan to lighten the mood.
The category was “Song Lyrics,” which could’ve led to any decade, genre, or artist in the broad topic. And yet, Wheel of Fortune went with an easier song lyric to guess: one that was in a classic patriotic tune. Most likely, you learned it in grade school: “This Land Is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie. Does that ring a bell?
Obviously it didn’t to Khan. The puzzle was nearly solved, reading “TH_S _AND _AS MADE FOR YOU AND ME.” At that point, the contestant chimed in: “This band has made for you and me.” Uh, what? The band has made what for you and me? Plenty of audience members joined in the chorus of roasting Khan on Twitter for is “straight fail.” One user even roasted Khan by replacing the original lyrics to the song with his remix!
“This dude solves with ‘this band has made for you and me,’” one user shared. “I… We may need to implement some sort of test for contestants hereafter.”
Tweeted another: “‘This band has made for you and me’ is going to be running nonstop through my head for at least three days.”
But it seems the joke was actually on Wheel of Fortune viewers for doubting Khan’s intelligence. The contestant ended up making his way to the bonus round, eventually winning the entire dang show. Maybe he was a little embarrassed, but if it was us? It’d feel pretty nice to be walking away from Wheel of Fortune $71,500 richer and a new internet celeb. Nice going, Shafi!
Wheel of Fortune airs weeknights on ABC at 7:30/6:30c.
Where to watch Wheel of Fortune