Wheel of Fortune (U.S. syndicated game show): Difference between revisions

This article is about the game show. For the Wheel of fortune as a religious/philosophical motif, see The Wheel of Fortune.

Wheel of Fortune
File:Wheel Of Fortune.jpg Wheel of Fortune title card
Created by	Merv Griffin
Starring	Pat Sajak (1981–present) Vanna White (1982–present) Charlie O'Donnell (1975–1986; 1989–present) Chuck Woolery (1975–1981) Rolf Benirschke (1989) Bob Goen (1989–1991) Susan Stafford (1975–1982)
Country of origin	United States
Production
Running time	22 minutes without commercials, 30 minutes with commercials
Original release
Network	NBC (1975–1989, 1991) CBS (1989–1991) Syndicated (1983–present)
Release	January 6, 1975 – present

Wheel of Fortune is a television game show originally devised by Merv Griffin which runs in local editions around the world. It involves three contestants competing against each other to solve a word puzzle similar to Hangman. The name of the show comes from the large wheel that determines the dollar amounts and prizes won (or lost) by the contestants.

The highly-successful format has been seen daily in one form or another since its NBC debut on Monday, January 6, 1975, which would make it the second longest-running game show in American television history (behind The Price Is Right). The current U.S. version has been distributed by King World since 1983, clearly the longest-running syndicated game show to date.

Wheel Stage, Crew, and SFX History

The early pilot for Wheel was called Shopper's Bazaar; Edd Byrnes and Chuck Woolery hosted pilot episodes in 1974. The theme song used in the 1974 pilot was "Give It One" by Maynard Ferguson.

Wheel debuted on January 6, 1975, on NBC; it was put on the air as compensation for cancelling Jeopardy! (which Griffin produced) with one year remaining on its contract. Woolery was the show's original host, and Susan Stafford was the original hostess. Announcer Charlie O'Donnell has been "the voice of the Wheel" since episode one in 1975, save for a few years in the 1980s when Jack Clark announced due to O'Donnell's obligations to other shows. After Clark passed away in 1988, Los Angeles-area disc jockey MG Kelly briefly filled in until O'Donnell was able to take over permanently.

The theme song used from 1975 to July 1983 is called "Big Wheels" by Alan Thicke.

Chuck Woolery left Wheel on December 25, 1981, after a salary dispute with Merv Griffin. Three days later, Pat Sajak replaced him. Susan Stafford left a year later to pursue volunteer work. She was replaced by Vanna White. Sajak left the daytime show on January 9, 1989, to do a nighttime talk show for CBS that would fail after one year. Former football player Rolf Benirschke hosted the daytime show until NBC dropped it on June 30, 1989; Bob Goen became its host when it moved to CBS on July 17 of that year. The daytime show moved back to NBC on January 14, 1991, and was canceled for good on September 20 of that year.

A nighttime version of Wheel, which is syndicated to stations around the country, debuted on September 19, 1983. This version still airs today, and after two decades the show continues to have the highest Nielsen ratings of any syndicated program. Pat Sajak and Vanna White have hosted the nighttime version since its debut. The original theme song from 1983-1989 is called "Changing Keys" by Merv Griffin. All others are alterations of this theme from 1989-92, 1992-94, 1994-97, 1997-2000, and a somewhat new variation from 2000-present.

The original puzzleboard was three rows consisting of 13 trilons on each row. On December 21, 1981, a new four-row puzzleboard (consisting of 11 trilons on the top and bottom rows and 13 trilons in the middle rows) was introduced, allowing for bigger puzzles and more cash to be given away. This puzzleboard would remain the same, except for light border changes and the "half-trilons" on the sides of the board being removed on road shows, and in 1994 and 1995. In 1997, the original board for displaying the letters was replaced with a digital electronic puzzle board, touching the letter spaces instead of turning them. Also, when the puzzle is solved, instead of the hostess turning the hidden letters to reveal the entire puzzle, the missing letters electronically fill in themselves. A fill-in-the-blank puzzle is displayed on a grid of video displays in front of the players. The puzzle board itself has 52 spaces, divided into four rows (with 12 spaces on the top and bottom rows and 14 spaces in the middle rows, making it one column wider than the old trilon board; occasionally puzzles will use up almost all of the board).

(Actually, the old four-row trilon puzzle had 52 spaces like today's board, with 13 in each row; the light border got in the way with the spaces in the corners, leaving only 11 trilons in the top and bottom rows)

In 2002, the tote boards that showed the totals for each player were changed from eggcrate lights to monitors; the eggcrate lights had been in use since 1975. Incidentally, the eggcrate display had room for the "$" sign and four digits in 1975-1976 (although the "$" sign could be removed in the rare event someone had more than $10,000). Sometime around 1976, the display was changed to allow for five-digit figures (along with the "$" sign); six-digit figures have never been achieved, although the eggcrate display was again changed in the late 80s or early 90s so a six-digit figure could be displayed with the dollar sign. In 2003, as part of the 21st season, the entire studio was revamped. The gold, glitzy decoration that surrounded the wheel was changed to a neon blue decoration. The puzzleboard's border was changed to match that of the wheel.

Versions

Versions in different countries

Main article: Wheel of Fortune in different countries

Wheel of Fortune airs (or has aired) in various countries, including the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany and Italy.

Gameplay

Three players take turns. When a normal round begins, the spaces in a puzzle are shown as blank white spaces on the board. Any punctuation (hyphens, commas, periods for abbreviations, apostrophes), slashes and ampersand signs (&) are revealed. On a turn, a player can choose to spin the 24-sector wheel, buy a vowel, or attempt to solve the puzzle.

Spinning the wheel

Military members on an April 2006 taping of Wheel of Fortune.

If the pointer lands on a cash value, the player names a consonant (Y counts as a consonant). If the letter is in the puzzle, the co-host reveals all instances of that letter in the puzzle, and the player receives the cash value multiplied by the number of instances of that letter. For example, if the puzzle was "TOO LITTLE TOO LATE", and the player spun $700 and guessed L, he or she would earn $2,100. If the letter is not in the puzzle, or the player guesses a letter that has already been guessed, the player's turn ends.

If the pointer lands on a prize, the player gives a consonant, and if it is in the puzzle, the player picks up the prize and sets it in front of them (previously, if a contestant had landed on a prize wedge, they could automatically pick it up, call a right consonant and spin again). They must then solve the puzzle in that round to win the prize. The prize is lost if he/she lands on "Bankrupt" later in the same puzzle.

If the pointer lands on the wheel's "Lose a Turn" space, the player's turn ends. If it lands on "Bankrupt", not only does the player's turn end, he/she loses all earned cash and prizes in that round. However, the player doesn't lose the cash and prizes earned during previous rounds.

If the pointer lands on a Free Spin space, the player can win the free spin in the same way as a prize. If he or she later lands on Bankrupt or Lose a Turn, or guesses a letter not in the puzzle, the Free Spin can be redeemed to continue playing. (Note: Through 1989, the wheel had a "Free Spin" space in the game's first round, which automatically gave that player a Free Spin token; this idea was scrapped as skillful contestants often racked up six or more tokens before actually attempting to play the game).

In many countries, the contestant gives a word beginning with the chosen letter along with it. Hence: "C for Charlie" and "I for indigo" and the famous (in Australia, anyway) "N for Nellie". Although common during Wheel's early years in the U.S., this practice is not used today except in the rare case a contestant is asked to clarify his/her choice (for example, "S as in Sam)."

Buying a vowel

File:Buy a Vowel.png

The red "Buy A Vowel" space from 1975, which was scrapped within one month of the show's premiere.

If a player has at least $250 in cash, the player can pay that amount to have all instances of a single vowel (A, E, I, O, or U) in the puzzle revealed. If the letter is not in the puzzle, the player's turn ends, but the $250 must still be paid. The contestant does not pay for every copy of the vowel revealed; in the above example, if the contestant guessed E, although 2 E's are in the puzzle, the contestant would not have to give up $500.

Very early in Wheel's U.S. network run, contestants could also ask for a vowel by landing on a space marked "Buy a Vowel" in order to ask for a vowel (the space had also been featured in both the 1973 and 1974 pilots). This was deemed redundant (not to mention that any contestant who landed on said space but didn't have enough money to buy would lose his turn), and the space was scrapped in favor of a dollar amount before the show logged one month on the air. When the daytime show moved to CBS in 1989, vowels became $200, and then $100 by 1991.

Vowel buying is very common on the U.S. version, mainly since many puzzles have large numbers of vowels, particularly E's (it is not uncommon to see five or occasionally even more of a vowel, especially E, in a larger puzzle—the record appears to be 11 E's). It is rarer in the UK and Australia.

Some argue that, because of the inflating dollar values, the amount spent for vowels should increase. Indeed, the lowest value on the wheel nowadays is $300; for many years it was $100, then $200. However, when one accounts for inflation, $250 in 1975 would be worth almost $1,000, meaning if you use this inflated price to buy a vowel with the current values on the wheel, most of the time you'd have to spin the wheel twice and/or get more than one instance of a letter to be able to buy a vowel — which, it should be pointed out, was exactly the situation in 1975. (For those who are interested, if they consistently kept raising the cost of the vowel to keep up with inflation, and $250 was the value now, vowels would have originally cost approximately $65.)

The phrase "buy a vowel" has entered the public domain, meaning "get a clue". It is a sarcastic bit of advice for the clueless.

Solving the puzzle

Once enough letters have been revealed, a player can attempt to read the solution to the incomplete puzzle. If the guess is incorrect, the player's turn ends, although this seldom happens. Only the player who correctly solves the puzzle keeps the earnings from the round. If the player's total is less than $1,000, a house minimum of $1,000 is awarded.

During the show's early months, the house minimum was $100; this was quickly increased to $200. In Season 20, the minimum was boosted again to $500, where it remained until the end of Season 22. In the current season, the house minimum is $1,000 per player, meaning during special weeks where two players compete on each team, the minimum is $2,000.

Shopping

From 1975–1989 on the NBC daytime version, and from 1983–1987 on the nighttime syndicated version, after a contestant won a round, he/she had the option of shopping for prizes amidst the studio, like cars, furniture, trips, furs (until animal activists complained), and jewelry. When the player spent enough to not be able to buy the least expensive prize, or when they didn't feel like shopping anymore, they could choose to put their money on a gift certificate or "on account" (which meant they risked their money for the next round; they had to avoid Bankrupts and also had to win the succeeding round in order to keep the money and use it for shopping.) The "on account" option was rarely used except when the contestant did not have a lot money left over after shopping such as having only a dollar left.

During a special "Retro Week" in 1999, shopping was re-instated except the "shopping" portion was treated as a special space, and the contestant "bought" (selected) a prize package from a turntable. When the show started, the emcee, either Woolery, Sajak or Benirschke would say, "Watch out for the black space, "Bankrupt", because you will lose your cash, but not your merchandise, because once you buy a prize it is yours to keep." That saying became one of the most famous lines in game show history.

Playing for cash

File:$5000 A.jpg

The infamous silver $5,000 wedge as seen today. Beginning with the all-cash format, the $5,000 space is introduced in round 4.

In 1987, the syndicated version of Wheel switched to an all-cash format that, while originally planned to last only for the month of September of that year, became a permanent fixture as it sped up gameplay where it would be common to see 4, 5 or even 6 puzzles on a given night. Now, six maingame puzzles are rare with all the time taken up by three toss-up puzzles, the prize puzzles where a home viewer can win the same prize as the contestant via SPIN I.D., and advertisements for various rounds, most notably the Jackpot round. From 1987 to the turn of the previous decade, to generate building interest as the game continued, the maximum dollar amount for each round increased significantly. It began with the $1,000 space as top dollar value for round one, $2,500 for round two, $3,500 for round three, and $5,000 in round four until the maingame was over. Earlier this decade, to account for inflation, the top dollar value changed to $2,500 in round one, $3,500 in rounds two and three, while the $5,000 space remained in round four. In one episode, Wheel tried to incorporate the $10,000 wedge as a normal space not surrounded by two Bankrupts, but it was eventually scrapped. In any event, the person who solved the puzzle won whatever amount he/she had in cash, in addition to prizes the contestant may have earned during a round. Like the shopping format, the total value of any prizes won is added to the contestant's overall score.

Special rounds

In recent years, various special rounds have been introduced.

Toss-up Round

Toss-Up Rounds were made possible with the advent of an electronic board, compared to the mechanical board. A puzzle is revealed one letter at a time except for the last letter (similar to the Speedword on the Scrabble game show). A player may buzz in to solve the puzzle for a set amount of money ($1,000, $2,000, or $3,000 in the U.S. version). The Toss-Up Round debuted in Season 18.

During Season 18, the player who won the first toss-up had the right to start, as there was no second $2,000 toss up. After the third round, whoever solved the puzzle won only $1,000, not $3,000.

In Season 19 to the present U.S. version, two toss-ups for $1,000 and $2,000 start the game. The first one determines who the host introduces first, and the second one determines who starts round 1. The $3,000 toss-up determines who starts the fourth round, which usually becomes the speed-up round.

An incorrect guess in a Toss-Up disqualifies that player for the rest of the puzzle. If all of the spaces are filled in or all of the players are incorrect, no cash is won, and play begins with either the left-most contestant or (if it was Round 4) wherever it left off before.

Though this rarely occurs, if 2 or all 3 players are tied at the end of the game, then a Toss-Up round is played for the right to go to the Bonus Round. No money is at stake in this round.

Pat Sajak, the current host of the U.S. version, explained at the end of an episode that the reason for the addition of these rounds is a method to make the game more fair. He described the problem with the previous method of choosing which player started the game (via "just before the show drawing numbers to see who would start the game" as the host would put it) as giving an unfair advantage to Player 1, since they normally would start two rounds, where Player 2 and Player 3 would only start two rounds if time permitted. The Toss-Ups now allow a more competitive method of starting the game with the winner of the second toss-up, allowing each player to start one round. The third toss-up allows for the players to compete again to determine who will start the fourth round, giving each player a fair chance instead of the player that started the game an unfair advantage.

The Australian version added their version of a Toss-Up (called a Flip Up there) in 2004, when the puzzle board was switched from a mechanical one to an electronic board. In 2002, Germany had its own version of a toss-up (called a Turborunde).

Bankrupt/$10,000/Bankrupt (Round 1)

In the first round, a gold wedge is placed on the wheel that reads $10,000 in the middle peg gap and Bankrupt in the other two. Landing on Bankrupt results in a normal Bankrupt; landing on the $10,000 allows the player to guess a letter. If he/she is correct, the player picks up the wedge and it is treated as a prize. The $10,000 prize cannot be used to buy vowels; Pat will often say "You don't have any spendable cash" if the $10,000 is one of the first prizes claimed in the round.

When this space debuted in 1995, it was on the wheel starting in round three and remained on the wheel until a contestant landed on the $10,000 slot and claimed it. This space was originally on top of one of the two bankrupt spaces, but is now over the orange $800 space in round one.

Double Play

For Season 13 of the U.S. Version only, a special token called the "Double Play" was put on the wheel. A player won possession of the token if he/she landed on the space with the token and called a consonant in the puzzle. The player in possession of the Double Play could use it before any spin. If the wheel landed on a dollar amount, that amount was doubled for that turn (For example, if $550 was spun, each one of the correct consonants in the puzzle was worth $1,100). If the wheel landed on a penalty space, the Double Play token was lost, but the penalty was only endured once. If the wheel landed on a prize after using the Double Play, the Double Play was returned. A contestant was not required to forfeit the Double Play if s/he landed on a Bankrupt while possessing the token.

Jackpot Round (Round 2)

After each spin, the value of the spin is added to the jackpot, regardless of whether or not the letter chosen is in the puzzle. The jackpot starts at $5,000 (when the Friday Finals existed, the Jackpot on that certain episode started at $10,000.) If a player spins and lands on Jackpot, they must call a letter in the puzzle and solve the puzzle all in that turn. Pat usually asks the contestant if they'd like to solve for the Jackpot, so they know that if they can solve it, they'll win whatever is in the Jackpot.

Until the end of Season 17, the Jackpot Round was played in Round 3. It is now played in Round 2, with the space covering the $800 wedge, instead of the $500 wedge. Beginning in Season 15, the Jackpot Round had a sponsor; at the time, it was often Hot Pockets. The current Jackpot Round debuted on September 16, 1996, and was quite different from a Jackpot Round that was part of the NBC daytime show in 1987.

1987 Jackpot

This version of the Jackpot Round worked just like the syndicated Prize Rounds. The Jackpot space went into the player's bank upon correctly guessing a letter, and won the value for solving the puzzle AND avoiding Bankrupt.

The Jackpot started at $1,000 and increased by $1,000 for each show it went unclaimed. The resulting Jackpot was not a cash prize; it became available for shopping.

Prize spaces

The Prize Round was added in 1983, for the syndicated version only. It was played in Round 2, and the prize usually was worth anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000. The prize space originally concealed a $150 amount. When the "all cash" era began in 1987, a second Prize Round was added, usually in Round 4, and concealed a $300 space; both prizes were specific to that round. The Prize Rounds were added to the daytime show in 1989. Currently, the prize (which is almost always a trip) is placed on the wheel in Round one (over the $350 space), but carries over to later rounds if not picked up. The prize value is usually worth between $4,000 and $10,000.

Originally, a contestant who landed on the prize simply picked it up, and it went into his/her bank. Starting in 1990, a contestant had to first guess a valid letter to be able to pick up the prize. To finally win the prize, the contestant had to avoid "Bankrupt" and solve the puzzle.

For a time in 1990 (or 1991), there was also a crimson space marked "Surprise" on the wheel in Round 1. The Surprise worked just like a normal prize, except that its identity was not revealed unless it was won.

As of 2002, along with the announced prize, there were two or three smaller "gift tags" on the wheel; usually gift certificates, gift packages or items such as an XM Satellite Radio, each gift tag carrying a value of $1,000. A crafty spinner could pick up several of these prize cards in a single round.

Mystery Round (Round 3)

Two $1,000 spaces (originally $500 from the round's debut in Season 20 through Season 22) marked with a stylized question mark are placed on the wheel. If a player lands on one of these mystery wedges and guesses a letter in the puzzle, they may either take $1,000 per letter as normal, or turn over the mystery wedge. On the other side of the mystery wedge contains either a Bankrupt or a prize (usually $10,000–$13,000 cars or a $10,000 prize). If the player reveals the prize, as with any other wheel prize, they must solve the puzzle without hitting Bankrupt to win it. After one mystery wedge is revealed, that space becomes a normal cash wedge, and the other mystery wedge acts as a regular $1,000 space for the remainder of the round. Beginning in Season 23, the producers show the home audience what's behind the mystery wedge before a decision is made by the contestant.

Puzzle round

Some puzzles have a question that can be answered in order to win some extra money (previously $500 in 1990, $2,000 in 1995, now $3,000 on the current U.S. version). Categories for this puzzle include:

• Clue: The puzzle describes a person, place, thing or event, and the contestant wins money for guessing that object.

• Fill In the Blank: Three question marks appear by themselves in the puzzle, representing a common word. After guessing the puzzle, the contestant can identify the word that goes in the blank.

    Example of Fill In The Blank
    ? And Sour
    ? Dreams
    ? Home Alabama

The answer to the blanks is Sweet, and correctly guessing that earns the player $3,000.

• Next Line Please: The puzzle is a sentence of some sort; the contestant wins money for continuing the sentence.

• Slogan: The contestant must identify the brand or company that uses the slogan used in the puzzle.

• Who Is It/Are They?: The puzzle is a description of (a) person/people, dead or alive, real or fictional. The contestant must identify the person/people the puzzle is talking about.

• Where Are We?: Similar to Who Is It? except that the puzzle gives landmarks, traditions, etc. about the location. The contestant has to guess where the puzzle "is."

• Who Said It?: Like the category quotation, except that the contestant must identify who said it.

• Fill In The Number/s: The puzzle contains numbers, except that the number/s is/are replaced with sharps (#). The person who solves the round has to fill in the number/s. For example, a Fill in the Number puzzle would look like this:

    TO BE ELATED IS TO BE ON CLOUD NUMBER #

The answer is 9, and guessing 9 earns $3,000.

• Megaword: This puzzle is a word of at least nine letters. The person who solved the puzzle could win extra money by using the word in a sentence. Due to its extreme unpopularity with the show's fans, this category is no longer used.

• Red-Letter Puzzles: From 1994-1997, a puzzle would occasionally have a few red letters that were scrambled on the board. If the person who solved the puzzle could unscramble the word, s/he won bonus money. This started out as a special home-viewer contest before it became a regular feature for the studio contestants. It was used until the electronic, touch-sensitive puzzleboard was introduced in early 1997.

• Puzzler: This is a mini-puzzle related to the puzzle solved by the round's winner. A few letters were revealed in the puzzler, and the contestant had five seconds to correctly solve the puzzler to win bonus money. This was quickly scrapped in favor of the more popular Toss Up puzzles (see above).

• Bonus Question: The host or announcer would ask a question related to the puzzle solved by the contestant. This is rarely used, though.

Prize Puzzle

As indicated at the beginning of a puzzle, at seemingly random intervals there are Prize Puzzles that award the winner with a prize somehow relating to the puzzle. It debuted in Season 21. Starting in Season 23, there has been a prize puzzle every night, appearing in either round 1, 2, or 3.

Example: If the solution was "FUN IN THE SUN", the player would win a trip to a tropical island.

Starting sometime near the end of 2003-04 (which was during Season 21), home viewers (in the U.S. only) were given a chance to win the same prize as the contestants with a "Special Prize Identification Number" (S.P.I.N), consisting the first letter of that contestant's first and last name, and five numbers (example: AB12345) from the show's web site, and having 24 hours to log on and claim their prize. (Also, starting in the 2005-2006 season, if a contestant won a car in the Bonus Round, a home viewer with the matching SPIN ID would also won the same car as the on-air contestant. The rules for claiming the car are the same as the Prize Puzzle rules.) If they are a SonyCard holder, they win an additional $50,000.

Apparently somewhere around this time, the prizes given away became exclusively trips. One puzzle where the prize was not a trip was "AN EVENING YOU'LL NEVER FORGET" in the category of "Event", and the prize was a gift package from TicketsNow.com. This occurred in 2004 during the show's visit to San Francisco.

The 2 letters are the winning home viewer's first and last initials. It is not known how the five digits are computed, and it is possible that either the numbers are randomly generated or how they come up with the digits is kept a secret.

Before and After

The puzzle often takes the form of a "before and after," usually three words where the middle word is the second word of one two-word phrase and the first word of another with a completely unrelated meaning. For example, the solution might be "Whitney Houston Texas," a combination of Whitney Houston and Houston, Texas.

Speed-Up Round

Late in the game, if a fourth round has not been played or time is running short in the middle of a round, four consecutive bells are sounded, signifying the start of the speed-up round. In this round, a fixed dollar amount is set by one final spin of the wheel by the host - if the host spins and lands on either a non-dollar space (e.g., Bankrupt, Free Spin, etc.), or a remaining prize, he spins again. (Sometimes the prizes are removed before the final spin to minimize these occurrences.) Each player then in turn is given the opportunity to guess one letter, and a few seconds (originally five; later three) to solve the puzzle if they guess correctly. The prize awarded, like the regular round, is proportional to the number of correct letters; unlike the regular round, they don't get another turn if they guess correctly.

Oftentimes, the speed-up round occurs in the middle of a round (usually the fourth round) although some fast-paced games continue to a fifth and, rarely, a sixth round. In slower games, the final spin will start the fourth round. The audience is told to remain silent so the answer is not accidentally revealed. As of late 2000, this round features background music.

In recent U.S. seasons beginning in late 1999, $1,000 is added to the value of the final spin (for example, landing on $550 means consonants are worth $1,550). Previously, the speed-up round was often anticlimactic, especially when the leader had a huge lead over the second- and third-place contestants and Sajak landed on a small dollar amount.

On some versions, such as in the U.S., the host intentionally aims for the top dollar value with the final spin; the wheel is set to give the host a better chance of hitting it. For example, in more recent shows in the U.S. version, the Speed-Up Round often starts before the round has begun, at which point the wheel is pointed at the $5,000 space. Since an average spin is around one rotation, this increases the odds greatly. In other versions, the host gives a random spin. To save on TV air time, those spins are edited out for broadcast, unless they may be found especially humorous, especially in recent years if Sajak hits a Bankrupt or Lose a Turn space during the spin.

The record for the most money won in the speed-up round is $54,000, set during a February 2005 episode from Las Vegas and again in October of 2005.

Round 4

Beginning with round four, all unclaimed prizes are removed from the wheel regardless of how much time is remaining in the maingame, even if the game goes past its usual four rounds. This was done sometime in either season 22 or 23, as mentioned above, to minimize occurrences of the host landing on a prize or penalty space, which would force the host to spin again.

Bonus Round

A final puzzle is put up and the contestant chooses several consonants and a vowel. Occurrences of these letters are revealed and the contestant has a small amount of time, but as many guesses as necessary, to solve the puzzle.

Several versions of the Bonus Round – including the long-familiar format introduced in 1981 – have been used, and are detailed below.

1975 "hour long WOF" version

The U.S. version tinkered with a bonus round format for 6 weeks in 1975, when the show was one hour long. The winner of the show would play a sort of bonus round, and have the choice of 4 different puzzles—easy, medium, hard, and difficult. When they chose the puzzle, they were asked to give 4 consonants and a vowel. Then they were given 15 seconds to guess the puzzle.

If the puzzle was solved, they won a prize based on the puzzle's difficulty. For example, if the contestant chose an easy puzzle, he/she might win a $1,000 television-stereo console, while solving a difficult puzzle would win them a $13,000 Cadillac El Dorado. The prizes varied widely.

1978 "Star Bonus" version

The "Star Bonus" round was played for a time in 1978, which would enable a second- or third-place contestant to possibly become champion by solving a Bonus Round-type puzzle.

A special "Star Bonus" disc was placed on the wheel. If a contestant landed on the wedge, he/she was provisionally entitled to play the Bonus Round if he/she was the second- or third-place contestant that day. The contestant had to play for a prize that was more than the difference between him/her and the first-place contestant; just like the hour-long Bonus Round, the prize's value corresponded with the puzzle's difficulty.

As before, the contestant was asked to pick four consonants and a vowel, then given 15 seconds to attempt to solve the puzzle.

Critics of this format point to several flaws, most notably that merely landing on the space did not guarantee the Star Bonus would be played. It was possible for the day's eventual first-place contestant to land on the Star Bonus. Also, the Star Bonus prizes were available during shopping rounds, meaning a dominant player could buy that $13,000 Chevrolet Corvette and thus render an opponent's Star Bonus token useless (since no available prize would allow him/her to overtake the first-place player). Then, there was the possibility that the Star Bonus token would not be landed on at all; plus, some haphazard editing also irked viewers.

1981-current "Bonus Round"

Pat Sajak's first show in 1981 was also when the current bonus round became permanent.

When it debuted in 1981, the winner of that's day/night's show chose a prize (tagged with a special gold star, usually worth $1,500 or more). He/she then was presented a puzzle and told its category, and then chose 5 consonants and a vowel. The contestant was given 15 seconds to solve the puzzle. If correct, he/she won the prize. Contestants stood behind the wheel during the bonus round during the first week; after that, they stood on the other side of the wheel, with the chosen prize just upstage, and the "Wheel of Fortune" logo on the floor. (Sometimes a car would be between the wheel and the puzzle board, causing the logo to not be shown.)

A statistical analysis shows that R, S, T, L, N, and E are the best choices, and these were almost always selected by contestants. Occasionally, puzzles would feature none of these letters (or the selections would only produce one or two letters); at that point, the host would allow the contestant to pick three more consonants and one more vowel. Starting in 1988, the contestant was automatically given the R, S, T, L, N and E, and was then asked for the additional three consonants and one vowel. The player was now only given ten seconds to solve the puzzle. These rules remain to this day.

Since then, the difficulty of the bonus puzzles has gone up, sometimes with only 1 or 2 instances of the automatic letters appearing in the puzzle; and often puzzles are one word. Often times, the four letters the contestants choose are not in the puzzle either; and when one-word puzzles are played, the first letter of the word is rarely revealed.

Changes to the 1981 bonus round

• 1987 syndication – When the syndicated "Wheel" began its all-cash format, much larger bonus prizes were offered. Examples: a Ferrari, a vacation for six on a private island in Jamaica, a 5-acre plot in Maine, a motor home plus an invitation to tour Alaska with an RV club, a cabin cruiser, tickets to every major sporting event for the next year, a time-share vacation home at Lake Tahoe, and valuable annuities. One of the prizes was always $25,000 in cash. The cash quickly became far and away the most popular bonus prize, while cars were second. The NBC daytime show, meanwhile, used the 1981 Bonus Round format until the blind-draw method was introduced in 1989 - no cash was offered and contestants just chose what prize to play for. On the CBS run, one bonus prize was always $5,000 in cash.

• 1989 – Each of the week's prizes went into a blind draw, each hidden in an envelope and placed behind a letter in the word "WHEEL". Each prize could be won only once per week. The extravagant prizes continued on the syndicated version, meaning someone could win such items as a Hummer, a speedboat or a log cabin as their bonus prize. This was not done on the CBS daytime version (and later on when it moved back to NBC for the final few months); contestants picked one of five prizes or offers, one of which was always $5,000 cash. In keeping with the lower stakes of the CBS show, the other bonus prizes typically included trips and sub-compact cars.

By 1994, with contestants still preferring $25,000 (or at least one of the available cars), the cash was eventually made available every day; the other prizes could still only be won once per week. For the last two months of this format during the 2001-2002 season, the large prize packages were scrapped; three envelopes contained cars, and the other two had the $25,000 cash prize.

• 2001 (The Bonus Wheel) – The Bonus Round was revamped and allowed the contestant a chance to play for $100,000. The contestant first spun a small 24-section wheel to determine which prize he/she would be playing for. 11 of the wedges held envelopes containing $25,000. There were four wedges for each of the three cars available that week. The remaining envelope concealed the grand prize of $100,000.

In 2002, as part of Season 20, the Bonus Wheel prizes were revised, with cash amounts of between $30,000 and $50,000 hidden in the mix (each in increments of $5,000). The prize distribution was thus:

* Six (6) envelopes containing one car.

* Six (6) envelopes containing the other car.

* Six (6) envelopes containing $25,000.

* One (1) envelope each containing $30K, $35K, $40K, $45K, $50K, and $100,000.

Five solo contestants and six teams have won the $100,000 prize. Douglass Ross was the first to do so in December 2001, and was the only one to win it during Season 19. It was won three times during Season 20, with 2 solo contestants and one team winning it. It wasn't won at all during Season 21. It was won once in Season 22 and the first $100,000.00 winners the road, so far, six $100,000 wins have been shown in Season 23.

Biggest wins and losses

File:100000WheelofFortune.jpg

Natasha and Robert Purdum react after identifying "Risky Move" and winning the $100,000 grand prize during "Sweethearts Week" in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The all-time winnings record for a solo player is $146,014, set by Mindi Motola in September 1990.

The all-time winnings record on the show is $146,529, set by Peter Argyropolous and Deborah Cohen during "Sweethearts Week" on February 16, 1996

The all-time main game winnings record is $65,250, set during a February 2001 College Week episode from Washington D.C.

The highest amount lost in one single round was $62,400 set in March of 1985. A contestant named Terry lost her turn, and eventually the round, by calling an "S" in the puzzle "THE THRILL OF VICTORY AND THE AGONY OF DEFEAT". She lost $72,400 in all, as she missed out on an extra $10,000 in the speed-up round, possibly giving her the record of most money lost in a game ever.

The biggest $100,000 miss since the inception of the mini-wheel was featured on a memorable episode (February 18,2005) from Las Vegas. Nora Keenan from Annapolis, MD won $60,150 (all cash) including a record $54,000 from the final spin/speed-up round. The bonus puzzle was a PHRASE and this is what she got:

_ _ _ L I T _ / T I M E

She had a chance but she couldn't come up with "QUALITY/TIME". The audience let out a big gasp when they saw she lost the grand prize. She was so close to winning an all-time solo player record of $160,150.

The $100,000.00 Club (pre-2001)

• Mindi Motola - $146,014 from New Orleans, Louisiana on September 14, 1990 (Category: Thing - Knighthood)
• Peter Argyropolous and Deborah Cohen - $146,529 in Sweethearts Week from Los Angeles, California on February 16, 1996 (Category: Thing - Biscuit)
• Shane O'Donnell - $119,826 in Walt Disney World Week from Orlando, Florida in June 12, 1992 (Category: Occupation - Milkman) (Category: Foreign Word - Bueno) (Category: Things - Pancakes)
• Vicky Thomasino - $132,060 (Category: Title - Toy Story) (Category: Event - Campout) (Category: Place - Boulevard)
• Bonnie & Ben - $130,708
• Mark - $110,757
• Diane Landry - $105,170
• Karen - $102,570
• Vince Tolliver - $101,649 (Category: Thing - Helmet) (Category: On the Menu - Banana Split) (Category: Title - Footloose)

List of $100,000.00 winners

• Douglass Ross - $113,800 December 19, 2001 in Christmas Vacations Week from Los Angeles, California (Season 19) (Category: Thing - A HAPPY MEAL)
• Bonnie Malone and Karen Davy - $121,831 December 4, 2002 in Family Vacations Week from Los Angeles, California (Season 20) (Category: Place - Campground)
• Byron Pope - $119,100 April 24, 2003 from Chicago, Illinois (Season 20) (Category: Person - Jockey)
• Nancy Coon - $105,500 May 21, 2003 (Season 20) (Category: Living Things - Foxes)
• Taylor Irving and Vlada Miller - $117,640 February 3, 2005 in Teen Best Friends Week from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Season 22) - (Category: Things - FLIP-FLOPS)
• Jessica Derenbecker - $121,650 November 14, 2005 from New Orleans, Louisiana (Season 23) - (Category: Event - BIG BASH)
• Ariel Wellman and Denise Banks - $120,170 November 21, 2005 in Teen Best Friends Week from Los Angeles, California (Season 23) (Category: Fictional Character - Buzz Lightyear)
• Babette Dominguez and Bob Griese - $114,310 January 24, 2006 in NFL Players Week from Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Season 23) (Bob Griese was partner,$114,310 goes to Bob's Charity) (Category: Things - Brains and Brawn)
• Natasha and Robert Purdum - $132,000 February 6, 2006 in Sweethearts Week from Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Season 23) (Category: Thing - RISKY MOVE)
• Christine Denos and Jack Wagner - $142,550 February 28, 2006 in Soap Stars Week from Culver City, California (Season 23) (Jack Wagner was partner,$142,550 goes to Jack's Charity) (Category: Person - KNOW-HOW)
• Karen and Ted Robie - $118,196 May 12, 2006 in Mom & Me Week from Denver, Colorado (Season 23) (Category: Living Thing - PIXAR LAMP)
• Elyse Thomas - $114,700 May 15, 2006 in College Week from Denver, Colorado (Season 23) - (Category: Phrase - BACK IN A FLASH)
• Tony and Tonya - $118,750 May 22, 2006 in Family Week from Denver, Colorado (Season 23) (Category: Proper Name - Bruce Willis)
• Babette and Judy Dominguez - $130,710 December 6, 2006 in Family Vacations Week from Orlando, Florida (Season 24) (Category: Fictional Character - Donald Duck)
• Basie Williams and Joe Namath - $122,700 January 30, 2007 in NFL Players Week from Miami, Florida (Season 24) (Joe Namath was partner,$122,700 goes to Joe's Charity) (Category: Fictional Characters - The Simpsons)
• Rachel White and Denise Banks - $118,230 February 8, 2007 in Teen Best Friends Week from Washington, DC (Season 24) (Category: PHRASE - CALM DOWN)
• Belinda and Bill O'Brien - $151,200 February 14, 2007 in Sweethearts Week from Las Vegas, Nevada (Season 24) (Category: On the Map - Paris, France)
• Connie Eliano and Nenad Krstic - $117,480 February 27, 2007 in NBA All-Star Week from Las Vegas, Nevada (Season 24) (Nenad Krstic was partner,$117,480 goes to Nenad's Charity) (Category: Thing - TIME TABLE)

List of $100,000.00 losers

There have been several contestants who were not quite as fortunate and lost the grand prize since the Bonus Wheel's inception. For the first time in Wheel history, there were two $100,000 losses in the same week. It happened during the week of 5-Star Getaways Week. Here is a list of $100,000 losers as of the seasons:

• Valerie - $28,934 January 17, 2005 in 5-Star Getaways from Los Angeles, California (Season 22) (Category: Phrase - COOKING WITH GAS)
• Kristin Metrolier - $28,350 January 20, 2005 in 5-Star Getaways from Los Angeles, California (Season 22) (Category: Thing - Password)
• Nora Keenan - $60,150 February 18, 2005 from Las Vegas, Nevada (Season 22) (Category: Phrase - QUALITY TIME)
• Candice Zimmer - $15,735 December 7, 2005 in 5-Star Resorts Week from Los Angeles, California (Season 23) (Category: Title - Vanity Fair)
• Tracy Harris - $17,307 February 16, 2006 in Fun in the Sun Week Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Season 23) (Category: Thing - Juice Box)
• Tiffany Meredith - $24,750 March 14, 2006 in Spring Break Week from Los Angeles, California (Season 23) (Category: Phrase - ON MY BEHALF)
• Baninder - $35,850 April 28, 2006 in Ultimate Adventures Week from Los Angeles, California (Season 23) (Category: Around the House - Bubble Wrap)

Bonus Round in foreign countries

• In other foreign countries, the "R, S, T, L, N, E" is never given to the contestant, although Germany used this sort of format around the late 90s to the early 2000s.
• Some other versions, like Glücksrad in Germany, still use the 15-second time limit for their bonus rounds.

Wheel of Fortune in popular culture

Main article: Wheel of Fortune in popular culture

Wheel of Fortune For Prizes - Mobile Game

In 2005, InfoSpace Games teamed up with Sony Pictures Mobile to create the mobile game Wheel of Fortune For Prizes. Players compete against others across the U.S. in multiplayer tournaments for a chance to win daily and weekly prizes.

IGN Wireless Review of Wheel of Fortune for Prizes

Wheel of Fortune 2000

Main article: Wheel of Fortune 2000

Slot machines

Given creator Merv Griffin's fondness for gambling (including being a successful casino owner), it would seem natural that Wheel would be featured as the basis for a slot machine. International Gaming Technology licensed the rights to make Wheel-based games in the 1980s. The first machines (and still the most popular) featured standard IGT traditional three-reel slot machines, each with a reporoduction of the show's famous wheel above the reels. When a "SPIN" symbol lines up on any reel, the player presses a button to start the wheel spinning, and a player could win as many as 1,000 credits (with no "Bankrupt" wedges). Lining up three "Wheel of Fortune" symbols wins the progressive jackpot, which is usually linked with other Wheel machines throughout a given state and reaches into the millions of dollars.

In more recent years, as video-based slot machines with many paylines have become popular, video versions of Wheel machines have appeared, all with the familiar wheel above the screen. These also feature wide-area progressive jackpots. In 2004, a version featuring Sajak and White was produced as a "Special Edition," the only machines in the series to feature human voices, aside from the familiar show-opening audience chant.

The Wheel slot machines are widely believed to be the most popular slot machines ever distributed in North America. Indeed, one can hardly walk through a casino anywhere on the continent without repeatedly hearing the "WHEEL ... OF ... FORTUNE!" audience chant that comes from a machine when a player gets to spin the wheel.

Episode status

The original pilot made for NBC with the host Edd "Kookie" Byrnes still exists from 1974. A clip was shown in the 3000th episode celebration in 1998. Most of the Woolery–Stafford episodes are believed to have been destroyed by NBC, which still has yet to be proven; however, surviving examples circulate among—and are treasured by—game show tape traders. All Sajak syndicated episodes are intact, however, and have been shown on GSN.

The status of the Sajak/Benirschke/Goen daytime versions is unknown, though it is likely that all of Vanna White's episodes have been preserved, since a clip of her first show was played during the 1997 April Fools episode of Wheel, in the 3000th episode celebration. (Although Vanna's first episode indeed exists, some sources say that most of the remaining daytime episodes up until about 1984 have been destroyed.)

Clips from early episodes—including several from the Woolery–Stafford era, early Sajak daytime episodes and Vanna's first show—surfaced on the recent E! True Hollywood Story episode chronicling the show's history. A short clip of an intro from a Woolery episode, with O'Donnell announcing, surfaced on the 3000th episode.

Theme songs

• 1975-1983 — "Big Wheels" by Alan Thicke (partly inspired by the 1974 pilot episode's theme "Give it One" by Maynard Ferguson)

• 1983-1989 — "Changing Keys" by Merv Griffin (original disco-swing arrangement). Note: The theme was slightly truncated at the beginning during the spring of 1984.

• 1989-1992 — "Changing Keys" (first smooth jazz arrangement)

• 1992-1994 — "Changing Keys" (second smooth jazz arrangement, "smoother" than the original)

• 1994-1997 — "Changing Keys" (big band arrangement)

• 1997-2000 — "Changing Keys" (final arrangement, a considerably smoother variation of the '94 theme)

• 2000-present — "Happy Wheels" by Steve Kaplan (modern big-band style theme which uses a few bars of the previous incarnation, before going into the new music)

Although "Changing Keys" is far more commonly associated with Wheel, many game show fans consider "Big Wheels" to be the superior theme.

Trivia

File:Wheel NES.JPG

The first Nintendo release of Wheel of Fortune was for the NES. It was published by Gametek and released in 1987.

File:WHEEL OF FORTUNE SNES.JPG

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES, version of Wheel of Fortune, available to consumers in 1992.

Several video games of Wheel of Fortune have been released since the 1980s, including a computer game for older Macintosh computers, a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System that was released prior to the overhaul of the bonus round during the "Big Month of Cash," a Super NES rendition, a Nintendo 64 version, and several PC versions.

A week of shows in the 2005-06 season was cancelled when the entire production staff had to evacuate New Orleans, Louisiana; the show was taping three weeks of episodes (five per day) in the city when Hurricane Katrina hit.

The working title for Wheel of Fortune was "Shoppers' Bazaar", apparently in reference to the shopping segment when a contestant won each round of regular play.

Taped shows

From 1975-1989 in Woolery's version from 1975-1981, Sajak's Daytime version from 1981-1989 on NBC and 1983-1989 Nighttime version on syndication, and Benirschke's version on NBC, it was taped at NBC Studios in Burbank, California. From 1989-1995 in the syndicated Sajak's version, and the Goen's version from 1989-1990 on CBS and 1990-1991 on NBC, it was taped at CBS Television City. On the syndicated version since September 1995, it was taped at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.

Credits

• Executive Producer: Harry Friedman (1999-)
• Props Assistant: Douglas W. Randall (1998-1999)
• Research Coordinator: Lorriane Axeman (1999-2000)
• Electronic Graphic Artist: Scott Bergman (1995-1996)
• Senior Contestant Coordinator: Scott L. Page (1975-1996)
• Contestant Coordinator: Maggie Speak (1997-2000)
• Contestant Executive: Gary O'Brien
• Senior Producer: Karen Griffith
• Senior Producer: Steve Schwartz
• Director: Mark Corwin
• Director: Dick Carson (1983-1999)

External links

• Official site of the U.S. version
• Wheel of Fortune for Prizes Mobile Game
• The Classic Wheel of Fortune Page, focusing on the Chuck Woolery/Susan Stafford era of the show
• David Livingston's Daytime Wheel Page
• The Wheel of Fortune Timeline, a work-in-progress chronicling the history of the show
• UK Gameshows Page: Wheel of Fortune
• Shane O'Donnell has his episodes, so you can view at http://ranger.befunk.com/gallery2/v/misc/shane-wheel-of-fortune/