Wheel of Fortune (Seasons 1-20, 38)

Wheel of Fortune
Audience: "Wheel...OF...FORTUNE!!!!!!!"
Genre: Game Show Running Time: 20–22 minutes (per episode) Country: United States Release Date: January 6, 1975 – present Network(s): NBC (1975-89, 1991) CBS (1989-91) Broadcast syndication (1983-present) ABC (2021 Celebrity special) Created by: Merv Griffin Distributed by: CBS Television Distribution Sony Pictures Television Starring: Chuck Woolery Pat Sajak (1981-2024) Rolf Benirschke Bob Goen Susan Stafford Vanna White Ryan Seacrest (2024-present) Seasons: 39 Episodes: over 7,000 (as of May 31, 2019)

Wheel of Fortune is a game show that ran from 1975 to 1991 in the daytime, and since 1983 on syndication.

Gameplay

Main Game

Wheel of Fortune is based on hangman. In each round, three players compete to be the first to guess the answer to a word puzzle. At the start of each round, the host reveals the category. In general, puzzles must be read exactly, except for crossword puzzles (which were added to the show in 2016) where the host gives a clue linking the words and contestants may give the words in any order, so long as all words are given without repeating or adding any. The titular Wheel of Fortune is a roulette-style wheel with 24 wedges. Most are labeled with dollar amounts ranging from $500 to $900, with a top value in each round: $2,500 in round 1, $3,500 in rounds 2 and 3, and $5,000 for round 4 and any subsequent rounds. The wheel also features two Bankrupt wedges and one Lose a Turn wedge. Landing on either forfeits the contestant's turn, with the Bankrupt wedge also eliminating any cash or prizes the contestant has accumulated within the round.

Most matches consist of three contestants, although some variants feature three teams of two people each. Contestants in control spin the wheel to determine a dollar value, then guess a consonant. Landing on a dollar amount and calling a correct consonant results in the hostess revealing every instance of that letter, also awarding the value of the spin multiplied by the number of times the letter appears in the puzzle. After a correct consonant, a contestant is able to spin again, buy a vowel for a flat rate of $250 (until no more remain in the puzzle), or attempt to solve the puzzle. Control passes to the next contestant clockwise if the contestant lands on Lose a Turn or Bankrupt, calls a letter not in the puzzle, calls a letter already called in that round, attempts unsuccessfully to solve the puzzle, or takes too much time to call a letter or decide on their next action.

Each game also features five toss-up puzzles, in which one random letter is revealed at a time; the first contestant to ring in with the right answer wins a cash bonus. The first, worth $1,000, determines the order of the pre-game interviews conducted by the host. The second, worth $2,000, determines who spins first in round one. The third through fifth, collectively the "Triple Toss-Up", take place prior to the fourth round. The Triple Toss-Up consists of three consecutive puzzles, each with the same category and a common theme. Solving any awards $2,000, while solving the third also earns the right to start the fourth round. Beginning in 2021, an additional $4,000 is awarded for a total of $10,000 if the same contestant solves all three. Contestants may only ring in once for each toss-up puzzle, and no cash is awarded if all three fail to solve; if this occurs, then the contestant closest to the host controls the next portion of the game. In addition to the toss-ups, each game has a minimum of four rounds, with more played if time permits. Rounds 2 and 3 are respectively started by the next two contestants clockwise from the contestant who began round 1.

In the first three rounds, the wheel also contains a Wild Card over a selected wedge. If this is claimed by calling a correct letter, the contestant may use it after a correct consonant to call a second consonant for the same value as the present spin, or take it to the bonus round. There is also a special wedge which offers a pre-determined prize, typically a trip or credit to a company. Both also offer $500 per correct letter. The first three rounds also contain a special wedge known as the "Million Dollar Wedge", in which, if won and taken to the bonus round, offers an opportunity to play for $1,000,000. A contestant must solve the puzzle in order to keep any cash, prizes, or extras accumulated during that round except for the Wild Card. Bankrupt does not affect score from previous rounds or prizes from previous rounds, but it takes away the Wild Card and/or the Million Dollar Wedge if either was claimed in a previous round. Contestants who solve a round for less than $1,000 in cash and prizes ($2,000 on weeks with two-contestant teams) have their scores increased to that amount.

Round 2 features two "Mystery Wedges". Calling a correct letter on one offers the chance to accept its face value of $1,000 per letter, or forfeit that to flip over the wedge and see whether its reverse side contains a $10,000 cash prize or Bankrupt. Once one is flipped over, the other becomes a standard $1,000 space and cannot be flipped. Round 3 is a Prize Puzzle, which offers a prize (usually a trip) to the contestant who solves. Since 2013, this round also has an "Express" wedge. A contestant who lands on this space and calls a correct consonant receives $1,000 per appearance. The contestant can then either "pass" and continue the round normally, or "play" and keep calling consonants for $1,000 each (without spinning) and buying vowels for $250. If the contestant calls an incorrect letter, runs out of time during the Express, or solves the puzzle incorrectly, it is treated as a Bankrupt.

The final round of every game is always played at least in part as a "speed-up". At this point, the contestant who is in control of the wheel spins one last time (known as the "final spin"). Prior to Season 39, the host performed the final spin. When the final spin lands on a dollar amount, that amount has $1,000 added to create the value of a consonant for the rest of the game, and vowels are free. If the final spin lands on anything that is not a dollar amount, another one is performed until one lands on a dollar amount. The contestant in control calls a letter. If the letter appears in the puzzle, the hostess reveals all instances of the letter and the contestant has three seconds to attempt solving once the hostess moves to the side of the board. If the three-second time limit expires, control passes to the next contestant and gameplay continues in this fashion until the puzzle is solved.

After the speed-up round, the contestant with the highest total winnings wins the game and advances to the bonus round. Contestants who did not solve any puzzles are awarded a consolation prize of $1,000 (or $2,000 on weeks with two-contestant teams). If a tie for first place occurs after the speed-up, an additional toss-up puzzle is played between the tied contestants. The contestant who solves the toss-up puzzle wins $1,000 and advances to the bonus round.

Bonus round

Since 2017, the winning contestant chooses one of three puzzle categories before the round begins (prior to 2017, the category and puzzle were predetermined). After doing so, the contestant spins a smaller wheel with 24 envelopes to determine the prize. The puzzle is revealed, as is every instance of the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E. The contestant provides three more consonants and one more vowel, plus a fourth consonant if he or she has the Wild Card. After any instances of those letters are revealed, the contestant has 10 seconds to solve the puzzle; he or she may make multiple guesses, as long as the entire answer is started before time expires. Whether or not the contestant solves the puzzle, the host opens the envelope at the end of the round to reveal the prize at stake. Prizes in the bonus round include various cash amounts ranging from $40,000 to $100,000 as well as a vehicle.

If the contestant has the Million Dollar Wedge, the $100,000 envelope is replaced with a $1,000,000 envelope. The $1,000,000 prize has been awarded three times to contestants, and one time to a celebrity, for a total of four Million Dollar winners. It was won by Michelle Loewenstein (Regular version; October 14, 2008), Autumn Erhard (Regular version; May 30, 2013), Sarah Manchester (Regular version; September 17, 2014), and Melissa Joan Hart (Youth Villages) (Celebrity Wheel of Fortune; October 17, 2021). In the regular version, contestants who win the $1,000,000 may receive it in installments over 20 years, or in a lump sum of that amount's present value.

Why These Seasons Rock

1. Great hosting from Chuck Woolery and Pat Sajak with Susan Stafford and Vanna White deserving a special mention. Even the UK version had its fair share of great hosts in Nicky Campbell, Bradley Walsh, John Leslie, Carol Smillie, and Jenny Powell.
2. Amazing "hangman meets roulette" format.
3. Funny moments.
4. Catchy theme song, "Changing Keys".
5. Enthusiastic announcing from Charlie O'Donnell, Jack Clark, and Jim Thornton.
6. Clever puzzle writing (at least until Prize Puzzles came full-time in 2003).
7. Nice-looking sets.
8. Spawned many international versions. (UK, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Brazil, etc.)
9. November 5, 2010: Contestant Caitlin Burke, made a one-letter solve in the Prize Puzzle Round.
10. The show got even better in 1987, thanks to better sound effects (beginning in 1989) and the controversial shopping element being dropped.
11. The 1982-1983 season introduced Bonus Rounds, then known as Star Bonuses, as a permanent feature. However, they weren't initially played correctly, due to the "RSTLNE" permutation called out by contestants that didn't get fixed until 1988, when the letters started being given to contestants at the start.

Bad Qualities

1. The show went downhill when Prize Puzzles were introduced in Season 21. It redeemed itself in Season 38. However, it went downhill again in Season 39. Some unwanted changes to the music and the set have occurred, as well as certain occassions where Maggie Sajak substitutes for her father Pat. Even worse, Maggie will replace Vanna White after her retirement in 2026.
   • Even before that, Daytime Wheel went downhill after Pat Sajak left in January 1989. Bob Goen and Rolf Benirschke would host the show's daytime run on NBC (later CBS) from 1989 to its cancellation in 1991; they were mediocre hosts who felt quite awkward and untrained. To make matters worse, this edition of WOF suffered from budget cuts in its final two seasons.
   • Microtransactions: Even in its good seasons, the show had a controversial shopping element; it was a regular feature on the show from 1973 to 1987 (though it was still featured regularly in the daytime version on NBC until 1989), was quite controversial. Basically, it felt like a battle that left contestants feeling defeated.
     • All the prizes, even the smaller ones in the shopping section (e.g. new carpets when the winning contestant already had a carpet at home, Gucci slippers, a Volet Stand, etc.) were tangible and the shopping center seemed to pander to a certain contestants' interest, taste, priorities or favorite trends of the moment—most notably fashion, regardless of if the contestant thought of it that way. The contestants would feel like weird outcasts at times because of this. In addition, there are certain contestants who end up taking over the game, even if they don't win or have only bought small prizes. Or both.
     • There were little to no special or novelty wedges/tags (e.g. the Surprise Wedge, the Mystery Wedge, the Jackpot Wedge, the 25 Wedge) or dollar value awards outside of the wheel in seasons 1-13 (1975-1987), which not only ended up making even more room for the shopping element, but let the contestants beat the oppents more easily by constantly guessing letters with the highest possible number of appearances in the puzzle.
     • The prizes could sometimes be pretty cheap and over-simplified theme-wise, to the point where Stafford was guaranteed to be revealing more letters than Vanna White and ended up speedrunning the game so one contestant got to solve the puzzle sooner; this led to one wondering why they couldn't simply choose money values (e.g. $1,000,000) or non-tangible prizes like vacations as the top ones (let alone set them to default).
     • Chuck Woolery and Pat Sajak seemed to confuse rewards with entitlement or speedrunning when they would explain the prizes to the contestants; unlike rewards (whether intrinsic or extrinsic, though the former is much more beneficial to one's health than the latter), the shopping element undermined the contestants' intrinsic motivation, thus leading to entitlement or cheating their way to victory.
     • An unwritten rule existed where each prize bought by the player actually counted towards their score, so there were instances of second or third-placing contestants who solved two or more puzzles managing to cheat to minor success after shopping in-between rounds.
     • There were no bonus rounds until 1982 so that contestants weren't awarded prizes so freaking early in the game, so the shopping feature served as a cheat code for them. After a round was complete, the contestant went shopping for three different prizes with a budget of at least $500 (or 19% of their cash winnings, which varied depending on the contestant). The value of each prize was usually less or more than any cash the contestant had earned during a round; however the shopping feature led to so many cases where they were forced into the lead during the game ("Once you buy a prize, it's yours to keep forever!") that opponents had no chance of victory. This ended when the shopping element was retired in the 1987-1988 season so that contestants were no longer awarded a prize early in the game until the controversial Prize Puzzle was introduced as a regular feature in 2003.
     • Shopping, when incorporated or used to base an entire TV channel (e.g. QVC, Jewlery Television, Home Shopping Network) around it, is essentially consumerism or gambling masquerading as entertainment (even though a lot of game shows involve gambling by focusing on betting, odds and probability). The items in the shopping area appeared to pose great risk for shopping addiction, being the WOF equivalent of video game loot boxes. It was almost always a good way for them to go home with no money if they had very small cash amounts or speedran Wheel of Fortune if they had big cash amounts, let alone cheated the game, not to mention betting for vowels (rather than just buying them) and having to pay the producers and showrunners. As the shopping element was just poorly disguised gambling, it was a good speedrun of talented contestants throwing away their cash and their whole lives.
       • Despite The Price Is Right properly incorporating and doing the shopping element well, earlier seasons of Wheel of Fortune never did.
     • Those who supported this feature agreed that it brought more fairness to the game and could award fast puzzle solvers without feeling bad for making a bad spin or potentially losing. Some Shopping supporters thought that there were too many shopping trips in one episode and that the show should have only stuck to one or two shopping trips per week. The third and last shopping trip was viewed as unnecessary by some during Shopper's Bazaar's run as well.
2. M.G. Kelly was too mellow for an announcer.
3. Poor sound effects in seasons 1-15, with the "puzzle chime" sound being done on an early synthesizer, the "wrong answer" sound (which was also used for the Bonus Round if a contestant failed to solve the puzzle in seasons 9-15) being an ear-piercing beep and the "Bankrupt" sound being done on a slide whistle—long before it was replaced with the iconic descending alarm used since 1989.
   • To make matters worse, the first season (1975-1976) didn't even have a bankrupt sound.
4. It spawned a kid-friendly spin-off called "Wheel 2000", which was a major downgrade and didn't last for very long.
5. January 4, 2010: In the first round, 3 military guys mispronounced the puzzle. (Shane Dillon: REGIS PHILBRIN & KELLY RIPA; George LeTourneau: REGIS PHILBIN AND KELLY REEPA; Shane Dillon: REGIS PHILMIN & KELLY RIPA; Lee Paschen: REGIS PHILBIN AND KELLY RIPEA; George LeTourneau made a correct pronunciation: REGIS PHILBIN & KELLY RIPA).
6. January 7, 2011: After failing the bonus round, contestant David Gilbreath asked Pat, "Show me something small, Pat." But, it was $100,000 as Pat told him to open the envelope.
7. April 11, 2014: Contestant Julian Batts mispronounced "MYTHOLOGICAL HERO ACHILLES as AY-CHIL-LES  (Ate U Us)" in the first round, "THE WORLD'S FASTEST CAR", but it's actually "THE WORLD'S FASTEST MAN" in the Prize Puzzle/Express Round, and "ON THE SPOT DICESPIN", but it's "ON THE SPOT DECISION" in the Final Spin Round.

Trivia

• At least 32% of Americans watch Wheel of Fortune every week. The viewership varies depending on the episode.
  • It is rumored that the first week of shows in the 2006-2007 season averaged 12.85 million viewers (about 11% of all households in the United States, both with and without a cable TV subscription), with installments after the season premiere being well ahead of the show's viewership for last year's opening week. Between 2008 and 2024, as the show was competing with reality series like American Idol (which was averaging over 12 million viewers) and prime-time sitcoms—including cancelled ones that went into reruns like Everybody Loves Raymond, the show lost 6.17 million viewers (over half of its audience); by season 41 (2023-2024), the last season hosted by Pat Sajak, ratings had bottomed out at 6.87 million, though the premiere drew 9.63 million in the ratings.
    • The June 7, 2024 episode drew 11.3 million viewers, the highest household rating of any broadcast that week. It was also the most-watched program on broadcast or cable TV for the week of June 3-9, excluding live sports.
  • When Pat Sajak retired and was replaced by Ryan Seacrest in season 42, the show saw a 21% gain over the premiere week. The four installments after the season premiere averaged just under 8 million viewers, still well ahead of the 6.87 million for last year's opening week.
    • Nevertheless, this is a far cry from the show's average ratings in the past, which peaked between January 1989 and December 2007 (with viewership presumably averaging between 9.85 and 12.85 million from September 1981 and December 2008), especially when cable television was at its peak and basic programming packages offered by most cable/satellite TV systems started providing access to broadcast television networks; several would offer the networks in a seperate package. The ratings even increased with the rise of DirecTV in the mid-to-late 1990s.
• In modern seasons, the $1,000 Toss-Up (and often other puzzles throughout the game) has something to do with the week's theme 99% of the time. This makes it much easier to figure them out to point of some fans and contestants being able to figure out the puzzle with no letters or even before the blanks come up. Some themes have more themed puzzles than others; some weeks have only the $1,000 Toss-Up and sometimes one "regular" puzzle themed, while others have nearly every puzzle themed, such as Teacher's Week and Great Outdoors week.
• In some episodes, Round 4 (originally Round 3) puzzle, A.K.A. the Speed-Up Round, is themed towards winning, victory or finishing. Sometimes, it is obvious that these puzzles are written in hopes that the puzzle becomes meta if the appropriate player solves it (for instance, one contestant solved COME-FROM-BEHIND VICTORY and actually achieving such a feat with that solve).
• The number of categories grew from three on the 1973 pilot to six when the show began, then all the way to 36 (not counting plural forms). For instance, a puzzle that might originally have been Thing might now be called Living Thing, Food & Drink, Around the House, In the Kitchen or What Are You Wearing?
• Prize Puzzles tend to be themed around the actual prize (often a beaches or a travel) in some way.
• A Celebrity episode had the puzzle "I'D LIKE MY WINNINGS IN CRYPTOCURRENCY", which aired five days before exchange platform FTX filed for bankruptcy.
• Most fans agree that the removal of the shopping rounds was a good idea, although some still hold nostalgia for it. This was first tried on October 5, 1987 as the "Big Month of Cash" during the nighttime version. It proved so successful that the nighttime version seamlessly moved into the "play for cash" rules set up by the Big Month. As a result, the game became much faster, allowing for more puzzles (and consequently, bigger winnings and an increased "play along" incentive for viewers). Daytime Wheel followed suit with a low-budget version in 1989.
• On April Fool's Day in 1991, Vanna had a cushion under her dress in the final segment, as a means of tricking Pat and viewers into thinking she was pregnant. Unfortunately, she would have a miscarriage a year-and-a-half later.
  • For that matter, the 1992 puzzle "VANNA'S PREGNANT" became this when said miscarriage happened; the puzzle was edited out.
• A Celebrity episode from October 10, 2021 featured Jeff Garlin promoting The Goldbergs. About two months later, Garlin was fired from The Goldbergs after several allegations of inappropriate and abusive behavior on set. Said allegations were made even more apparent when a rerun of the Wheel episode aired shortly after his firing.
• On a Celebrity episode taped in October 2022, Mayim Bialik (who has co-hosted Jeopardy! since Alex Trebek's death in season 37, alongside Ken Jennings) promotes Call Me Kat, which was cancelled just five days before the Wheel episode aired and was no longer on FOX's schedule due to the finale already aired the day before the announcement of the show's cancellation. Hulu would also remove seasons during her show's run before the next one exuded (such as season 1 only being available before the premiere of the next season).
• The bonus categories began to be thrown out as the 2000s progressed; on January 30, 2008, a pair of contestants solved the Slogan puzzle "EAT FRESH" as "SUBWAY EAT FRESH", giving the bonus answer along with the puzzle. After a stopdown, the contestants got credit for the puzzle and the bonus. Slogan got retired almost immediately, with Next Line Please and Who Is It?/Who Are They? being ousted in April; the only bonus category to survive Season 25 was Where Are We?, only to be used twice in Season 26 (September 17 and November 28) before getting the boot.

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