To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. Please discuss this issue on the talk page, or replace this tag with a more specific message. Editing help is available. This article has been tagged since July 2006. This article is about the American game show. For versions in other countries or other uses of the phrase, see Wheel of Fortune (disambiguation). Wheel of Fortune Wheel of Fortune Season 24 title card Genre Game show Running time 22 minutes without commercials, 30 minutes with commercials Creator(s) Merv Griffin Starring Pat Sajak, daytime version host (1981-1989) nighttime version host (1983–present) Vanna White, hostess (1982–present) Charlie O'Donnell, announcer (1975–1981; 1989–present) Jack Clark, announcer (1981–1988) Chuck Woolery, host (1975–1981) Rolf Benirschke, daytime version host (1989) Bob Goen, daytime version host (1989–1991) Susan Stafford, hostess (1975–1982) Country of origin United States Original channel NBC (1975–1989, 1991) CBS (1989–1991) Syndicated (1983–present) Original run January 6, 1975–present Official website Wheel of Fortune is an American 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 1972 version of The Price Is Right). The current U.S. version is distributed by King World since 1983, clearly the longest-running syndicated game show to date. Wheel of Fortune began its 24th season in syndication on September 11, 2006 in HDTV. In January 2007, the series will celebrate its 33rd year on television overall. Contents 1 History 2 Versions 3 Gameplay 3.1 Starting a round 3.2 Spinning the wheel 3.3 Buying a vowel 3.4 Solving the puzzle 3.5 Shopping 3.6 Playing for cash 4 Special rounds 4.1 Toss-up Round 4.2 Bankrupt/$10,000/Bankrupt (Round 1) 4.3 Double Play 4.4 Jackpot Round (Round 2) 4.4.1 1987 Jackpot 4.5 Prize spaces 4.6 Mystery Round (Round 3) 4.7 Wild Card 4.8 Puzzle round 4.9 Prize Puzzle 4.10 Round 4 and Beyond/Speed-Up Round 4.11 Consolation Prizes 4.12 Celebrity weeks 4.13 Tie Games 5 Bonus Round 5.1 1975 "hour long WOF" version 5.2 1978 "Star Bonus" version 5.3 1981-current "Bonus Round" 5.3.1 Changes to the December 1981 bonus round 5.4 Bonus Round in foreign countries 6 Sets 6.1 Puzzle board 6.2 Score displays 6.3 Prize displays 6.3.1 1975-1981 6.3.2 1981-1989 6.3.3 1987 (syndicated) and 1989 (daytime) through the 1990s 6.4 Studio layout 6.5 The Wheel 7 Wheel of Fortune in popular culture 8 Wheel of Fortune 2000 9 Slot machines 10 Episode status 11 Theme songs 12 Home Versions 12.1 Board Games 12.1.1 Pressman Version 12.1.1.1 The Deluxe Version 12.2 Video Games 12.3 Wheel of Fortune For Prizes - Mobile Game 13 Trivia 14 Production facilities 15 Show records 16 External links 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 Merv 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 most of 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 (except for two weeks taped in Radio City Music Hall, where Don Pardo filled in) until O'Donnell was able to take over permanently in early-1989. The Las Vegas-style theme song used from September 1975 to July 1983 is called "Big Wheels" by Alan Thicke. Chuck Woolery left Wheel after a salary dispute with Griffin; his last episode aired on December 25, 1981. On the following episode, Pat Sajak replaced him. Susan Stafford left a year later to pursue volunteer work. Substitute letter turners, including Summer Bartholomew (who would later be seen on Sale Of The Century) filled in, until Vanna White was picked as a replacement. (Stafford would return to fill in for a week in 1986.) 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 cancelled on September 20, 1991. More information on the daytime version can be found here. 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. Alex Trebek filled in several times during the show's history, once in 1980 — when Woolery took a brief leave-of- absence — and again in 1997, during an April Fool's episode (when Sajak and White played as contestants). On September 11, 2006, Wheel of Fortune transition to broadcast in the HDTV format. King World and Sony indicated that as of August 10, 2006, some 49 of the 210 stations which carry the show in syndication are prepared for the transition. Because Wheel of Fortune is syndicated, it will appear in both the 1080i and 720p formats, depending on the station. [1] Versions Versions in different countries Main article: Wheel of Fortune in different countries Gameplay Three players take turns. Before taping begins, the players draw numbered dice out of a container to determine their positions on the contestant rostrum. The player drawing 1 stands at the host's immediate left, behind a red arrow; number 2 to that player's left, behind a yellow arrow; and number 3 on player 2's left, behind a blue arrow. The pointer in front of each player determines the value of that player's spins of the wheel. Play proceeds from right to left from the contestants' perspective: from the red player to yellow to blue, back to red. The game begins with a Toss-Up puzzle. Players are given the category of the puzzle and blank spaces representing its letters. Letters are randomly revealed until a player buzzes in and solves the puzzle. That player is introduced first by the host. Originally, the red player began the first round, yellow the second, and blue the third. If time permitted 4 or more rounds, the order would begin again with red. Since the introduction of the electronic puzzle board and Toss-Up puzzles, the player who correctly solves the second Toss-Up (for $2000) begins the first round. The right to start the second and third rounds proceeds in the same order as gameplay. Another Toss-Up, worth $3000, is held for the right to start the fourth round, and the process repeats itself in additional rounds as time permits. Starting a round On a turn, a player can choose to spin the 24-sector wheel, buy a vowel, or attempt to solve the puzzle. When a normal round begins, the spaces in a puzzle are shown as blank white spaces on the board. The category for the round is given, and any punctuation, slashes, and ampersand signs are revealed. The solution to the puzzle usually falls under one of the following categories: Around the House Artist & Song (sometimes Song & Artist; e. g. "Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville" or "We Are The Champions by Queen"; see "Rock On!" below) Before & After (two phrases or names, hooked together by a common word that starts one phrase and ends the other. For example, "Whitney Houston Texas", a combination of Whitney Houston and Houston, Texas) Best Seller (titles of best-selling books) Classic TV (titles of, or characters from, classic TV shows) Event(s) Family (famous people who are related by blood; e. g. "Francis Ford & Sofia Coppola") Fictional Character(s)/Fictional Place/Fictional Landmark Food & Drink (food related, e.g., "A Platter Of Sizzling Steak Fajitas"; was called On The Menu until Season 24) Fun & Games (e. g. "Flag Football") Headline (styled as a newspaper headline; e. g. "Queen Elizabeth Celebrates Milestone") Husband & Wife (famous people who are husband and wife; e. g. "Tim McGraw & Faith Hill") In the Kitchen Landmark (e.g. "The Statue of Liberty", "The Eiffel Tower", or "Yosemite National Park") Movie Title Occupation(s) On The Map (proper names of physical locales - cities, states, countries, bodies of water, et cetera) Person/People Phrase (e.g. "It's Just a Matter of Time" or "Nothing Happened") Place(s) Proper Name(s) (names of famous people, e.g. George Washington; occasionally, company and institution names - for instance, Barnes & Noble or Temple University - are categorized as Proper Name) Quotation (e. g. "The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plain") Rhyme Time (e. g. "Primetime") Same Name (e. g. "Piano And Alicia Keys", combining "piano keys" and "Alicia Keys") Show Biz Star & Role (e.g., "Mike Myers as Austin Powers"; was originally known as Person/Fictional Character) The 60s/The 70s/The 80s/The 90s – events or things specific to the given decade Thing(s) (the world's most famous category, e.g. "Guilty Conscience", "Movie Script", "Date of Birth", or "Keyboard" Title(s) Title & Author (e.g. "The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway") TV Title (titles of current TV shows) Also, during College Weeks, two other special categories were used: Rock On! (puzzles related to rock music; e. g. "British Grammy-winning Rock Band Coldplay. The category appeared on the 28 September 2006 episode, but the puzzle was in the style of a "Song & Artist" category, so it may possibly be replacing that category) College Life (puzzles dealing with college life; e. g. "Pulling An All-Nighter") Categories no longer in use on the show include: Slang Foreign Word/Foreign Phrase More retired categories can be found at "Puzzle Round", below. In early years of the show, the list of categories was much smaller, and did not include the more specific categories. (For instance, before the "Proper Name" category was introduced, proper names were categorized as "Person"; after the Proper Name category introduction, Pat would sometimes explain that "Person" did not always mean a proper name.) "Before & After" and "Same Name" were added during the 1988–1989 season, while the various speciality categories (see "Puzzle Round" below) and the more-specific categories were added starting in the 1990s. Spinning the wheel Military members on an April 2006 taping of Wheel of Fortune. The dreaded black Bankrupt wedge. Landing on it means all cash and prizes accumulated to that point in the round are lost. Winnings from previous rounds are not affected. 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 $300 and guessed L, he/she would earn $900. If the letter is not in the puzzle, or the player guesses a letter that has already been guessed, the player's turn ends. In the Australian and New Zealand versions, the money spun up was applied as a lump sum and not multiplied by the frequency of occurrence, ensuring a 'fairer' game, since the person who had control when it was a long puzzle did not benefit at the expense of another person holding control for a short one. 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", the player's turn ends and loses all earned cash and prizes in that round. The player does not lose anything earned in previous rounds. If the pointer lands on a Free Spin space, the player can win the Free Spin 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 of later use (Until around 1990, the wheel had a "Free Spin" space in the game's first round, which automatically gave that player a Free Spin token without having to guess a letter; 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 Australian famous "N for Nellie". Common during Wheel's early years in the US, this practice is not used today except in the rare case a contestant is asked to clarify his/her choice, like "S as in Sam". Buying a vowel The red "Buy A Vowel" space in 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 and $250 must be paid. The contestant does not pay for every copy of the vowel revealed; in the above example, if the contestant guessed E, although two E's are in the puzzle, the contestant would not have to give up $500. Very early in Wheel's US 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/her 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 July 1989 where the shopping portion of the daytime show was dropped, the wheel was cheapened so $50 and $75 wedges came back. The highest value for round one was $500 going to $1250 in the fourth round. As a result, vowels became $200, and then $100 by September 1991. In January 1991 when the daytime version moved back to NBC, the $50 and $75 wedges were dropped, so the minimum dollar value would be $100, enough to buy a vowel. 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 eleven 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 increasecitation needed]. Indeed, the lowest value on the wheel nowadays is $300 (four wedges as of season 24); the smallest value started out at $25, then eventually $50, $75, $100, $150, $200, and finally $250. 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 1975-81, 1989-91. The phrase "buy a vowel" has entered the public lexicon, meaning "get a clue"citation needed]. It is a sarcastic bit of advice for the clueless. Solving the puzzle At the beginning of any turn, 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, and the player may use a Free Spin if he/she has it. Only the player who correctly solves the puzzle keeps the earnings from the round. If the player's total is less than $1,000 (combined cash and the stated cash value of prizes), 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. When the show moved to Sony Pictures Studios in September 1995, the minimum was boosted again to $500, where it remained until August 2005. As of September 2005, the house minimum is $1,000 per player; during special weeks where two players compete on each team, the minimum is $2,000. Shopping Originally, after a contestant won a round, he/she had the option of shopping for prizes displayed in the studio, like cars, furniture, trips, furs, and jewelry. Once a contestant bought a prize, another contestant could not purchase it on that show. When the player did not have enough money left to buy the least expensive prize, he could put the winnings toward a gift certificate, redeemable at Los Angeles' finest stores (Dicker and Dicker, Tiffany's, etc.). A less popular option, which was available at any time while shopping, was to place the money "On Account." With this option, the contestant risked his winnings during subsequent rounds. He had to avoid Bankrupt spaces and win a later round in order to keep the money and use it for shopping. This option was very rarely used, except when the contestant either had very little cash left (e.g., $1) or was trying to play for a larger, more desirable prize; a player occasionally succeeded in using the On Account option to combine winnings from multiple rounds to buy a new car. Contestants kept any prizes he purchased during the shopping portion of the show, regardless of the game's outcome or if he landed on Bankrupt spaces in future rounds. The host always reminded contestants (and viewers at home) about this: "Try not to hit BANKRUPT, because if you do, you lose your cash, but not your merchandise, because once you buy a prize, it's yours to keep." That saying became one of the most famous lines in game show history. The contestant with the largest net total at the end of the show was champion and returned the next day to face two new contestants. Champions on the daytime show were originally allowed to stay up to five days (as was the usual rule for NBC game shows at that time), but this was soon cut back to three days. The syndicated version originally had no returning champions. The syndicated version of the show abandoned shopping in September 1987, in favor of playing for cash; the daytime version followed when it moved to CBS in July 1989. During a special "Retro Week" in October 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. Playing for cash The silver $5,000 wedge as seen today. Beginning with the all-cash format, the $5,000 space is introduced in round 4. In September 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 1987, 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. From the fifth season 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 2, $3,500 for round 3, and $5,000 in round 4 until the main game was over. Earlier this decade, to account for inflation, the top dollar value changed to $2,500 in round 1, $3,500 in rounds 2 and 3, while the $5,000 space remained in round 4. In one episode, Wheel tried to incorporate the $10,000 wedge as a normal space not surrounded by 2 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. The daytime version adopted the play-for-cash format when it moved to CBS in July 1989. However, the amounts available to be won were much lower on this show than on either the nighttime show or the previous shopping-for-prizes version on NBC. Most of the dollar amounts on the wheel were half what they had been on the NBC daytime show; even the previous $100 and $150 spaces briefly became $50 and $75. The top dollar value on the CBS daytime Wheel was $500 in Rounds 1 and 2 (vs. $1000/$2500 nighttime and $750/$1000 NBC daytime); $1000 in Round 3 (vs. $3500 nighttime and $2000 NBC daytime); and $1250 in Round 4 (vs. $5000 nighttime/$2000 NBC daytime). The $50 and $75 spaces were eventually bumped up to three-digit values, but the daytime show's payouts did not otherwise increase when it moved back to NBC for its last months of life in 1991. Special rounds In recent years, various special rounds have been introduced. Toss-up Round The 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 September 2000. From September 2000 to August 2001, 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. Since September 2001, 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. 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 2 rounds, where Player 2 and Player 3 would only start 2 rounds if time permitted. The Toss-Ups now allow a more competitive method of starting the game with the winner of the 2nd 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 round four, 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) in September 2004, when the puzzle board was switched from a mechanical one to an electronic board. Germany had their own version of a Toss Up in September 2002, called a Turborunde, when they had a digital puzzleboard. 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 turns it over, as it reads as a full $10,000 wedge on the reverse side, 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 April 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 only. Double Play From September 1995 to August 1996, 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. 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 from September 1996 to August 1998, the Jackpot on that certain episode started at $10,000.) If a player spins and lands on Jackpot, he or she must call a letter in the puzzle and solve the puzzle all in that turn. If successful, the contestant wins whatever is in the Jackpot in addition to the total amassed during that round. Until August 2000, the Jackpot Round was played in Round 3. It is now played in Round 2; the space has always covered a $500 space. Beginning in September 1998, the Jackpot Round had a sponsor; at the time, it was often Hot Pockets. The current Jackpot Round debuted in September 1996 and was quite different from a Jackpot Round that was part of the NBC daytime show in 1987. As of Season 24, players have the option to solve for the Jackpot or take $500 for each consonant. 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. In addition, this was not a cash prize; it became available for shopping. Prize spaces The Prize Round was added in the first season, 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 September 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 July 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. From 1983 to 1998, the prize spaces were original ones with regular , classic wheel font on a colored background. From 1998 on, the prize spaces were beautiful, artful ones with colorful pictures and fonts. Originally, a contestant who landed on the prize simply picked it up, and it went into his/her bank. Starting in the eighth season, 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. Also from 1992 to 1998, there was also a pink 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. Like the basic prize spaces, it also carried over to later rounds if not picked up. As of September 2000, 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 September 2002 to August 2004) 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 (originally $10,000-$15,000 cars; now a flat $10,000 cash prize). If the player reveals the prize, as with any other wheel prize, he or she must solve the puzzle without hitting Bankrupt to win it. After one mystery wedge is revealed, the other mystery wedge acts as a regular $1,000 space for the remainder of the round. Beginning in the 23rd season, the producers show the home audience what's behind the mystery wedge before a decision is made by the contestant. Wild Card Introduced in the week of November 20, 2006, which is Hawaii week, this is a card on the wheel which says "Wild" and is picked up after a contestant lands on it and calls a consonant in the puzzle. Afterwards, if the player successfully calls another consonant, he or she may turn it in and call a second consonant for the same amount of money as the previous one. This is especially advantageous when a player spins a high dollar amount. It cannot be turned in after landing on a prize, but may be used when hitting a Jackpot space ($500 per letter) or an unturned Mystery wedge ($1000 per letter). However, if a contestant hits the Jackpot space and calls a consonant in the puzzle, he/she must still solve it immediately to claim the Jackpot (the Wild Card doesn't give a second shot at the Jackpot in this manner). The Wild Card is lost if a player hits Bankrupt, and cannot be used in the speed-up round. If nobody earns the Wild Card after three rounds, it is removed from the wheel. A contestant who reaches the Bonus Round with the Wild Card may select an additional consonant, for four total plus one vowel. Puzzle round Some puzzles have a question that can be answered in order to win some extra money (previously $500 from September 1990 to August 1995, $2,000 from September 1995 to Late 1999, now $3,000 as of Early 2000). Such categories include: Blank: Very similar to "Next Line Please", seen below. Evidently introduced around 1992, the category would feature an unfinished phrase, the last portion of that phrase being replaced with a question mark (e. g. "OH WHAT FUN IT IS TO RIDE IN ?". The contestant, after solving, would have to complete the phrase ("a one-horse open sleigh"). It is unknown how long this category was used before being split between two very similar categories, "Fill In The Blank" and "Next Line Please". Bonus Question: The host or announcer would ask a question related to the puzzle solved by the contestant. This was used from September 1992 to August 1996. 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; an example would be "Isoceles ? / Love ? / Bermuda ?", with the answer of "triangle" (iscosceles triangle, love triangle, Bermuda Triangle). After guessing the puzzle, the contestant can identify the word that goes in the blank. This category is no longer in use, but it is not known when it was retired. Fill In The Number(s): The puzzle contains numbers, except that the number/s is/are replaced with sharps (#). Correctly giving the missing number/s wins the bonus. For example, a Fill in the Number puzzle could read "TO BE ELATED IS TO BE ON CLOUD NUMBER #", with an answer of 9 winning the bonus money. 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. This category was used from September 1992 to September 1995. Next Line Please: The puzzle is a sentence of some sort (e. g. "And crown thy good with brotherhood"); the contestant wins money for continuing the sentence ("...from sea to shining sea"). 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 used from September 1998 to August 2000 and quickly scrapped in favor of the more popular Toss-Up puzzles (see above). Red-Letter Puzzles: From September 1993 to September 1994, a puzzle would occasionally feature 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. Slogan: The contestant wins the bonus for identifying the brand or company (or, in at least one case, a TV show) that uses the slogan used in the puzzle. (Note: Slogan has been used as a category for a Toss-Up; since the puzzle was "Choosy Moms Choose Jif", the contestant did not have to identify the brand, since it was included in the slogan itself.) Where Are We?: The puzzle lists three clues about a place (e. g. "Stacks / Quiet Please / Dewey Decimal System"); after solving, the contestant must name the place to which the clues refer (in the above example, the clues refer to a library). Who Is It/Who Are They?: The puzzle is a description of a person or people, dead or alive, real or fictional; the contestant must then identify the person or people to win the bonus. Who Said It?: Very similar to "Quotation", except that the contestant must identify the person who said the quote. It is believed that "Clue", "Fill In The Number", and "Next Line Please" are no longer in use on the show, as there is no known evidence of those categories having appeared in Season 23. Until the bonus was raised to $2,000, other players could steal the $500 bonus attached to the puzzle if they could correctly answer the second tier in the two-tier puzzle. Prize Puzzle Starting in September 2003, Prize Puzzles are special puzzles that award the winner with a prize somehow related to the solution. (Example: If the solution was "FUN IN THE SUN", the player would win a trip to a tropical island.) At first, these puzzles appeared only on random episodes, though they would become an everyday fixture of the game as of September 2005. The Prize Puzzle appears randomly as either the first-, second-, or third-round puzzle. Starting sometime near the end of the 2003–04 season, home viewers in the U.S. were given a chance to win the same prize as the contestants. Viewers who sign up on the show's website are given a "Special Prize Identification Number" (S.P.I.N.), which consists of two letters and five (occasionally seven or nine) numbers (example: AB1234567). Upon seeing the number, the winning home viewer has 24 hours to log on to the show's website and claim his or her prize. (Also, as of September 2005, if a contestant wins a car (Chevy Uplander/Saturn Outlook/GMC Envoy/Pontiac Solstice/Buick Enclave/Toyota Corolla) in the Bonus Round, the home viewer with the matching SPIN ID will also win the same type of car. The rules for claiming the car are the same as the Prize Puzzle rules.) If the winning home viewer is a SonyCard holder, he or she wins an additional $50,000. The two letters are the winning home viewer's first and last initials. It is not known how the digits are computed; they may be designated at random or by a secret method. As of Season 24, some seven-digit S.P.I.N.s have occasionally appeared. Round 4 and Beyond/Speed-Up Round When time is running short in the game, usually in the game's fourth round, four consecutive bells are sounded, signifying the start of the speed-up round. (Sajak: "Well, that sound means that we're running out of time, so I'll give the wheel a final spin.") Usually, the speed-up occurs in the middle of Round 4, although it is common for the fourth round to begin as a Speed-Up. Faster-paced games may see Round 4 played out as a "regular" round, and in particularly fast games, an additional fifth or even sixth round may become the Speed-Up round. Before the addition of the Toss-Up puzzles, it was not uncommon for a game to not feature a Speed-Up round, but in more recent years, the last round of play is always a Speed-Up. A fixed dollar amount is set by one final spin of the wheel by the host. The arrow closest to the host is used to determine the spin value; on the U.S. version, this means that the red contestant's arrow is used. If the host lands on a non-dollar space (Bankrupt, Lose a Turn, Free Spin, or a prize), he spins again. (Originally, such bad spins were left in, but now they are often edited out.) Each player then, in turn, is given the opportunity to guess one letter, starting with the contestant who last had control of the wheel (or the contestant who solved the previous round, if the final spin begins a round). After guessing a correct letter, the contestant is given a few seconds (originally five; later three) to solve the puzzle. The money scored, like in the regular rounds, is proportional to the number of correct letters. If the contestant selects a vowel, no prize money is earned; however, the contestant does not pay the usual $250 fee. In recent U.S. seasons (as of October 1999), $1,000 is added to the value of the final spin (for example, landing on $700 means consonants are worth $1,700 each). Previously, the speed-up round was often anti-climactic, 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., when the Speed-Up round begins before contestants get a chance to spin, the wheel will be intentionally positioned to increase the odds of the host hitting the top dollar space on the final spin. Even if the wheel is not positioned, the host will sometimes aim for the highest valued space; Chuck Woolery was known to aim his final spins. In other versions, the host merely gives a random 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 during the 22nd season, and again during the 23rd season. Consolation Prizes Until 2002, contestants who won no cash or prizes would receive parting gifts. From 2002-2005, any contestants who did not win anything during the show would receive $500. This consolation prize doubled to $1,000 in 2005. During special weeks which involved teams of two non-celebrity contestants, any team who did not win anything would receive twice the usual consolation prize. As of Season 23, two contestants take home $2,000 if they did not win anything. Celebrity weeks During shows on which contestants were partnered with celebrities (athletes, soap stars, etc.), the amount won by each player would be the same amount which his/her partner's favorite charity would receive, with a minimum of $10,000. Tie Games Rarely, two or more players would finish the game with the same score. On the network daytime version, a tie meant that there would be no Bonus Round played that day, but all three players would return on the next show, even if one finished behind the other two. Originally, on the syndicated nighttime version, the players who were tied played an extra Speed-Up puzzle for the right to advance to the Bonus Round. Since the introduction of the electronic puzzle board and Toss-Up puzzles, ties are now broken by a Toss-Up, played only among the tied contestants. Tie-breaking Toss-Ups have no cash value; whichever contestant solves the Toss-Up proceeds to the bonus round. 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 have been used, and are detailed below. 1975 "hour long WOF" version The U.S. version tinkered with a bonus round format for six weeks in December 1975 and January 1976, when the show was one hour long. The winner of the show would play a sort of bonus round, and have the choice of four different puzzles—easy, medium, hard, and difficult. When they chose the puzzle, they were asked to give four 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 the show's grand prize (e.g., a $13,000 Cadillac El Dorado). The prizes varied widely. 1978 "Star Bonus" version The "Star Bonus" round was played for a time in September 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 was 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" The current bonus round became permanent in December 1981 when Sajak began hosting the show. Originally, that episode's winner 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 five 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, although it was quite common for C, D, G, or H to be selected instead. 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. As of fall of 1988, the contestant was automatically given 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 10 seconds to solve the puzzle. These rules remain to this day. Since then, the difficulty of the bonus puzzles has increased, sometimes with only one or two instances of the automatic letters appearing in the puzzle (and in very rare cases, no automatic letters: "PIKACHU", for example). Also, it is common for bonus puzzles to be just one or two words. Sometimes, the contestant's additional letters will not appear in the puzzle, making solving more difficult, although in some instances, contestants have solved without their extra letters appearing. (In fact, one puzzle, "BABY", was solved even though none of the additional letters were up there, meaning that the puzzle was actually solved with no letters showing at all!) Rarely, the contestant's extra letters will fill in the puzzle entirely, or with only one letter missing. Changes to the December 1981 bonus round September 1987 syndication – When the syndicated "Wheel" began its all-cash format in September 1987, 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 would always be $25,000 in cash. Nearly all the contestants chose to play for the cash (or occassionally the car) even though the other prizes were often worth over $10,000 more than the $25,000 cash. September 1989 syndication – 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. By September 1998, 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 from September to October 22, 2001, the large prize packages were scrapped; three envelopes contained cars, and the other two had the $25,000 cash prize. Daytime version, 1989-1991 — The daytime show kept the 1981 bonus round format until 1989; no cash prize was offered, but a player chose one of the more expensive "shopping" prizes. The move to CBS and adoption of the play-for-cash format led to a bonus round identical to the 1987-1989 syndicated version, but with cheaper prizes. The prizes typically included such fare as trips, subcompact cars, rooms of furniture, etc., but always included a cash prize of $5,000. Prizes were not removed from play when won; while a returning champion could not pick the same prize twice, a new champion could pick the same prize as the previous champion. Some of the daytime bonus prizes were extra "Wheel" prizes for the syndicated version. This version never used a blind draw for the bonus prize. October 22, 2001 (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 September 2002, 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 $30,000; $35,000; $40,000; $45,000; $50,000; and $100,000. During the 2004–2005 season, there were three envelopes for each car, twelve $25,000 envelopes, and one for each of the larger cash amounts. 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 from September 1996 to August 2004. Some other versions still use the 15-second time limit for their bonus rounds. Sets Puzzle board The original puzzle board was three rows consisting of 13 trilons on each row. On December 21, 1981 (the Monday of Chuck Woolery's final week), a new four-row board (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 board 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 from September 1994 to August 1996. In February 1997, the original puzzleboard with trilons turned by Vanna was replaced with a digital electronic puzzle board. Since the board was now computer-controlled, the letter-turner was no longer needed. This posed a problem for the designers, so they created the black area surrounding each letter which allows Vanna to touch 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). Score displays In September 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 January 1975. Incidentally, the eggcrate display had room for the "$" sign and four digits in the 1975-1976 season(although the "$" sign could be removed in the rare event someone had more than $9,999). Sometime around 1976, the display was changed to allow for five-digit figures (along with the "$" sign); six-digit figures have never been achieved, although the eggcrate display was again changed in the seventh season so a six-digit figure could be displayed with the dollar sign. This was in use from 1975-2002. Prize displays 1975-1981 During the "shopping era," two distinct set-ups were used. The first display, used from 1975 to 1981, had the prizes grouped by theme into different sections on the stage (for instance, the "utility room" had prizes - such as perhaps a washer and dryer - grouped into that section, while bedroom furniture might be on "the bedroom" platform). The vehicles (which included cars, boats, trailers and motorcycles) that were available - usually one or two per show - were parked on each side of the prize display, while other desirable prizes (such as jewelry and furs) were often kept offstage. Several trips were available on each show, and one or two would be assigned to each section. 1981-1989 On the same show that the puzzle board was updated, the prize sets were replaced with a giant, three-section turntable. The turntable would revolve after each round to expose a new prize showcase. As before, each prize section was themed and had one or two trips displayed along with the appropriate prizes. 1987 (syndicated) and 1989 (daytime) through the 1990s After the demise of the shopping era, the bonus prizes were displayed in a section behind the host's podium. One - perhaps two - of the featured prizes would be on a turntable-like display (smaller than the three-section turntable), while cars and boats flanked the end of the display. A giant neon (later grid-like) sign displaying the $25,000 prize, would be lowered from the rafters during both the prize descriptions and when the prize was chosen for the bonus round. Studio layout In September 2003, 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, as was the video wall border. Please expand this section. Further information might be found on the talk page or at Requests for expansion. Please remove this message once the section has been expanded. The Shiny Black Floor was added in all of the wheel of fortune in 1990 and continued ever since. On September 11, 2006, both Wheel and Jeopardy! revamped their sets when both shows were the first 2 syndicated shows to broadcast in HDTV. The Wheel The Wheel weighs about 4,000 pounds with lights on the bottom: 1975-1981: ?? 1981-1997: New Wheel Click tone introduced, new wheel colors. 1997-1999: ??? 1999-2006: Wheel has shading and white outline on values 2003-current: Wheel has neon lights on the bottom of the wheel. 2006-current: Wheel still has shading, but the whiteness was replaced with the color of the wedge. Wheel of Fortune in popular culture Main article: Wheel of Fortune in popular culture Wheel of Fortune 2000 Main article: Wheel of Fortune 2000 Wheel of Fortune 2000, or simply Wheel 2000 was a spin off aimed at children. An animated character, Cyber Lucy, was the show's Vanna White equivalent. The Categories were changed to match a child's vocabulary, and "Lose a Turn" and "Bankrupt" were changed to "Loser" and "The Creature", respectively. The show did not catch on and was dropped from CBS's Saturday morning lineup. 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 1996. The first machines (and still the most popular) featured standard IGT traditional three-reel slot machines, each with a reproduction 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 1000 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 one or more states 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. In 2004, a version featuring Sajak, White, and O'Donnell was produced as a "Special Edition." A second version of the "Special Edition" machine was produced in 2006, which features 9 video terminals situated around a giant wheel in the middle. In this game, multiple players may become eligible for a bonus spin at any given time. Episode status The original pilot made for NBC with the host Edd "Kookie" Byrnes still exists from September 1974. A clip was shown in the 3000th episode celebration in November 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 Fool's 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 4000th 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. 1989-1997 — "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 1995 theme) 2000-2006 — "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) 2006-present — "Happy Wheels" (second big-band style arrangement, with the opening bars of "Changing Keys" replaced by new music) Home Versions Board Games Main article: Wheel of Fortune (Home Game) Several versions of the Wheel of Fortune home game were made by Milton Bradley, Tyco, Hasbro, Parker Brothers and Pressman. Pressman Version Pressman, made a 20th Anniversary edition to commemorate the 20th anniversary of nighttime Wheel. The Deluxe Version A deluxe version was created, with a notable exception: an actual wheel instead of a spinner board. The wheel has interchangable amounts, which can be taken off and put on the wheel at anytime, as they are stickers. The remaining parts of the game stayed the same, however. Video Games Main article: Wheel of Fortune (video game) The first Nintendo release of Wheel of Fortune was for the NES. It was published by Gametek and released in 1987. 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 version for the Commodore 64, a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System that was released prior to the overhaul of the bonus round during the "Big Month of Cash," both a Super NES and Sega Genesis rendition, a Nintendo 64 version, several PC versions, and even an arcade version. 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 Trivia A third week of shows in the twenty-third 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 week cancelled was "Family Week" but the show flew the contestants originally scheduled for "Family Week" in New Orleans to tape in Los Angeles. 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. The show was mentioned in Billy Joel's history themed song "We Didn't Start the Fire". The Wheel weighs 4,000 lb. Because of this, risers are placed behind the podiums for short contestants to give them enough leverage to get a decent spin of the wheel. However, only contestants with a considerable amount of upper-body strength will get more than one revolution with a single spin. In 2004, there was a Wheel of Fortune handheld game that allowed players to point the device at the television and play along, as the puzzle would appear on a tiny LCD screen. Tiger Electronics press release Production facilities The show was taped at NBC Studios in Burbank, California from 1975 until June 1989, and at CBS Television City in Hollywood from July 1989 to September 1995. Since September 1995, its home base has been at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. However, each season, the show also tapes several weeks of episodes from other locations around the country, primarily featuring contestants from that area. Destinations for the 2006-2007 season will include Dallas, Charleston, S.C., and San Diego. Show records The all-time winnings record for a solo player is $146,014, set by Mindi Mitola in September 1990 over 3 shows. The all-time winnings record on the show is $146,529, set by Peter Argyropolous and Deborah Cohen during "Sweethearts Week" in February 1996 on two shows. The all-time main game winnings record is $65,250, set by David Merriam in February 2001. The highest amount lost in one single round was $62,400 set in March 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 loss ever in the bonus round is held by Nora Keenan. She won $60,150 in the main game on February 18, 2005 when Wheel was in Las Vegas for its annual road trip. She missed out on the bonus round puzzle, and had she solved it, she would have held the all time winnings record with $160,150. The biggest one-day team winnings is $142,550, won by Christine Denos with her partner Jack Wagner in February 2006. The biggest one-day solo winnings is $121,650 won by Jessica Derenbecker, November 14, 2005, during "Celebrating New Orleans" week in New Orleans. Through the end of the 2005-2006 season, the $100,000 bonus prize has been won 10 times. External links Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Wheel of Fortune (American game show) Official site of the U.S. version Official Wheel of Fortune Sony forum 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 Funny Wheel of Fortune solves 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/ UK Wheel of Fortune Online version with game history, how-tos, FAQ and rules BigJon's PC Games A website containing a fan-made "Wheel of Fortune" game. Search Term: "Wheel_of_Fortune_%28American_game_show%29" Categories: Cleanup from July 2006 | Articles with unsourced statements | Articles to be expanded | 1970s TV shows in the United States | 1980s TV shows in the United States | 1990s TV shows in the United States | 2000s TV shows in the United States | Wheel of Fortune | Game shows | TV word game shows | British game shows | CBS network shows | NBC network shows | Syndicated television series | Television series by Sony Pictures Television | Sony Mobile games | Mobile phone games | Roulette and wheel games

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