Wheel of Fortune

Wheel of Fortune
Genre	Game Show
Created by	Merv Griffin
Licensed by	Merv Griffin Enterprises (1983-1994) KingWorld (1983-2007) Columbia TriStar Television (1994-2002) Sony Pictures Television (2002-present) CBS Television Distribution (2007-present)
Closed captioning	National Captioning Institute (1986-1996) VITAC (1996-2001, 2012-present) Closed Captioning Services, Inc. (2001-2012) CaptionMax (GSN reruns)
Network	Syndication (1983-present) Game Show Network (1994-2010)
No. of episodes	195 per season (almost 6,000 in all)
Original run	September 19, 1983–present
Rating	TV-G

Overview

One of the most popular game shows in America, where in each game, three contestants spin the wheel, buy a vowel, solve the puzzle from a certain category, and win money.

Cast

• Hosts - Pat Sajak, Vanna White
• Announcers - Jack Clark (1983-1988), M.G. Kelly (1988-1989), Charlie O'Donnell (1989-2010), Jim Thornton (2011-present)

Game Rules

1. In each round, a category and a puzzle is revealed without any letters.
2. The first contestant spins first, and can only say a consonant during this time.
3. If the consonant appears in the puzzle, the total value is worth the amount landed on the wheel times how many times the letter appears.
4. To buy a vowel, a contestant must have at least $250.
5. If a letter does not appear in the puzzle, the contestant's turn ends and the next player spins.
6. If the wheel lands on either of the two penalty spaces (Lose a Turn or Bankrupt), the contestant's turn ends automatically.
7. A player may attempt to solve the puzzle if he/she knows it, but if he/she guesses incorrectly, the player's turn ends. If guessed correctly, the round ends and the contestant who solved the puzzle keeps his/her winnings.
8. If time runs short, the host will give the wheel a Final Spin, and at the end, whoever has the most winnings will move on to the Bonus Round.
9. During the Bonus Round, a contestant will be given six free letters (R, S, T, L, N, E), then he/she must choose three more consonants and one more vowel. After that, the puzzle must be solved or the prize will not be given after revealed by the host.

Broadcast history

Season	Channel aired	Broadcast run
1	First-run syndication	September 19, 1983–September 7, 1984
2	First-run syndication	September 10, 1984–September 6, 1985 September 14, 1985–September 6, 1986 (weekends)
3	First-run syndication	September 9, 1985–September 5, 1986 September 13, 1986–September 5, 1987 (weekends)
4	First-run syndication	September 8, 1986–September 4, 1987 September 12, 1987–September 3, 1988 (weekends)
5	First-run syndication	September 7, 1987–September 2, 1988 September 10, 1988–September 2, 1989 (weekends)
6	First-run syndication	September 5, 1988–September 1, 1989 September 9, 1989–September 1, 1990 (weekends)
7	First-run syndication	September 4, 1989–August 31, 1990 September 8, 1990–August 31, 1991 (weekends)
8	First-run syndication	September 3, 1990–August 30, 1991 September 7, 1991–September 5, 1992 (weekends)
9	First-run syndication	September 2, 1991–September 4, 1992 September 12, 1992–September 4, 1993 (weekends)
10	First-run syndication	September 7, 1992–September 3, 1993 September 11, 1993–September 3, 1994 (weekends)
11	First-run syndication	September 6, 1993–September 2, 1994 September 10, 1994–September 2, 1995 (weekends)
12	First-run syndication	September 5, 1994–September 1, 1995 September 9, 1995–August 31, 1996 (weekends)
	Game Show Network	December 2, 1994–January 21, 2010
13	First-run syndication	September 4, 1995–August 30, 1996 September 7, 1996–August 30, 1997 (weekends)
14	First-run syndication	September 2, 1996–August 29, 1997 September 6, 1997–September 5, 1998 (weekends)
15	First-run syndication	September 1, 1997–September 4, 1998 September 12, 1998–September 4, 1999 (weekends)
16	First-run syndication	September 7, 1998–September 3, 1999 September 11, 1999–September 2, 2000 (weekends)
17	First-run syndication	September 6, 1999–September 1, 2000 September 9, 2000–September 1, 2001 (weekends)
18	First-run syndication	September 4, 2000–August 31, 2001 September 8, 2001–August 31, 2002 (weekends)
19	First-run syndication	September 3, 2001–August 30, 2002 September 7, 2002–September 6, 2003 (weekends)
20	First-run syndication	September 2, 2002–September 5, 2003 September 13, 2003–September 4, 2004 (weekends)
21	First-run syndication	September 8, 2003–September 3, 2004 September 11, 2004–September 10, 2005 (weekends)
22	First-run syndication	September 6, 2004–September 9, 2005 September 17, 2005–September 9, 2006 (weekends)
23	First-run syndication	September 12, 2005–September 8, 2006 September 16, 2006–September 8, 2007 (weekends)
24	First-run syndication	September 11, 2006–September 7, 2007 September 15, 2007–September 6, 2008 (weekends)
25	First-run syndication	September 10, 2007–September 5, 2008 September 13, 2008–September 5, 2009 (weekends)
26	First-run syndication	September 8, 2008–September 4, 2009 September 19, 2009–September 11, 2010 (weekends)
27	First-run syndication	September 14, 2009–September 10, 2010 September 18, 2010–September 17, 2011 (weekends)
28	First-run syndication	September 13, 2010–September 16, 2011 September 24, 2011–September 15, 2012 (weekends)
29	First-run syndication	September 19, 2011–September 14, 2012 September 22, 2012–September 14, 2013 (weekends)
30	First-run syndication	September 17, 2012–September 13, 2013 September 21, 2013–September 13, 2014 (weekends)
31	First-run syndication	September 16, 2013–September 12, 2014 September 20, 2014–September 12, 2015 (weekends)
32	First-run syndication	September 15, 2014–September 11, 2015 September 19, 2015–September 10, 2016 (weekends)
33	First-run syndication	September 14, 2015–September 9, 2016 September 17, 2016–September 9, 2017 (weekends)
34	First-run syndication	September 12, 2016–September 8, 2017 September 16, 2017–September 8, 2018 (weekends)
35	First-run syndication	September 11, 2017–September 7, 2018 September 15, 2018–September 7, 2019 (weekends)
36	First-run syndication	September 10, 2018–September 6, 2019 Weekend reruns began on September 14, 2019

Video Games

• The first video game adapation was released in 1987 for the NES. The "Junior Edition" followed in October 1989, then a Family Edition in 1990, and a version featuring Vanna White in 1991.
• The SNES version was released in 1992. A Deluxe Edition featuring the 1992 set came out in 1993.
• The Nintendo 64 version, featuring rules from Season 13, was released on December 2, 1997.
• The PlayStation 2 and PC versions were released on March 8, 2003.
• On November 2, 2010, the Nintendo DS and Wii versions were released.
• Nintendo's most recent re-release of this game, along with Jeopardy! -- the Wii U version -- was released on November 18, 2012.

History of the show

Main article: History of Wheel of Fortune

Weblinks

• http://www.spe.sony.com/Pictures/tv/wheel/wheel.html (1996-1998)
• http://www.wheeloffortune.com (1998, September 2002–present)
• http://www.station.sony.com/wheel (1998-2001)
• http://wheel.station.sony.com (2001–August 2002)

Screenshots

Season 1-6 title screen (1983-1989)

Season 7-9 title screen (1989-1992)

Season 10-11 title screen (1992-1994)

Season 12 title screen (1994-1995)

Season 13 title screen (1995-1997)

Season 15 title screen (1997-1998)

Season 16 title screen (1998-1999)

Season 17 title screen (1999-2000)

Season 18 title screen (2000-2001)

Season 19 title screen (2001-2002)

Season 20 title screen (2002-2003)

Season 21 title screen (2003-2004)

Season 22 title screen (2004-2005)

Season 24 title screen (2006-2007)

Season 26 title screen (2008-2009)

Season 27 title screen (2009-2010)

Season 28 title screen (2010-2011)

Season 30 title screen (2012-2013)

Season 31 title screen (2013-2014)

Season 32 title screen (2014-2015)

Season 35 title screen (2017-2018)

Season 35 title screen without the byline