Wheel of Fortune timeline (syndicated)/Seasons 1-12

An incomplete timeline for the nighttime version of Wheel of Fortune. For the daytime version, see Wheel of Fortune timeline (network).

Season 1 (1983-84)
September 1983 : (season begins September 12)
 * The first syndicated season of Wheel of Fortune begins on September 12, 1983. It plays identically to the daytime version present on NBC at the time, although the prize budget is much higher. The top dollar value on the Wheel is $5,000, on a shiny silver wedge. Also, Round 2 features a Prize wedge, which offers a prize to the contestant who lands on it.

October 1983 :

November 1983 :

December 1983 :

January 1984 :

February 1984 :
 * On February 14, contestant Virginia wins the main game with $5,000, which she gets entirely from the last spin of the game.

March 1984 :

April 1984 :

May 1984 :
 * An episode from around May has several anomalies:
 * The opening graphics are about half their normal size. Also, the cash value doesn't zoom in, but the logo does.
 * The lettering on the prize wedge is smaller than usual.
 * The letters on the board light up very quickly.
 * Contestant Larry solves Round 3 without any money, earning the $200 house minimum. Since this is not enough to buy a prize, no shopping round is played and the $200 is put on a gift certificate. "Nightwalk" still plays while Pat explains the situation, but it is quickly replaced with "Changing Keys" as the show goes to commercial.
 * Coming out of Round 3, contestant Howard's scoreboard reads $3,900 even though he only has $1,450.
 * During the bonus round, the hazard lights are running on the Mazda that the contestant is playing for. Pat leans in to open and close the car's door while Jack describes it, saying that the car's door-ajar bell was dinging.
 * The winning total after the bonus round is in a larger font.
 * The overhead shot of the spinning Wheel is not used during the credits.

Season 2 (1984-85)
September 1984 : (season begins September 10)

October 1984 :
 * One episode from Fall 1984 has several anomalies:
 * "Changing Keys" plays about a semitone lower than usual.
 * The Wheel spins very slowly during the intro.
 * A contestant gets four Free Spins in Round 1.
 * Pat runs up to the puzzle board to reveal the apostrophe in the Round 3 puzzle, for which he is applauded.
 * Later on in Round 3, a buzzer sounds on a correct letter.
 * In the bonus round, Pat informs the contestant that her bonus puzzle SIDE BY SIDE is both a Phrase and a Title (although the category strip shows only Phrase). This is the only known instance of a contestant being informed that the puzzle fits into more than one category.

November 1984 :

December 1984 :
 * As of December 25, the logo shown after the money graphic is still the original one.
 * As of December 25, the category strips still use the computerized font.
 * On December 25, the outer frame of the Wheel is slightly misaligned, and it spins more tightly than is normal at the time. The misalignment causes Pat to claim that a contestant has landed on $500 in Round 2, when she actually landed on $400. This error does not affect the outcome, as the contestant sweeps the main game (and wins a set of earrings in the Bonus Round).
 * The same episode has a very rare instance of Landmark in the Bonus Round.

January 1985 :

February 1985 :
 * By February 1, the logo shown after the money graphic is updated to an animated one.
 * By February 1, the category strips and contestant winnings graphic are updated to the bold Helvetica font. Also, the category strip is now shown in a Speed-Up round.

March 1985 :

April 1985 :

May 1985 :
 * As of May 2, the Bankrupt slide whistle is still heard if Pat hits it on the Final Spin.
 * May 2 has a very rare instance of a four-line puzzle in the Speed-Up round.

Season 3 (1985-86)
September 1985 : (season begins September 9)
 * At some point in early Season 3, a contestant is known to have solved TUTTI-FRUTTI ICE CREAM with only the T's revealed.
 * It is believed that Fictional Place was already in use by this point.

October 1985 :

November 1985 :

December 1985 :
 * On December 5, contestant Terry misses out on $62,400 by calling a wrong letter with the majority of the puzzle THE THRILL OF VICTORY AND THE AGONY OF DEFEAT revealed; she later fails to win $10,000 in the Speed-Up. Incredibly, $62,400 would still have been a one-round record more than 25 years later.

January 1986 :

February 1986 :

March 1986 :


 * On March 14, the overhead shot of the Wheel during the intro and ending is about 45 degrees clockwise from its normal position.
 * On March 14, no letters are added to the Round 1 puzzle PRIMA DONNA for nine turns in a row (an incorrect vowel, seven incorrect consonants and a Lose A Turn).
 * On March 14, a contestant sweeps the main game and wins a Mazda in the bonus round.

April 1986 :

May 1986 :
 * On May 5, contestant John puts $386 on account in Round 2.
 * On May 5, a contestant starts to solve the bonus puzzle just ahead of the buzzer, pauses slightly, then says the rest of the answer after the buzzer. Since there is no time for another commercial break, a stop-down is required before he is declared a winner. This stop-down results in a very sloppy jump cut and an unusual camera angle while Vanna reveals the puzzle answer.

Season 4 (1986-87)
Season Changes :
 * The Wheel wedges are recolored, removing some tan and gold wedges and replacing them with pink and purple.

September 1986 : (season begins September 8)

October 1986 :

November 1986 :
 * In November 1986, a contestant sets a new one-round record of $44,300.

December 1986 :

January 1987 :

February 1987 :

March 1987 :

April 1987 :

May 1987 :

Season 5 (1987-88)
September 1987 : (season begins September 7)
 * Sometime in September, a contestant sweeps the main game and wins a Mazda in the bonus round.
 * On the above episode, the prize wedge is in a different font than usual and the Wheel inexplicably has three $900 wedges on it.

October 1987 :
 * October 5 is the first week in Big Month of Cash, a special format which eliminates the shopping rounds and has the contestants play for cash. Many things change on this episode, including:
 * Top dollar values in the first and second rounds are increased to $2,500 and $3,500, represented by sparkling wedges that are greenish-blue and magenta, respectively. If there is time for a fifth round, then $5,000 is typically introduced in Round 5 instead; by the early 1990s, $5,000 is always introduced in Round 4, even if a fifth or sixth round is played.
 * Five prizes are available in the bonus round: $25,000 cash, a car, and three other prizes which are changed out every week. A neon blue-and-green $25,000 sign represents the cash prize, and the sign is lowered if the contestant chooses to play for the cash. Also, a second Wheel prize is added in round 4.
 * "I'm a Wheel Watcher" now plays when Vanna walks out. Previously, her walk-outs were accompanied by the bridge of "Changing Keys".
 * The entire puzzle board is now shown during a Speed-Up round. Previously, the shot of the board would be cropped as tightly as possible.
 * Other notable events on October 5 include the following:
 * Jack's intro is "The studio is buzzing today in anticipation of magnificent prizes and lots of money in this month of cash on Wheel of Fortune! And here's our host, who's also buzzing to tell us more about it, Pat Sajak!" During the intro, the puzzle board reads WHEEL OF FORTUNE. Also, perhaps due to a technical error, Jack's announcement in the intro echoes slightly.
 * The first four puzzles all have apostrophes in them.
 * A dramatic orchestral cue accompanies Pat's rundown of the bonus round prizes. This cue has not been heard outside Big Month of Cash.
 * Later in October, Big Month of Cash is referred to as "Big Bonanza of Cash".

November 1987 :
 * On November 2, the changes from Big Month of Cash are made permanent. The daytime show retains the shopping format until Rolf Benirschke's last episode in June 1989. Pat continues to tell contestants "we're playing for cash" for at least the next decade.

December 1987 :


 * At some point in December, a game ends in a tie. The non-tied contestant, who is in last place, is dismissed before the commercial break. When the show returns, Pat does another Final Spin, and the tied contestants play a second Speed-Up to break the tie. The tiebreaker round is in its own segment, and Pat and Vanna sign off immediately after the bonus round.

January 1988 :

February 1988 :

March 1988 :

April 1988 :

May 1988 :

June 1988 : (season ends June 3)
 * June 3 is Jack Clark's last full episode as announcer. He reads newly-recorded fee plugs for the first couple weeks of summer reruns, but once he becomes too ill to announce anymore, Pat and Vanna read the new fee plugs for the rest of the summer. Jack dies on July 21.

Season 6 (1988-89)
Season Changes :
 * The Nickname category is used several times this season, including at least two bonus rounds. Although it appears in a 1979 daytime episode, it is not yet known whether the category had a consistent presence, or if it was "un-retired" for this season.
 * As of this season, and possibly earlier, the Bankrupt slide whistle no longer plays if Pat hits Bankrupt on the Final Spin.

September 1988 : (season begins September 5)
 * September 5 is the debut of the second (and more familiar) $25,000 sign, which is composed of green and blue light bulbs and shaped like an elongated hexagon.
 * On September 5, M. G. Kelly takes over as announcer. Jack Clark had reportedly wanted Charlie O'Donnell (who announced the daytime version until 1980) to take over, but Charlie was busy announcing The Newlywed Game at the time. Pat pays tribute to Jack at the end of one round.
 * September 6 is the debut of Same Name. A trumpet fanfare precedes Pat's announcement of it being a new category.
 * On a September episode, the original Speed-Up round puzzle is thrown out for an unknown reason. Due to poor editing, the original, thrown-out puzzle is introduced normally at the top of the round (just as the Speed-Up bells ring), but the replacement puzzle is seen immediately after Pat makes the Final Spin. The error is more obvious in that the original puzzle was a Phrase, and the replacement puzzle is People.
 * Another September episode has an extremely rare appearance of Quotation in the bonus round. The answer, TWO IF BY SEA, is not solved.
 * September 30 is the last bonus round played under the old rules. The last puzzle used under the old rules is FIRST PRIZE, and it is not solved.

October 1988 :
 * On October 3, the Bankrupt slide whistle accidentally sounds in Round 3 instead of the "only vowels remain" beep, which itself sounds immediately afterward.
 * On October 3, the bonus round rules are changed to the current rules. THE VATICAN is the first bonus puzzle under the new rules; it is solved for $25,000.
 * THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE is used as a bonus puzzle within the first couple weeks of the rule change. At 20 letters, this is the longest known bonus puzzle (counting both old and new rules) until the April 5, 2010 bonus puzzle BUZZING WITH EXCITEMENT, which beats it by one letter.
 * October 24 is the show's first Wipeout week. This is an experimental week where any prize won in the bonus round is "wiped out" for the rest of the week and not available for the other contestants; also, winning the prize allows the contestant to return the next day for an opportunity to "wipe out" all five bonus prizes. Any prize that is won has a red "WO" placed on it for the rest of the week, and a portion of "Wipeout" by The Surfaris replaces the usual fanfare if the bonus round is won.
 * October 25 contestant Peggy later wins the top prize on The $100,000 Pyramid in May 1991.
 * On October 25, a contestant sweeps the main game and wins $25,000 in the bonus round. She also calls her vowel third instead of last, although the chyron puts the vowel in its normal position and leaves a gap for the third consonant.

November 1988 :
 * The weeks of November 14 and 21 comprise the show's first set of travel episodes, which are taped at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
 * New contestant backdrops, a new puzzle board and a new Wheel are built exclusively for this and other future road shows.
 * The prize budget is even higher than usual, with Porsches and boats among the prizes. Many of the prizes are suspended above the set.
 * Several celebrities make cameos throughout the two weeks, typically after their name is used as a puzzle.
 * "Changing Keys" is played on a house organ, except during the credits.
 * A recording of "New York, New York" (from On the Town) plays during the opening montage.
 * Don Pardo announces the New York episodes, making for his only game show work after the NBC version of Jackpot ended in September 1975.
 * On November 17, the camera pointed at the board is further to the right than usual during the Bonus Round, showing the rightmost set of trilons in the middle rows.
 * On one of the New York episodes, a contestant gets booed for failing to solve his bonus puzzle. Don can also be heard groaning after time expires.
 * On November 25, contestant Willie gets two Free Spins in Round 1. He then uses them both on incorrect guesses on the puzzle KENNY AND ROY ROGERS with only the K unrevealed, then lands on a Free Spin a third time and solves the puzzle correctly.

December 1988 :
 * One Christmas week episode has VANNA AND SNOW WHITE as a Same Name puzzle.
 * At the end of the same episode, Pat gives an intentionally off-key rendition of "White Christmas" while Vanna accompanies him on a piano.
 * On another Christmas week episode, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle EGGNOG despite not getting any help from their extra letters. This appears to be the first instance of either happening.

January 1989 :


 * Sometime in either January or early February, RAZZMATAZZ is the answer to a Round 4 puzzle. The round includes a streak of nine consecutive letters that are not in the puzzle (counting an H that is called twice; also, seven of the nine are called after the round goes to Speed-Up). Also, a contestant calls I in Speed-Up because Pat forgot to inform them that no more vowels were left. Finally, a contestant calls the four Z's in the puzzle at $5,000 each.
 * On another early 1989 episode, there are several notable events:
 * A buzzer does not sound on an incorrect letter in Round 4, and the Speed-Up bells sound immediately afterward.
 * Pat's Final Spin hits Bankrupt twice. The third spin hits $1,500.
 * The contestant jokingly asks to play for Vanna in the Bonus Round.
 * The episode establishes the precedent that, if a contestant calls letters "out of order" in the Bonus Round (in this case, the contestant calls the vowel second), they are displayed on the chyron in the order called.
 * The bonus puzzle is one space further to the left than usual.

February 1989 :
 * February 13 is the second and final Wipeout week. Pat obviously has a cold throughout the week, as he sounds congested and can be heard coughing.
 * On February 14, Pat mis-hears a contestant's accidental call of N as an M in the Bonus Round, and prompts the contestant for a vowel. The contestant calls an O, and then is asked for a third consonant after Pat's mistake is realized. The chyron also shows the O in the third position.
 * On February 20, Charlie O'Donnell replaces M.G. as announcer. Strangely, no mention is made on-air of his return.
 * On February 20, Marla Gibbs makes a cameo after her name is the answer to the Round 2 puzzle. She appears again at the end of the episode, and Pat mentions the episode of 227 on which Gibbs' character, Mary Jenkins, appears on Wheel.
 * February 27 is the debut of Before & After. The "Charge!" trumpet fanfare plays when Pat refers to it as a brand-new category.
 * On February 27, contestant Andy is almost disqualified because he had gotten lost from the group before the taping, and ran into Vanna backstage. Andy's brother also competed on the show in 1986.

March 1989 :

April 1989 :

May 1989 :


 * In either late April or early May, there is a very rare apperance of Landmark in the bonus round. The answer is THE ACROPOLIS; with T_E _CR___LIS showing, the contestant says "tie", "toe" and "tee" for the first word despite having "Acropolis" correct.

June 1989 : (season ends June 2)

Season 7 (1989-90)
Season Changes :
 * September 1989 moves the nighttime version from NBC Studios in Burbank to CBS Studio 33, the same studio used by the daytime version at the time. This is also the same studio in which The Price Is Right has taped since 1972.
 * The updated sound effects package and second rearrangement of "Changing Keys", both introduced on Bob Goen's first daytime episode, carry over to nighttime.
 * The Person/Fictional Character category, which also made its debut on Goen's first episode, carries over to nighttime as well. However, it is not used in the first week of nighttime episodes.
 * The categories Family and Husband & Wife debut, also sometime after the first week.
 * Some Person and People puzzles begin including descriptive phrases (e.g. COUNTRY SINGER JOHNNY CASH instead of just JOHNNY CASH). This tradition continues into the present day with most Proper Name puzzles.
 * The nighttime version adopts a three-day returning champion rule; previously, each episode featured three new contestants.
 * The contestant's bonus round prize is now determined by picking from one of five envelopes that spells out W-H-E-E-L. Any prize that is won is taken out of rotation for the rest of the week. The change to the W-H-E-E-L envelopes was presumably done because almost every contestant chose to play for the $25,000 cash.
 * The timpani roll and projected logo are no longer used in the Bonus Round.
 * The intro is changed to "From our studios in Hollywood, It's America's most watched game show! The famous Wheel is spinning your way with lots of cash and an assortment of fabulous and exciting prizes! Over [amount], just waiting to be won tonight! And now, here are your host and hostess, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" A graphic of the Wheel is formed by the wedges falling into place, with the Wheel forming the O in "OF" as the title appears. The camera pans from the board to the Wheel, then back into the audience as the Wheel wedges fly back out of the graphic. This intro is used until Season 10.
 * Because Pat and Vanna now walk out together, "I'm a Wheel Watcher" is no longer heard on the show.
 * The Nickname category is apparently retired around October.
 * The contestant backdrops are updated to a chevron shape. The midsection of the backdrop shows a contestant's cumulative score if he or she has been on for more than one day.
 * For the first few weeks of the season, some of the O's on the board are wider and rounder than usual, clearly not matching the font of the other letters. These unusual O's also appeared on daytime around the same time; it is believed that they are actually zeroes which were loaded in by mistake.

September 1989 : (season starts September 4)
 * During the week of September 4 only, the Round 2 prize is removed before Round 3 if it is not won.
 * On September 4, the $5,000 wedge is placed over the red $300 by mistake (where the $3,500 normally is in round 3).
 * September 4's bonus puzzle, BINGO, is the first known five-letter bonus puzzle. This puzzle starts a trend towards much shorter bonus puzzles, which is gradually reversed through the 2000s.
 * On September 4, after the contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle, Pat does not open the bonus envelope, and places it back in the holder. From September 5 onward, he always opens the bonus envelope at the end of the round.
 * September 5 is the first instance on nighttime of Same Name using an ampersand.
 * On September 5 and 6, the $3,500 is in play during rounds 3 and 4, which are in the same segment, and $5,000 is introduced in round 5. The second Wheel prize is still introduced in round 4 in both episodes.
 * On September 7, Pat is briefly visible in the contestant "window" in the Bonus Round.
 * September 8 is the first known instance of a contestant choosing U as their vowel in the Bonus Round; interestingly, the answer is VOWELS.
 * Since September 11 has a People puzzle of JOHN MCENROE & TATUM O'NEAL, it is obvious that the Husband & Wife category had not yet debuted.
 * On September 11, a contestant accidentally buys an A that has already been revealed; while all of the vowels in the puzzle had been bought, Pat had not yet informed the contestants of this.
 * On September 11, the contestant's letters fill in the bonus puzzle MARMALADE completely.
 * At some point during the week of September 11, Vanna plays a round for charity at the end of a game, and Pat turns the letters for her. She does so by spinning the Wheel once and calling letters until the answer, STARK REALITY, is completely revealed. Her first spin lands on Bankrupt (complete with sound effect), and her second spin lands on $250, but Pat asks her to move it to the $900 that she almost hit. Her $900 goes to the American Cancer Society.
 * On September 18, the bottom-most set of lights around the Wheel are not working. Also, the yellow $300 is "off-model", with a larger dollar sign and smaller 3.

October 1989 :
 * October 2 uses the same five-round structure as September 5.
 * October 6 may be the first use of Person/Fictional Character on nighttime.
 * October 6 is a five-round game played with the more conventional pacing (i.e. Round 3 in its own segment, $5,000 introduced in Round 4).
 * October 11 has a rare appearance of Person/Title.
 * On October 16, the Free Spin wedge is retired and replaced with another $300 wedge. From this point until its retirement, there is now only one Free Spin disc, placed over a dollar amount. It starts off on the red $300, three wedges to the viewer's right of a Bankrupt, and moves repeatedly until 1996. Initially, it is claimed in the same way that prizes are at the time.
 * As of October 17, the yellow $300 is still "off-model".
 * On October 17, a contestant pronounces "dese" as "Desi" when solving the completely revealed Round 1 answer DESE DEM AND DOSE GUYS. Pat turns to Nancy Jones and asks for a ruling, adding "I know it's a crummy puzzle". She tells the contestant to say it again, and after he does (with the same mispronunciation), Pat says, "Listen, he's got all the letters up; I'm taking it." and the answer is accepted. Pat then explains the answer to the contestant.
 * On October 17, the Free Spin is on the blue $300.
 * On October 17, there is no second Wheel prize because Round 4 starts as a Speed-Up.
 * By October 25, the formerly "off-model" yellow $300 is upgraded to a yellow $500.
 * On a Friday episode not long after the introduction of Free Spin, there are several notable events:
 * The Free Spin is on $800.
 * The episode has both Person/Title and Husband/Wife.
 * A contestant solves MEL BROOKS AND ANNE BANCROFT with only the N's and T's.
 * The bonus puzzle, ATOM, is the first known four-letter bonus puzzle.
 * The episode has the same five-round structure as September 5.

November 1989 :
 * On an episode from sometime in the Fall (known to be after the retirement of the Free Spin wedge), Pat's Final Spin lands on Bankrupt three times in a row. His fourth spin lands on $5,000.

December 1989 :
 * The week of December 18 is a Family Week.

January 1990 :
 * It is believed that there is a seven-round game at some point in early 1990.
 * At some point in 1990, Wheel becomes the first game show to be closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired.
 * The January 12 episode has six rounds, accomplished by playing rounds 3 and 4 in the same segment, both with the $3,500 space in play.

February 1990 :
 * February 7 has six rounds, achieved with the same round structure as the January 12 episode. Round 6's answer, GRACELAND, is inexplicably categorized as Thing instead of Place or Landmark.
 * The week of February 12 is taped at Walt Disney World.
 * Sometime during the week of February 19, Bankrupt is hit four times in Round 3, including the first two spins.
 * On the same episode, contestant Tom Gauer was later a winner on Caesars Challenge in 1993.

March 1990 :

April 1990 :

May 1990 :

June 1990 : (season ends June 15)
 * On June 15, the Free Spin disc comes loose during Round 1 and nearly falls off the Wheel. It is also placed on the blue $500.
 * On June 15, the Speed-Up puzzle UNDER HOUSE ARREST is inexplicably categorized as Event instead of Phrase.
 * By the end of the season, Person/Fictional Character is renamed Star/Role.

Season 8 (1990-91)
Season Changes :
 * Contestants now have to call a right letter before claiming a prize wedge or Free Spin. If the letter is not in the puzzle, the prize or Free Spin stays on the Wheel.
 * The contestant backdrops are replaced with the diamond-shaped backdrops first used on the Radio City Music Hall shows in November 1988.
 * The scoreboards are widened to seven digits.
 * This is the only season after season 6 not to have a road show.

September 1990 : (season begins September 3)
 * September 3 is Teen Week, a tradition which leads off the next several seasons.
 * At some point in September, Mindi Mitola sets a winnings record of $146,014 over three days.

October 1990 :
 * At some point in October, the Clue category debuts. For this season only, a light saxophone sting plays if a contestant correctly identifies the object described by the Clue.

November 1990 :

December 1990 :

January 1991 :
 * Vanna is absent for two weeks in January due to her wedding, which was on New Year's Eve (and coincidentally, on Pat and Lesly's first anniversary). Tricia Gist, then the girlfriend of Merv Griffin's son Tony, takes her place for these episodes (her wardrobe is provided by New Leaf).
 * For the period that Tricia fills in, the opening returns to introducing Pat, who then introduces Tricia.
 * One of the episodes that Tricia fills in (definitely a Wednesday or Thursday), the Free Spin is higher on the wedge than usual, and the Round 2 prize is on $250 instead of $150.

February 1991 :

March 1991 :

April 1991 :
 * On April 9, the original Round 1 puzzle is thrown out and replaced, as mentioned by Charlie at the end of the show. The original puzzle's blanks can be seen in the opening pan.

May 1991 :
 * May 13 is College Week.

Season 9 (1991-92)
Season Changes :
 * This season appears to be the debut of the Title/Author category, occasionally inverted as Author/Title.
 * It is also the debut of the short-lived Foreign Word(s) and Foreign Phrase categories.

September 1991 : (season begins September 9)
 * The week of September 30 is taped in Chicago.
 * On one of the Chicago shows, a contestant lands on a prize wedge and immediately picks it up and puts it on his arrow. Pat walks over, takes the prize wedge and whacks the contestant repeatedly with it. He then puts it back on the wheel and tells the contestant, "You have to find a letter first!" The contestant guesses a letter that is in the puzzle. Pat then takes the prize wedge and places it back on the contestant's arrow.

October 1991 :
 * On October 4, there is no second Wheel prize because Round 4 begins as a Speed-Up.
 * On October 4, a contestant accidentally calls N in the bonus round, and the N is briefly placed on the chyron.
 * October 28 begins a month of episodes taped at MGM Studios in Orlando titled "Wheel Around the World", paying tribute to various international versions.
 * On October 28, a contestant sweeps the main game and wins a trip to Paris in the bonus round.
 * On October 29, a contestant accidentally picks L in the bonus round, and the L is briefly placed on the chyron.

November 1991 :
 * Beginning on November 4, each "Wheel Around the World" episode features a guest appearance by an international version's host and/or hostess.
 * On November 15, the camera is further to the right than usual during the Bonus Round, showing the extra trilons in the middle rows.

December 1991 :

January 1992 :

February 1992 :

March 1992 :

April 1992 :
 * The weeks of April 27 and May 4 are taped at Walt Disney World. The intro to the Walt Disney World episodes is "America's most-watched game show! Celebrating Walt Disney World's 20th anniversary surprise celebration! Special friends, entertainment, fun, fantasy, magic, fabulous fireworks! On Wheel of Fortune! And now, here are your host and hostess, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" An animation of Tinker Bell appears in one of the transitional wipes during the intro, using her magic wand to "zap" from one of the introductory graphics to a shot of the studio.
 * On May 6, after a Clue puzzle of THE SOUL OF WIT, all three contestants give incorrect responses to the "bonus" question. When Pat then tells them that the correct response is "brevity", one of them asks what "brevity" means.
 * On May 6, Pat hits a Prize wedge on the Final Spin.
 * May 6 has the first known appearance of Foreign Word(s) in the bonus round. It is not known why the answer DEJA VU was called Foriegn Words instead of Foreign Phrase. The answer is also the first known instance of a puzzle answer which would normally have a diacritic in it.

May 1992 :
 * On May 8, the contestant solves the puzzle BUENO despite getting no help from his extra letters. This is the second (and last) known appearance of the "Foreign" categories in the bonus round.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of May 4.

June 1992 :
 * On June 3, the lights around the Wheel are turned off during the intro.
 * On June 5, a prize wedge is placed over the pink $200 wedge instead of the red $300.
 * On June 5, the winning contestant has only $200 cash and one of the Wheel prizes.

Season 10 (1992-93)
Season Changes :
 * Season 10 is the debut of the Fill In the Blank and Where Are We? categories. Inexplicably, Fill In the Blank is shown as just "Blank" on the category strips until mid-1995.
 * The question following a Clue, Fill In the Blank or Where Are We? puzzle is now preceded by a chime previously used on the Wink Martindale version of High Rollers.
 * This season is the debut of the "decade" categories (e.g. The 60's), which are known to have gone back as far as The 20's. Initially, the "decade" categories offer a $1,000 bonus for answering a trivia question related to the puzzle answer.
 * For Seasons 10 through 12, Quotation puzzles also offer a $1,000 bonus if the contestant can identify the source of the quote. Unlike the Clue and Fill In the Blank puzzles, the questions associated with Quotation and the "decade" categories are asked by Charlie, signaled by four low-pitched beeps, and available only to the contestant who solves the puzzle.
 * This season also seems to be the debut of the Artist/Song category. By the end of the decade, it is more commonly reversed as Song/Artist, and it alternates between the two before settling on Song/Artist in 2008.
 * Foreign Word(s) and Foreign Phrase both appear to have been retired within the first month of this season.
 * "Changing Keys" is given another re-arrangement, this time including an electric guitar solo. However, the 1989 remix is sometimes heard during the credits on 1993 episodes.
 * After using the same intro segment for seasons 7-9, Season 10 is the debut of a new animated intro which features anthropomorphic Wheel wedges walking down a staircase. Charlie's opening spiel is now "From Hollywood, celebrating its 10th anniversary, the world's most popular game show! Filled with fun, glamour, excitement, surprises — Wheel of Fortune! And now here are your host and hostess, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
 * The contestant backdrops are changed to a "burst" pattern shaped like four interlocking M's (similar to the old MetLife logo).

September 1992 : (season begins September 7)
 * September 7 is the debut of Slang.
 * On September 7, a contestant sweeps the main game and wins a Cadillac El Dorado in the bonus round. He solves the bonus puzzle FROG despite getting no help from his extra letters.
 * On September 10, in a very rare occurrence, all three contestants are male.
 * On September 10, the round 1 puzzle SLIPPED ON A BANANA PEEL is inexplicably categorized as Event instead of Phrase (although if the first word were SLIPPING, it would be an Event).
 * September 10 may be the first appearance of Slang in the bonus round.
 * On September 14, the end of Charlie's intro is changed to "Here they are, the stars of the show, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
 * September 14 is believed to be the last appearance of Foreign Phrase. At the end of a round, Pat explains that there are several acceptable pronunciations for the answer MAZEL TOV, and refers to it as "the category from Hell" after a long string of incorrect letters.
 * September 17 has four Thing puzzles: Rounds 2, 4, 5 and the Bonus Round.
 * On September 21, the intro now begins with a low-level pan from the $25,000 sign to the contestant area during the chant. Also, "Here they are" is replaced with "And now".
 * During the entire week of September 21, footage is shown from a "Wheel of Fortune gala" at the end of each episode. The Thursday episode includes footage of Vanna and Merv Griffin singing.
 * On September 21, the prop holding the W-H-E-E-L envelopes is changed to a heavier, sturdier, rectangular frame. Also, a chime now sounds when a contestant picks a bonus round envelope.
 * Between September 22 and 24, the same contestant loses the same bonus round prize (a gazebo/spa package) for three days in a row.
 * On September 23, a Same Name puzzle has three "names" instead of two.
 * On September 23, the aforementioned contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle CORK with only the K missing.
 * On September 24, the puzzle-solve cue does not play when the round 2 puzzle is solved.

October 1992 :
 * October 5 is the debut of the Surprise wedge.
 * October 5 has the first known instance of a three-letter bonus puzzle, and the first known instance of a bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it. The answer is WAX, and the contestant solves it at the last second with only the A revealed.
 * October 8 contestant Jason Block later appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2000, Jeopardy! in 2001 and Catch 21 in 2008.
 * On October 8, the bonus puzzle is once again a three-letter answer without RSTLNE in it. The contestant's letter choices (including the first known instance of Z being called in the bonus round) reveal the answer ZOO completely. Strangely, the chyron disappears as soon as the second O is revealed, but several seconds before the timer starts.
 * On October 9, Pat walks out on the right and Vanna on the left.
 * On October 22, the bonus puzzle BABY BOY is believed to be the longest bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it (a record which is later tied by AVOCADO in 1994). The contestant solves it without any letters revealed, the only known instance of this happening.
 * October 23 is the month's third instance of a three-letter bonus puzzle, and fourth instance of a bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it. The answer, WIG, is not solved.
 * By October 26, the lettering on the Surprise wedge is changed to a much heavier font, which it uses until the wedge is retired.
 * On October 26, the Surprise wedge is accidentally placed over the $1,000. Pat still tells the contestants that $1,000 is the top dollar value, although his body language suggests that he is aware of the error.
 * October 26 has six rounds.

November 1992 :
 * The week of November 2 is taped at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.
 * During the week of November 2, the scoreboards do not have dollar signs on them.
 * On the November 2 episode, Round 2 is edited out because the puzzle answer was VANNA'S PREGNANT; she had become pregnant when the episode taped in September, but miscarried by the time it aired. As revealed on Vanna's A&E Biography, Merv Griffin came onstage with balloons to congratulate Vanna after she revealed the puzzle answer.
 * In place of this round, home viewers see a three-minute spiel about the San Francisco tapings, narrated by Charlie. The segment begins and ends with post-production clips of Pat standing at the puzzle board, which reads WHEEL ON LOCATION; at the end of the segment, he announces that the contestant who played the round won $1,350, while a freeze-frame of the winning contestant appears in a circle at the bottom of the screen.
 * The bonus puzzle on November 2 is displayed on the top two lines of the board instead of the middle two. Several (but not all) two-line bonus puzzles between then and May 1995 are placed on the top two rows for unknown reasons.
 * The weeks of November 9 and 16 are taped in Philadelphia. November 16 is the show's first My Favorite Teacher week.
 * On November 10, the contestant wins a historic document signed by Benjamin Franklin in the bonus round.

December 1992 :
 * On December 14, Vanna forgets to turn one of the letters when revealing the answer to the Speed-Up puzzle BALE OF HAY.
 * December 18 has a rare instance of a bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it. The answer, BAMBI, is solved.
 * The week of December 21 is a Family Tournament which uses a variant of what would later become the "Friday Finals" format: Each episode features two-person teams playing for one episode, with the top three winning teams playing against each other on the Friday episode. The winners of the Friday episode receive an extra prize, which is a silver bowl in this case.
 * During the week of December 21, there is a large red bow on the puzzle board frame.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of December 21. This is known to be part of a winning streak comprising at least seven episodes.
 * On December 25, Charlie announces the intro much more softly than usual.
 * December 28 has several notable instances:
 * After a The Twenties puzzle of BATHTUB GIN & FLAPPERS, contestant Kelly is asked for the most popular dance of the 1920s. He responds by dancing the Charleston; although a buzzer sounds while he dances, Nancy Jones decides to accept the answer.
 * Both a bell and buzzer sound on a correct letter in Round 3.
 * The Round 4 prize is to the viewer's right of Lose a Turn.
 * The 1989 version of "Changing Keys" plays during the credits.

January 1993 :
 * In early 1993, the font is changed slightly on the category strips. Also, the opening pan during the intro is now shot at a higher level.

February 1993 :
 * The weeks of February 8, 15 and 22 are the Red Letter Sweepstakes. One puzzle each day has some red letters in it, which spell out a word when unscrambled. Home viewers can submit each day's word for a chance to enter a prize drawing. When these episodes rerun on GSN in the late 1990s, most references to the sweepstakes are edited out.
 * February 26's bonus puzzle FEBRUARY is inexplicably categorized as Thing instead of the more logical Event.

March 1993 :
 * For a week in March, sports starts play the game for charity. These episodes do not have prize wedges or the Surprise, and every bonus round is played for $25,000.

April 1993 :
 * Reruns air during the week of April 12.
 * April 26 has an Artist/Song puzzle of HANDEL'S MESSIAH, making the answer comparable to the Composer/Song category used only once in the 1995-1996 season.
 * On April 26, a Same Name puzzle has three "names" instead of two.
 * On April 26, a contestant solves the Round 3 puzzle TOM & ROSEANNE ARNOLD with only the R's showing.

May 1993
 * The weeks of May 10 and 17 are taped in Boston. May 17 is a College Week.
 * On May 21, the former shopping-round cue "Nightwalk" plays while Charlie plugs the hotel that accommodated the staff and contestants.
 * On May 25, the bonus puzzle NICE AND WARM uses three lines of the puzzle board, a practice which was almost entirely abandoned after season 6.

June 1993 : (season ends June 18)
 * The week of June 14 is Second Honeymoon Week.

Season 11 (1993-94)
Season Changes :
 * Except for the removal of "celebrating its 10th anniversary", the intro is unchanged from Season 10.
 * For this season only, the 1989 version of "Changing Keys" is used on road shows.
 * This season is also the debut of the Red Letter puzzles.
 * On a 1993 episode (unknown, but possibly in this season), none of the contestants or Pat can figure out what is meant by the Clue puzzle SILENT BUTLER'S TARGETS, for which the answer is "crumbs or ashes". One contestant gives a humorous guess of "maid".

September 1993 : (season begins September 6)
 * September 21 has a very unusual prize: a certified authentic autograph of Florence Nightingale with an engraving of her, valued at $1,250.
 * At the end of the September 21 episode, Vanna offers Pat some tomatoes and bread from her then-husband, George San Pietro.

October 1993 :
 * The week of October 4 is taped at Walt Disney World.
 * All five bonus rounds are won the week of October 18.
 * The week of October 25 is New York themed, but taped at CBS Studio 33.

November 1993 :
 * The week of November 1 is taped on a cruise ship.
 * November 12 is the nighttime version's 2,000th episode, with normal gameplay.
 * The week of November 15 is My Favorite Teacher Week.

December 1993 :
 * The week of December 20 is a Family Week filmed at Walt Disney World, played by the same rules as the December 1992 tournament. An orchestral rendition of "Deck the Halls" plays in place of "Changing Keys".
 * December 24 has a rare one-word puzzle in Round 1.
 * On December 24, the former shopping-round cue "Nightwalk" plays while Charlie describes the Round 2 prize.

January 1994 :
 * As of January 25, the second style of Fill In the Blank puzzle (with three question marks) has debuted. The one on this episode has the question marks at the end of each phrase, instead of the later more-common position at the beginning. From now until December, both styles of Fill In the Blank are used interchangably until the "original" style is renamed Next Line Please.
 * On January 25, a contestant wins a historic document signed by Abraham Lincoln in the bonus round.
 * January 26 has a "three question marks" Fill In the Blank puzzle, with the question marks at the beginning.
 * During the week of January 31, the second Wheel prize is not in play, because of the time allocated to plug the upcoming Gold Letter Sweepstakes.

February 1994 :
 * February 1 has a "three question marks" Fill In the Blank puzzle.
 * During the weeks of February 7 and 14, the show holds its Gold Letter Sweepstakes. It is similar to the Red Letter Sweepstakes in the previous season, but with gold letters that spell out the last name of an Academy Award winner. Some of the games this week have only three rounds.
 * On February 7, the contestant's letters reveal the bonus puzzle CABARET completely.
 * Raymond Taylor appears at some point in February. He acts particularly goofy and offbeat, winning over $81,000 and retiring undefeated. In 1997, Raymond is banned from appearing at tapings, following claims that he had trespassed and had to be physically removed from the stage.
 * The weeks of February 21 and 28 are taped in Miami.

March 1994 :
 * March 4 has a "three question marks" Fill In the Blank puzzle, with the question marks at the end.
 * March 11's bonus puzzle of AVOCADO is a tie for the longest known bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it. It is not solved.
 * The 1989-92 version of "Changing Keys" plays during the closing of the March 25 episode.

April 1994 :
 * April 4 is Teen Week.
 * The weeks of April 11 and 18 are taped at MGM Studios.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of April 11.

May 1994 :
 * For the week of May 2, various singers play the game for charity. In an unusual move, James Brown and Little Richard play as a team while everyone else plays solo.
 * On May 3, the bonus puzzle is on the top two lines of the puzzle board.
 * On May 6, opera singer Marilyn Horne shows up to help Lee Greenwood in the bonus round. They both fail to solve the puzzle, so Pat brings in "Weird" Al Yankovic, Little Richard and James Brown to help them end the week on a win. Al provides the right answer.
 * On May 11, Charlie O'Donnell appears on-camera after his name is the answer to the Speed-Up puzzle.

June 1994 : (season ends June 17)


 * June 3 has a "three question marks" Fill In the Blank with the question marks at the end.

Season 12 (1994-95)
Season Changes :
 * "Changing Keys" is rearranged yet again, with a big-band orchestration and a very different melody. This new version is performed by Mort Lindsey's orchestra. Some episodes this season also use a softer version of the big-band theme over the fee plugs and bonus round prize descriptions. Also for this season only, a big-band style fanfare plays if a contestant provides the correct answer on a "bonus" category.
 * The puzzle board's border is changed to a new, "spiky" variant.
 * The show's intro is "From Hollywood, it's the Wheel of Fortune! America's most popular game show, and now, the world's! Here they are, soaring into your lives, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" The intro is accompanied by various animations representing cities where Wheel has taped road shows, and countries that have versions of the show; it also includes an animation of Pat and Vanna "riding" the Wheel, and ends with an animation of them parachuting as Charlie says the phrase "soaring into your lives".
 * Charlie no longer describes the second Wheel prize unless it is won.
 * As of this season, and most likely earlier, it has become increasingly rare for the same category to be used twice in the main game.

September 1994 : (season begins September 5)
 * The season begins with a Teen Week.
 * The first Wheel prize on September 5 is a set of backpacks and a camera, worth $826; this is believed to be the least expensive Wheel prize ever offered on nighttime.
 * On September 5, the camera is zoomed too far back when the board is shown at the beginning of round 1.
 * Vanna shows off her newborn son Nicholas (Niko) at the end of the September 14 episode.
 * September 15 has a "three question marks" Fill In the Blank puzzle.
 * On September 15, contestant Lesley sets a new one-round record of $45,000 in the Speed-Up.
 * On September 16, an "old-style" Fill In the Blank's question mark is in the middle instead of at the end. The puzzle is HARRIET ? STOWE, and none of the contestants can identify her middle name, Beecher.
 * September 20 is the debut of Megaword.
 * September 24 has another "three question marks" Fill In the Blank puzzle.
 * On September 27, a buzzer accidentally sounds when a correct letter is revealed.

October 1994 :
 * On October 4, the puzzle solve cue is changed to a "big band" style as well.
 * As of October 18, "decade" categories are no longer followed by bonus questions.
 * The "three question marks" Fill In the Blank puzzle on October 24, 26 and 27 all have four question marks.
 * The week of October 31 is taped at Fair Park in Dallas, home to the State Fair of Texas. This week also has an unusual version of "Changing Keys" with the big-band orchestration but the original melody.
 * On the Dallas episodes, the category strips are in a slightly different font than usual, with black outlines instead of white.
 * On October 31, the former shopping cue "Nightwalk" plays as Charlie describes the Round 2 prize.
 * On October 31, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle AWARD with only the W missing.
 * Merv Griffin makes a cameo at the end of the October 31 episode.

November 1994 :
 * November 4 may be the last appearance of the "old" Fill In the Blank category before it is renamed Next Line Please.
 * On November 4, the bonus puzzle is on the top two lines of the puzzle board.
 * On November 4, a contestant accidentally calls N in the bonus round, and this N is placed on the chyron.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of October 31-November 4. Interestingly, the only prize picked all week is an annuity.
 * During the weeks of November 7 and 14, the show holds its Red White and Blue Sweepstakes. Similar to the earlier Red-Letter home viewer sweepstakes, each episode has a puzzle where some letters are red on top and blue on the bottom; when unscrambled, the letters spell out the last name of a U.S. President.
 * November 28 is the debut of the $10,000 cash prize space, which is initially in Round 3. For the first couple weeks or so, the "$10,000" text is smaller than it would later be.
 * On November 29, a contestant sweeps the main game but loses the bonus round.

December 1994 :
 * On December 5, the bonus puzzle CHANGE OF HEART uses three lines of the puzzle board, a practice which was almost entirely abandoned after Season 6.
 * December 9 is the debut of Next Line Please, which is identical to the "old" Fill In the Blank category, except that the answer does not use a question mark. From this point onward, Fill In the Blank refers only to the "three question marks" puzzles.
 * On a December episode, contestant Patty hits Bankrupt in Round 1 and asks if she can keep the Free Spin. She then tries to spin again, but Pat quickly stops her and tells her that she "can't have it both ways", asking her if she was trying to scam him.
 * December 19 is a Family Week, played identically to the ones in 1992 and 1993.
 * December 22 is the only known instance of a contestant failing to use a Megaword in a sentence.
 * On December 23, a family pair solves the Speed-Up puzzle CHRISTMAS WREATH with only the C revealed.
 * On December 23, each family pair gets a box of Perugina chocolates after the Speed-Up round.
 * December 23 also has a rare instance of RSTLNE revealing more than half of the bonus puzzle (FRASIER).
 * The Teen Week from September 5-9 is rerun during the week of December 26.

January 1995 :
 * Reruns air during the week of January 2.
 * An episode from some point in January has a "three question marks" Fill In the Blank puzzle with four question marks at the end.
 * At the end of the same episode, footage is shown of Pat calling the winners of the Red White and Blue Sweepstakes.
 * On either January 10 or 11, the Megaword answer PRISTINELY leads to only the second known instance of a contestant incorrectly solving a fully-revealed puzzle.
 * The week of January 16 is Best Friends Week, with the Friday Finals format.
 * On January 20, a best-friends pair sweeps the main game. Unusually, the W-H-E-E-L envelopes are not used; instead, Pat lets them decide whether they want to play for a pair of cars or a pair of pianos. They choose the cars, but do not win them.

February 1995 :
 * On February 1, a contestant accidentally calls E in the bonus round, and the E is put on the chyron.
 * The weeks of February 6 through 27 are taped at Disney World.
 * February 6 is the show's final My Favorite Teacher week. Teacher-themed weeks do not occur again until May 28, 2007.
 * On February 10, Vanna turns a letter too far in the Bonus Round, causing the plastic sheet to slide about halfway off the trilon.
 * February 15 is the last known instance of a "three question marks" Fill In the Blank puzzle having four question marks, and one of the last known instance of them being at the end instead of the beginning.
 * February 20 is Some of the Greats Week, which invites back fifteen past winners. During the interviews, clips are shown from each contestant's prior episode(s). All games this week are played for charity; all bonus rounds are played for $25,000 and no Prize wedges are present.
 * During at least the week of February 20, the numbers on the $10,000 wedge are smaller than normal, suggesting that this week was taped around the same time as the late November 1994 episodes that introduced the wedge.
 * Raymond Taylor appears on February 20. He finishes with $0, but receives a $500 consolation.
 * On February 20, no one gives a correct response to the question asked by a Clue puzzle.
 * On February 21 and 22, the bonus puzzle is on the top two lines of the board.
 * On February 23 and 24, the bonus puzzles do not have RSTLNE in them. Respectively, the answers are VOODOO and COWBOY; neither is solved.
 * On February 24, the contestant calls the vowel in the Bonus Round before her third consonant, but the chyron still puts it in last. This goes against precedent, as the chyron almost always shows the letters in the order called, even if the vowel is called "out of order".
 * Sometime between February 27 and March 2, a contestant offers "Being on Wheel of Fortune is a bombastic experience." as the sentence for her Megaword, BOMBASTIC. This results in a quip from Nancy Jones, who says "If she really feels that way!"

March 1995 :
 * The March 10 episode has six rounds. Round 6's answer is a very short puzzle of GLOVES, which could originally have been intended as a bonus puzzle.
 * On March 15, the Megaword puzzle OXIDIZED takes eleven spins before a right letter is called (easily a record) and twelve more before it is solved. The round lasts nearly six minutes, and every consonant is called except J.
 * On March 16, Pat mis-heads a contestant's call of A as E, and tells the contestant that there are four A's in the puzzle. The buzzer sounds and Pat corrects himself; the puzzle actually had four E's and no A's.
 * March 24 has a very rare appearance of Person/Title.
 * March 24's Speed-Up puzzle, SCRAM, is believed to be the shortest puzzle ever used outside the Bonus Round. This also could have originally been intended as a bonus puzzle.
 * On March 24, the contestant's letter choices reveal the bonus puzzle LOCKER completely.
 * On March 31, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle WAY OFF BASE with ___ O__ __SE revealed.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of March 27.

April 1995 :
 * April 7 appears to be the last use of Megaword.
 * At the end of the April 7 episode, Vanna uses the bonus puzzle to show how the trilon board works.
 * April 10 is a Teen Week.
 * Reruns air during the week of April 17.
 * Slang and Red-Letter Puzzles both appear to have been retired around this point.

May 1995 :
 * May 1 is Celebrity Award Winners week. The softer mix of the theme is used during the intro, and each game has only three rounds.
 * Paul Rodriguez competes on May 2. Clips are shown from his version of The Newlywed Game, which he hosted from 1988-89.
 * On May 3, Jess Walton accidentally asks for a 4 in Round 1.
 * On May 3, the Free Spin is placed over $1,000.
 * On a May episode (presumably during the week of the 8th), Pat accidentally goes straight to the bonus puzzle before the contestant has picked an envelope. Vanna reveals the RSTLNE letters while the camera is still focused on Pat.
 * From possibly the same week, there is a rare instance of a bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it. The answer, PUPPY, is solved.
 * Around this time, Fill In the Blank is now shown by its full name on the category strip, instead of just "Blank".
 * The weeks of May 15 and 22 are taped on the hangar deck of the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which is docked in Newport News, Virginia at the time. Also, all contestants in the first week are members of the military.
 * One of the Virginia episodes has a rare three-letter bonus puzzle, which is also a rare instance of a bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it. The answer, GUY, is not solved.
 * On another Virginia episode, a siren sounds in the middle of a round.
 * On the same episode as above, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle GAME PLAN at the last second without any help from his extra letters. This is also the last known instance of a bonus puzzle using the top two lines of the puzzle board.
 * May 30 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * On May 30, the chyron for the contestant's two-day total reads $52,592 instead of $51,592.
 * Charlie O'Donnell appears on-camera at the end of the May 30 episode.
 * On May 30 and 31, P C F A is called in the bonus round for two days in a row.
 * On May 31, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle GENIUS despite getting no help from his extra letters.

June 1995 : (season ends June 23)
 * June 1 has a very rare instance of both a three-letter bonus puzzle and one without RSTLNE in it; the answer, HUG, is not solved. From this point onward, there are only two other known bonus puzzles without RSTLNE in them: A DAY OFF in October 1999, and PIKACHU in 2001. Also, there is only one other known bonus puzzle after this point which is only three letters long.
 * On June 9, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle MENU with only the U missing.
 * The week of June 19 is a Teen Week.
 * By the end of the season, Harry Friedman has replaced Nancy Jones as producer.
 * The season finale is the last episode taped at CBS Studio 33.

Season 13 (1995-96)
Season Changes :
 * The show moves to its current taping location, Studio 11 at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City.
 * The category graphics are updated to a white font (similar to Times New Roman) on a tan background. The category strips are now revealed with a miniature graphic of the Wheel, which "rolls" from left to right. With these new category strips, the "decade" categories are now shown as numbers (e.g. "The 20's"), and Fill In the Blank's name is now always shown in full.
 * The $1,000 space is now sparkly green.
 * The contestant backdrops are removed.
 * Quotation puzzles no longer have bonus questions.
 * If a contestant does not give a correct answer to the question asked after a "bonus" category, the question is no longer offered to the other two contestants. Also, the value is increased to $1,000.
 * The intro is abridged to "It's America's Game — Wheel of Fortune! The world's most popular game show! And now from the Sony Studios, here they are, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" The animation is replaced with graphics related to the show, followed by a still shot of Sony Pictures Studios just before Pat and Vanna are introduced.
 * This season is apparently the debut of the Who Is It? category.
 * Two other categories, Composer/Song and Show/Song, are used only once each at some point in this season. These are the first two categories known to have been used only once, something which does not happen again until What Are We Making? in 2007.
 * For Seasons 13 and the first couple weeks of Season 14 only, Charlie signs off with "This is Charlie O'Donnell speaking. Wheel of Fortune was created by Merv Griffin." These are the only seasons in which he signs off with his name.
 * The puzzle board frame is changed again.
 * The last of the music cues composed by Merv Griffin (first used on the daytime version in mid-1983) are replaced with new music cues.
 * The Free Spin is moved to the the purple $200 (to the viewer's right of Lose a Turn). Unlike in previous seasons, it stays in this spot for the entire season, instead of moving among different dollar amounts.
 * As of the season premiere, there is still nothing on the reverse of the $10,000 wedge. Within a few weeks of this season, it has a shiny gold $10,000 design on the back. It is believed (but not yet confirmed) that one week of episodes used the back side of the wedge as a cash space, as a one-time experiment; there is also at least one eyewitness account of it being placed upside-down by mistake.

September 1995 : (season begins September 4)
 * This is the last season to begin with a Teen Week.
 * September 4 is the debut of the Double Play, located on the blue $300. Strangely, a post-production shot from Round 3 is used during Round 2 when the Double Play disc is introduced.
 * September 4 sets what may be a record for the most instances of one letter in the same puzzle: the answer PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE BEEP has ten E's. This puzzle is known to have been used on at least one other occasion (October 21, 2009).
 * At some point in either late September or early October, JEOPARDY PREMIERES is the answer to the round 1 puzzle. The category is The 60's.
 * On the same episode, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle TAKE A BOW without any help from their extra letters.

October 1995 :
 * October 26 is the first known instance of a puzzle with a slash in it, and Pat introduces it as Vanna turns the slash. The puzzle is something along the lines of JULIE ANDREWS STARS IN VICTOR/VICTORIA, also making it a very rare apperance of Person/Title.

November 1995 :
 * The weeks of November 6 and 13 are taped in Seattle. November 13 is a College Week.
 * The week of November 20 is a Celebrity week.
 * On one of the Celebrity episodes, Ed Asner is the top winner. Before the bonus round, Pat mentions that he once played against Ed on an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy!
 * Ed's letters fill in his bonus puzzle SLEIGH entirely.
 * Johnny Gilbert fills in for Charlie for the weeks of November 27 and December 4. This is the only time until Charlie's death in November 2010 that someone filled in for him.
 * Throughout the week of November 27, during the Pat & Vanna talk, Pat and Vanna discuss her decision to cut her hair. At least two of the episodes feature various computer-generated images of what Vanna would look like in different hair styles.
 * On November 29, Pat makes a joke about Jeopardy!, to which Johnny counters with a sarcastic remark of his own.

December 1995 :
 * On December 1, Pat and Vanna show more images of Vanna in different hair styles. He then cuts off a lock of her hair to ensure that she doesn't "chicken out", then distributes strands to audience members during the credits.
 * Vanna debuts her new haircut on December 4. At the top of the show, Pat walks out solo, and then introduces Vanna, while joking about her fear of her new haircut.
 * Charlie returns on December 11.
 * On December 11, Pat accidentally calls the Bonus Round the Speed-Up round.
 * The week of December 18 is a Family Week, played identically to the ones in 1992, 1993 and 1994.
 * Reruns air during the week of December 25.

January 1996 :
 * The week of January 8 is Best Friends Week.
 * On January 25, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle WHISPER despite not getting any help from her extra letters.

February 1996 :
 * February 5 is a Sweethearts week, with the Friday Finals format.
 * During two episodes of Sweethearts Week (one of which is the 9th), Peter Argyropolous and Deborah Cohen set a new winnings record of $146,529.
 * Peter and Deborah use the Double Play on the $10,000 cash prize on their first episode.
 * On February 9, Peter loses his nametag in Round 2. It is recovered in Round 3.
 * February 9 is apparently the debut of the Slogan category, which is called $1,000 Slogan until the end of season 14.
 * As of February 9, Artist/Song is still using its original name. This puzzle also leads to a very rare instance of a four-line puzzle in a Speed-Up round.
 * On February 9, Peter and Deborah sweep the main game and win his-and-hers Ford Mustangs in the bonus round.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of February 5.
 * The weeks of February 12 and 19 are taped outdoors, in front of the Waikoloa Village in Hawaii. February 19 is Family Week. These episodes use steel guitar music in the intro, and a timpani roll under Charlie's introduction. Also, the episodes use unique, surfboard-shaped backdrops.
 * Pat's daughter Maggie makes an appearance on February 13.
 * The Family Week episodes have a commercial break between Rounds 1 and 2. They also introduce the $3,500 in Round 2 and $5,000 in Round 3.
 * On February 19, Vanna forgets to turn the first O in the Round 1 puzzle A MOTHER'S INTUITION when revealing the answer.

March 1996 :
 * On March 14, WHEEL OF FORTUNE COOKIE is the answer to a Before & After puzzle.

April 1996 :
 * On April 1, APRIL FOOL'S DAY is the answer to the round 1 puzzle.
 * On April 2, a contestant solves DICK & JERRY VAN DYKE with only the R's revealed.
 * Reruns air during the week of April 8.
 * On April 15, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle GULF despite not getting any help from her extra letters.
 * The weeks of April 22 and 29 are Olympics-themed weeks taped at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. The set for these episodes features Olympic torch-shaped backdrops. A special piece of music plays during the open, and a timpani roll plays under Charlie's intro. These episodes use the Friday Finals format, and the same round structure as the Hawaii episodes.
 * On the first three Olympics episodes, the outer frame of the Wheel is misaligned by about half the distance between two pegs; this is most noticeable when a contestant hits one of the smaller Bankrupts next to the $10,000 prize on the 24th. The frame is finally fixed on the third round of the April 24 episode.
 * On April 23, FREE SPIN LOSE A TURN & BANKRUPT is the answer to the Round 2 puzzle.
 * On April 23, a contestant sweeps the main game and wins a Ford Taurus in the bonus round.
 * The April 24 episode has only three rounds (no Speed-Up), owing both to plugs for an Olympics T-shirt and an extremely long second round.
 * On April 24, the Bankrupt slide whistle does not play when a contestant hits Bankrupt in round 2.
 * On April 24, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle PISTACHIO on the buzzer. Pat informs the contestant that they have to stop tape to check his answer; despite apparently being beaten by the buzzer, he is still ruled a winner when the show returns from commercial. Strangely, Vanna never reveals the full answer.
 * The Atlanta episodes are the first episodes to use a video screen in the middle of the set. Also, the $25,000 sign is not used on these episodes. Both of these changes become official in the next season.
 * The week of April 29 is the Olympic sweepstakes, similar to the Red Letter sweepstakes, but with red-and-blue letters that spell out the name of an Olympic event. This is the last time that differently-colored letters are used as part of a contest.

May 1996 :
 * From May 6 to 31, the Olympic torch backdrops are used, even though the episodes are taped in Culver City.
 * On May 8, a letter that the contestant did not call is accidentally revealed in the Bonus Round. The contestant solves and is allowed to keep the prize.
 * On May 13, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle FROG despite getting no help from the extra letters. This previously happened with the same puzzle on September 7, 1992.
 * The week of May 27 has the Friday Finals format.

June 1996 :
 * June 7 is the last appearance of the $25,000 sign. It is also the "unofficial" end of Season 13.

July 1996 : (season ends July 19)
 * In an unusual scheduling, the week of July 15 consists of new shows during the Olympic games. Also taped at the Fox Theater, this week has former Olympics stars playing for charity.

Season 14 (1996-97)
Season Changes :
 * Season 14 replaces the three-day champion rule with the Friday Finals format. Each contestant plays for one day on Monday through Thursday, and the week's three highest winners (counting contestants who did not proceed to the bonus round) compete against each other on Friday. The winner of the Friday episode wins an extra prize.
 * The Double Play is retired.
 * The border around the puzzle board is changed slightly, shortening some of the spikes.
 * The category graphics are updated again to a bold, white font on a multicolored pastel rectangle, still with the "rolling Wheel" effect.
 * This season is the debut of the Classic TV and Show Biz categories. For this season only, these categories have a unique wipe instead of the "rolling Wheel" one: Classic TV uses a drawing of a console TV, and Show Biz uses a drawing of crossed spotlights.
 * "Bonus" categories are increased to $2,000.
 * As of this season, "bonus" categories are used no more than once an episode; previous episodes often had two in the same game.
 * Same Name puzzles revert to using only two "names".
 * Some of the fee plugs are now pre-recorded by the company.
 * The intro is changed to an animation of Sony Pictures Studios, which "zooms in" through the studio doors. During the cheer, the logo is seen in a purple background. Charlie's spiel is slightly changed to "From the Sony Studios, it's America's Game — Wheel of Fortune! And now here are the stars of our show, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
 * The set now has a video wall in the middle, near where Pat and Vanna walk out.
 * For some weeks in this season, the insides of the prize envelopes are sparkly green.
 * The $10,000 space is only in play during Round 2.
 * The prize wedge is changed to green text (in the Clarendon font) on a greenish-brown background. For the first two weeks, the background is glittery as well.
 * Round 4 no longer features a second Wheel prize.

September 1996 : (season begins September 2)
 * On September 2, Pat and Vanna walk out without theme music playing, and converse with each other before the actual intro.
 * The original, yellow $1,000 is inexplicably present on September 2, suggesting that the sparkly green one was simply placed over the existing yellow one.
 * From September 2 until September 16, the only Bankrupts on the Wheel in Round 2 are the ones on the $10,000 space. Given the other erroneous placements of Wheel templates in this season, it is likely that this arrangement was accidental.
 * From September 6 until the debut of the electronic puzzle board, the question marks in a Fill In the Blank puzzle are already turned when the blank puzzle is shown. Previously, Vanna would turn them.
 * September 6 may be the debut of Proper Name. As a result, it is believed that Person/Title is retired.
 * On September 6, I'LL GIVE THE WHEEL A FINAL SPIN is the answer to the Round 2 puzzle.
 * All five bonus rounds on the week of September 2 are Thing.
 * September 9's bonus puzzle, OWL, appears to be the last three-letter bonus puzzle.
 * Pat and Vanna discuss the then-upcoming Jackpot round at the end of the September 12 episode. He also shows off the Jackpot wedge.
 * On September 16, the music cue for a trip to Hawaii is a lap steel guitar rendition of the original "Changing Keys" melody.
 * On September 16, the show debuts its current Jackpot wedge, which is initially in round 3. The wedge, placed over the orange $300, starts out as a shiny red color with "Jackpot" written on it in a thick font in gold letters.
 * On September 16, many Wheel wedges are recolored. The most obvious change is Lose A Turn, which is now very light yellow (nearly white). Also, the Round 3 template is now used throughout the entire game (albeit with only one Bankrupt in round 1), resulting in the retirement of the $750 and $1,500 spaces. Furthermore, Free Spin moves to the green $300, where it stays until it is retired.
 * On September 16 and the next couple weeks afterward, the second Bankrupt in Round 3 is "off-model"; it uses the Clarendon font, and the letters do not decrease in size as they reach the bottom of the wedge.
 * On several episodes around this point (including the 12th and 16th), the camera closest to the blue contestant is cockeyed, causing several side-view shots that are extremely tilted.
 * September 26 has the first Jackpot win. The contestant solves GREEN EGGS & HAM BY DR. SEUSS with only the G's revealed, accounting for the only known instance of the Jackpot being won at its base value of $5,000.
 * As of September 26, the "off-model" Bankrupt is still present on the Wheel.
 * Beginning September 30, there is now a promotional plug for closed captioning. Vanna reads this plug, which occurs after Round 2.

October 1996 :
 * By October 29, the "off-model" Bankrupt is fixed.
 * October 29 has a Jackpot win, which is believed to be the second.
 * On October 29, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle just ahead of the buzzer.
 * October 30 also has a Jackpot win.
 * October 31 is a special Halloween show.

November 1996 :
 * November 4 is Best Friends Week.
 * The weeks of November 11 and 18 are taped at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.
 * November 18 is also a College week. A marching band plays "Changing Keys" live, but this rendition follows the original melody instead of the altered melody of the "big band" remix. Also, Pat has laryngitis for the entire College Week, and hosts with a hoarse voice throughout.
 * On November 21, the category strip disappears briefly during Round 2.
 * On November 21, Pat and Vanna trade places during the bonus round so that he can rest his voice.
 * On November 22, Pat hosts the first part of Round 4 through hand gestures, again to rest his voice. At the start of the round, he holds up four fingers, then points at each contestant when it is their turn, and hits the railing with his fist for wrong letters and a Bankrupt. He also uses gestures for the Final Spin explanation, but resumes talking afterward so as to avoid confusion in the Speed-Up round.

December 1996 :
 * The week of December 9 is taped in Beverly Hills.
 * Four of the Beverly Hills episodes, one of which is the Friday Finals, have Jackpot wins. As a result, contestant Gregg is the only known contestant to have won the Jackpot twice.
 * December 13 also has a category rarely seen in plural form (Proper Names).
 * On December 16, the category strips are changed again, to a heavier white font on a blue oval.
 * The week of December 16 is Family Week.
 * On December 18, the original yellow $1,000 wedge is inexplicably visible when the Wheel spins at the end of the show.
 * December 23 is the first Happy Holidays Week, which has aired Christmas week ever since.
 * The week of October 7 is rerun during the week of December 30, edited to include the blue oval category strips.

January 1997 :
 * Starting January 6, the Wheel no longer spins automatically during the opening and credits. It is also tightened.
 * On January 6, a contestant forgets to pick up the Free Spin after hitting it. Three turns later, Pat walks over to the Wheel, removes the Free Spin and gives it to her.
 * On January 13, the Jackpot wedge takes on a new design, which has JACKPOT written in a semicircle at the top of the wedge, and written vertically down the middle of the wedge. The letters are now yellow and in a thinner, sans-serif font.
 * On January 13, Vanna announces that she is pregnant with her first daughter, Giavonna.
 * On January 16, the second Bankrupt is inexplicably present on the Wheel during Round 1.
 * On January 16, during Round 5, the middle contestant's flipper lands on $250, but flips over to $400 just as he calls his letter. Although he is initially credited with $250 per letter, his score is corrected immediately after the round goes into Speed-Up. The difference in score causes him to win the game.
 * The week of January 20 is the first NFL Players Week, with football players playing with partners for charity. Except for Season 19, the rerun of NFL Players Week is always the last of the Summer reruns.

February 1997 :
 * February 3 is a Sweethearts week with husband-and-wife teams playing.
 * Starting on February 7, the Jackpot is increased to a starting value of $10,000 on Friday Finals episodes.
 * The weeks of February 10 and 17 are taped at the Blockbuster Desert Sky Pavilion (now known as the Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion) in Phoenix. February 17 is Family Week. Unusually for a road show, neither week is rerun during the Summer.
 * February 21 is the last episode with the mechanical puzzle board. The last official puzzle on it is the bonus puzzle POUND SIGN, but at the end of the episode, Vanna reveals FOR SALE on the board.
 * February 24 is the debut of the show's electronic puzzle board.
 * On February 24, the gray parallelogram nametags are replaced with the blue ovals to match the category strips. This style of nametag is still in use today.
 * The February 24 episode has an unusual cold open; Charlie's intro is just "Ladies and gentlemen, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" (which becomes the official intro in Season 19), and no theme music is playing. Pat and Vanna then walk out and discuss the new puzzle board, also showing time-lapse footage of the old board being dismantled. After the contestant interviews, a curtain reveals the new board while the puzzle-solve cue plays.
 * The first puzzle on the new board is VALENCIA SPAIN, and Vanna's first letter on this board is S.
 * At the end of the February 24 episode, Vanna uses the bonus puzzle to show how the new puzzle board works.
 * The practice of editing out Final Spins that land on Bankrupt or Lose a Turn appears to have begun around this time.

March 1997 :
 * On March 3, the font used by the puzzle board is changed to a slightly thinner one.
 * On March 4, the Surprise, $10,000 prize and round 2 prize are all on the wrong wedges: Surprise is on the purple $350, $10,000 on the red $600 and the prize on the orange $300. Since the prize is claimed, the Jackpot wedge ends up in its correct place for round 3.
 * On March 4, Rosie O'Donnell makes a cameo after TALK SHOW HOST ROSIE O'DONNELL is the answer to the round 2 puzzle. She then helps Vanna touch letters in the next round.
 * March 17 is the first Spring Break week.
 * The week of October 21 is rerun during the week of March 24. As was the case in the December reruns, these episodes are edited to include the blue oval category strips. Unusually for spring reruns, these do not correspond with Easter week.
 * March 31 is the first European Vacation week, a tradition which since then occurs once a season (or a variation of it, such as European Holiday or EuroTour) until Season 19.

April 1997 :
 * On April 1, Pat and Vanna play for charity as part of an April Fools' Day gag, with Alex Trebek as host and Pat's wife Lesly touching the letters. Conversely, Pat hosts that day's Jeopardy!, whose first round features Wheel-themed categories (including Before & After, which quickly became a recurring category identical to its Wheel counterpart). Notable facts about this episode:
 * The European Vacation set is retained.
 * Charlie begins the intro as normal, but Johnny Gilbert announces the last line, "And now, here is your host, Alex Trebek!" Alex then introduces Lesly.
 * Alex mentions that he had previously guest-hosted a week of daytime episodes in 1980, a fact he had confirmed during a 1990 episode of To Tell the Truth on which Charlie was a substitute announcer (although his guest-hosting gig actually came two weeks after Charlie left daytime). Alex then takes a jab at Wheel, saying that "I must have done such a good job that the producers couldn't wait to ask me back, and so here I am today...16 years later." No mention is made of the single daytime episode he guest-hosted in 1985.
 * After Alex's opening dialogue with Lesly, Johnny introduces Pat and Vanna using Jeopardy!'s "Now entering the studio..." while the Jeopardy! opening music plays. As they are introduced, their names appear onscreen in the style of the category strips.
 * Rounds 1 and 4 are both Phrase.
 * Round 1's answer is PAT I'D LIKE TO SOLVE THE PUZZLE.
 * Pat and Vanna solve Round 2, VANNA MAKES HER WHEEL DEBUT, together. It is followed by a clip of her first official episode on December 13, 1982.
 * Round 3, the Jackpot Round, is SUPERCALI-FRAGILISTIC-EXPIALIDOCIOUS in the joke category of "Really Long Title" and hyphenated twice (as shown) to fit on the board. This is also given a "bonus" question asking for the musical it came from; Pat correctly identifies it as being from Mary Poppins, and wins an extra $2,000.
 * Alex's Final Spin moves only five wedges.
 * The Speed-Up round itself has Pat and Vanna's images inside boxes, rather than the usual shot.
 * The Speed-Up puzzle, IT'S NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS, is the only puzzle that Vanna solves herself.
 * Pat and Vanna play the bonus round together and win $25,000 in it. Their combined winnings are split 50/50 between the two charities.
 * The bonus puzzle, TRADING PLACES, is believed to be the first bonus puzzle under current rules that has at least one each of R, S, T, L, N and E.
 * The consolation prize plugs are retained, read by Charlie. The last plug, for Dentu-Creme, features fellow game show host Monty Hall.
 * No credit is given for Alex's wardrobe, although ones are given for Vanna, Pat and Lesly.
 * April 14 is the first Puerto Rico week, a tradition that continues until Season 17.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of April 14.
 * April 28 is the first Wheel Across America week. This theme is later called America Travel, and renamed again to Road Trip in Season 28.

May 1997 :
 * May 5 is a special week where celebrities and their mothers play together.
 * On May 5, the Jackpot Round starts getting a sponsor, whose logo is also displayed on the Jackpot wedge. The first is Pizza Hut.
 * Starting on May 5 and for the rest of the season, for all Culver City episodes, there are fixed music bumpers leading into the commercial breaks after Rounds 2 (with the closed captioning) and 3.
 * On May 8, Bonnie Hunt's mother accidentally calls a vowel after spinning, twice in Round 1. Also in Round 2, Bonnie accidentally spins again before Vanna can reveal the letter that was called. Bonnie then jokes around for several seconds afterward; Pat eventually becomes visibly annoyed at her and tells her to "spin the damn Wheel."
 * On May 8, a Classic TV puzzle is in the format normally used by Star/Role (BARBARA BILLINGSLEY AS JUNE CLEAVER).
 * The weeks of May 12 and 19 are taped in San Diego; May 19 is a College Week. Neither is rerun during the Summer.
 * May 26 is New York week, but taped in Culver City.

June 1997 : (season ends June 13)

Season 15 (1997-98)
Season Changes :
 * The opening graphic of Sony Pictures Studios is changed slightly. The logo is seen on Sony Pictures studios, in a yellow light on a black rectangle.
 * "Changing Keys" is given a new arrangement by Steve Kaplan. This is the last version of "Changing Keys" to be used.
 * The puzzle solve cue is updated.
 * The font in the category strips is slightly narrower.
 * Prize wedges now have unique designs, typically with a graphic related to the prize.
 * Throughout this season, Pat sometimes introduces the Jackpot round with "Put down that ____, Charlie, it's time for our Jackpot round!"
 * At some point in 1997, Karen Griffith and Steve Schwarz take over as producer.

September 1997 : (season begins September 1)
 * This season premiere begins with two weeks taped in Columbus, Ohio and has contestants who are members of the AFL-CIO, as the season begins on Labor Day. For this week, there is a commercial break between Rounds 1 and 2, and many games have only three rounds. The Jackpot is not in play on three-round episodes.
 * September 13 is the debut of Wheel 2000, a special children's version hosted by David Sidoni. Further information on this show, including its own timeline, can be found on its article.
 * Vanna's daughter Giovanna makes an appearance at the end of the September 15 episode, the first Culver City show of the season.
 * September 29 has six rounds.

October 1997 :
 * The week of October 20 is Broadway Week, but taped in Culver City.
 * The week of October 27 is Halloween Week, which begins the tradition of highly ornate Halloween sets. During this week, the set is decorated with an animatronic gargoyles, smoke and lightning effects, and fake tombstones.

November 1997 :
 * November 3 is a Celebrity Week which does not use the Friday Finals format. It also has the same round structure as the season premiere, and the Jackpot on Friday starts at the normal $5,000.
 * One of the Celebrity episodes (with Robert Guilliaume) has a Jackpot win.
 * November 5 has Alicia Witt, who previously appeared on a Teen Week episode in 1989. Clips from her 1989 episode are shown.
 * On November 6, William Shatner quits after Round 2 and Julie Pinson takes his place.
 * The weeks of November 10 and 17 are taped in Denver. November 17 is College Week.
 * The week of November 24 is Best Friends Week.

December 1997 :
 * Reruns air during the week of December 29.

January 1998 :
 * The week of January 19 is NFL Players Week.
 * January 27 has six rounds.

February 1998 :
 * The weeks of February 2 and 9 are taped in Las Vegas. February 2 is a Family Week.
 * On one of the Vegas episodes, a contestant wins a custom-built Shelby Cobra worth over $100,000. This is the only time that a contestant exceeds $100,000 in one day until the $100,000 prize is introduced in late 2001.
 * On February 4, the prize wedge does not have a graphic on it; it just has "VIDEO" in white Clarendon text on a magenta background. Also, it is on the orange $300 instead of $350; since it is claimed, the Jackpot ends up in its proper space in Round 3.
 * On February 12, BEFORE & AFTER DINNER DRINK is the answer to a Before & After puzzle.
 * The weeks of February 16 and 23 are the Come Spin and Win Sweepstakes, sponsored by Sears. There is a special "Play to Win" puzzle after Round 3, to which more letters are added throughout the week; home viewers could submit the answer for a chance to win $1,000,000 or Sears gift certificates. For the first week, the puzzle is FOUR SCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO, and the second, SHOW ME THE MONEY.

March 1998 :
 * Reruns air during the week of March 23. This is the last time that reruns air during Christmas or Easter week.

April 1998 :
 * April 7 is the debut of Fill In the Number.
 * On April 13, the time limit in the Speed-Up round is reduced from 5 seconds to 3.

May 1998 :
 * The weeks of May 4 and 11 are taped in Houston. May 11 is a college week.
 * The week of May 18 is Wheel Goes to the Movies, a recurring theme week which occurs in May for the next several seasons (always as the first week after the May travel episodes).

June 1998 : (season ends June 12)
 * June 12 has the first Puzzler round, which becomes permanent the following season.

Season 16 (1998-99)
Season Changes :
 * The opening graphics change again, placing the show's logo over the door frame during the cheer.
 * The Friday Finals format is eliminated. As was the case before September 1989, contestants once again stay for only one episode. Pat later reveals on the Sony Rewards website that the show eliminated returning champions because the most skilled contestants are not always the top winners.
 * The Rhyme Time category makes its debut within the first two weeks.
 * This season may also be the debut of the Headline and Who Said It? categories. For this season and at least the beginning of season 17, Headline uses a graphic of a folded up newspaper as its wipe, instead of the "rolling Wheel" one.
 * The $25,000 cash prize is no longer taken out of the W-H-E-E-L envelopes if it is won.
 * The Surprise wedge is retired. A second prize is placed on the Wheel in Round 3.
 * Throughout most of Seasons 16 and 17, Game Show Network is promoted in a short ad during the credits.

September 1998 : (season begins September 7)
 * The season debut is once again on Labor Day. The first two weeks tape at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Also, all prizes for these weeks are American-made. This is the last time until Season 27 that the season premiere is also a road show.
 * On the Pittsburgh episodes, the audience does the "Wheel! Of! Fortune!" chant live in place of the pre-recorded chant.
 * The week of September 7 has the same round structure as the Season 15 premiere week.
 * On September 7, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle FLIGHT CREW despite getting no help from their extra letters.
 * On September 14, Fred Rogers makes a cameo after he is the answer to the Who Said It? puzzle IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD.
 * September 14 has a rare one-word puzzle in Round 4.
 * On September 14, the contestant's letters fill in the bonus puzzle FORK entirely. The prize package is an unusual bundle consisting of a Dodge Durango, barbecue grill and food basket.
 * On September 21, the Puzzler round is made official. Also, there is now a video wall behind the contestants.

October 1998 :
 * On October 6, WHEEL OF FORTUNE GOES NIGHTTIME is the answer to the Round 1 puzzle (category: The 80's).
 * The week of October 12 is one of the only weeks in the show's history where no cars are offered in the bonus round. The prizes this week comprise $25,000 and four different shopping sprees: in Rome, Paris, Houston, and Beverly Hills. The Rome and Paris trips are the only prizes selected all week, and all five bonus rounds are lost.
 * On October 12, the Puzzler is in Round 3.
 * As of October 12, the Puzzler is still preceded by a series of bells.
 * October 15 has a rare appearance of Landmark as the Puzzler.
 * October 30 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place as the Puzzler.
 * On October 30, FAT FREE SPIN is the answer to a Before & After.

November 1998 :
 * The week of November 9 is a special Soap Stars week. Unlike previous celebrity weeks, this week features both celebrities and contestants playing in teams; the contestant receives their winnings as normal, while the soap star has an identical amount donated to charity. It has the round structure of the season premiere week.
 * On November 10, the bonus puzzle is HAIRCUT. Less than a month prior, on October 12, the bonus puzzle was a very similar HAIRDO.
 * On November 12, the Puzzler is in Round 2.
 * By November 12, the Puzzler is no longer preceded by a series of bells.
 * November 13 has a very short Round 1 answer of DYNASTY, followed by a Puzzler of JOHN FORSYTHE. This is one of only two known instances of the Puzzler being longer than the puzzle before it.
 * The weeks of November 16 and 23 are taped in Las Vegas. November 23 is a Family Week, with the round structure of the season premiere weeks. This is the last week to have that round structure; no game after this point is fewer than four rounds.
 * November 20 is the show's (ceremonial) 3,000th episode, although it is actually #2,980. It is entirely a clip show, with commentary from Pat and Vanna. The show begins with an open from a 1978 daytime episode, which cuts to the current intro about halfway through; Charlie then appears on-camera to introduce Pat and Vanna. The clips include footage from one of the two 1974 pilots hosted by Edd Byrnes.

December 1998 :
 * On December 3, a contestant solves the Fill In the Number puzzle ####: A SPACE ODYSSEY as "2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY". He is credited with a correct answer, and given the $2,000 bonus for filling in the number.
 * December 25 has a rare appearance of a contestant from Canada (Toronto, Ontario).
 * On December 25, the Round 3 prize wedge has a small box in the center. Pat opens the box to find a CD jewel case with his picture on it, and gives this to the winning contestant before the bonus round. (Interestingly, Wheel 2000 used a very similar idea for its prize wedge.)
 * December 25 has a Jackpot win.
 * December 28 is Wheel into 1999 week. This is the last time that the New Year's week is called "Wheel into [year]", and the last New Year's-themed week until December 27, 2010.

January 1999 :
 * The week of January 4 is Fabulous Florida, but taped in Culver City.
 * The week of January 25 is NFL Players Week with the Friday Finals format. This is the last time the Friday Finals format is used.

February 1999 :
 * Throughout the week of February 8, during the Pat & Vanna talk, Vanna brings in her tomato sauce and mentions different things about it each day.
 * The weeks of February 15 and 22 are taped outdoors, near the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel in Honolulu. The week of February 22 is Best Friends Week

March 1999 :
 * After SHE SELLS SEA SHELLS BY THE SEASHORE is a puzzle on March 8, all Pat & Vanna talks during the week have to do with tongue twisters.
 * The week of March 29 is called April in Paris, even though three of the five episodes air in March.

April 1999 :
 * April 14 is the debut of On the Map.

May 1999 :
 * The weeks of May 3 through 24 are the Come Play in LA Sweepstakes.
 * The weeks of May 3 and 10 are taped in Philadelphia. May 10 is a College Week.
 * On May 5, the winning contestant kisses Pat's shoes after winning the bonus round.
 * May 7 has a Jackpot win.
 * On May 7, the audience boos the bonus puzzle THAT'S IFFY after the contestant fails to solve it.
 * May 20 has a Before & After puzzle of VANNA WHITE WEDDING DRESS.
 * May 21 opens with Kermit and Gonzo promoting Muppets from Space in front of the puzzle board.
 * May 21 has a very short Round 5 answer of PAYDAY.
 * May 21 is director Dick Carson's last episode. He appears on-camera at the end of the episode to chat with Pat and Vanna, and footage is shown from early episodes.
 * On May 24, Mark Corwin takes over as director.

June 1999 : (season ends June 4)

Season 17 (1999-2000)
Season Changes :
 * The opening graphics are changed again. The logo used in the intro now has a graphic of the Wheel around it; this graphic is rather inaccurate, as it has no Bankrupts, and it keeps the $250 spaces even after they are removed.
 * WebTV introduces an interactive element that allows users with WebTV to play along with Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! from home. This interactive game is indicated on both shows with a "WebTV interactive program" bug at the top of the show.
 * "Bonus" categories and the Puzzler round are now worth $3,000.
 * Harry Friedman retires as co-producer, and joins Merv Griffin as co-executive producer.
 * The Wheel pegs are upgraded, a fact which Pat references twice on the season premiere. These new pegs cause the Wheel to spin extremely tightly and loudly for the next couple seasons.
 * The Jackpot wedge is redesigned again. It now has "JACKPOT" surrounded by a semi-circle of yellow dots.

September 1999 : (season begins September 6)
 * September 6 has a now-rare occurrence of a one-word puzzle in Round 1.
 * September 6 is the debut of Around the House. For this season only, its category strip has a unique house-shaped wipe when it is revealed.
 * The weeks of September 20 and 27 are both filmed at Universal Studios in Orlando. The latter is a Family week. This is the last time until March 2009 that a road show does not occur during November, February or May sweeps.
 * The week of September 20 is evidently the debut of a special opening theme tune for road trips, which is used well into the next decade.
 * September 20 is the first use of On the Map in the bonus round.
 * September 23 has a very short one-word puzzle (SWIMMERS) in Round 1. Strangely, the Puzzler round right after it (BACKSTROKE) is the second known instance of a Puzzler answer that is longer than the puzzle before it. Given that many games still used fairly short puzzles in Round 1, it is possible that the Round 1 and Puzzler answers were accidentally reversed.
 * September 23 has one of the last known instances of the camera zooming in on the $5,000 space while Pat describes it. This practice had become increasingly rare in the late 1990s.

October 1999 :
 * There are two very similar bonus round answers on two consecutive episodes, October 1 and 4: A DAY OFF and A WEEK OFF, respectively. The former is also the first known instance of a bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it since HUG in June 1995.
 * October 4 is the debut of the Preview Puzzle.
 * Starting October 4, the Final Spin now has $1,000 added to its value.
 * On October 4, the $250 spaces are replaced with $300, $500, $600 and $800, thus making $300 the lowest-valued space on the Wheel. Pat and Vanna later discuss this change on October 8.
 * Also beginning October 4, the digits on the wedges now have a white outline.

November 1999 :
 * An episode from the week of November 1 has a very rare instance of Who Are They? instead of Who Is It?
 * The weeks of November 8 and 15 are taped at Madison Square Garden. November 15 is Best Friends Week.
 * November 8's Preview Puzzle is presented on the set of Live with Regis & Kathie Lee by that show's staff, who hold up cue cards with the letters on them.
 * November 8 also has the only known instance of Show Biz being used twice in one show (the Preview Puzzle and Round 3).
 * November 11 has the well-known "A GROUP OF PILL-PUSHERS" incident.
 * November 22 is the first NBA Week, with baskbetball stars and partners playing for charity. For the next several seasons, the NBA week is always the first week of reruns during the Summer.

December 1999 :
 * December 3 has a Jackpot win.
 * December 13 is the last Puerto Rico week.
 * December 27 begins the show's first Retro Week, which pays tribute to the shopping era. Several changes are made for this week only, including:
 * The Preview Puzzle is a freeze-frame of a puzzle from an older episode when the mechanical board was still in use. After Vanna walks out, she reveals the Preview Puzzle answer on the current board.
 * The intro is an abridged version of the "Look at this studio..." intro from the 1980s, as Charlie describes that week's prizes (which appear on turntables). A new piece of music accompanies this intro.
 * The intro from a 1980s episode appears after that (with the original "Changing Keys" music dubbed over), followed by a wipe to Pat and Vanna discussing the special week.
 * The set has 1970s flower-power decor and a ceramic Dalmatian.
 * The contestant video wall has replicas of the 1992-96 contestant backdrops on it.
 * A Shopping wedge is used in place of the regular Wheel prizes, allowing the contestant to "shop" for one of three trips. This wedge also has a drawing of a ceramic Dalmatian on it.
 * On at least December 27 and 28, the 1980s clip used during the intro inadvertently leaves in a reference to Jack Clark.
 * At least two of the Retro Week episodes use unique combined categories in Round 1: December 27 uses 70's Song/Artists, and December 28 has 60's Event.
 * December 27 is one of the first known uses of Around the House in the bonus round.
 * On December 28, Richard Simmons makes a guest apperance at the end. He promotes his show Dream Maker, which is already canceled by the time this episode airs.

January 2000 :
 * January 3 is Hawaii Week, but taped in Culver City.
 * The week of January 10 is the first Big Money week.
 * January 24 is NFL Players Week.
 * January 31 is Las Vegas Week, but taped in Culver City.

February 2000 :
 * February 7 is a Soap Opera Stars week.
 * The weeks of February 14 and 21 are taped in New Orleans. February 21 is College Week.

March 2000 :
 * March 20 debuts three $1,000 gift tags on the Wheel, placed over money wedges; if won, they offer $1,000 towards a certain company's products. The number of tags changes repeatedly over time, with only one on the Wheel since at least season 27.
 * Starting on March 20, and for the rest of the season, there is an animated bumper after Round 3.

April 2000 :
 * At some point during the week of April 24, the theme (Wheel Across America) is misspelled "Amercia" on one of the onscreen graphics.

May 2000 :
 * On the weeks of May 1 and 8, the show holds a wheeloffortune.com sweepstakes. Every Round 3 puzzle for these weeks is computer-related.
 * On the weeks of May 1 and 8, the Jackpot wedge is moved to Round 2. This change becomes permanent in the next season.
 * May 22 is a Family Week. The set is of Universal Studios, interestingly the scene of Family Week earlier in the season.
 * May 29 is Big Money Week, making this the first known regular player week to occur twice in one season.

June 2000 : (season ends June 2)

Season 18 (2000-01)
Season Changes :
 * The opening now shows flashback clips within the outline of the Wheel logo.
 * The Preview Puzzle and Puzzler rounds are eliminated, and the former is essentially replaced with Toss-Ups. For this season only, both Toss-Ups are valued at $1,000: one at the start of the show (before the interviews) determines who starts Round 1, and one before Round 4 determines who starts that round. Initially, Toss-Ups are not split-screened.
 * The shiny $1,000 wedge is retired. $2,500 becomes the top dollar for Round 1, $3,500 for Rounds 2 and 3, and $5,000 thereafter.
 * The Jackpot is moved to Round 2, and the Bankrupt/$10,000/Bankrupt wedge is moved to Round 3.
 * As of this season, most episodes tend to have two female contestants and one male. This pattern is often broken for road shows and Armed Forces weeks.
 * Merv Griffin retires, leaving Harry Friedman as sole executive producer.
 * "Changing Keys" is retired. The show adopts a new theme called "Happy Wheels", composed by Steve Kaplan. The puzzle-solve cue is also changed to match.
 * The font on the category strips is changed again, giving a three-dimensional appearance to the oval outline and changing the font to a thinner one. The "rolling Wheel" effect is replaced with a slightly smaller "rolling" Wheel of Fortune logo, which rolls from right to left.
 * The 10-second countdown beeps in the bonus round have music added to them.
 * This season may be the debut of the Living Thing category; it is known not to have been present last season.
 * This season is obviously the debut of The 90's category.
 * Director Dick Carson retires and Mark Corwin takes his place.
 * As of this season, and possibly earlier, the house minimum for a round is $500.
 * For some reason, many puzzles in Seasons 18-22 begin with redundant A's, most often Thing puzzles (e.g. A HAPPY MEAL instead of HAPPY MEAL).

September 2000 : (season begins September 4)
 * The week of September 11, Endless Summer, is the first week to have a blue floor.
 * At the end of the September 20 episode, Pat and Vanna discuss the Toss-Ups from the contestant area.
 * On September 22, actor Leonard Stone (best known as Sam Beauregard in the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) appears as a contestant.
 * Pat's son and daughter, Patrick and Maggie, appear at the end of the September 25 episode.

October 2000 :

November 2000 :
 * On November 2, celebrities play the game for charity while in Halloween costumes, as part of an "unmask the stars" sweepstakes on the show's website.
 * The celebrities are Richard Simmons, Tara Lipinski and Alex Trebek, who are respectively disguised as William Shakespeare, a genie and a gnome, and referred to as such by Pat.
 * Both Alex and Richard appear to throw Round 1 so that Tara will win it, as they call obviously wrong letters with the majority of the puzzle revealed.
 * This episode does not have a second Toss-Up.
 * The bonus puzzle is IN DISGUISE, which Tara solves for $25,000.
 * In the final segment, Charlie reveals each celebrity's identity. All three appear with Pat and Vanna, as does Alex's son Matt (also in a gnome costume).
 * The week of November 6 is taped in Washington DC.
 * Starting November 6, background music is now played during the Speed-Up round.
 * On November 6, the $10,000 is mistakenly placed on the Wheel in round 2, where it is also won. Pat comments on the error at the start of Round 3, and it remains for the normal Round 3 as well.
 * The week of November 13 is a Hershey's Pot of Gold Sweepstakes. It offers home viewers a chance to sit in the audience for the Hawaii episodes that air in February 2001; other prizes include $25,000 cash, a car, a Hawaiian vacation, and Hershey's chocolates.

December 2000 :
 * For a few weeks in December, the background of the set changes before the Bonus Round.

January 2001 :
 * January 1 is Las Vegas week, but taped in Culver City.
 * The week of January 22 has NFL players playing for charity, as a lead-in to Super Bowl Sunday, taped in Washington, DC.
 * January 29 is San Francisco week but taped in Culver City.

February 2001 :
 * The week of February 5 is a college week taped in Washington DC. This is the first time since Season 12 that more than two weeks are taped for a road show, and it is the first time since the Olympics episodes in 1996 that road show weeks from the same venue did not air contiguously.
 * On February 6, nobody gives a correct response to one of the Toss-Ups, for which the answer is SHE ACED IT. Two of the three contestants ring in, both with wrong answers.
 * On February 9, Pat accidentally starts prompting Vanna to reveal the contestant's bonus round letters before he has picked a vowel. The contestant solves I'M SO HAPPY with only I'M S_ _____ revealed.
 * The weeks of February 12 and 19 are taped in Hawaii. February 12 is also a family week.

March 2001 :
 * On March 4, Microsoft announces that it is pulling the WebTV interactive elements from Wheel and Jeopardy! due to a financial dispute with Sony.
 * On March 5, there is now a transparent Wheel of Fortune bug in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, written in the same font as the logo. It is seen during the intro, and whenever the contestant area or puzzle board is on-screen. For road shows, "of Fortune" is replaced with "in [name of city]".
 * March 12 is Fast Cars, which was also the season premiere week. This is the only known regular player week, other than Big Money and America's Game, to occur more than once in one season.
 * On March 30, nobody gives a correct response to the second Toss-Up.

April 2001 :
 * On April 2, WHEEL OF FORTUNE is the answer to the second Toss-Up. After it is solved, Pat jokes that they have officially run out of puzzles.
 * The week of April 9 is another Retro Week. Except for the Preview Puzzle and Puzzler being replaced by Toss-Ups, it plays identically to the one in December 1999.
 * On April 13, a post-production shot of the Wheel from Round 2 is accidentally put in during Round 3. This error is made obvious in that the $2,500 space is plainly visible in the post-production shot for a few seconds.
 * April 16 is Big Money Week, despite it being earlier in the season the week of October 9.
 * April 23 is San Diego Week but taped in Culver City.
 * April 30 is a Soap Stars Week.

May 2001 :
 * The weeks of May 7 and 14 are taped at the Dallas Convention Center. May 14 is a Best Friends Week.
 * May 29 has a Star/Role puzzle of ROBERT BLAKE AS BARETTA. Between the episode's taping and airing, Blake was accused of shooting his wife; after the round is solved, a clip is dubbed in of Pat explaining the situation.

June 2001 : (season ends June 1)

Season 19 (2001-02)
Season Changes :
 * There are now three Toss-Ups, valued at $1,000, $2,000 and $3,000, with the $2,000 one now determining who starts Round 1. Toss-Up rounds are now split-screened, and they are now introduced with a wipe consisting of "Toss-Up" written on a purple circle.
 * The opening still shows flashbacks, but the graphics surrounding the clip are changed.
 * Charlie's intro is now the current intro, "Ladies and gentlemen, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" On travel shows, this is typically changed to "And now, from [venue], here are the stars of America's Game, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
 * The category strips are changed to white letters on a purple, rectangular background, and the "rolling" effect is removed.
 * Road shows now last for three weeks instead of two.
 * Tapings from Culver City now comprise six episodes; the sixth episodes are put into separate weeks throughout the season. In later seasons, this causes oddities such as a Teen Best Friends episode in the middle of a week.
 * This season may be the debut of the Song Lyrics category.
 * The long-standing practice of very short Round 1 puzzles is gradually abandoned around this time.
 * The W-H-E-E-L envelopes now contain three cars and two $25,000 prizes, none of which are taken out of rotation if won.
 * The cash totals after the Bonus Round are now large, thin, white numbers.
 * The Jackpot wedge no longer has the sponsor's logo on it. Instead, the sponsor's logo is shown above the Jackpot total.

September 2001 : (season begins September 3)
 * September 17 is San Francisco Week, but taped in Culver City.
 * September 24 is the Italian Sweepstakes.
 * On September 24, contestant Chad picks C, H, A and D in the bonus round.

October 2001 :
 * On October 1, two contestants mispronounce DAVID DUCHOVNY AND TEA LEONI when trying to solve. In the same game's Speed-Up round, all three contestants guess BALL PEN AND PENCIL SET; the actual answer is BULL PEN AND PENCIL SET.
 * October 15 is the first week of "sixth show" tapings, Wheel Around the World.
 * On October 22, the category strip disappears briefly during round 4.
 * On October 22, the W-H-E-E-L envelopes are replaced with a 24-space bonus wheel. One envelope has $100,000 cash; the rest have either $25,000 or cars. The first prize landed on, a Honda Accord, is not won.
 * On October 22, and most likely the next several episodes afterward, Pat reveals the location of the $100,000 envelope on the bonus wheel at the end of the round.

November 2001 :
 * The weeks of November 5, 12 and 19 are taped in Miami. November 12 is Cruise Week, and November 19 is Family Week.

December 2001 :
 * On December 3, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle BALI despite not getting any help from their extra letters. This is believed to be the last four-letter bonus puzzle until FAWN in May 2005, as the long-standing trend of very short bonus puzzles (first established in Season 7) is gradually reversed over the next several seasons.
 * December 10 is Hawaii week, but taped in Culver City.
 * December 19 is the show's first $100,000 win.
 * December 31 is I Love NY week, but taped in Culver City. New York then-governor George Pataki does some of the intros, and 9/11 is addressed.

January 2002 :
 * January 7 is NFL Players Week. This is also the only one not to rerun during the Summer.
 * January 14 is New Orleans week, but taped in Culver City.
 * Sometime around the week of January 21, the Round 3 Wheel prize is removed. There is once again only one prize on the Wheel.
 * The Hershey's Pot of Gold Sweepstakes is held from January 31 to February 6, with no theme name seen for those shows. The respective weeks' sets are retained as per usual.
 * Due to the Hershey's sweepstakes, only the shows of January 28-30 use the week's theme name, Romantic Destinations.

February 2002 :
 * On February 1, the contestant's letter choices reveal the bonus puzzle THE JOKER completely.
 * Due to the Hershey's sweepstakes, only the shows of February 7-8 use the week's theme name, Island Fever.
 * The weeks of February 11, 18, and 25 are all taped at the Las Vegas Hilton. February 11 is a Sweethearts Week (with husband-and-wife teams playing), and February 25 is a Best Friends Week.
 * On February 11, two teams forget to add an S to the $3,000 Toss-Up, IN-ROOM MOVIES.
 * On February 18, amounts of $30,000, $35,000, $40,000, $45,000 and $50,000 are added to the bonus wheel for Big Money Week, another case of that week occurring twice in the same season. This change is initially done only for this week, but becomes permanent in Season 20.

March 2002 :
 * On March 14, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle KOBE BRYANT before Vanna can reveal the extra letters he has called.
 * March 18 is Washington DC week, but taped in Culver City.
 * March 19 has seven rounds.
 * March 25 is San Diego week, but taped in Culver City.

April 2002 :
 * The week of April 22 is NASCAR Week.
 * April 25 has only the second known instance of a puzzle with a slash in it (AN ON/OFF SWITCH).
 * The week of April 29 is the first Teen Best Friends week.
 * During one of the Teen Best Friends episodes, a contestant rings in on the first Toss-Up and says CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE. Her teammate quickly adds an S to the end to form the right answer, and it is accepted.

May 2002 : (season ends May 31)
 * The weeks of May 6, 13 and 20 are taped in Chicago. May 13 is a College Week, and May 20 is Chicago Sports Week.
 * Pat's mother makes a guest appearance on May 21.
 * Vanna sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" on May 21.
 * An "At the Movies" episode (week of May 27) has a rare appearance of Landmark.

Season 20 (2002-03)
Season Changes :
 * The Bankrupt/$10,000/Bankrupt wedge is moved again, to Round 1.
 * The Mystery wedges debut in Round 3. Initially, the wedges are worth $500 per letter if they are not flipped over. They are located over the green $500 and the orange-yellow $500.
 * The puzzle-solve cue is changed.
 * For most of the first few weeks, Pat flips over the second Mystery Wedge at the end of the round if a contestant has flipped over the first one. However, he does not do this on September 2.
 * The eggcrate score displays are replaced with computer-generated panel displays. If a contestant hits Bankrupt or Lose A Turn, those words are shown on the display for a few seconds.
 * The extra amounts added to the Bonus Wheel during Big Money Week in February 2002 are made permanent.
 * Contestants who fail to earn anything are now given $500 cash instead of parting gifts. This change is done to alleviate the cost of travel. It is also believed that the house minimum is increased to $500 at this point, although this could have been done earlier.
 * The opening is now blue rings in a reddish background, forming the logo. Once it's complete, the "Wheel! Of! Fortune!" chant is heard.
 * The category strips are now on blue with a green frame surrounding them.
 * "Happy Wheels" is given a new re-arrangement which samples the first few bars from the 1998 "Changing Keys".
 * For this season only, there is a "20th Anniversary" bug on the screen, which also forms part of the contestant window during the bonus round.
 * At some point this season, Same Name, Before & After and three-line puzzles are no longer used during Speed-Up rounds. This change was probably done for time constraints.
 * The Wheel pegs are updated again; they are now slightly shorter and bronze-colored. The Wheel spins a little more loosely than in the past two seasons, but it is still quite loud.
 * For this season, compilation weeks don't have names; they simply have the name of the full set week. For this season, there are four, and since then, there's always been one the season finale week.
 * If a contestant has friends and/or family members in the audience, they are now shown standing at the front of the audience at the start of the bonus round.
 * Fill In the Blank is known to have been retired by the start of the season, and possibly earlier.

September 2002 : (season starts September 2)
 * On September 2, a contestant flips over a Mystery Wedge for the first time. He finds a Bankrupt on the other side.
 * September 9 is Las Vegas Week, but taped in Culver City.
 * September 9 is a $100,000 loss.
 * On September 10, Charlie does not do the Mystery Round intro, and there is no Pat & Vanna chat at the end.
 * On September 10, a contestant mispronounces "jalapeño" when solving the Speed-Up puzzle JALAPENO AND DR PEPPER, but is still rulled correct. This is also the first known instance since 1989 of a Same Name spelling AND instead of using an ampersand, and one of the last known instances of Same Name in the Speed-Up round.
 * Donny Osmond makes a cameo on September 16.
 * Season 20 starts with 13 consecutive bonus round losses, accounting for the longest known losing streak in the show's history.
 * September 30 is Florida week, but taped in Culver City.

October 2002 :
 * October 7 is the last European Vacation week (or EuroTour, as in this edition), which had been in every season since Season 14, until Season 24.
 * October 21 is Wheel Takes Manhattan, but taped in Culver City.

November 2002 :
 * November 4, 11 and 18 are taped in Seattle. November 11 is a college week, and November 18, Family Week.
 * On one of the Seattle episodes, CINEMATOGRAPHY is the answer to a Speed-Up puzzle. This is believed to be the first time that a one-word answer fills in the entire second row of the current puzzle board, something which does not happen again until the bonus puzzle QUALIFICATIONS on May 13, 2011.

December 2002 :
 * The week of December 2 is a Family Week, despite there having been one just two weeks before in Seattle. This one is called Family Vacations, and has the Universal Studios Orlando background, similar to the one the week of May 22, 2000. This week does have a sixth show taping.
 * December 3 has a now very-rare instance of the same category being used twice in one game: the $2,000 Toss-Up is Things, and the $3,000 Toss-Up is Thing.
 * December 3 also has a rare instance of a one-word puzzle in Round 5.
 * December 4 has an Artist/Song puzzle, as opposed to the more common Song/Artist.
 * On December 4, a family pair sweeps the main game and wins $100,000 in the bonus round. This is the first main game sweep since the introduction of Toss-Ups.
 * December 5 has a rare appearance of Landmark as the $1,000 Toss-Up.
 * December 5 has a rare instance of a one-word puzzle in Round 4, even though the game is 5 rounds.
 * December 6 has a Jackpot win.
 * December 12 is a $100,000 loss.
 * December 30 is San Francisco Week, but taped in Culver City.
 * During the week of December 30, a contestant solves KELSEY GRAMMER AS DR. FRASIER CRANE with only the R's and S's revealed. The round takes about 45 seconds.
 * December 30 is a $100,000 loss.

January 2003 :
 * January 13 is the first Big Money week to occur only once in the season.
 * On January 13, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle WINNIPEG with _INNIPE_ revealed.
 * January 14 is a $100,000 loss.
 * On January 23, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle BLACKBIRD while his extra letters are still lighting up.

February 2003 :
 * The weeks of February 3, 10 and 17 are all taped at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of February 3.
 * On February 3, the contestant's letter choices reveal the bonus puzzle SNOWPLOW completely.
 * February 7 has a redundant answer of FIREPLACE MANTEL as the $2,000 Toss-Up.
 * February 7 has a rare appearance of Landmark.
 * February 10 is Sweethearts Week. It is also the last Hershey's Pot of Gold Sweepstakes.
 * On February 13, a pair of contestants sweeps the main game and win a Mercedes SLK in the Bonus Round.
 * February 17 is a Country Music Stars week, with two-person teams consisting of a contestant and a country music singer.
 * On February 17, Lee Ann Womack helps her contestant solve the bonus puzzle BOOKWORM at the last second with only ______RM revealed.
 * February 21 is a $100,000 loss.

March 2003 :
 * On March 6, the bonus puzzle is a redundant answer of CHURCH HYMN.
 * On March 13, in an unusual move, Pat gives the contestant a choice of three possible companies on a Slogan puzzle. The contestant gives the right answer.
 * March 13 is the first tie game since the introduction of Toss-Ups. The tie is broken by a fourth Toss-Up without cash value. This also creates a now very rare occurrence of the same category appearing three times within the same show, as Round 3, the tie-breaking Toss-Up and the bonus round are all Thing(s).
 * March 17 has a Jackpot win.
 * March 24 is Hawaii week, but taped in Culver City.
 * March 27 is a $100,000 loss.

April 2003 :
 * April 21 is a Salute to Chicago week, taped in Culver City.
 * April 24 is a $100,000 win. The contestant solves JOCKEY with _O__E_ revealed.
 * April 24 begins a 20 Cars in 20 Days sweepstakes in honor of the nighttime version's 20th season. Home viewers can enter for a chance to win one of 20 different cars.
 * The weeks of April 28, May 5 and May 12 are taped in San Diego.
 * April 30 is a $100,000 loss.

May 2003 : (season ends May 30)
 * On May 1, contestant Kara accidentally breaks her buzzer during the $2,000 Toss-Up. It is later fixed.
 * May 5 is Armed Forces Week.
 * On May 5, the total from the $3,000 Toss-Up is accidentally kept in the yellow contestant's bank at the start of Round 4. At one point in the round, she lands on the Prize wedge and then buys a vowel (despite having not yet landed on a dollar amount), but hits Bankrupt later in the round.
 * May 12 is a college week.
 * On May 15, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle ENJOY THE SHOW with EN_O_ THE SHOW revealed.
 * May 21 is a $100,000 win.

Season 21 (2003-04)
Season Changes :
 * The Prize Puzzle debuts. For Seasons 21 and 22, the Prize Puzzles occur randomly throughout the week. They are also signaled by a higher-pitched version of the puzzle reveal chimes, immediately after the normal chime; also, a "Prize Puzzle" bug replaces the normal one throughout the round.
 * The gold borders around the Wheel and puzzle board are replaced with blue and purple borders.
 * The video wall behind the panel now has moving pictures.
 * The Toss-Up wipe is now changed to a blue ring saying "Toss-Up" on the top and bottom, with the amount in the middle.
 * The On the Menu category makes its debut.
 * The category strips are now white text on a dark blue-violet strip, the left and right sides of which "fade" instead of having distinct ends.
 * The Jackpot wedge is changed, now showing a golden-colored logo with "JACKPOT" written on a triangle.
 * The opening is the logo forming (first the wheel representing the O in "of", then the rest of it), on a white background with green streaks. It is slightly changed after only the second week of the season.
 * Black carpeting is added to the front of the puzzle board (the portion that Vanna walks on).
 * Like the two from Season 19, sixth show taping weeks now have their own names.
 * For the first time since Season 5, the season does not begin on Labor Day.
 * This is the only known season in the show's history not to have a Family Week.
 * The entirety of the puzzle board is now shown during the bonus round, but the camera slowly zooms in, so that the ends of the board are still cut off once the timer starts.
 * This is the only season in which the $100,000 is not won.

September 2003 : (season begins September 8)
 * September 8 has a Jackpot win.
 * On September 12, the Headline puzzle QUEEN ELIZABETH CELEBRATES MILESTONE is followed by a trivia question. The contestant is asked whether it was Queen Elizabeth's 40th, 50th or 60th anniversary of coronation, and she provides the right answer.
 * On September 22, Pat takes a jab at Game Show Network (GSN) before the $3,000 Toss-Up by saying "I mean, there are shows on Game Show Network that don't give that away in a month!"

October 2003 :
 * On October 3, a contestant impersonates Fred Flintstone, which leads to Pat impersonating Barney Rubble.
 * On October 21, a contestant is given the bonus puzzle HICCUPS with only _____PS revealed, and Pat jokes that he will retire if she solves it. She does.
 * On October 27, Vanna's son and daughter, Niko and Giavonna, appear in costume at the end of the show.

November 2003 :
 * The weeks of November 3, 10 and 17 are taped at Radio City Music Hall.
 * On the weeks of November 3 and 10, the Jackpot display is inexplicably in the bottom left-hand corner instead of the top left-hand corner.
 * On November 6, a contestant fails to solve CAB FARE with _A_ FARE revealed.
 * On November 7, the original Round 1 puzzle is thrown out because a contestant was inadvertently allowed to buy a vowel despite having only $50 and the $10,000 prize.
 * On November 7, Pat pretends to wrestle the winning contestant after his bonus round win.
 * November 10 is the show's ceremonial 4,000th episode. Like the 3,000th episode, it is composed entirely of clips, narrated by Pat and Vanna. During the first clip montage, the 1978 opening used in the ceremonial 3,000th show is erroneously identified as 1983.
 * The rest of the November 10 week is Best Friends Week. Strangely, during reruns in Summer 2004, the November 3-6 episodes are packaged with November 10, which re-airs on a Friday.
 * November 14 has a grammatically incorrect bonus puzzle. The answer is PIECE OF MIND, a conflation of PEACE OF MIND and A PIECE OF YOUR MIND.
 * November 17 is an NBA Week, with teams composed of NBA players and contestants.
 * November 17 and 26 both have Artist/Song puzzles, as opposed to the more common Song/Artist.
 * Starting November 24, there is now a split-screen during the Pat and Vanna chat. The right side of the screen displays the show's disclaimers and the companies who provided Pat and Vanna's wardrobes. The first one is an orange-red background, and special theme related ones for road shows.
 * November 26 is a $100,000 loss.

December 2003 :
 * December 8 is the start of the Blue Cash Sweepstakes, which ends on December 19. This is a special "blue"-themed sweepstakes sponsored by American Express Blue Card. Home viewers may submit each episode's bonus puzzle on the show's website to enter a drawing which offers "blue"-themed prizes, such as tickets to Blue Man Group or a blue car.
 * December 8 is the debut of the two sponsors after the first commercial break. Charlie announces it by saying "Tonight's show brought to you by ..." Whenever pre-December 8 episodes rerun, they're edited to include the two sponsors.
 * On December 16, music director Steve Kaplan dies in a plane crash. One episode this week (possibly the 17th) shows a black-and-white picture of him after the credits.
 * On December 17, all three contestants hit Bankrupt consecutively in one round.
 * December 22 contestant Khalilah's mother also competed on the show.
 * December 22 has six rounds.
 * December 23 is a $100,000 loss.
 * For the week of December 29, the Jackpot score display is shown in the bottom left-hand corner for at least the third week this season. A music note-shaped bug appears in the upper left-hand corner.
 * On December 31, a contestant supposedly fails to solve the bonus puzzle MAID MARIAN with only the I's unrevealed.

January 2004 :
 * January 1 has an Author/Title puzzle, while January 21 has Title/Author.
 * January 2 has only the third known instance of a contestant making an incorrect solve on a fully-revealed puzzle. The answer is FRANCIS FORD & SOFIA COPPOLA, but she mispronounces "Coppola" and is ruled incorrect.
 * On January 2, a contestant accidentally calls C twice in the bonus round.
 * On January 2, the theme music continues to play under the first pre-recorded fee plug; it is normally cut off at the first fee plug and returns for the credit roll.
 * January 5 is an NFL Week, with teams composed of NFL players and contestants.
 * January 6 has a redundant puzzle, STAR CONSTELLATION, as the first Toss-Up.
 * On January 9, the contestant and player fail to solve GO FOR BROKE with _O FOR _RO_E revealed. Their guesses all begin with "TO".
 * On January 13 and 14, the same bonus round letters (G C D O) are called in that order. Both are won.
 * January 20 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * On January 28, a contestant makes an extremely close mis-solve in the bonus round. The puzzle is BACK TO BASICS, but the contestant says "BACK TO THE BASICS".

February 2004 :
 * February 2 is Aloha Week, Hawaii themed, but taped in Culver City.
 * February 3 and 6 each have six rounds.
 * On February 6, one of the older solve cues accidentally plays after the $3,000 Toss-Up.
 * On February 6, the bonus puzzle A NEW JOB is inexplicably categorized as Phrase instead of Thing.
 * The weeks of February 9, 16 and 23 are taped at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. February 9 is Sweethearts Week, and February 23, Teen Best Friends.
 * February 9 is a $100,000 loss.
 * On February 10, after THE FAMILY CIRCUS CARTOON is the answer to a puzzle, Pat and Vanna show a Family Circus strip where a character asks if Vanna White helps people exchange "wedding vowels".
 * February 11 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * On February 13, no one gives a right answer to the $1,000 Toss-Up, CORNER BARBERSHOP. Unusually for an unsolved Toss-Up, all three teams ring in; the last team rings in with only the N missing but says nothing.
 * On February 13, a pair of contestants technically sweeps the main game (disregarding the unsolved $1,000 Toss-Up) and wins $25,000 in the Bonus Round. Their letters fill in the answer A CLEAN SHAVE entirely.
 * On February 18, a contestant tries to call four of the six letters that are already given in the bonus round (T, N, S, R). After finally picking three more consonants and a vowel, she fails to solve the puzzle DAYBREAK.
 * On February 20, with a Slogan puzzle of OUTWIT OUTPLAY OUTLAST, a contestant loses her chance at the $3,000 bonus when an audience member shouts out the right answer of Survivor. This does not affect the outcome, as she wins the main game anyway.
 * On February 20, Pat stands over the Bonus Wheel and makes bizarre, pseudo-Indian chants before the contestant spins it.
 * All five winners on the week of February 16 are female.

March 2004 :
 * March 1 is Aruba week, with a sweepstakes.
 * On March 9, after SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS is the answer to a puzzle, Pat recites the entire SpongeBob SquarePants theme song.
 * March 12 is the first use of On the Menu in the Bonus Round.
 * March 15 is the debut of a new set with several clear arches and video screens on it, henceforth referred to on this Wiki as "dips and columns" for ease of reference.
 * March 15 is the debut of the Wheel Watchers Club, which allows home viewers who are members of the show's rewards program a chance to win the prize offered in every day's Prize Puzzle. During each Prize Puzzle, a SPIN ID is drawn; home viewers who see their SPIN ID on the show may go to the show's website to confirm their ID and claim the prize.
 * March 15's bonus puzzle A GROUP HUG is categorized as Event. The next two times this bonus puzzle appears (February 27, 2006 and January 12, 2010), it is categorized as Thing and doesn't have the A.
 * During the Pat & Vanna talk on March 15, Pat reminds Vanna of another Pat and Vanna talk from the previous November about how Vanna wished Thanksgiving could be at another time, for instance in March. He then reminds her it's now March, and surprises her with a turkey dinner.
 * March 17 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * March 17 has a now-rare instance of a bonus round prize worth less than $25,000: a (base model) Chrysler PT Cruiser valued at just over $19,000.
 * March 25 is a $100,000 loss.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of March 29.
 * March 29 has a slightly inaccurate Next Line Please puzzle. The answer is I DO NOT LIKE THEM SAM-I-AM, which Pat tells the contestant is followed by "I do not like green eggs and ham"; while this is technically correct, these two lines appear in the opposite order far more often in the book, and only appear in that order once.
 * A Wheel Changes Lives segment is seen in the Pat & Vanna talk for the week of March 29.
 * On March 31, a contestant mispronounces "plush" when solving THICK PLUSH BEACH TOWELS, but is asked to say the answer again. She pronounces it correctly the second time. Pat then explains that she was allowed to re-solve because the puzzle is a tongue twister.

April 2004 :
 * April 5 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place as the first Toss-Up.
 * April 8 has a very unusual, non-sequitur puzzle of SPARROWS & PARAKEETS as the first Toss-Up. These are two types of completely unrelated birds which are not commonly associated together.
 * April 9 has a very rare instance of a bonus puzzle without A, E, I, O or U in it. The answer is MYTHS.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of April 12. The losing streak extends to seven before another win occurs on the 21st.
 * The week of April 12 is Wheel Around the World, showing international versions of the show. This week uses the dips and columns set.
 * On April 12, the theme to the Australian version of Wheel of Fortune is used as a prize cue for the Wheel Prize, which is a trip to Australia.
 * On April 19, I'D LIKE TO BUY A VOWEL is the answer to the Round 1 puzzle.
 * April 28 is the last appearance of Fill In the Number. Interestingly, the puzzle has two different numbers in it (# SCORE AND # YEARS AGO); all other known instances had only one.
 * On April 28, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle PROOF POSITIVE with only the I's and V missing.
 * The month of April has three bonus puzzles that are five letters long: MYTHS on the 9th, VOGUE on the 12th and FIBER on the 20th.

May 2004 :
 * May 3, 10 and 17 are taped in San Francisco. May 3 is the first Mom & Me Week (with contestants playing with their mothers), and May 17 is College Week. These episodes are also the source of a frequently re-aired outtakes reel, where Vanna repeatedly flubs the line "Highlight your nightlife" while shooting a bumper.
 * May 3 has the only known use of Slogan as a Toss-Up. Since the answer is CHOOSY MOMS CHOOSE JIF, Pat obviously does not ask the "bonus" question. (This is also the third confirmed case of a Slogan puzzle having the product name in it.)
 * On May 3, Willie Mays makes a guest appearance after BASEBALL HALL OF FAME is the answer to a puzzle.
 * May 4 is the first of only two known appearances of Classic TV in the bonus round.
 * May 14 has a rare appearance of Headline.
 * On May 17, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle MY GIFT TO YOU at the last second with only the T's and O's revealed.
 * On May 21, a contestant wins the main game by $50.
 * For the weeks of May 24 and 31, even though they're in Culver City, there are theme-related backdrops for the split screen Pat & Vanna talk.
 * On May 25, one of the contestants is from Italy.
 * On May 25, a contestant makes an extremely close mis-solve in the bonus round by saying KODAK BEAR when the answer is KODIAK BEAR.
 * On May 28, a contestant sweeps the main game, but loses the bonus round.

June 2004 : (season ends June 4)
 * June 2 has seven rounds.
 * On June 2, the scoreboards glitch out at the end of the Speed-Up round.
 * On June 3, the contestant says the words BOILING and POINT at various times among his bonus round guesses, but never says the right answer of BOILING POINT.

Season 22 (2004-05)
Season Changes :
 * The opening starts with the show's title written in many different fonts, in orange letters. The letters then combine to form the edge of the Wheel. When the full title is displayed, the Wheel graphic forms the O in OF, and the rest of the letters are silver on a blue background. The Wheel graphic in this intro is extremely inaccurate, lacking both Lose A Turn and Bankrupt while including $1,500 and $2,000.
 * The Bonus Wheel is changed to a neon design to match the set.
 * The category strips are still white on dark blue, but darker than the ones in Season 21.
 * This season is the last one to begin on Labor Day.
 * Mystery Wedges now offer $1,000 per letter if they are not flipped over, and the wedges are changed from black to dark blue. Also, the prize offered in this round is sometimes $10,000 cash instead of a prize worth roughly $10,000.
 * The Final Spin now has a graphic wipe, written like the show's title in the opening.
 * A second gift tag is re-added; it is not currently known how long there was only one gift tag on the Wheel.
 * The Prize Puzzle bug sometimes shifts to "Have Your SPIN ID Ready".
 * The cash totals after the bonus round are now in a small but wide silver font.
 * The Pat & Vanna talk backdrop is a blue "starry sky" pattern.
 * For about the first two weeks, there is a cylindrical prop near the blue contestant area, with a Wheel of Fortune logo on it. Pat jokingly refers to as a soft drink machine.
 * The practice of editing out "null" turns (i.e., instances where player control goes a complete cycle without adding letters to the board) appears to have begun around this point. If this occurs in a Speed-Up round, it is typically masked by cutting to Pat.

September 2004 : (season starts September 6)
 * September 6 is the debut of Fun & Games. Interestingly, it is the second Toss-Up.
 * On September 6, at least one turn is accidentally edited out of Round 1. With one gift tag and the Free Spin, a contestant spins and calls a C, which is not in the puzzle. Immediately afterward, she hands in the Free Spin, and a P is suddenly on the board despite not being present before she called the C. Also, the contestant winds up with both gift tags at the end of the round, although one of them is never seen being hit.
 * September 6 has rare appearances of Title/Author and Landmark.
 * On September 10, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle GUITAR PICK with only ___TAR ____ revealed.
 * On September 13, the contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle, then says "I couldn't get HIPBONE either", in reference to the February 17, 2004 bonus answer. This is the only known instance of a contestant making reference to a previous episode's puzzle.
 * September 15 may be the debut of Best Seller.
 * On September 15, the A in the bonus puzzle WAX FRUIT takes an extremely long time to reveal after Vanna touches it.
 * On September 20, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle MATH WHIZ with only M_T_ ____ revealed.
 * By September 27, the "soft drink machine" prop has been removed.

October 2004 :
 * Starting on October 4, a small graphic and a chime now inform home viewers if there are no more vowels left in the puzzle. This one is written in black with a yellow rectangle backdrop popping out of the category strips.
 * October 6 is the first appearance of Fun & Games in the bonus round.
 * October 11 has a very rare instance of the Who Is It? category in plural form (Who Are They?).
 * On October 13, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle about a half-second before the buzzer.
 * On October 18, a contestant sweeps the main game but loses $25,000 in the bonus round.
 * October 25 is the last Halloween Week until 2008.
 * On October 25, the Jackpot wedge is redesigned to a sparkling red color.
 * October 25 is a $100,000 loss.
 * On October 29, no one gives a correct answer to the $1,000 Toss-Up, RIGHT OFF THE BAT.
 * October 29 has a Jackpot win.
 * On October 29, the bonus puzzle ALMOND JOY is very misleadingly categorized as Around the House, perhaps because it's a Halloween episode. This puzzle may have been one of the reasons behind renaming the On the Menu category to Food & Drink in Season 24.

November 2004 :
 * November 4 has a Jackpot win.
 * November 4 has a very non-sequitur puzzle of FLAMINGOS KOALAS & GIANT PANDAS; these three animals are not only extremely unrelated, but also native to completely different continents.
 * On November 5, Pat accidentally asks the contestant if he has any friends or family members in the audience, even though he was told during the commercial break that the contestant did not. Pat then blames his gaffe on "that damn ventriloquist" who was one of the other contestants.
 * The weeks of November 8 and 15 are taped in Philadelphia. November 15 is Family Week.
 * On November 16, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle THE VIEW with THE _IE_ revealed.
 * For the November 17 edition of Family Week, all three teams are composed of identical twins.
 * November 17 is the first of only two known appearances of Song Lyrics in the bonus round.
 * November 23 has an extremely rare appearance of Landmark in the bonus round. It is also the last time that category appears in the bonus round.

December 2004 :
 * On December 13, a contestant leaves with only $6,550.
 * On December 14, the contestant's letter choices fill in the bonus puzzle KEEPSAKE completely. The second K in fails to reveal for several seconds after Vanna touches it.
 * December 20 has six rounds and a Jackpot win.
 * On December 22, a contestant solves the $3,000 Toss-Up FA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA with only one of the A's showing.
 * December 28 has the first known instance of a puzzle with a colon in it. The answer is EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION.
 * On December 28 and 29, C M P A may have been called in the bonus round in that exact order for two consecutive days.

January 2005 :
 * The week of January 3 pairs contestants with NFL players, with Jim Brown narrating the gameplay.
 * Between January 7 and 14, the $25,000 bonus prize is hit six times in a row.
 * The week of January 17 has the first instance of $100,000 being hit twice in one week: on Monday and again on Thursday.
 * January 18 is the last appearance of Clue.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of January 17. This is part of a seven-loss streak that extends to the 25th.
 * On January 28, exactly one month after the first known instance of a puzzle with a colon in it, another puzzle uses one (the $3,000 Toss-Up, CSI: MIAMI). This episode was probably taped before December 28's episode, as Pat's reaction implies that it is the first colon.
 * January 31 is Teen Best Friends week from Philadelphia.

February 2005 :
 * February 3 is a $100,000 win, and the first since May 21, 2003.
 * The weeks of February 7, 14 and 21 are both taped in Las Vegas. February 7 is Sweethearts Week, and February 21 is Big Money.
 * On the Vegas episodes, the video wall is replaced with an oversized replica of a slot machine, with video screens for the slots. At the start of each round, they spin, rotating among 7's, BARs and cherries. They also show the cash amount during Toss-Up rounds, "Final Spin" during Speed-Up rounds and "Jackpot" if the Jackpot is won.
 * On February 18, a contestant sets a new one-round record of $54,000 in the Speed-Up round.
 * February 18 is a $100,000 loss; the contestant would have set a one-day record of $160,150 had she solved. The bonus puzzle, QUALITY TIME, causes another $100,000 loss on September 21, 2010.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of February 21.
 * Between February 28 and March 7, the $25,000 bonus prize is hit six days in a row.

March 2005 :
 * March 7 has six rounds.
 * On March 7, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle GRAVY BOAT despite getting no help from his extra letters.
 * On March 10, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle KAYAKING with only _____ING revealed.
 * On March 23, a contestant gets unintentional help in the bonus round. Although her letter choices of M P D A are correctly shown at the bottom of the screen, a B is revealed in the answer SUBWAY, which she solves. During the post-game discussion, Pat says that the P was misheard, and they will let her keep the prize.

April 2005 :
 * April 4 is a $100,000 loss.
 * April 6's bonus puzzle THE BEACH BOYS is inexplicably categorized as Show Biz instead of Proper Name.
 * April 11 has the last Big Money week until the one from Vegas in Season 28. This is also the last time that it's used more than once in the same season. This version also has the dips and columns set.
 * On April 11, no one gives a correct response to the $2,000 Toss-Up, WILD DINGO. All three contestants ring in with wrong answers.
 * On April 15, a contestant is wheelchair-bound and has to have his brother spin the Wheel for him.
 * The week of April 18, Passport to Adventure, is one of the only Culver City tapings without a sixth episode since the tradition of sixth episodes began.
 * On April 19, a contestant sweeps the main game and wins $25,000 in the bonus round.
 * The week of April 25 is Travel USA with the dips and columns set, even though there was a scenic week with this theme name the week of April 2, 2001, and a sixth show taping week with this theme name the week of April 15, 2002.

May 2005 :
 * May 2, 9 and 16 are taped at Bartle Hall in Kansas City, Missouri. May 2 is Mom & Me, and May 16 is College Week.
 * On May 6, a team solves the Speed-Up puzzle NON-STICK FRYING PAN with only the N's revealed.
 * May 10 is the last appearance of Title in the bonus round.
 * May 23 has the last Wheel Goes to the Movies Week, although movie-themed weeks continue to air: Season 23 has a Hollywood Walk of Fame week in January, and Seasons 24-26 have Holiday Movie Magic sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
 * May 27's bonus puzzle FAWN is believed to be the first four-letter bonus puzzle since BALI in November 2001. It is also the last four-letter bonus puzzle; however, A GULF appears early in Season 23.
 * May 30 is a $100,000 loss.

June 2005 : (season ends June 3)

Season 23 (2005-06)
Season Changes :
 * From this season onward, the season premiere is always the first Monday after Labor Day.
 * For all of Season 23, most shows begin with one of three animated intros featuring people getting ready to watch Wheel. One includes a man quickly driving home from work; one features a man seeming to get ready for a date (including a cat wearing an "I'm a Wheel Watcher" shirt); and one features a black family finishing dinner quickly before running into the living room. Each animation ends with the last bar of "Happy Wheels" and the logo in maroon with a blue background, as if it were joined in progress. These intros are not used during road shows. Some affiliates also use these animations as ads for the show.
 * Though the logo changes, the Prize Puzzle and Final Spin graphics and Pat & Vanna talk background don't.
 * Prize Puzzles now occur daily.
 * The question mark on the Mystery Wedges is now in a red circle instead of black.
 * The category strips are white on a blue strip that "fades" at the ends.
 * Cars won in the bonus round are now available to Wheel Watchers Club members. A SPIN ID is drawn after Charlie describes the car.
 * The first commercial break is moved to the end of Round 1; Rounds 2 (Jackpot) and 3 (Mystery) are now in their own segments. Also, there is also no longer a commercial break between the bonus round and credits; instead, a brief promotional spiel (e.g., Wheelmobile plug) airs at this point.
 * The "no more vowels" graphic is changed to a slanted appearance.
 * The consolation for contestants who fail to earn anything, and the house minimum, are both increased to $1,000. During episodes with two-person teams, both are $2,000.
 * The Wheel pegs are changed again, to a silver color.
 * The "$3,000 bonus" categories begin occurring much less frequently.

September 2005 : (season starts September 12)
 * The season starts with seven bonus round losses.
 * The week of September 12 is Wheel Around the World, with international versions of the show. This week has the dips and columns set.
 * September 12's Round 1 answer, LUXURY BOX OF KLEENEX, sets a record for the most X's in one puzzle.
 * September 12 is the debut of TV Title.
 * On September 12, a contestant asks to buy a vowel after Pat has reminded the contestants that there are no more vowels in the puzzle. Because the vowel called is already in the puzzle, she loses her turn.
 * September 12 has a now-rare appearance of Next Line Please.
 * September 19 is the debut of Movie Title.
 * Between September 20 and 27, six bonus puzzles in a row are Thing.
 * September 21 has a very rare instance of Star/Role appearing in Round 4.
 * On September 21, a contestant sweeps the main game and wins $25,000 in the bonus round.
 * September 22 has seven rounds.
 * September 26 is the first of three Wheel Watchers Club weeks in the season. This is the first time other than Big Money a week has been seen more than twice per season. This week has the dips and columns set.
 * September 26's bonus puzzle, A GULF, is one of the last examples of a puzzle with a redundant A at the beginning.
 * Except for the sixth show tapings of the weeks of September 12 and 26, the week of September 26 is the last time a car is the Mystery Round prize. From those episodes onward, it is always a $10,000 prize on the other side.
 * September 27 appears to be the debut of In the Kitchen.
 * On September 28, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle KICKBOXING with _I_____ING revealed.
 * September 29 has two males and one female contestant.

October 2005 :
 * Starting on October 3, a graphic effect now shows home viewers what is on the other side of a Mystery wedge if it is landed on.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of October 3.
 * On October 4, an audience member shouts out the right answer to the question asked by a Next Line Please puzzle.
 * October 6's contestants are all female.
 * The weeks of October 10, 17 and 24 do not have any animated intros. October 17 is a sixth-show week.
 * Kurt Warner gives introductions on October 10 and 13, making the 10th the first show not to have the animations. This is also the debut of a maroon-colored "full" intro used whenever the animations are not.
 * October 13 is the debut of Song Title.
 * October 18's sixth show taping is of the previous week.
 * On October 21, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle SKUNK despite getting no help from their extra letters.
 * The week of October 24 is a College Week, and the first from Culver City. It is also the debut of College Life.
 * On October 24, the Jackpot wedge is re-colored shiny silver like the $5,000 wedge, with a red triangular Jackpot logo.
 * On October 24, a contestant ties the one-round record of $54,000 in the Speed-Up round.
 * October 25 is the debut of Rock On! It seems that for the next couple seasons, it is used only on college weeks, but is later used on any week.
 * On October 25, the bonus puzzle BIG GULP is very misleadingly categorized as On the Menu; this puzzle may have been one of the reasons behind renaming On the Menu to Food & Drink in Season 24.
 * The week of October 31 is the last NBA Week.

November 2005 :
 * The weeks of November 7 and 14 are taped at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. The show was supposed to have taped three weeks there, but Hurricane Katrina forced the crew to evacuate before the third week could be taped. This is the only time that a remote taping had to be canceled. The contestants who were supposed to have appeared on this third week (which would've been a Family Week) eventually appear in May 2006.
 * November 14 is a $100,000 win.
 * On November 15, a contestant is only one peg away from the $100,000 envelope.
 * Round 1 is edited out of the November 16 episode, and the $1,000 Toss-Up is edited out on the 17th. Both puzzles were removed because their answers were deemed insensitive to Hurricane Katrina victims. In place of the rounds, viewers see clips of Pat and Vanna asking viewers to donate to Hurricane Katrina relief funds, then announcing who won the round. When the episodes are rerun in summer 2006, the Toss-Up is restored (the answer was THE LOUISIANA SUPERDOME), but Round 1 on the November 16 episode is replaced with another clip of Pat and Vanna thanking those who donated.
 * The week of November 21 is a Teen Best Friends week, and the first in Culver City since Season 20.
 * November 21 is the second $100,000 win of the season, only one week after the first.
 * Between November 21 and 23, three contestants in a row call P M D A in the bonus round. However, the letters are called in a different order each time.
 * The week of November 28 does not have any animated intros.

December 2005 :
 * December 2 has the only appearance of Best Seller in the bonus round. The puzzle, JOY OF COOKING, is not solved.
 * The week of December 5 has animated intros on Monday, Tuesday and Friday.
 * On December 5, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle about a second after the buzzer.
 * December 7 is a $100,000 loss.
 * From December 12 until the end of the season, the animated intros are used on on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday only.
 * December 12 begins the Sony Winner Wonderland sweepstakes. Home viewers may collect game pieces from Circuit City stores or the show's website. If an episode's bonus puzzle matches the answer on a game piece, the home viewer may send in the piece for a chance to win a $25,000 prize. Also, all of the prizes this week are Sony products, making for a now-rare occurrence of Wheel prizes that are not trips.
 * On December 15, no one gives a correct answer to the $3,000 Toss-Up, BUDDY MOVIE.
 * The holiday themed week the week of December 19 is the first that has a name other than Happy Holidays. This version is 'Tis the Season.
 * December 21 begins a streak of seven consecutive bonus round losses, spread over two weeks.
 * December 23 has a rare appearance of Rhyme Time in the bonus round. This is only its second known appearance in the bonus round; its first was at an unknown point in Season 20.
 * On the week of December 26, four contestants land on the car (a Chevy HHR) in the bonus round.

January 2006 :
 * January 4 has a now-rare instance of a duplicated category; both the $2,000 Toss-Up and bonus round are Living Thing.
 * On January 4, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle HEIFER despite getting no help from her extra letters.
 * The week of January 9 is Hollywood Walk of Fame week, and the first time a movie themed week isn't in May or has the theme name Wheel Goes to the Movies.
 * January 9 is the last appearance of On the Menu in the Bonus Round. Food & Drink is first used in the Bonus Round on October 17.
 * When the January 10 episode is rerun in the summer, the Pat & Vanna talk is replaced with a clip of Vanna getting her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
 * January 11 has six rounds.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of January 16. This is part of an eight-day winning streak.
 * The January 20 sixth show taping episode, from Las Vegas Week, is the first time the sixth show taping is aired before the full set week, which is the week of January 30.
 * January 23 is the last NFL Players Week, which is taped in Fort Lauderdale.
 * January 24 is a $100,000 win.
 * The week of January 30 is Las Vegas Week, but taped in Culver City. Instead of the video wall, it has the slot machine background from the February 2005 Vegas shows behind the panel.
 * January 30 is the first appearance of In the Kitchen in the bonus round.
 * January 31 has six rounds.

February 2006 :
 * On February 2, a contestant accidentally calls S and T in the bonus round.
 * The weeks of February 6, 13 and 20 are taped at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
 * February 6 is Sweethearts Week. Since February 13 is Fun in the Sun and February 20, Welcome Aboard.
 * February 6 is a $100,000 win.
 * February 8 starts a streak of seven consecutive bonus round losses spread over two weeks.
 * On February 10, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * February 15 is the second known instance of a contestant choosing not to look at the bonus round envelope after losing it.
 * February 16 is the second appearance of In the Kitchen in the bonus round.
 * February 16 is a $100,000 loss.
 * February 20 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * February 21 is the second of only two known appearances of Classic TV in the bonus round.
 * February 24 has two males and one female contestant.
 * February 27 is Soap Stars Week, with teams composed of a contestant and a soap opera star.
 * February 28 is a $100,000 win. It also sets a new one-day record of $142,550.

March 2006 :
 * The March 2 game ends in a tie. As was the case on the last tie game on March 13, 2003, the tie is broken by a fourth Toss-Up.
 * The week of March 6 does not have any animated intros.
 * The week of March 13 is Spring Break. This edition has the dips and columns set, while the edition of the week of March 26, 2007 doesn't.
 * March 13 has two males and one female contestant.
 * March 14 is a $100,000 loss.
 * March 17 has two males and one female contestant.
 * March 20 is the second Wheel Watchers Club week. This edition has the dips and columns set. After this week, this is the first instance of two consecutive dips and columns weeks.
 * March 20 has two males and one female contestant.
 * March 23 has a rare appearance of Rhyme Time in the bonus round.
 * March 27 has six rounds.

April 2006 :
 * April 3 is Armed Forces Week.
 * On April 6, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle about a second after the buzzer.
 * April 18 has two males and one female contestant.
 * The week of April 24, Ultimate Adventures, has the dips and columns set even though previous editions (including one since the debut of the dips and columns set) don't.
 * April 28 has six rounds.
 * April 28 is a $100,000 loss.

May 2006 :
 * The weeks of May 1, 8 and 15 are taped at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.
 * The week of May 1 is Great Outdoors week.
 * The week of May 8 is Mom & Me week, with mother and son/mother and daughter teams playing.
 * On May 8 and 9, two teams in a row call their vowel first in the Bonus Round.
 * On May 8, Pat and Vanna mention during their talk that there is a person named Vana White, who is then introduced.
 * May 10 has the third appearance of In the Kitchen in the bonus round. It does not appear in the bonus round again until April 2007.
 * The week of May 15 is a College Week. This makes Denver one of the few locales not to have a week with the name of their locale in the theme name.
 * During the week of May 15, the show holds a Text Me to Paradise sweepstakes.
 * May 15 is a $100,000 win.
 * May 22 is a Family Week, consisting of contestants who were originally to have appeared on the canceled set of New Orleans tapings earlier in the season.
 * May 22 has a rare appearance of Rock On!
 * May 24 has a rare appearance of Family.
 * On May 25, a Same Name puzzle spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * The week of May 29 does not have any animated intros. Instead, before the intro, Vanna promotes the week's Wheel Across America theme at the top of the show.
 * May 30 contestant Timothy Sternberg previously won $16,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2001.
 * May 31 has a now-rare appearance of Where Are We?

June 2006 : (season ends June 9)
 * On June 1, a Same Name puzzle spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * June 5 is the third Wheel Watchers Club week, composed of sixth episodes.
 * June 5's sixth show taping is of the previous week, making 6 consecutive episodes of the same set.

Season 24 (2006-07)
Season Changes :
 * Both Wheel and sister show Jeopardy! now broadcast in high definition.
 * The Jackpot wedge now offers $500 per consonant.
 * The animated intros seen throughout most of Season 23 are retired.
 * The puzzle-solve cue is changed to the current one.
 * The opening is a gold logo on a multicolored wheel, flipping and inverting before the cheer. For the season premiere week (and its sixth show taping), there's a flashback clip during Charlie's "Ladies and gentlemen..." announcement.
 * The logo bug in the bottom left-hand corner is changed from transparent to gold, and is only shown during the intros and board shots.
 * During the beginning of Round 3, a graphic now "drops down" from the top of the screen to show the contestants' names and scores at that point.
 * The Round 1 prize plug begins and ends with the trip graphics "zooming" through the center of the Wheel.
 * The Prize Puzzle and Final Spin graphic wipes are now those words written in gold with the multicolored wheel background.
 * The opening and closing music beds are changed. Strangely, this season's opening music is used only for this season.
 * The category strips are changed again, keeping the white-on-blue motif but adding a slight sunburst effect to the blue field and changing the font yet again.
 * The "no more vowels" graphic is now written in white and curved. It now uses a fireworks sound effect.
 * For the intro to the two sponsors after the first commercial break, "the following" is added after "brought to you by".
 * SPIN ID reveals are changed from "If you're a Wheel Watchers Club member and your SPIN ID is [SPIN ID number], you're a winner" to "Hey Wheel Watchers, if this is your SPIN ID [SPIN ID number], you're a winner."
 * The Wheel wedges no longer have white outlines around the digits.
 * The Pat & Vanna talk backdrop is now purple with the show's logo at the top.

September 2006 : (season starts September 11)
 * On September 11, On the Menu is renamed Food & Drink. Pat points out this change when the category comes up in Round 1.
 * On September 11, the Bankrupt slide whistle is not heard when a contestant finds a Bankrupt on the other side of a Mystery wedge.
 * On September 15, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle FUEL GAUGE without any help from their extra letters.
 * September 26 has a promo of the Sony Pictures Animation movie Open Season, which is also part of the Round 1 prize, before the opening.
 * September 26's bonus puzzle FICUS is the first five-letter bonus puzzle since SKUNK on October 21, 2005.
 * September 27 has the last known appearance of a "decades" category (The 70's). These categories had been extremely sporadic in the last several seasons.
 * On September 27, the bonus puzzle has a redundant "the" at the beginning (THE FAIRWAY).
 * September 28 has a rare appearance of Rock On!
 * On September 28, the contestant's original bonus puzzle is thrown out after she calls her letters, apparently because it was realized that she did not spin the bonus wheel all the way around. The replacement bonus puzzle, WAVE GOODBYE, is inexplicably categorized as Thing instead of Phrase.

October 2006 :
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of October 2.
 * October 10 is the first $100,000 loss of the season.
 * On October 17, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle HOT WINGS (also the first appearance of Food & Drink in the Bonus Round) despite getting no help from their extra letters.
 * October 20 has two males and one female contestant.
 * October 23 is a College Week from Culver City.
 * October 23 is the debut of the Wild Card, which is placed over the green $700.
 * October 25 begins a streak of eight consecutive bonus round losses, spread out over two weeks.
 * October 27 is the last appearance of Who Said It?
 * The weeks of October 30 and November 6 and 13 are taped in Dallas. October 30 is a Best Friends week.
 * October 30 has a rare appearance of Headline.

November 2006 :
 * November 2 has a rare appearance of Landmark
 * On November 8, nobody gives a correct respopnse to the $2,000 Toss-Up, STAR POWER.
 * The November 8 episode, with a bonus puzzle of JULY FOURTH, is coincidentally rerun on July 4, 2007.
 * November 9 has two males and one female contestant.
 * November 13 is Family Week.
 * On November 14, the bonus puzzle is a Phrase, but the category strip for Thing is put up by mistake.
 * On November 15, the Wild Card is used in the bonus round for the first time; although the extra letter is not in the puzzle, it is solved. The Wild Card is used in the bonus round again the next day, and once again, the letter called with it is not in the puzzle.
 * On November 20, the puzzle THE CROCODILE HUNTER is used as a Prize Puzzle for a trip to Australia. At the end of the show, a segment is dubbed in, with Pat explaining that the episode was taped before the death of Steve Irwin.

December 2006 :
 * December 4 is the first Holiday Movie Magic week.
 * December 5 has a now-rare occurrence of a duplicated category within the main game, as both the $1,000 Toss-Up and Jackpot Round are Event.
 * December 5 is a $100,000 win.
 * December 6 is the first instance of a Wild Card letter being in the bonus puzzle.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of December 11. This is part of a seven-loss streak spanning from the 8th to 18th.
 * December 22 is the second of only two known instances of Song Lyrics in the bonus round.
 * The holiday themed week the week of December 25 is Spirit of the Season. It has the set from the previous season's Denver shows.
 * December 26 has a rare appearance of Headline.

January 2007 :
 * January 1 is Las Vegas Week, but taped in Culver City. Instead of the video wall, it has the slot machine background from the February 2005 Vegas shows behind the panel.
 * The bonus puzzle seen on January 3 is a replacement puzzle; the original bonus puzzle was thrown out due to an error in revealing the letters. For some reason, the bonus wheel spin was also re-shot with a dummy envelope in place, but the contestant played for the prize that was picked on the original spin.
 * January 8 has six rounds.
 * On January 8, all three contestants make incorrect guesses on the Round 6 puzzle FRUIT SALAD.
 * January 9 is a sixth episode from College Week.
 * January 18 has two males and one female contestant.
 * For the week of January 22, as well as the sixth show taping, all episodes (which follow the two females/one male contestant rule) have male winners.
 * On January 24, a contestant loses $29,950 to Bankrupt.
 * On January 25, a very short contestant has his fiancée spin the Wheel for him.
 * January 26 has six rounds. Round 6 is a rare one-word puzzle.
 * The week of January 29 is Teen Best Friends week.
 * On January 29, the winning contestants' Wild Card is not taken away after they hit a Bankrupt. The mistake is never realized, and they even go to the bonus round with it. However, they fail to solve the bonus puzzle.

February 2007 :
 * The weeks of February 5, 12 and 19 are taped at the Charleston Area Convention Center in Charleston, South Carolina.
 * On February 5, new music beds debut for the Toss-Ups, Speed-Up and Bonus Round. The new Bonus Round music features a ticking clock sound.
 * February 5 has two males and one female contestant.
 * On February 7, a contestant ties the one-round record of $54,000 in the Speed-Up, and after winning a Winnebago in the bonus round, leaves with $128,177.
 * February 8 has a category rarely seen in plural form (Places).
 * February 8 has a rare appearance of Best Seller.
 * The week of February 12 is Country Music Stars week, in which each team is composed of a country music singer and a contestant.
 * On February 13, Julie Roberts and contestant Peter Buccalletto sweep the main game and win $100,000 in the bonus round.
 * On February 20, a contestant wins the main game by $50.
 * February 23 is a $100,000 loss.
 * On Februrary 27, no one gives a correct response to the $1,000 Toss-Up FROM SOUP TO NUTS.

March 2007 :
 * On March 5, a contestant accidentally calls an M after buying a vowel, but before spinning again. He is then told to spin again and credited with the M, which is not in the puzzle.
 * March 7 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place as the $3,000 Toss-Up.
 * March 14 has six rounds.
 * March 22 has six rounds. Strangely, round 5 is a one-word puzzle instead of round 6.
 * On March 22, one round (which one is unknown) with the answer of HE SAID SHE SAID is thrown out and replaced, because a contestant said HE SAYS SHE SAYS and was credited with a correct response. According to the contestant who made this erroneous solve, all three contestants were given a $100 bonus.

April 2007 :
 * April 5 is a $100,000 loss.
 * April 6 has three female contestants. This does not happen again until March 21, 2011.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of April 9. The losing streak extends to nine before another bonus round win comes on the 20th.
 * The April 9 sixth show taping is of the Happy Holidays week minus the decorations. This is the first time that a sixth show taping has set alterations between the full set week and the sixth show taping, and the first sixth show taping of a holiday-themed week.
 * On April 9, the winning contestant has only $8,900.
 * On April 11, Pat gives the winning contestant a Wheel of Fortune lunchbox after he loses the bonus round.
 * The week of April 16, Fun in the Sun, has the dips and columns set even though previous editions had a scenic set.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of April 23. This does not happen again until the week of March 7, 2011.
 * April 23 is Choose Your Own Vacation week, where the Round 1 prize is an option of four vacations that a contestant can choose.
 * On April 23, a gold "$50,000 Cash" graphic is added to the Sony Card announcement after SPIN ID draws.
 * April 23 has two males and one female contestant.
 * April 24 has a rare appearance of In the Kitchen in the bonus round, the first since May 10, 2006. The contestant solves the bonus puzzle BACKSPLASH, then asks Pat "What's a backsplash?"
 * The weeks of April 30, May 7 and May 14 are in San Diego. April 30 is the last Mom & Me week (even though Mother's Day is May 13), and May 14 is Armed Forces week.

May 2007 :
 * On May 1, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of May 21. This is part of an eight-loss streak spread over three weeks.
 * Between May 22 and 29, six bonus puzzles in a row are Thing(s).
 * May 28 is Teachers Week.
 * May 30 is a $100,000 win.

June 2007 : (season ends June 8)
 * On June 6, the winning contestant has only $8,800.
 * On June 8, a contestant impersonates Charlie's "The prices of the prizes have been furnished to the contestants prior to the show." spiel from the earliest years.
 * Merv Griffin dies on August 12.

Season 25 (2007-08)
Season Changes :
 * The opening is a photomosaic of flashbacks, which zoom out to form a yellow "25" logo, with a blue background and several multicolored squares for confetti. The edge of this is seen as the HD border. This is also seen as the Pat & Vanna talk backdrop, with a yellow "25".
 * The Prize Puzzle graphic is now a globe with the words PRIZE PUZZLE written in yellow, with a blue background. However, the Final Spin graphics don't change.
 * The Jackpot sponsor's logo is no longer shown on the Jackpot display.
 * The second Bankrupt is moved two spaces to the viewer's left, away from the Jackpot space.
 * Many episodes begin with a pre-recorded greeting from a celebrity, congratulating the show on its 25th Anniversary. Others show a flashback clip leading into the first commercial break.
 * Two special wedges are also added to honor the show's 25th season: a "25" prize and the Big Money Wedge.
 * "Happy Wheels" is given a new re-orchestration by Frankie Blue and John Hoke.
 * The category strip font is changed again, but the rest of the strip is not. This is the first season since Season 17 that the category strips didn't change thoroughly.
 * Even though it had changed only in February, the Speed-Up music changes again.
 * The puzzle board monitors are replaced with flat-screen LCDs.
 * Hitting the wedge with the Free Spin disc now offers both the disc and $300 per letter, instead of just the disc. To reflect this change, Free Spin is placed higher on the wedge, so that it does not obscure the 3.
 * Only two locales are now used on road shows.
 * The amount of sixth show taping weeks per season increases from 4 to 5. Four of the five make up the Thanks a Million Sweepstakes in February, and don't have any theme names beyond that.
 * Very strangely, Merv Griffin's death is never mentioned on the show.

September 2007 : (season starts September 10)
 * On September 10, the scoreboards are made taller. They now display the score in very tall numbers, and the contestant's name in very small letters over the score. These scoreboards also appear on this week's sixth episode.
 * The week of September 10 is the first time that the "dips and columns" set is seen with a starry sky background. While the debut of the dips and columns week is Party Time, this version is Let's Party. For this week, the columns are multicolored.
 * September 10 has the fifth appearance of In the Kitchen in the bonus round, and the first since April 24.
 * September 10 also begins the season with a $100,000 loss.
 * September 12 is the debut of What Are You Doing?
 * On September 17, the scoreboards are changed again; the numbers are moved upward slightly, and the name is replaced with an arrow. This change was done most likely because the style of scoreboard used on the 10th was too hard to read, and the numbers were frequently blocked by the spokes of the Wheel.
 * September 17 is Casino Night, Las Vegas themed, but taped in Culver City. Instead of the video wall, it has the slot machine from the February 2005 Vegas shows behind the panel.
 * On September 19, a contestant loses $33,450 by missolving the third puzzle by pluralizing "BEACH."
 * September 26 is the sixth and final appearance of In the Kitchen in the bonus round.

October 2007 :
 * October 1 has an unusual instance in the Mystery Round. A contestant hits a Mystery Wedge, calls a letter that reveals the puzzle entirely, then flips the Mystery Wedge to find a Bankrupt on the other side. As a result, the completely filled-in puzzle gets passed on to the next contestant, who solves it.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the weeks of October 1 and 8. The streak includes two $100,000 losses, on the 4th and 8th. Overall, the month has only five bonus round wins out of 23.
 * October 15 is the first of three weeks this season to have a double-width $2,500 cash space. It is sponsored by Dawn dish soap, whose logo is also on the wedge.
 * October 15 is a College Road Trip week.
 * October 23 has the only use of What Are We Making? The puzzle is HERSHEY BAR GRAHAM CRACKER GOOEY ROASTED MARSHMALLOW, which the contestant correctly identifies as the ingredients to S'mores. This is the third known "official" category to be used only once. Also, this may be the longest puzzle ever used on the show, as it uses all but six spaces.
 * October 25 is a $100,000 loss.
 * The week of October 29 is the second week to have the double-width $2,500 space.
 * October 29 has a five-letter bonus round answer of RUGBY, the first five-letter bonus puzzle since September 26, 2006. The contestant solves it despite getting no help from their extra letters.

November 2007 :
 * The weeks of November 5, 12 and 19 are all taped in New York City.
 * November 5 is Best Friends Week.
 * November 12 is the last week to use the double-width $2,500 space.
 * November 12 is a week with celebrity/contestant teams.
 * The week of November 12 uses a special "People" category related to People magazine. Each puzzle is a show-biz/celebrity gossip type puzzle that might be found in the magazine, and the category strip uses the People magazine logo.
 * November 15 is the first instance of a contestant getting no help from their Bonus Round letters even with the help of a Wild Card.
 * November 19 is Heroes Week, which consists of men and women who have done good to New York City. As a result, this set of New York episodes is the only known instance of a road show having no "normal" matches.
 * Sometime in November, the flashbacks are always seen Mondays and Wednesdays, and the celebrity messages always Tuesdays and Thursdays.
 * November 30 is the debut of Fictional Family.

December 2007 :
 * December 3 is Wheel Across America, just like the week of December 3, 2001 was.
 * December 10's bonus puzzle WIVES is the second five-letter bonus puzzle of the season.
 * December 19 has six rounds.
 * December 21 is a $100,000 win.
 * The holiday themed week the week of December 24 is Happy Holidays for the first time since Season 22. This version has the Denver set from May 2006, as does Great Outdoors the previous week, making this the first time since Resort and Spa weeks in Season 21 that a non-dips and columns set is seen twice in one season, and the first non-dips and columns week to be seen for two consecutive weeks.
 * December 24 has a rare appearance of Rhyme Time in the bonus round, for the first time since March 2006. It does not appear again in the bonus round until May 2, 2011.
 * The December 24 episode ends with a reunion of the three contestants who appeared on Pat's first show (December 28, 1981). Clips are also shown from that episode.
 * December 27 is a $100,000 loss.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of December 24.

January 2008 :
 * On January 2, Pat and Vanna show off a ceramic Dalmatian.
 * January 7 has six rounds.
 * January 9 is the first appearance of What Are You Doing? in the bonus round.
 * January 17 is the second appearance of What Are You Doing? bonus round. Although it is still used in the main game as usual, it does not appear in the bonus round again until December 2010.
 * January 28 is a Teen Best Friends week.
 * On January 30, a team solves the completely revealed Slogan puzzle EAT FRESH as "Subway, eat fresh". After a presumed stop-down, their answer is ruled correct, and they receive the $3,000 bonus for identifying the product; this incident goes against precedent that puzzles have to be solved exactly as they appear on the puzzle board. It should be noted that Slogan only appears once after this, and the last remaining "$3,000 bonus" categories are gradually phased out soon afterward.

February 2008 :
 * February 1's bonus puzzle ICING is the last five-letter bonus puzzle.
 * February 4-29 is the Thanks a Million Sweepstakes. All episodes in this timespan are sixth episodes. After the first commercial break (or the second if Round 1 is a Prize Puzzle) and Bonus Round, a SPIN ID is drawn, and the owner of that SPIN ID wins $25,000. Since there are 40 over those 4 weeks, that makes $1,000,000 total.
 * February 4 is a sixth episode from the season premiere week, with the larger scoreboards.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of February 4.
 * On February 13, BUYING A VOWEL is the answer to the $1,000 Toss-Up.
 * February 13 is a $100,000 loss.
 * February 19 is the last appearance of Slogan.
 * On February 19, Pat eats a piece of cake throughout one round, and occasionally addresses contestants with his mouth full. This gag is a callback to earlier in the same episode, when he noticed one of the cameramen eating a piece of cake.
 * February 25 is the last known instance of Author/Title being used instead of Title/Author.
 * February 27 is a sixth episode from Teen Best Friends week.

March 2008 :
 * March 3 is the last known instance of Artist/Song being used instead of Song/Artist.
 * On March 3, the bonus puzzle BUYING POWER is categorized as Thing. The last time this answer was used (April 13, 2004), it was categorized as Phrase.
 * The weeks of March 10 and 17 comprise a two-week stretch of bonus round losses. The latter week is particularly notable, as any bonus round win that week would have offered $10,000 worth of QVC merchandise on the contestant's birthday.
 * March 11 is a $100,000 loss. The contestant says the answer just after the buzzer.
 * March 14 has six rounds.
 * During the week of March 17, the Wheel prize is a $5,000 QVC shopping spree.
 * On March 18, the bonus puzzle RHYTHM GUITAR is inexplicably categorized as Show Biz.
 * March 19 has two males and one female contestant.
 * March 24 has a rare appearance of Fictional Family.
 * March 24 is a $100,000 win.
 * The week of March 31 is Wheel Around the World, with international versions of the show. This edition has the dips and columns set, and the first of the season to have the blue sky as opposed to the starry sky background.
 * March 31 is a $100,000 loss, setting a new record of nine $100,000 losses in one season.
 * With only three wins and 18 losses, March 2008 is believed to have the fewest bonus round wins of any month in the show's history (although September 2002 may be close).

April 2008 :
 * On April 1, as an April Fools' Day gag, Pat fools Vanna into thinking that he is actually bald. As revealed later in the week, he achieved this by wearing a real wig over a bald wig. The prank is removed when the episode is rerun in July 2008.
 * April 2's bonus round win is only the second win in the 24-episode period between March 10 and April 10.
 * The week of April 7 is the first Going Green week, which occurs at around this time every season. While this and the Season 28 versions have a scenic set, the Season 26-27 versions are dips and columns.
 * On April 9, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle KIND OFFER with _IND _FFER revealed.
 * April 9 has two males and one female contestant.
 * Between April 7 and 10, the contestant in the blue position is the top winner for four days in a row.
 * The week of April 14 is the first Pet Lovers Week, in which contestants show off their pets (though not in the sixth show taping shows for any editions of this week). While this edition is dips and columns with the blue sky background, the Season 26-28 versions aren't.
 * April 14 has a rare appearance of Landmark.
 * April 17 is the last appearance of Next Line Please.
 * April 23 is the last appearance of Who Is It?
 * On April 23, a contestant loses $35,000 to Bankrupt, which may be a record.
 * April 25 has six rounds.
 * The weeks of April 28, May 5 and May 12 are all taped at Navy Pier in Chicago. April 28 is a College Week, May 5 is a Family Week, and May 12 is Get in the Game (which has to do with Chicago sports teams).

May 2008 :
 * May 1 has HAMSTER WHEEL OF FORTUNE as a Before & After.
 * May 2 is the last appearance of Fictional Character(s) in the bonus round.
 * Between May 6 and 13, the car is hit six times in a row in the bonus round.
 * May 6 has the last appearance of Classic TV until April 2, 2010.
 * May 9 has a rare appearance of Family.
 * On May 13, a contestant makes incorrect solves on three puzzles.
 * On May 13, the top winner has only $8,750.
 * On May 15, a contestant sweeps the main game and wins $25,000 in the bonus round.
 * May 15 and 23 have two males and one female contestant.
 * May 26 is Dads & Grads Week. It has the dips and columns set with the blue sky background.
 * May 30 has a rare appearance of Fictional Family.

June 2008 : (season ends June 6)
 * June 6 has six rounds.

Season 26 (2008-09)
Season Changes :
 * The opening is the logo forming, starting with the wheel forming the O in "of", in silver with a Hollywood background consisting of just blue and white. This is also in the motif for the Final Spin graphic, and the Hollywood motif is also the HD border and Pat & Vanna talk background. Also, the window for the Pat & Vanna talk is much smaller and has 13 lights underneath flashing from left to right.
 * The Prize Puzzle bug is now a globe with only the word "Prize!" written on it in cursive.
 * The Big Money and "25" prize wedges are both retired.
 * The $10,000 cash prize wedge is replaced with the identically-structured Million-Dollar Wedge.
 * Any week comprising the "leftover" sixth episodes from a taping session is now themed as America's Game.
 * The category strips are changed to their current design, with white text on a background changing color from purple to blue to green.
 * The Jackpot wedge is changed again to its current design. It is in the same housing as the Big Money wedge from Season 25.
 * Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! now air on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) in Canada.
 * This season starts a trend of using fewer categories in the bonus round.

September 2008 : (season starts September 8)
 * On September 11, a contestant sweeps the main game and wins $30,000 in the bonus round.
 * The week of September 15, Nothing But the Best, has the dips and columns set with the blue background.
 * On September 19, no one gives a correct answer to the $1,000 Toss-Up, FINE WINE. The first contestant to ring in gives an incorrect answer with only the W missing, so neither of the other contestants has an opportunity to ring in.
 * The week of September 22 is a Teen Best Friends week.

October 2008 :
 * October 3 is the first instance of a contestant taking the Million-Dollar Wedge to the bonus round. They fail to win $25,000, and Pat reveals the location of the $1,000,000 envelope on the Bonus Wheel.
 * The week of October 6, Ultimate Adventures, has the dips and columns set with the blue background, even though the January 10, 2005 week with this theme name didn't.
 * October 6 is a $100,000 loss.
 * On October 6, a contestant uses the Wild Card on $550.
 * October 10 has a rare appearance of Headline.
 * October 10 is the last appearance of Proper Name in the bonus round.
 * The week of October 13 is Canada Week, done to honor the show's airing on CBC and probably also in honor of Canadian Thanksgiving on October 13. Each episode this week has Canadian-themed puzzles and prizes. After Round 1, Alex Trebek gives a fact about Canada. This week has the dips and columns set with the blue background.
 * October 13 has a rare instance where RSTLNE provides more than half of the bonus puzzle answer (JEAN SHORTS).
 * October 14 produces the first $1,000,000 winner, Michelle Loewenstein, who solves LEAKY FAUCET for the prize. She hit the Million Dollar Wedge on her first spin.
 * October 14 is also the last appearance of Around the House in the bonus round.
 * October 16 has JEOPARDY! HOST ALEX TREBEK as a puzzle.
 * On October 16, the Prize Puzzle bug is accidentally put up during the Jackpot round, whose puzzle is a Same Name (meaning it can't possibly be themed to a prize).
 * On October 16, all three contestants make repeated, incorrect guesses on the Speed-Up puzzle WOOD-BURNING STOVE.
 * October 17 has a rare appearance of Title/Author.
 * October 17's winning contestant solves the bonus puzzle with 0.3 seconds left on the clock. This is also the only known appearance of the show's "shot clock" (which counts the time limits in Speed-Ups and bonus rounds) being shown on-camera.
 * October 20 contestant Will Edmond Jr. previously won $214,000 on the nighttime version of Deal or No Deal.
 * On October 20, the contestant is only two pegs away from the $1,000,000 envelope.
 * October 22 is a $100,000 loss.
 * October 24 is a $100,000 win.
 * October 28 has a rare appearance of Headline.
 * October 28 has a rare one-word puzzle in Round 5.
 * October 31 has a rare appearance of Fictional Family.

November 2008 :
 * November 4 has only the second known instance of a contestant calling a Z in the bonus round. However, it is not in the puzzle.
 * November 5-25 are all taped outdoors in Hawaii. The Hawaii episodes start on a Wednesday, most likely to prevent the string of episodes from being interrupted by President's Day or Thanksgiving.
 * As a result, Wheel Across America week is split up. The first two episodes air November 3-4, and the last three air on November 26-28.
 * November 6, 10, 11, 20 and 24 all have two males and one female contestant.
 * On November 17, Pat forgets to ask the contestants for their extra consonant from the Wild Card. He has to be reminded from offstage.
 * November 17 is a $100,000 win.
 * November 18 has a rare appearance of Fictional Family.
 * On November 18, Pat tells a contestant in Round 3 that they have landed on $400 when they were actually on $500. They are still credited with a $500 spin.
 * On November 20, the winning contestants have only $9,900.
 * At the end of the November 24 episode, a clip is shown from the February 13, 1996 episode where Pat introduced his daughter, Maggie.
 * November 25 is the only known appearance of the very rare Fictional Place category in the bonus round. The puzzle, UTOPIA, is solved.
 * On November 26, a contestant sweeps the main game, but loses $100,000 in the bonus round.
 * November 28 is the last appearance of Where Are We?

December 2008 :
 * On December 4, Vanna hides a wrapped present for Pat in her dress. At the end, Pat opens the box and finds that it's empty.
 * December 5 has six rounds.
 * Betty White makes a guest appearance on December 8 in honor of Pet Lovers' week after THE GOLDEN GIRLS is the answer to a puzzle. Strangely, it is categorized as TV Title instead of Classic TV; as Classic TV is not used at all this season, it is possible that the show was pushing to retire that category.
 * December 15 is the last Hollywood Movie Magic.
 * On December 15, contestant Edgar makes a humorously incorrect guess of FISH LOVE on the $3,000 Toss-Up, to which the answer is WISH LIST. Later on, after he celebrates his bonus round win, Pat tells Edgar to look at the puzzle board, which reads FISH LOVE.
 * On December 18, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * December 19 is only the third known instance of a contestant calling a Z in the bonus round.
 * On December 23, a contestant accidentally removes the backing from a gift tag when picking it up.
 * Charlie appears on-camera at the end of the December 23 episode to give Christmas greetings.
 * On December 25, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * For the second year in a row, the show's Christmas week (December 22) does not produce a bonus round win. The losing streak extends three more days, into December 31.
 * December 29 is the sixth episode from the Christmas Week tapings.
 * December 29 is a $100,000 loss. The contestant has ___BLE AGENT revealed and fails to solve DOUBLE AGENT.

January 2009 :
 * On January 1, a Same Name puzzle spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * January 2 is the last appearance of On the Map in the bonus round.
 * January 5 is Armed Forces week.
 * On January 6, the unsolved bonus puzzle reveals like one that is solved: the entire answer is put up at once, instead of the letters revealing one at a time in a zig-zag pattern, and the board's border flashes.
 * January 12 is Dream Vacation week, with two males and one female contestant. This makes six consecutive episodes without the typical two female/one male setup, and interestingly enough also makes six consecutive episodes with at least one member of the armed forces. His presence here probably explains the two males and one female abnormality, as he could have not gotten the cut for the previous week (probably taped immediately before since both weeks have the dips and columns set with the starry sky).
 * January 19 is Teachers Week, which has the dips and columns set with the blue sky. This is also the first instance of three consecutive dips and columns weeks.
 * January 26's winning contestant, whose real name is Robert, is referred to as Skittles on the show.
 * January 27 is a $100,000 loss.
 * On January 28, a contestant sweeps the main game and wins $30,000 in the bonus round. She solves the bonus puzzle BALCONY at the last second despite getting no help from their extra letters.

February 2009 :
 * On February 6, a contestant calls a letter in the Mystery Round that fills in the puzzle entirely, after landing on a Mystery wedge. She chooses to flip over the wedge, and finds $10,000 on the reverse.
 * On February 6, the puzzle ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM is inexplicably categorized as Quotation instead of Song Lyrics.
 * February 9 begins a fourth week of episodes from Hawaii, Second Honeymoon in honor of Valentine's Day, with a sweepstakes involved. All couples this week are Hawaiians.
 * On February 13, the puzzle is GOING TO THE CHAPEL AND WE'RE GONNA GET MARRIED. With over $17,000 and a trip to New York on the line, one pair of contestants mis-solves the puzzle as GOING TO THE CHAPEL AND WE'RE GOING TO GET MARRIED.
 * February 13 is a $100,000 loss.
 * Michelle Loewenstein, the show's first $1,000,000 winner, appears at the end of the February 16 episode. Pat gives her an oversized replica check and discusses the win. This was presumably done because the episode ran unusually short.
 * A clip of Pat and Vanna paying tribute to Pat's wardrobe manager Alan Mills, who died on the 6th, is also added to the end of the February 16 episode.
 * February 18 is a $100,000 loss by a contestant who solves the puzzle just after the buzzer. Their puzzle is VARSITY SQUAD; almost exactly two years later, on February 17, 2011, the bonus answer is JUNIOR VARSITY SQUAD.
 * The week of February 23 is a sixth episode week.
 * February 27 is the nighttime show's ceremonial 5,000th episode. While episodes 3,000 and 4,000 were clip shows, 5,000 has regular gameplay. The first two Toss-Ups are A HUGE MILESTONE and SPIN OR SOLVE, and a clip of Pat kissing Vanna on his last daytime episode is shown at the end.
 * February 27 has a $100,000 loss.

March 2009 :
 * The weeks of March 2, 9 and 16 are all taped at SeaWorld in Orlando.
 * March 5 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * Between March 5 and 18, ten bonus puzzles in a row are Thing(s).
 * The week of March 9 is a family week.
 * On March 9, the contestants solve the bonus puzzle just ahead of the buzzer.
 * March 10 has a rare appearance of Fictional Family.
 * March 10 also has an unusual situation in the Speed-Up round. The yellow contestants appear to say the answer right on the buzzer. After conferring with the judge, Pat moves on to the blue contestants, who call a letter and solve. He then explains that there is a possibility that the yellow contestants beat the buzzer and therefore won. Before the bonus round, it is determined that the yellow contestants did not beat the buzzer, so the blue contestants are present at the bonus round.
 * On March 20, Pat accidentally calls the $1,000 Toss-Up the Bonus Round.
 * The week of March 23, Coast to Coast, has the dips and columns set.
 * March 23 is a $100,000 win.
 * March 25 has a rare appearance of Headline.
 * The week of March 30 is the first Going Green week with the dips and columns set. This edition has the starry sky background.

April 2009 :
 * April 6 is a fourth week of episodes from SeaWorld.
 * On April 6, a very short contestant requires a friend to spin the Wheel for him. This contestant also solves his bonus puzzle just ahead of the buzzer.
 * April 14 is a $100,000 win.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of April 20. These losses are part of a nine-loss streak stretching from the 15th to 27th.
 * April 29 has a theme name from earlier in the season as the $2,000 Toss-Up, NOTHING BUT THE BEST.

May 2009 :
 * May 4 is Wheel Around the World week, with international versions of the show. This edition has the dips and columns set with the starry sky background.
 * May 7 has a rare one-word puzzle in Round 5.
 * The week of May 11 is Weekend Getaways with the dips and columns/starry sky set, even though the weeks of March 6, 2006 and September 24, 2007 with this theme name weren't dips and columns.
 * On May 12, a contestant is only one peg away from the $1,000,000 in the bonus round; the contestant solves the bonus puzzle.
 * On May 13, SAME NAME is the answer to the $2,000 Toss-Up; the next puzzle is in the Same Name category.
 * May 15 has two males and one female contestant.
 * May 15 is the last appearance of Show Biz in the bonus round until May 4, 2011.
 * On May 22, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle on the buzzer. Although the victory music plays and the answer is revealed, Pat announces that they will have to stop tape to make sure. After returning from a Wheel Watchers Club plug, Pat and Vanna let the contestant know that he solved 1/10 of a second before the buzzer. The show ends on the contestant's celebration, without any post-game banter from Pat and Vanna. This is also the last car win in the bonus round until December 2009, as cars are not present from July to December.
 * On May 28, a contestant makes two incorrect solves on the Prize Puzzle before giving the right answer on his third attempt.
 * New episodes end temporarily on May 29.

July 2009 : (season ends July 17)
 * A string of new episodes airs the week of July 13. The episodes are themed as World Café Week and are counted as part of Season 26. The World Café Week episodes are part of a sweepstakes sponsored by CoffeeMate non-dairy creamer, which offers home viewers a chance at winning a European vacation.
 * Starting July 13, cars are no longer available in the bonus round.
 * July 16 has a $100,000 loss, tying the record for most $100,000 losses in one season at nine.
 * July 17 has two contestants who are not US natives: One is originally from Jamaica, and one is originally from Italy.

Season 27 (2009-10)
Season Changes :
 * The opening is now the logo lighting up on a multicolored wheel, with a different Hollywood backdrop from Season 26. The Final Spin Graphic and Pat & Vanna talk backdrop reflect the opening, and the window for the Pat and Vanna postgame banter is bigger than before.
 * The Prize Puzzle graphic now appropriately says "PRIZE PUZZLE" again. It is also now purple and yellow.
 * The Toss-Up graphic is now a purple wheel with a yellow center.
 * SPIN ID reveals are changed again. For the first three weeks only, the spiel is "Tonight's winning SPIN ID number, [number], belongs to [first name and last initial] of [city, state]. You have 24 hours to long on to wheeloffortune.com to claim your [description of trip]." Also for the first three weeks only, a map of the U.S. zooms in on the town, and a "nameplate" graphic is shown with both the contestant's name and hometown.
 * If a contestant has friends and/or family in the audience on a Culver City episode, they are now shown from their seats; previously, they would stand at the railing in the front of the audience. Road shows, however, still let friends and family members stand at the front of the audience.
 * The practice of putting a gag title over Pat's name during a full credit roll appears to have begun this season.
 * All of the top dollar values are moved to the viewer's right of a Bankrupt. Also, the second Bankrupt, previously on the Wheel only from round 2 onward, is now on the Wheel for the entire game.
 * The Free Spin is retired, and Free Play is introduced. The latter replaces the yellow $400 near Lose A Turn.
 * The Jackpot wedge is moved to Round 1. Nothing new is added to the Wheel in Round 2.
 * The design of the $1,000,000 envelope is changed. Previously, it had "One Million Dollars" in green text surrounding a large, green dollar sign; the text is now black, with "ONE" in very small letters and "MILLION" in much larger letters.
 * Until November 30, only cash is available in the bonus round.
 * An image of half the wheel is added to the dips and columns set.

September 2009 : (season starts September 14)
 * The first two weeks are both taped in Las Vegas: September 14 at the Venetian and September 21 at the Palazzo. This is the first time since Season 16 that the season premiere was on the road, although in the September 14 Pat & Vanna talk, they erroneously say that it's the first time the season ever opened on the road.
 * Nine of the first ten bonus puzzles are Thing(s). September 15's, an Occupation, is the lone exception; it is also the last time that category appears in the bonus round.
 * Anthony Crivello makes a guest appearance in a Phantom of the Opera mask at the top of the September 16 episode.
 * On September 16, no one gives a right answer to the $1,000 Toss-Up, CUTTING THE CARDS. Two of the contestants both ring in with wrong answers.
 * During the Jackpot round on September 16, Bankrupt is hit five times.
 * On September 24, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle BRIEF PAUSE despite getting no help from her extra letters.
 * The week of September 28, Room with a View, is dips and columns with the blue sky.
 * September 30 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.

October 2009 :
 * October 1 has the only known appearance of Rock On! as a Toss-Up.
 * On October 2, the SPIN ID reveal changes again. The hometown is no longer mentioned, and the U.S. map is changed to a smaller, less detailed one. When the state is mentioned, it "pops out" of the map, with the home viewer's name and the name of the state written on it.
 * October 5 has another rare appearance of Rock On! Pat intentionally introduces the puzzle in a deadpan voice instead of letting Charlie announce it.
 * October 12 is Wheel Around the World week. Each week's episode begins with a greeting from the host(s) of an international version: Spain on Monday, Brazil on Tuesday and Friday, Turkey on Wednesday and Italy on Thursday. This edition doesn't have the dips and columns set.
 * From October 12 until the end of the season (except for April 12), every episode has a Before & After or Same Name puzzle. The former appears four times a week, and the latter no more than once a week.
 * On October 12, the $3,000 Toss-Up BUDAPEST HUNGARY is accidentally categorized as Place instead of On the Map.
 * On October 16, the contestant's letter choices (including the fourth consonant from a Wild Card) reveal the bonus puzzle CHOSEN FEW entirely. This is the first time since December 2004 that a bonus puzzle has been completely filled in.
 * The week of October 19, Welcome Aboard, which is a cruise week, has the dips and columns set with the blue sky, even though there have been several Cruise Weeks since the dips and columns set's debut that didn't have it. This is also the last time the dips and columns set is seen with the blue sky.
 * October 20 has six rounds.
 * October 23 has six rounds. Round 6 is a rare one-word puzzle.
 * On October 26, a Same Name puzzle spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * On October 27, Pat and Vanna show off some of the gag tombstones on the Halloween Week set. Most of them declare various trends and objects "dead", such as the Free Spin, the Macarena, common courtesy and Alex Trebek's mustache.
 * On October 28, the $2,000 Toss-Up is mistakenly not split-screened.
 * October 28 contestant Michael Souveroff was a third-place finisher on Jeopardy! in March 2001.

November 2009 :
 * The weeks of November 2, 9 and 16 are all taped at the Boston Convention & Exhibit Center.
 * November 2 has a redundant answer of BABY DUCKLINGS as the $3,000 Toss-Up.
 * November 3's bonus puzzle, BUY NOW, is the first six-letter bonus puzzle since HOT WAX on February 27. It is also the last six-letter bonus puzzle.
 * On November 6, a contestant tries to call L and E in the bonus round, even though both are in the puzzle.
 * The week of November 9 is a college week.
 * November 9, 10, 12, 16 and 17 all have two males and one female contestant.
 * November 9 has a category rarely seen in plural form (Places).
 * November 10 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * November 12 has a Jackpot win.
 * November 12 has a very rare instance of a Proper Name puzzle that isn't a person's name, sports team or college name. The answer is THE INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE.
 * November 16 has I'D LIKE TO SPIN as the second Toss-Up.
 * November 19 has a rare appearance of Landmark.
 * The week of November 23 has four Landmark puzzles: The $1,000 Toss-Up on the 23rd and 26th, Jackpot round on the 24th, and the $2,000 Toss-Up on the 27th. As a result, the category has appeared five times in November 2009 alone, when it otherwise appears far less than once a month.
 * November 25 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * On November 25, Bankrupt is hit eight times.
 * On November 27, a letter from 2006 winner Linda Buford is shown at the end.
 * Starting November 30, cars are once again available in the bonus round. However, they are no longer available to Wheel Watchers Club members.
 * On November 30, the Million-Dollar Wedge is accidentally placed between the Wheel prize and Lose A Turn.
 * On November 30, a contestant spins $3,500 four times in a row.

December 2009 :
 * On December 1, a contestant solves SHAGGY AND SCOOBY-DOO with only the S's revealed.
 * On December 2, a contestant loses $5,700, the gift tag, Wild Card and the Million-Dollar Wedge to Bankrupt.
 * December 3 has the first car win since the re-introduction of cars. It is a Honda Element worth $23,275, also making it a now-rare instance of a bonus prize less than $25,000.
 * The week of December 7, Weekend Getaways, has the dips and columns set, even though the weeks of March 6, 2006 and September 24, 2007 with that theme name didn't.
 * On December 11, the Mystery Wedge next to the Million-Dollar Wedge is hit three times, including two turns by the same contestant, who doesn't flip it over but later hits Bankrupt. The second contestant to hit it opts to flip it over, and finds a Bankrupt.
 * The week of December 14 is Heroes Week, featuring members of the Armed Forces. It is also the Sears Holiday Sweepstakes. Each Wheel prize this week is a $5,000 Sears shopping spree, and each game has an Around the House or In the Kitchen puzzle in which Pat informs the contestants that the puzzle answer is something that might be purchased at Sears.
 * The week of December 14 has a Before & After puzzle in every game, but no Same Name puzzles.
 * December 16 has only the third known occurrence of a puzzle with a slash in it. The answer is COMBINATION MICROWAVE/CONVECTION OVEN.
 * On December 17, a contestant solves the Speed-Up puzzle LITTLE ROCK ARKANSAS with only the T's revealed.
 * No cars are available in the bonus round on the week of December 21, perhaps because the week was taped out of order. They return on the 28th.
 * During the week of December 21, the category strips are white text on red.
 * On December 23, a contestant hits $5,000 three times in Round 4.
 * December 29 has the first What Are You Doing? puzzle that does not have a gerund. The answer is THE NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE.
 * On December 31, a contestant loses $24,350 and the Wild Card to a Bankrupt.

January 2010 :
 * January 1's top winner has a total of $12,345, which is also only $147 over second place.
 * On January 4, the contestants make four incorrect solves on the puzzle REGIS PHILBIN & KELLY RIPA (itself a rare appearance of Proper Names) by mispronouncing one or both names. One contestant even solves incorrectly with the entire puzzle revealed, only the fourth known instance of this happening.
 * January 5 has a rare appearance of Family.
 * January 5 has six rounds.
 * On January 7, a contestant solves THE HOST WITH THE MOST with only the T's.
 * On January 8, a contestant solves CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA with only the T's.
 * The week of January 11, International Food, has the dips and columns set.
 * On January 11, a clip is shown from the December 10, 2009 episode of Jeopardy!, where a contestant said that watching Wheel of Fortune helped him learn the alphabet as a child.
 * Between January 13 and 15, three contestants in a row take the Wild Card to the bonus round.
 * January 14 has a rare instance of RSTLNE revealing more than half of the bonus puzzle (THE PLOT THICKENS).
 * On January 15, a contestant misses the $1,000,000 envelope by only one peg.
 * January 18 is Wheel Watchers Club Week. It has the dips and columns set.
 * January 18 has a rare appearance of Family.
 * On January 20, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle FOLK HERO with _OL_ HERO revealed.
 * January 25 has six rounds.
 * January 29 has six rounds.

February 2010 :
 * February 1 begins with a greeting from Regis Philbin & Kelly Ripa. Regis also gives a greeting on February 4.
 * February 1's bonus puzzle QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE may be the first "official" bonus puzzle under current rules that has at least one each of R, S, T, L, N and E. The only other known instance is TRADING PLACES on the April Fools' Day 1997 episode.
 * February 2 begins with a greeting from Michael Bloomberg.
 * February 3 begins with a greeting from Sam Champion.
 * On February 4, a Same Name puzzle spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * February 5 has rare appearances of Headline and Landmark. The former was last used in March 2009.
 * On February 5, a contestant uses the Wild Card on $900.
 * The week of February 8 is taped at the Venetian in Las Vegas.
 * On February 8, Blue Man Group appears at the contestants' area while Pat and Vanna walk out. After an obvious edit, the contestants are in place for the first Toss-Up. It is believed that a longer guest appearance was edited out due to time constraints.
 * February 9 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * The week of February 15 is taped at the Palazzo in Las Vegas.
 * On February 16, the contestant's letter choices reveal the bonus puzzle VERY HUSH-HUSH completely.
 * On February 19, the Mystery Round puzzle is preceded by a clip of Pat saying, "We thought you should know that tonight's Wheel of Fortune show was taped prior to all the recent fun on late-night TV. Who knew?", superimposed over a freeze-frame of the puzzle board. This clip is added because the answer is THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, which had already been canceled by the time this episode aired.
 * Beginning February 22, Feeding America for Hunger Relief receives a $2,500 donation from Maxwell House for each bonus round win. The donations are eventually capped at $200,000, but Feeding America plugs continue to air for a short time after that amount is reached.
 * On February 24, Pat almost forgets to interview one of the contestants.

March 2010 :
 * For at least the third time this season, the Same Name puzzle on March 3 spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * On March 4, the first Toss-Up is HOME OF THE BRAVE, also the name of a category on the same day's Jeopardy!
 * March 5 has six rounds.
 * March 5 has the second What Are You Doing? puzzle that does not contain a gerund. The answer is THE TEXAS TWO-STEP.
 * On March 8, Pat accidentally rules a contestant's solve incorrect on the first Toss-Up, but is quickly corrected from offstage.
 * Against 99.6% odds, the $100,000 is not hit at all this season until March 15. It is lost on the 15th, with the contestant not realizing the answer until just after the buzzer.
 * On March 18, contestant Barry's nametag falls off and hits the Wheel during his first spin. It is never retrieved.
 * March 18 also has the third (and final) What Are You Doing? puzzle that does not contain a gerund. The answer is PULL-UPS PUSH-UPS SIT-UPS AND CRUNCHES.
 * March 18 is the first $100,000 win of the season.
 * The week of March 22 is a family week, promoting Beaches Family Resorts.
 * The week of March 22 has a Before & After puzzle each day, and no appearances of Same Name.
 * On March 22, the winning contestants exceed $100,000 without hitting that amount in the bonus round: following a $45,000 win in the bonus round, they leave with $100,850.
 * March 23 is the second $100,000 win of the season.
 * The week of March 29 is a Hawaii week, despite being taped in Culver City. Every Wheel prize this week is a trip to Hawaii.
 * March 29 has two males and one female contestant.
 * On March 29, a contestant accidentally pulls the Free Play wedge off the Wheel, causing a stopdown. This incident is edited out of the broadcast.

April 2010 :
 * On April Fools' Day, the show does ten things that are "wrong", all of which are revealed in the next episode. They are:
 * 1) Pat walks out on the right and Vanna on the left.
 * 2) Pat, Vanna and Charlie stand at the contestants' area when it it is shown during the intro. (The Wheel layout in this shot is from Round 4.)
 * 3) Vanna stands on the wrong side of the puzzle board at the start of the Jackpot Round.
 * 4) Both Bankrupt wedges use the Polish version of the word, "Bankrut". Neither is hit, so it is not known if the score displays would have changed accordingly.
 * 5) Pat wears a (barely-visible) stud earring in Round 2.
 * 6) Charlie stands in Vanna's place at the start of the Mystery Round.
 * 7) A clip from September 4, 1995 (erroneously identified as 1992) appears during the Final Spin.
 * 8) Pat changes suits before the bonus round.
 * 9) When showing which members of the winner's family are in the audience, the shot of them shows Pat (in his pre-bonus round suit) and Vanna sitting directly behind.
 * 10) Pat and Vanna wear nametags at the end.
 * 11) In addition, the montage of Hawaii-themed clips at the beginning includes two seconds of rodeo footage, but this "wrong" moment is never pointed out.
 * April 2 has the first appearance of Classic TV since May 6, 2008.
 * April 5 has a rare appearance of Fictional Family.
 * April 5's bonus puzzle BUZZING WITH EXCITEMENT is believed to be the longest bonus puzzle ever used on the show, at 21 letters.
 * On April 7, Pat and Vanna eat a replica of the Wild Card.
 * April 12 is the only Season 27 episode after October 9 not to have a Before & After or Same Name.
 * April 12 has a now-rare occurrence of two main game puzzles in the same category; both the Mystery Round and Round 4 are Phrase. The Mystery Round answer THAT'S MY STORY AND I'M STICKING TO IT could have been categorized as Song Lyrics to avoid this oddity.
 * April 15 has a rare appearance of Family.
 * April 15 has six rounds.
 * April 19 has a rare appearance of Rock On!
 * On April 19, the winning contestant leaves with only $9,375.
 * On April 20, a contestant loses over $28,000 to Bankrupt.
 * On April 21 and 22, the winning contestants both leave with the same total of $52,550; both contestants also win $35,000 in the bonus round.
 * On April 21, the bonus puzzle has a redundant A at the beginning (A FOREIGN LANGUAGE), something which almost never happened after A GULF in September 2005.
 * On April 26, a Same Name puzzle spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * April 26 has a grammatically incorrect bonus puzzle. The answer given is WAIT A WHILE, when it should have been WAIT AWHILE.
 * The week of April 26 is World Capitals Week. All week long, the first Toss-Up is the name of a world capital.
 * On April 29, Bankrupt is hit four times in the Jackpot round.
 * On April 29, the winning contestant leaves with only $7,907, which appears to be the lowest total since Season 23 (when Prize Puzzles started occurring daily).

May 2010 :
 * May 3 starts the Thanks a Million sweepstakes, which last throughout the entire month. A SPIN ID is drawn at the top of each show and another before the Mystery round. Any viewer who confirms that his or her SPIN ID was drawn receives a chance at winning $25,000.
 * The week of May 3 is a salute to Chicago, despite being taped in Culver City. On the sixth show from this taping session (which airs April 16), there are clips in Chicago promoting National Train Day on May 8; however, it's not mentioned once during the full set week.
 * On May 3 and 4, the first Toss-Ups (THE WINDY CITY and NAVY PIER, respectively) are both solved with only one letter revealed.
 * May 17 is Dads & Grads week.
 * The week of May 17 is the only week of season 27 in which all of the bonus rounds are lost.
 * May 24 has a category rarely seen in plural form (Occupations).
 * On May 25, one puzzle answer is HOLDING DOWN THE FORT, which coincides with that day's Final Jeopardy! response of "hold the fort".
 * May 25 has a rare appearance of Landmark.
 * On May 25, a contestant pronounces the H in "heir" when solving HEIR TO THE THRONE, and the answer is accepted. This contradicts precedent that words must be pronounced exactly.
 * On May 26, a contestant pronounces CRUSOE as "Caruso" in the Before & After puzzle AND HERE'S TO YOU MRS. ROBINSON CRUSOE. Her answer is accepted, despite this also being a mispronunciation.
 * On May 31, no one gives a right answer to the $1,000 Toss-Up, TREASURE MAP. Unusually for unsolved Toss-Ups, all three players ring in, and even more unusually, the third ring-in comes with more than one letter unrevealed. The first two blank on the second word, and the third guesses TREASURE BAY with both the M and P missing.

June 2010 : (season ends June 11)
 * June 2 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * The week of June 7 has all Before & After, no Same Name.
 * On June 7, Vanna nearly forgets to touch an R in the Speed-Up round. Later in the game, she explains that she didn't hear it ding.
 * June 8 has another rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * June 10 has a rare appearance of Landmark.
 * On June 11, the contestant (who fails to solve the bonus puzzle) is only one peg away from the $100,000.

Season 28 (2010-11)
Season Changes :
 * Most episodes taped in Culver City have animated intros featuring the Pat and Vanna avatars from the show's corresponding Wii game, which is released in November.
 * The Pat & Vanna talk backdrop is a dark blue "starry sky" motif. The Prize Puzzle and Final Spin graphics don't change.
 * Any vehicle won in the bonus round now comes with a $5,000 cash bonus. The vehicle plug ends with "...plus $5,000 cash. Your grand prize total: [amount]!" The first vehicle win under this new rule occurs on September 23.
 * $30,000 is now the lowest cash amount in the bonus round.
 * Prize Puzzles no longer occur in the Jackpot Round.
 * The show's introductory logo is based on the "round" logo from the 1980s.
 * On several (but not all) episodes this season, the closed captioning misspells the Show Biz category as "Showbiz".
 * Only two of the five "sixth show" taping weeks are called America's Game. The rest, like Seasons 21-24 and the last of Season 25, have names.
 * The rule that every episode must have a Before & After or Same Name is reverted. However, Same Name continues to appear no more than once a week, and both categories rarely appear in round 1.
 * Classic TV is not used at all this season.

September 2010 : (season starts September 13)
 * The weeks of September 13 and 20 are taped in Las Vegas: the 13th at the Venetian, and the 20th at the Palazzo. The Friday episodes of both those weeks have two males and one female contestant.
 * For the week of September 13, every Prize Puzzle is categorized What Are You Doing?
 * September 15 is the debut of Same Letter.
 * On September 15, a contestant solves the Speed-Up puzzle CHERRY BLOSSOMS with only the S's revealed.
 * September 16 is the first Jackpot win of the season.
 * September 16 is the debut of What's That Song?
 * September 16 is also the first episode since April 12, 2010 (and the second since October 9, 2009) to have neither Before & After nor Same Name.
 * September 20 is the last appearance of Food & Drink in the bonus round.
 * September 21 is the first $100,000 loss of the season. The puzzle is QUALITY TIME, which previously caused a $100,000 loss on February 18, 2005.
 * On September 22, a contestant solves the Toss-Up THE A-TEAM with only the M showing.
 * On September 23, Pat grabs the wrong envelope from the Bonus Wheel and has to be corrected from offstage.
 * September 23 is also the first instance of a contestant calling their letters out of order while holding a Wild Card. The contestant calls her fourth consonant before her vowel; the onscreen graphic displays the fourth consonant in its normal position, leaving a "gap" for the vowel. This incident also contradicts the precedent of the graphics always showing the letters in the order called.
 * On September 29 and 30, a contestant takes the Million-Dollar Wedge to the bonus round. September 29's contestant fails to solve the puzzle, and is only one peg away from the $1,000,000 envelope.

October 2010 :
 * On October 1, Bankrupt is hit eight times.
 * The animated intro for the week of October 4 uses the Speed-Up bells as cruise ship bells.
 * October 7 is the first $100,000 win of the season.
 * On the week of October 11, all five contestants land on the car (Mercedes-Benz C-300) in the bonus round. It is won on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
 * October 11 has a rare appearance of Landmark.
 * On October 13, the show runs an ad hinting at a $1,000,000 win during the next week, using footage from the October 19 episode. While the Million-Dollar Wedge is hit on the 19th, the contestant loses it to a Bankrupt in Round 4.
 * October 18 is the second $100,000 loss of the season.
 * October 20 has a Jackpot win.
 * On October 21, the Million-Dollar Wedge is mistakenly placed over the $550 wedge instead of $800 for the first two rounds.
 * The Halloween episodes inexplicably start on Friday, October 22. As a result, the last two episodes from Get Out of Town week (which started on October 18) air during the same "sixth episode" week.
 * On all six Halloween episodes, the "Wheel! Of! Fortune!" chant is distorted to sound deep and scary. Also, the Pat and Vanna animation is black-and-white, made to look like an old horror movie.
 * On all six Halloween episodes, the Wheel prize is $5,000 cash courtesy of Ally Bank.
 * Pat opens his Twitter account on-air at the end of the October 22 episode.
 * October 26 has two males and one female contestant.
 * October 27 is the third $100,000 loss of the season.
 * October 28 has an unusual incident in the bonus round. After the contestant calls his letters, two letters are lit up (but not touched) before Pat realizes that he has a Wild Card. He then asks the contestant for a fourth consonant, which is not in the puzzle, and the lit letters are revealed.

November 2010 :
 * Charlie O'Donnell dies the morning of November 1.
 * Johnny Gilbert announces for the weeks of November 1, 8 and 15. It is apparent that Johnny was called in as as a last-minute replacement because Charlie had fallen ill. Coincidentally, Johnny also filled in for Charlie in November 1995, the only other time that someone filled in for him.
 * Johnny Gilbert's announcing is dubbed in post-production on the week of November 8, as the episodes were taped in Las Vegas and originally had Charlie announcing.
 * For the rest of the season, any episodes recorded before Charlie's death overdub him with a guest announcer; further, all direct references to him are dubbed over or removed.
 * November 3 has two males and one female contestant.
 * On November 3, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * On November 5, contestant Caitlin solves the Prize Puzzle I'VE GOT A GOOD FEELING ABOUT THIS with only the L revealed. She later appears on several talk shows discussing her solve.
 * November 5's episode ends with Pat giving a short tribute to Charlie; this tribute was recorded earlier in the week and appended to the episode.
 * On November 9, Pat accidentally rules a contestant's answer wrong on the $1,000 Toss-Up because he was looking at the wrong answer on his card. The board continues to reveal letters for another couple seconds before Pat realizes his mistake.
 * On November 11, Pat seems to say "All right, Charlie, thanks." after the Mystery round announcement. If this is indeed what he said, then this is also the only time that a reference to Charlie was left in after his death.
 * On the week of November 15, the Round 1 puzzle is an Around the House or In the Kitchen puzzle sponsored by Sears. Before each puzzle, Pat mentions that the answer is something that might be found at Sears.
 * The Wheel prize for the week of November 15 is a $5,000 Sears shopping spree. Strangely, the wedge is placed over the green $300 space instead of $350.
 * On November 18, a contestant wins $42,000 in the Speed-Up round.
 * Rich Fields announces the weeks of November 22 and 29, both in post-production.
 * From November 29 through December 9, the $1,000 Toss-Up puzzles are all On the Map. This results from the show's themed weeks: November 29 is Wheel Around the World, and December 6 is Wheel Was Here. The former is also a sixth-episode week.
 * The week of November 29 includes greetings from the hosts of various international versions of the show.

December 2010 :
 * December 1 is the first known instance of a contestant calling Q in the bonus round.
 * On December 2, a contestant jokingly calls a 7 as his vowel in the bonus round.
 * December 3 has a rare appearance of Rock On! Charlie's call of "Rock On!" is dubbed over with Pat saying the category name.
 * Rich Fields announces the weeks of December 6 and 13. The former is his first week announcing from the studio.
 * December 6 is the debut of a new set which replaces the "dips and columns" one. This set was first seen on the Charlie O'Donnell tribute at the end of the November 5 episode.
 * December 7 has a rare appearance of a duplicate category in the main game, both the Jackpot and Round 2 puzzles are Phrase.
 * At the end of the December 7 episode, clips are shown from a set of military episodes taped aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in early 1995.
 * On December 10, Bankrupt is hit four times in round 2.
 * December 10 is the second time that the very unusual non-sequitur puzzle SPARROWS & PARAKEETS is used. This time, it is in the Speed-Up round.
 * December 13 has only the third appearance of What Are You Doing? in the bonus round. It was last used in the bonus round on January 17, 2008.
 * On December 13, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * On December 14, the closed captioning is finally fixed on the Mama Lucia Meatballs plug. For several years, the captioning had said "Mama Lucia on the road" even though the jingle lyric is "Mama Lucia on a roll".
 * On December 14, the split-screen during Pat & Vanna's post-game banter doesn't display any text.
 * December 16 is a $100,000 win. The puzzle, BRAINS AND BRAWN, previously produced a $100,000 win on January 24, 2006. Coincidentally, both were also followed by nearly-identical bonus puzzles the next day: OLD RIVALRY was the bonus puzzle on January 25, 2006, and AGE-OLD RIVALRY was the answer on December 15.
 * December 17 is the first time this season that Before & After appears in Round 1.
 * Jim Thornton announces the week of December 20 in post-production. During these episodes, Vanna does the SPIN IDs and Wheel Deals plugs.
 * During the week of December 20, the puzzle-reveal chime during the main game is replaced with chimes playing a Christmas song. Toss-Ups keep the normal chimes.
 * John Sly, co-owner of The Price Is Right fan site Golden-Road.net (and a contestant on that show in 2003), is the winning contestant on December 21.
 * December 24 has the month's second appearance of What Are You Doing? in the bonus round.
 * The week of December 27 was taped at the Palazzo in Las Vegas. Jim Thornton once again announces in post-production, and Vanna continues to do the SPIN IDs.
 * December 29 is the fourth $100,000 loss of the season.
 * December 30 has two males and one female contestant.

January 2011 :
 * Jim Thornton announces the week of January 3, his third consecutive week of announcing in post-production. Yet again, Vanna does the SPIN IDs. This is also the last week of Culver City episodes originally announced by Charlie.
 * The week of January 3 is America's Game.
 * During the week of January 3, the Wheel prize is $5,000 cash courtesy of Ally Bank.
 * January 3's middle contestant, whose actual first name is Victor Trey, is referred to as Funklove throughout the show.
 * On January 3, the category strip disappears twice during the Jackpot round.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of January 3.
 * January 4 is the only time this season that Same Name appears in round 1.
 * January 4 is the fifth $100,000 loss of the season. The puzzle is A KNOWN FACT and the contestant says AN UNKNOWN FACT twice.
 * January 5 has a rare appearance of Landmark.
 * On January 5, the show begins the Vanna for a Day contest, which allows home viewers to submit audition videos for a chance to take Vanna's place for one episode; the videos are then voted on through the show's website to determine the eventual winner. The contest runs through January 18.
 * January 7 has yet another What Are You Doing? puzzle in the bonus round. This instance is more unusual, as the Speed-Up round was also a What Are You Doing? puzzle.
 * January 7 is the sixth $100,000 loss of the season.
 * Lora Cain announces the week of January 10. Even though Lora is not announcing in post-production, Vanna does this week's SPIN ID, and the Jackpot and Mystery plugs.
 * On January 10, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle one second after the buzzer.
 * January 11 is the seventh $100,000 loss of the season. As a result, January has started off with seven straight bonus round losses, three of which were $100,000.
 * January 13 is the only appearance of Fun & Games in the bonus round since April 16, 2010.
 * January 14's top winner leaves with only $8,050.
 * Pat's Twitter account closes on January 16. His official website is also replaced with a placeholder graphic.
 * Jim Thornton announces the weeks of January 17 and 24. The former is his first week announcing from the studio.
 * January 17 has a rare appearance of Headline, last seen in February 2010.
 * January 17 also has a rare one-word puzzle in Round 5.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of January 17.
 * January 20's contestant is only one peg away from the $1,000,000 envelope.
 * January 24 has a rare appearance of Title/Author.
 * Rich Fields announces the week of January 31.
 * January 31 has yet another What Are You Doing? puzzle in the bonus round. This is the fourth in two months, but only the sixth overall since the category was introduced in September 2007.

February 2011 :
 * February 2 has six rounds.
 * February 2 is the last appearance of Living Thing in the bonus round.
 * Jim Thornton announces the week of February 7 in post-production. The episodes were taped at the Venetian in Las Vegas and, like all of the other Vegas episodes, originally had Charlie announcing.
 * February 7 is Sweethearts Week, with husband-and-wife teams.
 * On February 7, contestant Chris lifts up half of the Wheel template when picking up the Wild Card in Round 3.
 * February 8 has rare appearances of Fictional Family and Landmark. It is also the fourth and last appearance of What's That Song?
 * On February 8, one set of contestants attempts to solve a puzzle with only three T's and an H showing. They guess BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC, which doesn't fit the blanks or the category of What Are You Doing? (The actual answer is GETTING COZY BY THE FIREPLACE.)
 * February 9 is the last appearance of Rock On! Once again, Charlie's "Rock On!" call is dubbed over by Pat saying the category name.
 * Lora Cain announces the week of February 14.
 * February 14 is Teen Best Friends week. This week does not have an animated intro; instead, all of the week's contestants are shown in a clip at the beginning.
 * February 14 has a now-rare instance of a Wheel prize that isn't a trip: It's a gaming package including a TV.
 * On February 14, an arrow is projected onto the middle of the Wheel after the prize plug is finished. It appears to be some sort of turn indicator, as it points to the blue contestants.
 * Jim Thornton announces the weeks of February 21 and 28.
 * On February 21, nobody gives a correct answer to the $1,000 Toss-Up, STARBOARD SIDE. The first contestant to ring in gives an incorrect answer with only the S in SIDE missing, so neither of the other contestants get an opportunity to ring in.
 * February 23 has a rare appearance of Landmark.
 * Same Name is not used at all during the week of February 28. However, all five episodes have Before & After.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of February 28.

March 2011 :
 * March 1 is the eighth $100,000 loss of the season.
 * March 3 has a rare appearance of Family.
 * March 3 is the ninth $100,000 loss of the season.
 * Joe Cipriano announces the week of March 7.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of March 7. This is the first all-win week since April 2007.
 * John Cramer announces the week of March 14. Vanna does the Jackpot plugs and SPIN IDs.
 * Tillman, a skateboarding bulldog, appears at the beginning of the March 14 episode.
 * For the week of March 14 (Pet Lovers' Week), Natural Balance Pet Foods has a $1,000 gift tag on the Wheel. Every time the tag is hit, the company donates $1,000 to the American Kennel Club Fund; the tag is hit three times.
 * At the end of the March 14 episode, everyone in the audience receives a goodie bag of pet treats.
 * At the end of the March 15 episode, Ron Horetski of the Los Angeles County Fire Department appears with a rescue dog named Pearl.
 * March 15 begins a streak of seven consecutive bonus round losses, spread over two weeks.
 * Jim Thornton announces the week of March 21.
 * March 21 is the first game since April 6, 2007 to have three female contestants.
 * On March 21, Pat almost forgets to open the bonus envelope.
 * March 23 is the tenth $100,000 loss of the season. This sets a new record for the most $100,000 losses in one season; Season 26 was the previous record holder.
 * On March 24, Vanna for a Day contest winner Katie Cantrell takes Vanna's place for Rounds 2 and 3. Portions of her audition video are shown after Round 1; the other four contest finalists are all in the audience, and are seen just before the bonus round.
 * On March 24, the Mystery Round, $3,000 Toss-Up and bonus round are all Phrase. This is the first time in several years (possibly the first time since March 2003) that the same category has been used three times on one show.
 * The week of March 28, taped at the Palazzo in Las Vegas, is the last week of episodes originally announced by Charlie. Once again, Jim Thornton is dubbed in as announcer, but unlike past episodes where an announcer was dubbed in, he also reads the SPIN IDs.

April 2011 :
 * On April 1, as an April Fools' Day gag, every puzzle except the bonus round has some form of the word "fool" in it. This results in the first known occurrence of Song Title and Song Lyrics in the same game, and one of the only games this season to have neither Same Name nor Before & After. Interestingly, the contestants never catch on to the gag.
 * On April 1, Pat does not say the bonus round category until after the contestant has picked her letters.
 * John Cramer announces the week of April 4.
 * The week of April 4 does not have any animated intros. Instead, Vanna promotes the week's car, a Chevy Volt, at the top of the show. She also announces the Mystery Round prize.
 * Starting April 4, there is no longer a sponsor for the Mystery Round.
 * April 4 has a rare appearance of Landmark.
 * April 4 also has an unusual instance in the Mystery Round. A contestant hits a Mystery Wedge, calls a letter that reveals the puzzle entirely, then flips the Mystery Wedge to find a Bankrupt on the other side. As a result, the completely filled-in puzzle gets passed to the next contestant, who solves it. This same incident previously happened on October 1, 2007.
 * April 4 has two categories which are rarely seen in plural form: Places and Events.
 * On April 5, the same contestant hits Bankrupt four times.
 * On April 5, the answer to the Round 4 puzzle reveals like an unsolved bonus puzzle: the letters fill in one at a time instead of all at once, and the board's border does not flash.
 * On April 5, a contestant sweeps the main game. She takes both the Wild Card and the Million-Dollar Wedge to the bonus round, where she wins $30,000.
 * April 5's sequence of Pat revealing the $1,000,000 envelope is obviously done in post-production.
 * On April 6, Pat informs the contestants that each puzzle is "recycled" from a previous episode, in honor of Going Green week. To indicate that, each puzzle reveal (besides the Toss-Ups) is a clip from an older episode: Round 1 is from 1993 (erroneously identified as 1996), Round 2 from November 1996, Round 3 from 1990 and Round 4 from 1998.
 * April 6 also has a rare appearance of Headline. Strangely, the 1993 clip is altered so that the category strip reads Headline; the puzzle, NEIL ARMSTRONG'S MOON LANDING, was most likely categorized as Event on the 1993 episode in question.
 * April 6 also has the only known use of The 60's in about 15 years. The "decade" line of categories was phased out in early Season 24, and only The 70's onward were in use for several seasons prior; there are no other known instances of The 60's being used after 1996.
 * On April 6, Pat accidentally calls the Free Play a Free Spin.
 * On April 6, contestant Matt's nametag falls off during Round 3.
 * April 6 also has a very rare instance of Star/Role appearing in Round 4.
 * On April 7, Vanna reads most of the Prize Puzzle copy, but John announces the prize's value and then ad-libs "Vanna not included".
 * April 7 is the eleventh $100,000 loss of the season.
 * Joe Cipriano announces the week of April 11.
 * April 11 is the debut of two special "½ Car" wedges in honor of Road Trip week. One is placed over the orange $300 space, and the other over the blue $500. The first car offered by the ½ Car wedges is a Hyundai Accent; it is not won. As a result of the new wedges, the red $900 is changed to blue until Round 4, and the Wild Card is moved to the pink $900 for this week only.
 * April 11 has a category rarely seen in plural form: Places.
 * On April 12 and 14, the title graphic at the beginning of the show says Get Out of Town instead of Road Trip, most likely because both weeks use the same Wii animations.
 * On April 12, a contestant mispronounces "Pasadena" when solving IT'S THE LITTLE OLD LADY FROM PASADENA, but is still credited with a correct response.
 * April 12 has a rare appearance of What Are You Doing? in the bonus round; as was the case on January 7, the last puzzle before the bonus round was also What Are You Doing?
 * April 14 has an unusual incident in the bonus round. After the contestant calls her extra letters, some letters are lit up (but not touched) before Pat realizes that the contestant has a Wild Card. He then asks the contestant for a fourth consonant, which is not in the puzzle, and the lit letters are revealed.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of April 11. Incidentally, these episodes were taped in the same session as the week of March 7, in which all five bonus rounds were also won. This is believed to be the first season since Season 10 that had more than one perfect bonus round week.
 * All the changes from the week of April 11 are reverted on the week of the 18th.
 * Jim Thornton announces every episode from April 18 onward.
 * On April 18, Bankrupt is hit eight times, including five in Round 3.
 * Starting April 18, Maxwell House Coffee donates $2,500 to Rebuilding Together every time the bonus round is won. Once again, donations will be capped at $200,000.
 * On April 18, a contestant accidentally calls N and E in the bonus round.
 * April 21 has six rounds.
 * April 22 has an extremely rare appearance of Best Seller, last known to have been used on February 8, 2007.
 * April 26 has two males and one female contestant.
 * April 26 has a rare appearance of Landmark.
 * On April 27, an editing error places a spin from the next day's episode into Round 3, possibly because the camera over the Wheel did not catch the actual spin. This error gives the appearance of the prize wedge (which was claimed earlier in the round) being replaced by a Vegas trip.

May 2011 :
 * The weeks of May 2, 9 and 16 are taped at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
 * Jim Thornton's announcing is pre-recorded on the New Orleans episodes.
 * The Wii animations are not used between May 2 and June 3.
 * Rockin' Dopsie Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters appear as a house band during the week of May 2, playing zydeco music as the show goes in and out of commercial, and over the credits.
 * During the week of May 2 and 16 (but not the week of May 9), the puzzle chimes are replaced with a saxophone riff, except in the Toss-Up rounds.
 * For reasons unknown, the Million-Dollar Wedge is not present on May 2.
 * On May 2, the "fireworks" effect for a Jackpot win is accidentally used when a contestant solves that round's puzzle, even though she does not win the Jackpot.
 * May 2 is the only appearance of Rhyme Time in the bonus round since December 24, 2007.
 * On May 3, a spin from the previous day's episode is edited into round 1, giving the impression of the Million-Dollar Wedge being absent once again.
 * May 3 has rare appearances of the Landmark and Family categories.
 * May 3 and 4 both have Jackpot wins.
 * At the end of the May 3 episode, Pat, Vanna and the winning contestant dance to zydeco music during the credits.
 * May 4 is the only appearance of Show Biz in the Bonus Round since May 15, 2009.
 * On May 5, the camera pointed at the contestants is positioned too low and too far back when the $1,000 Toss-Up begins; it slowly zooms into its proper position until just before someone rings in.
 * On May 5, no one gives a correct answer to the $2,000 Toss-Up, FRIENDLY FACES. The second contestant to ring in gives an incorrect answer with only the C missing, so the third contestant does not have a chance to ring in. The second contestant actually said the right answer after time expired, but it was edited out.
 * On May 5, a contestant spins $3,500 three times in a row.
 * Between May 5 and 25, fifteen bonus puzzles in a row are all Thing(s). This is believed to be the longest such streak, and it is all the more unusual as the month began with two categories which had not been used in the bonus round in several years.
 * At the end of the May 6 episode, Pat joins Rockin' Dopsie onstage and plays the washboard while the band plays "When the Saints Go Marching In".
 * May 9 is a College Week.
 * During the week of May 9, the Tulane University marching band plays music going into and out of commercial, and during the credits. The university's cheerleading squad and mascot, Riptide the Pelican, are also present, and the cheerleaders announce Pat and Vanna during the opening.
 * Because it is the first college week since November 2009, May 9 is also the first appearance of the College Life category since then.
 * May 10 contestant Dominic Clust previously appeared on a Kids' Week of Jeopardy! in May 2004.
 * May 10 has a very unusual non-sequitur puzzle, CARDINALS & CANARIES, as the $2,000 Toss-Up. Besides being completely unrelated birds not associated together (similarly to the SPARROWS & PARAKEETS puzzle seen on two separate occasions), cardinal is a family of birds and canaries are a species.
 * May 11 has the first known appearance of College Life as a Toss-Up.
 * May 11 has a Jackpot win.
 * On May 11, Pat pretends to frisk the winning contestant after he solves the bonus puzzle.
 * May 12 has two males and one female contestant.
 * On May 13, a Same Name puzzle spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * May 13's bonus puzzle QUALIFICATIONS is the longest one-word bonus puzzle ever used on the show. It is also the second known answer to take up the entire second row of the current puzzle board.
 * During the week of May 16, an instrumental version of "When the Saints Go Marching In" plays in place of the opening music. A special piece of zydeco music also plays over the credits.
 * During the week of May 16, Pat, Vanna and the winning contestant eat various New Orleans-themed foods during the credits: bananas foster on Monday, pecan-crusted gulf fish on Tuesday, sake-glazed sea bass (with Japanese noodles and lobster/crab broth) on Wednesday, trout Pontchartrain on Thursday and beignets on Friday.
 * May 17 is a $100,000 win.
 * May 18 has a category rarely seen in plural form (Occpuations) as the $2,000 Toss-Up.
 * May 18 and 19 are the first two appearances of In the Kitchen since December 27, 2010.
 * On May 19, a contestant solves the Speed-Up puzzle ELECTRIC CAN OPENER with only the N's revealed.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of May 16.
 * The week of May 23 is a Family week sponsored by Wendy's. Between April and May 15, Wendy's offered five Wheel-themed toys in its kids' meals, with puzzle answer pieces in the toy packaging. Before the $3,000 Toss-Up, a promotional puzzle is shown; if it matches a game piece, the home viewer may submit the game piece to win a prize. Wendy's also sponsors the Wheel prize each week.
 * During the week of May 23, the neon frames around the Wheel, contestant scoreboards and video wall are all pink.
 * On May 24, Vanna forgets to touch one of the W's in the round 1 puzzle. She doesn't notice until a stagehand points it out to her on the next turn.
 * On May 24, the contestants accidentally call an E in the bonus round. Pat doesn't notice this at first, and begins to ask the contestants for their Wild Card letter before he is corrected.
 * On May 25, the previous day's Wendy's puzzle is shown again after that day's. This was done most likely because the May 24 episode was pre-empted in some markets by the series finale of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
 * On May 26, one of the family teams includes a physically-handicapped contestant in a wheelchair, who barely speaks throughout the entire game.
 * May 26 has a rare appearance of Fictional Family.
 * On May 27, Bankrupt is hit four times in the second round, including one which claims $22,000. Overall, it is hit six times.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of May 23.
 * The week of May 30 is a Tennis Week sponsored by the Tennis Channel. Three different tennis players are shown at the top of each show, with the third saying "it's Tennis Week on Wheel of Fortune".
 * During the weeks of May 30 and June 6, Vanna announces the Mystery Round prize.
 * On May 30, contestant Lisa accidentally asks to buy a T in Round 2 immediately after calling T. She loses her turn, but does not have $250 deducted from her score; however, it is known that on at least one other occasion when a contestant accidentally asked to buy a consonant, the $250 was still deducted.
 * On May 30, the same contestant lands on the Mystery Wedge between Free Play and Lose a Turn. When she hits it, an overhead shot of the other Mystery Wedge (next to the Million-Dollar Wedge), obviously edited in from another episode, is shown instead. Just before she flips it over, the overhead shot goes back to showing the correct wedge.
 * Tracy Austin, a tennis commentator and retired tennis player, makes a guest appearance at the end of the May 30 episode.
 * May 31 has a rare appearance of Husband & Wife, and a category rarely seen in plural form (Places).

June 2011 : (season ends June 10)  Summer Reruns 
 * June 3 has what may be the most expensive Wheel prize ever offered: a trip to Istanbul worth $16,400.
 * The week of June 6 is themed as America's Game. Once again, the Wii avatars are used in the opening.
 * On June 6, a projected arrow is once again visible on the center of the Wheel during the first spin.
 * On June 7, the Speed-Up bells sound just as a contestant starts to spin. He is allowed to complete the turn, after which Pat makes the Final Spin.
 * On June 8, a Same Name puzzle spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * June 9 is only the second time this season that Before & After appears in Round 1.
 * June 9 is a sixth episode from the Family Week on May 25.
 * On June 10, a contestant calls an E after spinning, then corrects herself and says T. She is credited with the T, which is not in the puzzle, although precedent suggests that she should have been credited with the E.
 * On June 10, Jim and Vanna both read portions of the Prize Puzzle copy.
 * June 10 is one of the only episodes this season to have neither Before & After nor Same Name.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of June 6.
 * Between February 24 and the season finale on June 10, only seven bonus puzzles are in categories other than Thing(s) or Phrase.

(Note: I usually don't keep track of these, but given the unusual circumstances I am making an exception.)
 * On June 13, Jim Thornton is confirmed as the permanent announcer.
 * Week of June 13: September 13-16 on Monday-Thursday; January 3, 2011 on Friday. Charlie's announcing is retained on the Monday-Thursday episodes.
 * Week of June 20: December 13, 14, 16 and 17 on Monday-Thursday; January 5 on Friday. Jim is dubbed over Rich on the December episodes.
 * Week of June 27: November 8 on Monday, November 10-12 on Tuesday-Thursday, January 6 on Friday. Jim is dubbed over Johnny on the November episodes.

Season 29 (2011-12)
Season Changes :

September 2010 : (season starts September 12)
 * September 12 is Wheel Loves Los Angeles week.
 * On September 12, Jim Thornton is introduced as the show's new announcer.
 * It has been confirmed that Season 29 will tape four weeks of shows from Portland, Oregon.