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 : (series begins September 19)
 * The nighttime Wheel of Fortune begins on September 19 and plays identically to the daytime version present on NBC at the time, with only four notable differences at this point:
 * There are no returning champions.
 * The prize budget is noticeably higher.
 * Round 2 features a Prize wedge.
 * Top dollar in Round 3 is increased to $5,000, which is on a shiny, silver wedge.
 * On September 21, the Wheel prize is $500 cash, displayed as five "crisp, new" $100 bills in a bird nest (a "nest egg") while "Frisco Disco" plays; the wedge is simply a large dollar sign in the same font as other Prize wedges. It is known that this is not the least expensive prize ever offered.
 * On an early episode, known to be in 1983 with $1,000 present, a contestant sweeps the game and wins a hot tub in the Bonus Round.

October 1983 :

November 1983 :
 * On November 28, the Merv Griffin Productions logo in the credits is replaced by a full-color drawing of a griffin against a black background.

December 1983 :
 * By the end of 1983, the top dollar value in Round 1 is increased to $1,000; the green wedge is placed over the $100 near $750 (originally the top dollar value for that round).

January 1984 :

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

March 1984 :

April 1984 :

May 1984 :
 * From around this point until early next season, at least some of the Prize wedges have smaller lettering than usual.
 * On an episode from around May:
 * The opening graphics are about half their normal size. The cash value does not zoom in, but the logo does.
 * The letters on the board light up very quickly.
 * Contestant Larry solves Round 3 with $0, increased to the house minimum of $200. Since this is not enough to buy a prize, no shopping round is done and the $200 is put on a gift certificate. "Nightwalk" plays while Pat explains the situation, but 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 blinking on the Mazda that the contestant is playing for. While Jack describes the car, Pat leans into shot to open and close the driver's-side door. After Jack finishes, Pat says that the car's door-ajar bell was ringing.
 * 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.

June 1984 : (season ends June 15)
 * On an episode from this month:
 * The curtain becomes stuck on the right-hand spiral podium after Pat's entrance, and he successfully pulls the remainder down into place. After introducing Vanna, the curtain does not open and she has to push them apart herself.
 * A hyphen in the Round 1 puzzle fails to light up for several seconds.

Season 2 (1984-85)
Season Changes :
 * The squared-off edges of the contestant backdrops become pointed. The outer edge is now dark brown, while the area immediately surrounding the player's color is changed to light brown.
 * Some of the Wheel wedges are increased: the $100 next to Free Spin becomes $700, the sole $175 becomes $800, and the $200 near Lose A Turn is changed to $900.
 * Around this point, contestants have generally stopped using "as in" when calling their letters (e.g. "N as in Nancy"), except when necessary if Pat does not hear them clearly.
 * "Changing Keys" is re-orchestrated slightly to sound less "chirpy", and a glissando is added to the beginning. The theme now begins at the first bar during the intro, instead of the 0:56 mark.
 * The show is now credited as being "produced by Merv Griffin Enterprises". The Griffin emblem at the end of the credits is altered to replace "Productions" with "Enterprises". In addition, the credit is smaller.

September 1984 : (season begins September 10)
 * On an episode from early in the season:
 * During Round 3, the trilon containing the first F in the puzzle FRANKFURTERS AND SAUERKRAUT accidentally lights up after the first letter, T, is called. It stays lit for the entire round (although it dims briefly at one point), and Pat repeatedly tells the contestants to disregard it until F is called later in the round.
 * Perhaps because of the above trilon malfunction, the (one-word) bonus puzzle uses the third row instead of the second.
 * Pat can be heard talking during the credits. Wide5K02.jpg
 * On at least two episodes from early in the season, the $5,000 wedge uses a much wider font than usual.
 * On an episode with the wide-font $5,000 wedge, the bonus puzzle LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE uses all four lines of the puzzle board, one of the few known instances of a bonus puzzle doing so. At 20 letters, it is also the longest-known bonus puzzle at this point, although at least three more 20-letter answers appear between now and 1988.
 * On another episode from early in the season:
 * Vanna wears a shirt and pants.
 * No vowels are bought in Round 1. A contestant who is a pastor solves the puzzle, THE NEW TESTAMENT, after which Pat points out that the puzzles are chosen at random.
 * During Round 3, a contestant's flipper just barely passes Bankrupt to land on $700. The slide whistle starts to sound, but it cuts off halfway.

October 1984 :
 * On an episode from sometime in the Fall:
 * The Wheel spins very slowly during the intro.
 * "Changing Keys" plays about a semitone lower than usual during the intro. "Nightwalk" warbles slightly, but the other music cues are unaffected.
 * Contestant Jeanette gets four Free Spins in Round 1 and uses three of them in Round 3.
 * The 1983 version of "Changing Keys" plays coming out of Round 1.
 * Pat runs up to the puzzle board to reveal the apostrophe in the Round 3 puzzle, for which he is applauded.
 * Later in Round 3, both a buzzer and a bell sound on a correct letter.
 * Pat informs the contestant that her bonus puzzle is both a Phrase and a Title (although the chyron shows only Phrase). This is the only known instance of a contestant being informed that a puzzle fits into more than one category.
 * The contestant reveals only the B in the answer (SIDE BY SIDE), believed to be the lowest amount of letters ever revealed under the original rules for letter selection.

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 are still in the thin, monospaced font.
 * On December 25, the outer frame of the Wheel is slightly misaligned, and it spins more tightly than is normal at this point. 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 game and wins a set of earrings in the Bonus Round.

January 1985 :
 * At some point this month, the logo shown after the money graphic is updated with an animation of the Wheel spinning. In addition, the category strips are changed to a medium form of Helvetica with a shadow effect, often in burnt orange. (It is known that at least one episode dated 1985 used the original logo and monospaced font for the categories, but Helvetica for the post-Bonus Round total.)
 * On an episode after the above changes:
 * The category strips are all white, without a shadow. This is the only known time after the change in font that they are white.
 * Vanna wears a sleeveless shirt and pants.
 * Contestant Doc solves the bonus puzzle THE LOVE BOAT just after the buzzer. Afterward, Vanna gives him a set of keys which Pat claims are the keys to her apartment, but are more than likely the keys to a car he purchased during the game.
 * Shortly after the category strips are changed, the Bonus Round totals and credits are also changed to Helvetica.
 * On an episode after the credits are changed, the puzzle board reads LEE RAWLS during the credits. This was done (most likely by Pat) by swapping out letters in the bonus puzzle LOU RAWLS, referencing the fact that contestant Rick said "Lee Rawls" at the start of the Bonus Round and did not come up with the right answer until several seconds later.

February 1985 :
 * By February 1, the category strips and Bonus Round totals are changed to a bolder form of Helvetica with a white outline and no shadow. They display in various colors, often matching Vanna's outfit (with the exception of neutral colors such as black, white, brown and gray).
 * On an episode sometime between February and May:
 * During the interviews, contestant Lori presents a key to the city of Henderson, Nevada and a certificate that certifies Pat as an honorary member of Henderson, both provided by the city's then-mayor. In exchange, Pat gives Lori a set of keys, which he takes back after the interviews are done.
 * The Round 2 prize (a Harley-Davidson motorcycle) is shown as "Bike" on the wedge, with the letters bunched up into its upper half.
 * The Speed-Up puzzle MORRIS THE CAT is inexplicably categorized as Thing instead of Fictional Character. Afterward, Pat says that the puzzle is "difficult to categorize" because he's "sort of real".
 * When the board is shown near the end of the credits, Pat re-arranges the letters in the bonus puzzle FRANK SINATRA so that it reads RANK RATS. He can be seen adjusting the S and then walking away from the puzzle board, causing Jack to laugh as he signs off.

March 1985 :

April 1985 :

May 1985 : (season ends May 24)
 * 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 a Speed-Up round.

Season 3 (1985-86)
September 1985 : (season begins September 9)
 * At some point early this season, a contestant solves TUTTI-FRUTTI ICE CREAM with only the T's revealed.

October 1985 :
 * Charlie O'Donnell fills in for Jack Clark beginning on October 21. During this time, Jack announces on The $25,000 Pyramid.

November 1985 :
 * Jack returns on November 4, having resigned from Pyramid due to scheduling conflicts with Wheel.

December 1985 :
 * On December 5, contestant Terry misses out on $62,400 by calling a wrong letter (S) with the majority of the puzzle THE THRILL OF VICTORY AND THE AGONY OF DEFEAT revealed; she loses $10,000 more in the Speed-Up. Incredibly, $62,400 would still have been a one-round record more than 25 years later.
 * At the end of the December 25 show, Jack Clark wishes everyone at home a Merry Christmas.

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.
 * No letters are added to the Round 1 puzzle PRIMA DONNA for 9 turns in a row (an incorrect vowel, 7 incorrect consonants and a Lose A Turn).
 * A contestant sweeps the game and wins a Mazda in the Bonus Round.

April 1986 :

May 1986 : (season ends May 23)
 * On May 5:
 * Contestant John puts $382 on account in Round 2.
 * After John wins Round 4, the contestant backdrop glitches, removing "on account" and changing the total to $9. The money amount then disappears, with "on account" showing up briefly before John's grand total is shown.
 * Contestant Ken guesses AT MY CAT'S END in the Bonus Round. Very shortly afterward, he starts to give the correct answer (AT MY WIT'S END) 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, resulting in a very obvious jump cut and an unusual camera angle while Vanna reveals the puzzle answer. Of these events, only the "cat's end" guess has been seen on specials.

Season 4 (1986-87)
Season Changes :
 * The Wheel wedges are recolored, replacing some tan and gold wedges with pink and purple. The most notable change is $1,000, which is now pink.
 * The contestant backdrops are changed to streamline the "jagged" edges while retaining the same color scheme. The new backdrops appear to resemble sunflowers more than the prior starbursts.
 * Around this point, Pat has generally stopped saying "For [amount], [solve/identify/what's] this [category]" after a contestant asks to solve.

September 1986 : (season begins September 8)

October 1986 :

November 1986 :
 * Sometime this month, a contestant sets a new one-round record of $44,300 and a maingame record of $59,013. She also ends up winning three cars: one from the Prize wedge, and two more from the aforementioned one-round record.

December 1986 :

January 1987 :
 * On an episode from the week of January 5, a contestant sweeps the game and wins a Hi-Lo trailer in the Bonus Round.

February 1987 :

March 1987 :

April 1987 :

May 1987 :
 * At some point this month, THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL is a bonus puzzle, tying the record for the longest known bonus puzzle.

June 1987 : (season ends by June 19)
 * Only a month later, another 20-letter bonus puzzle appears: UNITED STATES AIR FORCE. This is also only the third known bonus puzzle to use all four lines of the puzzle board.

Season 5 (1987-88)
September 1987 : (season begins September 7)
 * On an episode from this month:
 * The Prize wedge is in a different font than usual.
 * A third $900 wedge is present, which is tan and is upgraded from $600 in Round 1.
 * A contestant sweeps the game and wins a Mazda in the Bonus Round.

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. Changes introduced on this episode include:
 * Top dollar in Rounds 2 and 3 are increased to $2,500 and $3,500, represented by sparkling wedges that are greenish-blue and magenta, respectively. If the Round 2 prize carries over to Round 3, it is placed on the purple $150.
 * The average number of rounds increases from three to four. A second Prize wedge is added in Round 4, unless it begins as a Speed-Up. That prize is placed on the red $300. If the Round 2 prize carries over to Round 4, it is placed on the tan $200.
 * Commercial breaks no longer occur mid-round. The breaks are now between Rounds 2 and 3, between Rounds 3 and 4, between the last round and the Bonus Round, and between the Bonus Round and Pat and Vanna's post-game chat. If time permits, some games advance Round 4 and its prize to the second segment, with the third segment introducing $5,000 in Round 5. This practice is abandoned around Season 8.
 * 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.
 * "I'm a Wheel Watcher", also used in commercials around this point, now plays when Vanna walks out. This song, performed by Kool & the Gang, is a rewrite of "I'm a Girl Watcher" by The O'Kaysions.
 * The entire puzzle board is now shown during Speed-Up rounds. Previously, the shot of the board would be cropped as tightly as possible.
 * The stage now has several rugs and turntables showing various (mostly nonexistent) Wheel layouts, used mostly to display prizes like cars and boats; this includes a smaller rug which Pat, Vanna, and the day's winner stand on at center stage during the credits.
 * As it no longer applies, "gift certificates do not include sales tax" is removed from Jack's closing disclaimer.
 * Other notable events on October 5:
 * 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 on three lines, center-aligned (which would be the hallmark of the show's merchandise). Perhaps due to a technical error, Jack's intro echoes slightly.
 * The first four puzzles all have apostrophes in them, much to Pat's amusement.
 * A dramatic orchestral cue accompanies Pat's rundown of the Bonus Round prizes.
 * On an episode during the Big Month of Cash, constestant Jay sweeps the game and wins a Jaguar in the Bonus Round; said Bonus Round is the first known instance of Quotation being used there.

November 1987 :
 * On November 2, the changes from Big Month of Cash are made permanent, and it is now referred to as "Big Bonanza of Cash". Jack's intro mostly reverts to the original one, but ending with "...as we present our Big Bonanza of Cash on Wheel of Fortune!" In addition, the dramatic orchestral cue is dropped.
 * Daytime uses the shopping format until Rolf Benirschke's last episode (June 30, 1989), while Pat continues to tell nighttime contestants "We're playing for cash" for at least the next decade.

December 1987 :
 * At some point this month, a game ends in a tie. The non-tied contestant is dismissed before the commercial break, and the tied contestants play a second Speed-Up round (complete with another Final Spin) in its own segment to break the tie. As a result, Pat signs off immediately after the Bonus Round.
 * By late December, the Prize wedge lettering is shorter than usual.
 * On a late-December episode, a contestant sweeps the game and wins $25,000 in the Bonus Round.
 * As of late December, Free Spin is still in play for both Round 1 and 2.

January 1988 :
 * By midseason, Free Spin is only present during Round 1 and is replaced by a yellow $200 in Round 2. This $200 wedge is "off-model", using a different font.

February 1988 :
 * On February 8, the Merv Griffin Enterprises logo replaces "A unit of Coca-Cola TELEVISION" with "A Unit of Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc."
 * As of February 12, the "Big Bonanza" title and opening are still in use.

March 1988 :
 * On an episode from about this point:
 * The "off-model" $200 is accidentally present on the Wheel from the "Wheel! Of! Fortune!" chant through Pat's opening spin.
 * A contestant sweeps the game, but loses a Corvette Roadster in the Bonus Round.
 * At the end of the show, Vanna gets into the pool on-set and soaks her dress. She stands up, only to realize that her dress has become transparent.
 * By the above episode, the "Big Bonanza" title has been dropped.
 * As of the above episode, the shorter Prize wedge lettering is still present. They return to normal by the start of Season 6.

April 1988 :

May 1988 :
 * May 6 is likely Jack Clark's last full episode.
 * Charlie O'Donnell fills in for at least the week of May 9, and most likely until the end of the season.

June 1988 : (season ends June 3)
 * Jack reads newly-recorded fee plugs for the first few 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.
 * The repeat airing on July 27 is interrupted in the Cleveland market (specifically WEWS) around the 20-minute mark by a Jimmy Carter campaign ad from 1976, which runs about 15 seconds before switching back to Wheel.

Season 6 (1988-89)
Season Changes :
 * Nickname 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" at some point.
 * For no particular reason, the slide whistle no longer sounds if Pat hits Bankrupt on the Final Spin.
 * The category strip now appears in Speed-Up rounds.
 * The "off-model" $200 wedge covering Free Spin in later rounds is increased to $300, which is also off-model (this one having a large dollar sign and smaller "3").
 * The second (and more familiar) $25,000 sign debuts. This one, shaped like an elongated hexagon, is composed of green and blue light bulbs which give a "pulsating" effect.

September 1988 : (season begins September 5)
 * On September 5:
 * M.G. Kelly becomes the show's announcer. While Jack reportedly wanted Charlie to be his successor, he still had contractual obligations with The Newlywed Game.
 * Pat pays tribute to Jack Clark after Round 2; this appears to have been edited in, likely after the taping.
 * There is a very rare instance of a four-line puzzle in a Speed-Up round.
 * On September 6:
 * Same Name debuts, with a trumpet fanfare preceding Pat's announcement of it being a new category. For the next several episodes, he comes up with punny non-examples of Same Name puzzles (such as GROUCHO & STRETCH MARX {MARKS}).
 * M.G. is shown on-camera at the end of the show while Pat and Vanna welcome him as the new announcer.
 * On September 8:
 * Contestant Colin had previously been on the show, but his first appearance ran into an error which resulted in his return.
 * Pat and Vanna show off the new $25,000 sign at the end of the show.
 * On a September episode, the original Speed-Up round puzzle is thrown out for reasons unknown. Due to poor editing, the 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 is Phrase, and the replacement puzzle is a one-word People.
 * Another September episode has the second known 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 puzzle, FIRST PRIZE, is not solved.

October 1988 :
 * On October 3:
 * With only vowels remaining in the Round 3 puzzle, the Bankrupt slide whistle accidentally sounds instead of the "only vowels remain" beep, which itself sounds immediately afterward.
 * The Bonus Round rules are changed to offer RSTLNE automatically and ask the contestant for three more consonants and a vowel. Also, the time limit is reduced to 10 seconds. THE VATICAN, the first puzzle under these rules, is solved for $25,000.
 * October 7 is the nighttime show's 1,000th episode (listed on the slate as S-1000), taped August 17.
 * On an episode from this month:
 * Rounds 1-3 are Phrase.
 * The bonus puzzle is THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE, tying the record for the longest known bonus puzzle at the time. The record stands until 2010.
 * October 24 is the 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, and winning the Bonus Round allows the contestant to return the next day. 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 puzzle-solve cue if the Bonus Round is won. Also, the cash amount during the intro is changed throughout the week, to reflect the value of the remaining prizes.
 * On October 25, a contestant sweeps the 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.
 * Sometime in the Fall, believed to be immediately after the change to the Bonus Round rules, there is a game where every puzzle in the main game is Thing and the Bonus Round is Fictional Character.
 * Also believed to be sometime in the Fall, there is a game with a Place puzzle of SECRET HIDING PLACE. This is believed to be the first time that the category name is also part of the answer.
 * Also sometime between now and January, a contestant's letter choices fill in the bonus puzzle WHAT'S THE CATCH completely.

November 1988 :
 * On November 2, contestant Walt Ruskoski sets a winning record of $90,095. His winnings include $34,850 in cash and a $55,245 RV.
 * 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 around October 26. Changes for these weeks include:
 * New diamond-shaped contestant backdrops, connected scoreboards that hold six digits, a new puzzle board, and a new Wheel are built exclusively for this and future road shows. The new board has "dummy" trilons in the corners which are blocked by the outer frame, for a total of 52.Nyc2.jpg
 * The prize budget is higher than usual (November 14 uses a money graphic of "$337,000"), with Porsches and boats among the prizes. Several 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.
 * The opening is a montage of New York-related scenery at night, accompanied by a recording of "New York, New York" (from On the Town, not to be confused with the Frank Sinatra song). The montage starts with a fireworks show at the Statue of Liberty, includes a shot of the Times Square monitor reading "NEW YORK WELCOMES WHEEL OF FORTUNE" as well as a graphic of Pat and Vanna appearing on the front page of a fictional newspaper called the Anytown Times with the accompanying headline "PAT & VANNA IN NEW YORK", and ends with a shot of the Brooklyn Bridge and the World Trade Center's Twin Towers.
 * "Changing Keys" is played on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ, except during the credits.
 * Don Pardo announces. His spiel, complete with a new timpani roll when the venue is announced, starts with "From Radio City Music Hall in New York City, it's America's #1 game show!" over a flyover shot of the theatre's exterior which cuts to a shot of the theatre's interior. The intro then uses a star wipe to a shot of the audience doing the traditional opening cheer. His spiel continues as normal, and ends with "Over [amount] in cash and prizes, just waiting to be won tonight as the Wheel takes Manhattan! And now, here's your host: Pat Sajak!", and the logo rolls away towards the right instead of just panning towards the right.
 * For the first week, seven prizes are available in the bonus round: a $64,000+ Porsche 911 convertible, Toyota Supra, $37,000+ boat, $49,000+ "Shipboard Party", $50,000+ motorhome-van, some jewelry, and the $25,000. Four of the five Bonus Rounds are played for the Porsche. For the second week, the Porsche and Toyota are replaced with a pair of his/hers Cadillacs and the Shipboard Party is replaced with tickets to every sporting event in America.
 * According to a contemporary news article published October 31, the audience becomes restless as the tapings progress, going so far as to yell "move the cars" and "get that damn Porsche out of here" (referring to the platform in front of the set and, likely, that this took place between the first and second week). At least half of the original audience departs before tapings conclude.
 * On November 14, during Pat's intro speech, the Wheel's loud automation can be heard, so he asks the control booth to "Stop the Wheel!" He also calls the Wheel "noisy" when doing the opening spin.
 * On November 17, the camera is further to the right than usual during the Bonus Round, showing the rightmost set of trilons in the middle rows.
 * On a New York City episode, a contestant gets booed for failing to solve the bonus puzzle APRICOT. Don can also be heard groaning after time expires.
 * On November 25, contestant Willie gets three consecutive Free Spins in Round 1. He uses two of them after making two incorrect guesses on the puzzle KENNY AND ROY ROGERS (with only the K unrevealed), and solves correctly after getting the third.

December 1988 :
 * On an episode during the week of December 19, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle EGGNOG despite not getting any help from their extra letters.
 * On December 23:
 * VANNA AND SNOW WHITE is a Same Name puzzle.
 * At the end of the show, Pat gives an intentionally off-key rendition of "White Christmas" while Vanna accompanies him on a piano.

January 1989 :
 * Sometime in January or early February, no letters are added to the Round 4 puzzle RAZZMATAZZ for 9 turns in a row, counting both a repeated H and an I that was called after the A because Pat did not inform the contestants that no more vowels remained; seven letters come after the Final Spin. Finally, a contestant calls the four Z's in the puzzle at $5,000 each.
 * On another episode from the above timeframe:
 * 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. His third hits $1,500.
 * Contestant Arnie jokingly asks to play for Vanna in the Bonus Round. After he says that he actually wants to play for $25,000, M.G. replies with "I was getting ready to tell him about Vanna!"
 * Arnie calls his vowel second, and it is displayed on the chyron second, establishing the precedent that out-of-order letter calls in the Bonus Round are displayed on the chyron in the order called.
 * The bonus puzzle is one space further to the left than usual.
 * On another episode from around this point:
 * Rounds 1, 2 and 5 are Phrase.
 * For the first known time, Round 3 is in its own segment, with Rounds 4 and 5 in the same segment. While abnormal at the time, this pacing becomes the norm for games with five or more rounds by Season 8.
 * Pat forgets the apostrophe in Round 5 until someone tells him from offstage.
 * The audience applauds during the first three turns in the Speed-Up. On the fourth turn, a single audience member can be heard clapping.
 * With M_LAN _TAL_ showing in the Bonus Round, the contestant mispronounces MILAN ITALY as "MILL-in", then "MY-lun". After time expires, Pat says that "we're gonna come back and discuss this." Upon returning from commercial, the puzzle is once again in close-up, before he tells her that her pronunciations are not acceptable.

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. Unlike most other accidental RSTLNE calls in the Bonus Round, the chyron instead displays the contestant's vowel (O) in the third position, and the contestant is then asked for a third consonant.
 * On February 20:
 * Charlie O'Donnell replaces M.G. as announcer. Strangely, no mention is made on-air of the change.
 * Marla Gibbs makes a cameo after her name is 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.
 * On February 27:
 * Contestant Andy is nearly disqualified because he had gotten lost from the group before the taping, and ran into Vanna backstage. His brother also competed on the show in 1986.
 * Before & After debuts in Round 3, with the "Charge!" trumpet fanfare playing when Pat refers to it as a brand-new category.

March 1989 :
 * On an episode sometime between February 27 and May:
 * The slide whistle does not sound on the first Bankrupt of Round 5 until after the next contestant starts to spin.
 * Contestant Cynthia tries to spin in the same round after it goes to Speed-Up, but is stopped by Pat.
 * A contestant accidentally calls L in the Bonus Round, and it is put on the chyron. Two letters light up (but are not turned) before the mistake is realized. Pat prompts the contestant for another consonant, and it replaces the L on the chyron.
 * On another episode from this timespan:
 * In a fairly rare occurrence, no vowels are bought in Round 1.
 * In Round 1, and three times in Round 2, Pat forgets to ask contestant Penny if she wants to use her Free Spin. She uses it in Round 3, again without Pat asking.
 * In Round 4, contestant Maxie tries to buy a repeated O while Pat is being told that no more vowels remain. Pat asks what should be done, and the repeated O is ignored.
 * Penny solves her bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * During the credits, footage is shown from a "goofy hat contest" that the staff members had before taping.
 * Until the end of the season, Charlie sometimes promotes the Round 4 Prize in the intro as an "extra Wheel prize".

April 1989 :
 * In either late April or early May, a contestant is given THE ACROPOLIS as a bonus puzzle. With T_E _CR___LIS showing, the contestant says "tie", "toe" and "tee" for the first word despite getting "Acropolis" correct.

May 1989 :
 * May 8 is Family Week. Although it does not use the Friday Finals format, the week's top winning family is given a plaque at the end of the show.
 * The intro includes footage of the competitors standing in front of the puzzle board (which reads FAMILY WEEK, center-aligned on the middle rows), just as Charlie reaches the "Wheeeeeel of Fortune!" part of the intro.
 * May 12 has a very rare appearance of a four-line puzzle in a Speed-Up round.
 * May 15 is College Week. Starting this season and lasting through Season 14, there are three representatives for the schools represented each day; however, only one from each school may be on stage at any time during the main game. Whichever school wins has all three representatives available for the Bonus Round.
 * At some point this month, for what is most likely the first time, a contestant calls Z in the Bonus Round. Interestingly, she only does this because she had already called the other two consonants in the puzzle (A HIT OR A MISS).

June 1989 : (season ends June 16)

Season 7 (1989-90)
Season Changes :
 * The nighttime show moves from Studio 4 at NBC Studios in Burbank to CBS Television City's Studio 33 (now the Bob Barker Studio, longtime home of The Price Is Right), used by the daytime version since July 17. Unlike the daytime show, nighttime credit rolls do not mention being "Recorded at CBS Television City in Hollywood, California".
 * The new Free Spin discs, updated sound effects package and second rearrangement of "Changing Keys", all introduced on Bob Goen's first daytime episode in July, carry over to nighttime.
 * The nighttime version adopts a three-day returning champion rule, just like the daytime version.
 * Some Person and People puzzles begin including descriptive phrases (e.g., COUNTRY SINGER JOHNNY CASH instead of just JOHNNY CASH), a tradition that continues into the present day with most Proper Name puzzles.
 * The contestant's Bonus Round prize is now determined by picking from one of five envelopes, placed in a holder that spells out W-H-E-E-L in gold letters on green sparkling stars. Each letter is atop a thin metal pole, with the five poles forming a "fan" shape. Any prize that is won is taken out of rotation for the rest of the week. The change to envelopes was presumably because almost every contestant chose to play for the $25,000 cash (or occasionally the car).
 * Bonus Rounds almost entirely stop using more than two lines of the puzzle board. Previously, an answer that was three words or longer might be on three lines, even if it could fit easily on two.
 * The timpani roll is removed from the Bonus Round.
 * The intro is changed. During the "Wheel! Of! Fortune!" chant, the contestants run onstage. Charlie's spiel is now "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/this week/given away so far this week! And now, here are your host and hostess: Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
 * The intro graphic starts with several colored rings curling into place to form the frame of the Wheel, followed by the wedges falling down to form the Wheel itself. Once the Wheel graphic is fully formed, it tilts to form the "O" in "OF", with the rest of the show's name spelled out in gold letters and presented in puzzleboard-title form. The camera pans from the Wheel to the board as the logo appears, cuts to the audience as the wedges fly back out of the graphic, then cuts again to center stage while Charlie reads the cash value of the prizes, which drops off the screen as he introduces Pat and Vanna. As with most of the other "falling wedges" graphics used in later seasons, this one is extremely inaccurate; it lacks Bankrupt and Lose A Turn while featuring $850 (not used since 1979), an "off-model" yellow $750 in a font similar to Times New Roman, and the nonexistent (outside of rug and turntable layouts) $950.
 * Because Pat and Vanna now walk out together, "I'm a Wheel Watcher" is no longer used.
 * Pat's podium and the spaces between the contestants' podiums are changed to a solid brown design.
 * The contestant backdrops are updated to a chevron shape. The midsection of the backdrop shows a contestant's cumulative score if s/he has been on for more than one day.
 * For the first month of the season, several puzzles use zeroes instead of O's. These can easily be discerned as they are much wider and rounder than the O's. As far as is known, puzzles only either used O's or zeroes, never both.
 * Prize wedges are now removed after their respective rounds if not won.

September 1989 : (season begins September 4)
 * On September 4:
 * The Round 3 template is accidentally kept for Round 4, with $5,000 over the red $300 (normally the location of $3,500 in Round 3).
 * The 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.
 * After the contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle, Pat places the unopened envelope 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 7:
 * Pat is briefly visible in the contestant "window" in the Bonus Round.
 * The bonus puzzle uses a zero for an O.
 * There are two sets of repeated categories: Thing in Rounds 1 and 4, Phrase in Round 2 and the Bonus Round.
 * On September 8:
 * No Wheel prize is added for Round 4, even though it does not begin as a Speed-Up.
 * Contestant John becomes the first nighttime player to retire undefeated, with $66,350. His final Bonus Round is the first known instance of a contestant choosing U in the Bonus Round.
 * On September 11:
 * Round 1, JOHN MCENROE AND TATUM O'NEAL, is categorized as People, making it clear that Husband & Wife has not yet debuted.
 * 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.
 * The contestant's letters fill in the bonus puzzle MARMALADE completely.
 * Sometime 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 spins the Wheel once and calls 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 (recorded August 12), the bottom-most tier of lights around the Wheel is not working.
 * On September 19, the Round 2 prize is a $3,500 TV console. The Prize wedge has "TV" in very large letters.
 * On September 19, 21 and 29, zeroes are used instead of O's for two puzzles: Rounds 2 and 3 on the 19th; Round 2 and the Bonus Round on the 21st; and Round 4 and the Bonus Round on the 29th (seemingly the last episode with zeroes).

October 1989 :
 * By October 2, Wheel becomes the first game show to be closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired (unless the notice was retroactively added to a rerun). This is noted by a white disclaimer graphic appearing below the logo during the open, after it finishes forming.
 * On October 2:
 * The dollar sign is removed from the contestant score displays if that player has at least $10,000 showing, an apparent glitch which remains for the rest of the season.
 * During the Bonus Round, the category strip is red when Pat announces the category (People). As the contestant "window" appears (right before Pat says "proper names" in his reminder), the camera suddenly shifts to the left and the category strip becomes purple.
 * On October 4, the Round 3 puzzle GEORGE C SCOTT AS PATTON is inexplicably categorized as People instead of Person/Title. This may have been one of the reasons behind renaming Person/Fictional Character to Star & Role less than two weeks later, so as to make the category inclusive for actors who portray real-life people.
 * On October 6:
 * The original Round 1 puzzle is thrown out for reasons unknown, although its blanks are still visible during the open. This is most notable in that the original puzzle uses the middle two rows, while the replacement (Before & After) uses all four rows.
 * Person/Fictional Character makes its first known, and possibly only, nighttime appearance.
 * Five rounds are played, but Round 3 is in its own segment with $5,000 as top dollar value for Rounds 4 and 5.
 * On October 10, contestant Alan retires with a total stated to be $35,450. During the credits, Charlie notes that this total is a mathematical error and his total is actually $42,100.
 * October 11 may be the first use of Person/Title on nighttime.
 * On October 13, the category strip is accidentally dark red for the entirety of Round 3. Vanna's outfit for this episode is blue, which all the other category strips match.
 * On October 16:
 * The Free Spin wedge is retired, with the "off-model" yellow $300 replacing it. From this point until its retirement, there is only one Free Spin disc. Initially, it is placed over a random dollar amount and claimed in the same way as Prize wedges.
 * In Round 1, Person/Fictional Character is renamed Star & Role.
 * The winner's Bonus Round letter choices begin to be displayed in black, a color typically not used by the category strips. This continues for the rest of the season.
 * On October 17:
 * The "off-model" yellow $300 is still in use.
 * Contestant Bruce pronounces "dese" as "Desi" when solving the completely-revealed Round 1 answer DESE DEM AND DOSE GUYS. After calling the puzzle "crummy", Pat asks Nancy Jones for a ruling. 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.
 * The Round 2 prize includes a TV, which during Charlie's prize description shows a clip of Pat, Vanna and some Muppets.
 * Round 2 is the first instance of a contestant landing on the Free Spin disc; the rule change was not mentioned on-air until this point.
 * Rounds 2 and 3 are also solved after being completely revealed: Round 2 by Mike, and Round 3 by Donna.
 * There is no second Wheel prize due to Round 4 beginning as a Speed-Up.
 * On October 23: DianeGrandTotal102389.jpg
 * Contestant Shelly's nametag is in a larger, wider font than usual.
 * No music plays under Charlie's description of the Round 4 prize.
 * Contestant Diane Landry retires with $129,370. After she wins the main game, Pat affixes a piece of cardboard reading "$1" to the far left side of her chevron backdrop, since the display only has five digits (and then only by removing the dollar sign). At the end of the show, he mentions the network's winnings cap of $100,000 and notes that anything over the limit is donated to a charity of the winner's choice.
 * By October 23, the "off-model" yellow $300 is upgraded to a correctly-designed yellow $500, even though there is another yellow $500 only five wedges counterclockwise.
 * On October 24, Vanna sings "Proud Mary" at the end of the show.
 * On October 25:
 * Pat forgets to mention the ampersand in Round 2 (which is a Same Name) until after the first spin. It is revealed before that contestant calls her letter, which is not in the puzzle.
 * As the Final Spin chimes sound, the category strip quickly "decreases" from purple to darker shades of blue until it disappears. It returns to purple for the rest of the round.
 * As of October 25, Nancy Jones is still the first name listed during full credit rolls.
 * On October 26:
 * Rounds 1 and 2 are played entirely by the person who began them.
 * Pat's Final Spin lands on Lose A Turn.
 * Contestant Mark retires with $110,757.
 * At the end of the show, Vanna surprises Pat with a birthday cake, and the audience sings "Happy Birthday" while "Happy Birthday, Pat!" appears onscreen in the category strip font. Pat jokes that he has turned 30, although his actual age was 43.
 * On October 27:
 * During Round 3, contestant Nicole hits $3,500 three times in a row. The round is played only by her.
 * There are two sets of repeated categories: Phrase in Rounds 1 and 2, Thing in Round 3 and the Bonus Round, and Things in Round 4.
 * Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Pluto are seen in the audience during the credits.
 * October 30 has two sets of repeated categories: Thing in Round 1 and the Bonus Round, and Phrase in Rounds 2 and 4.

November 1989 : December 1989 :
 * The weeks of November 1 and 8 are the Cash and Splash Sweepstakes (also known as the Cruise and Cash Splash Sweepstakes in the mail-in portion). This is a fundraising event involving a 900 number and/or a mail-in, sponsored by Pizza Hut and Norwegian Cruise Lines. During this sweepstakes:
 * Presumably to allocate for the rules and disclaimers, both $2,500 and $3,500 are on the Wheel for Round 2, with the former over the purple $150. It is possible that some games also had only one round in the first segment.
 * 50 viewers each day win a $1,000 cash prize and a vacation aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines, with airfare provided by Delta Air Lines.
 * Before the first commercial break, a partially-filled puzzle is shown with category. Viewers then have 10 seconds to study the puzzle, after which they may either call the 900-number or mail their entries.
 * All callers receive a $4 gift certificate towards a Personal Pan Pizza with their choice of topping(s) and a pitcher of Pepsi.
 * On December 15:
 * All three contestants are male.
 * Husband & Wife makes its first known appearance, in Round 3. Oddly, it spells out AND instead of an ampersand even though other puzzles had begun using ampersands at this point.
 * The bonus puzzle, ATOM, is the first known four-letter bonus puzzle.
 * December 18 is Family Week, with the winning team on Friday receiving a "Family of the Year" trophy. Some general notes about this week:
 * The opening has the teams already in place, with no movement by them until the "Wheel! Of! Fortune!" chant finishes.
 * Family debuts at some point during this week, possibly the 22nd, although Pat's comments on that show suggest that it was used at least once earlier in the week.
 * The set is decorated for Christmas.
 * The contestant window in the Bonus Round is an oval instead of a circle, and (perhaps as a result) the camera is zoomed out further than usual.
 * On December 22: FamilyWeek122289.jpg
 * The teams are introduced with their previous scores on the main contestant displays; oddly, the chevron backdrops are not used for the cumulative scores after the game.
 * Rounds 1 and 2 are played entirely by the team who began them.
 * Rounds 1-3 are Thing. Round 1, IRVING BERLIN'S WHITE CHRISTMAS, is strangely given this category instead of Title.
 * The Round 4 prize is a $10,000 savings bond, the first known five-digit Wheel prize. Also, there is no close-up of its wedge.
 * Round 4 is a very rare instance of a four-line puzzle in a Speed-Up round.
 * One member of the blue team starts to say the answer to the Speed-Up, pauses, then haltingly says the rest of the answer over and after the buzzer. His answer is accepted.
 * In the final segment, the trophy is shown with Pat, Vanna, and the winning team inlaid in the lower left-hand corner (continuing from Pat's joke about it being "six stories tall").

January 1990 :
 * It is believed that there is a seven-round game in early 1990. If so, it is very likely the first, and just as likely that Rounds 3 and 4 were in the second segment.
 * On January 9, contestant Meg retires with $107,938.
 * On January 10:
 * Vanna forgets to turn an L in Round 5 (during Speed-Up), although the puzzle is solved immediately afterward.
 * After describing the Cadillac won in the Bonus Round, Charlie accidentally says "Good luck."
 * By January 10, full credit rolls begin with Merv Griffin as Executive Producer and continue to end with his creator credit.
 * Possibly beginning on January 11, and for select episodes, a shot of the audience is used following one round. At this point, the shot is framed in a thin purple border surrounded by a thick blue border. It is used on January 11 after Round 3, on January 12 following Round 4, and on January 30 after Round 2. In all cases, the CBS Eye curtains can be seen in the background.
 * At the end of the January 11 show, Pat and Vanna plug the upcoming Disney World tapings.
 * On January 10 and 11, the full credit roll is done for two days in a row.
 * As of January 11, the Merv Griffin Enterprises logo still appears in the same way it did at the beginning of 1989 (the camera cuts to it for that portion of Charlie's spiel, then cuts back to the set for the King World logo/announcement).
 * January 12 and 30 have six rounds, with Rounds 3 and 4 in the second segment.
 * On January 12:
 * Rounds 1, 2 and 6 are Phrase.
 * Contestant Louise retires with $118,936, a rare instance of two consecutive undefeated champions.
 * On January 30:
 * During Round 6, contestant Alan begins to spin right before the Final Spin chimes. He is allowed to complete his turn, after which Pat does the Final Spin.
 * Rounds 3, 5, 6 and the Bonus Round are all Thing. Round 5 is a rare one-word answer of BATMOBILE.
 * By January 30, the Merv Griffin Enterprises graphic appears differently: it now "flips" down from above the screen for Charlie's spiel, then "flips" back upward to show the set and King World logo/announcement.
 * January 31 has four Phrase puzzles: Rounds 1, 2, 4 and the Bonus Round.

February 1990 :
 * On February 1, in a fairly rare occurrence, all three contestants are male.
 * On February 2:
 * One of the contestants is referred to by her nickname, Mouse.
 * Rounds 1, 2 and 4 are Phrase.
 * Pat and Vanna talk with Charlie after the Bonus Round.
 * On February 5:
 * The Speed-Up bells sound just before Pat's "People does not always mean 'proper names'" explanation, after which the sound plays again.
 * There are two sets of repeated categories: Thing in Rounds 1 and 3, People in Round 5 and Person in the Bonus Round.
 * On February 6:
 * Contestant Lisa calls a wrong letter, then opts to turn in her Free Spin, but before she can do so, Jeff begins to spin the Wheel. He quickly stops himself, after which Pat resets the Wheel by moving it backward. On her immediate next turn, Lisa tries to buy a vowel after her spin, and after being corrected, she calls an incorrect consonant.
 * There are two sets of repeated categories: Thing in Rounds 1, 4 and the Bonus Round, and People in Rounds 2 and 3.
 * On February 7:
 * There are six rounds, with Rounds 3 and 4 in the second segment. Round 6's answer, GRACELAND, is categorized as Place instead of Landmark.
 * Things is used in Round 3, while Round 4 and the Bonus Round are Thing.
 * The weeks of February 12 and 19 are taped at Walt Disney World. Unusually for a road show, these weeks use the rugs and turntables. Near the end of the intro segment, an animation of Tinker Bell flies on-screen and taps the screen, the glow from her magic wand forming the wipe to the set.
 * From the week of February 12 until at least the Virginia episodes in late Season 12, two-line bonus puzzles on road shows use the first and second rows of the puzzle board instead of the second and third. This was probably done to increase visibility in larger venues.
 * On at least February 15, and possibly all the Disney World episodes, the contestant's Bonus Round letter choices are in the same color as the category strips.
 * As of February 27, Pat still does the opening spin.
 * On February 27:
 * Bankrupt is hit four times in Round 3, including the first two spins.
 * Contestant Cornelia retires with $45,637.

March 1990 :
 * On a Friday episode from early 1990, known to be after the aforementioned credit changes but before Pat stops doing the opening spin, there are two sets of repeated categories: Phrase in Rounds 1 and 2, and Thing in Rounds 4, 5 and the Bonus Round. Interestingly, Round 3 is Landmark.

April 1990 :
 * On April 12, CBS cancels The Pat Sajak Show.
 * By April 18, Pat stops doing the opening spin. He does it again on April 23, but the lack of an overhead Wheel shot suggests that it was a fluke.
 * On April 18:
 * The Round 4 puzzle HONKY-TONK BAR OF SOAP uses three lines of the puzzle board with BAR on its own line, even though it could have easily fit on two. (This becomes the norm in the 2000s, by which point most Before & After puzzles put the connecting word on its own line if possible.)
 * Rounds 1, 2 and 5 are Phrase.
 * Contestant Vince retires with $101,649.
 * By April 23, the colors of the audience shot border (used on this episode after Round 2) are changed to dark blue in a border that is purple on the right and gold on the left.
 * On April 23, Charlie appears on-camera at the end of the show.
 * On at least April 23 and 26, a car is the Round 4 prize: a $13,394 Geo Prizm LSI on the 23rd, a $10,863 Toyota Tercel on the 26th. Pat jokes on the 26th that the wedge says "Car" because nobody on the staff could spell "Tercel".

May 1990 :
 * On May 4:
 * PAT AND LESLY SAJAK is the Round 4 puzzle (Husband & Wife). This is also the last known instance of Husband & Wife using AND instead of an ampersand.
 * After Pat consoles the contestant who solved Round 5 for his not hitting a larger amount, she replies with "Well, there's always Jeopardy!"
 * As the camera pans the set leading into the pre-Bonus Round commercial break, the lights on the $25,000 sign are solid instead of flashing.
 * May 17 has six rounds, with Rounds 3 and 4 in the second segment. This is the last known game to do so, as at least May 18, 25 and 31 all have five rounds with Round 3 in its own segment.
 * On May 18, the yellow and blue contestants' scoreboards are still lit up during the Bonus Round.
 * On May 25:
 * Vanna is wearing a dark yellow dress, but the category strips are blue.
 * Contestant Steve's nametag falls off as he picks up the Free Spin in Round 1. He retrieves the nametag, after which Pat tosses it aside and says "you don't even need this".
 * Steve retires with $74,455.
 * On May 31:
 * All three contestants are female.
 * Vanna is wearing a green dress, but the category strips are red.
 * Pat's Final Spin lands on Bankrupt three times in a row. His fourth lands on $5,000.

June 1990 : (season ends June 1)
 * On June 1:
 * The Free Spin disc comes loose during Round 1 and nearly falls off the Wheel.
 * The Speed-Up puzzle UNDER HOUSE ARREST is inexplicably categorized as Event instead of Phrase.

Season 8 (1990-91)
Season Changes :
 * Contestants now have to call a right letter before claiming a Prize wedge or Free Spin. Previously, the contestants claimed these automatically and called a letter for the value underneath.
 * The contestant backdrops are replaced by the diamond backdrops first used on the Radio City Music Hall shows in November 1988.
 * The floor is changed to black, and (likely as a result) the projected Wheel of Fortune logo is retired.
 * The scoreboards are widened to seven digits, and the dollar sign now "adjusts" to scores instead of remaining at the far left. A similar six-digit style was used on the Disney World shows the previous season, and during the 1988 New York City shows.
 * The contestant podiums are now connected to each other, with no spaces between them.
 * A large, thick gold ring is added to the Bonus Round envelope holder.
 * This is the only season after Season 6 not to have a road show.
 * The blue $150 between the peach $200 and the red $450 gets upgraded to $500, leaving the blue $150 between the pink $250 and red $400 as the sole $150 space in the first two rounds. These changes remain in place until the Wheel templates are upgraded in September 1996.
 * The lights surrounding the Wheel become much brighter. The bottom layer of lights, which previously flashed counterclockwise, now flashes clockwise as the Wheel is spinning (much like the other layers).
 * At some point this season, the Bonus Round chevron backdrops (in use since July 1989) add lights which flash during the opening, bonus prize descriptions and credits.

September 1990 : (season begins September 3)
 * September 3 is Teen Week, a tradition which leads off the next several seasons.
 * Actress Alicia Witt, whose only role at this point is a character in Dune, competes on one of the Teen Week episodes. She later appears on a celebrity edition in November 1997.
 * On September 11:
 * Round 1 is a rare one-word puzzle, TURBOCHARGER.
 * Late in Round 3, contestant Gemini's flipper manages to completely bypass the middle portion of the blue $450 right as the Wheel stops.
 * As of September 11, the Round 2 and 4 prizes are still removed from the Wheel if they are not claimed in their respective rounds.
 * At some point this month, Mindi Mitola sets a winnings record of $146,014 over three days.

October 1990 :
 * Clue debuts at some point this month. For this season only, a light saxophone sting plays if a contestant correctly identifies what the Clue describes.

November 1990 :

December 1990 :
 * December 24 is Family Week.

January 1991 :
 * Vanna is absent for two weeks this month due to her honeymoon. Tricia Gist, then the girlfriend of Merv Griffin's son Tony, fills in for her.
 * For the period that Tricia fills in, the opening returns to introducing Pat, who then introduces Tricia.
 * New Leaf provides Tricia's wardrobe.
 * On one of Tricia's episodes (definitely a Wednesday or Thursday):
 * The Free Spin is higher on the wedge than usual.
 * The Round 2 prize is on a $250 wedge instead of $150.
 * By the above episode:
 * The copyright date is now shown during the credits, as opposed to being on the Merv Griffin Enterprises logo.
 * The Merv Griffin Enterprises logo returns to its original black background with "Merv Griffin Enterprises" animated, and is now revealed by a "page turn" effect; the byline, "A unit of Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.", is orange. The Griffin also winks at the camera. (The logo itself was used on Jeopardy! from 1984-93.)
 * The King World logo is changed to its more familiar full-screen "spotlights" animation.

February 1991 :

March 1991 :
 * Tricia Gist possibly returns for one episode in March due to Vanna having a cold. This is not certain, as news articles are contradictory regarding the length and reasoning of Vanna's short absence around this point.

April 1991 :
 * On April 1, at the end of the show, Vanna appears to be pregnant. She then takes the cushion out of her dress and notes that it is an April Fool's joke.
 * 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.
 * By April 9, the practice of removing Prize wedges after their respective rounds is abandoned.

May 1991 :
 * May 6 is Teen Week.
 * May 13 is College Week.
 * On May 14:
 * With only vowels left, contestant Andrea incorrectly solves the Round 2 puzzle HAVE IT ON GOOD AUTHORITY by saying "in". Play passes to Vince, who only has $200 and begins the same incorrect answer, only to be buzzed out. Finally, Becky solves correctly for $200.
 * Only one of the two turntables (which has a Jeep on it) turns during the opening and closing.

June 1991 : (season ends June 21)

Season 9 (1991-92)
Season Changes :
 * This season appears to be the debut of Title/Author, which is occasionally inverted as Author/Title.
 * It is also the debut of Foreign Word(s) and Foreign Phrase, which seem to have debuted later in the season.

September 1991 : (season begins September 2)
 * September 2 is Teen Week.
 * The weeks of September 30 and October 7 are 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, so Pat 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.
 * 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 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.
 * On October 31, Merv Griffin makes a guest appearance at the end of the show to introduce 13 of the international versions' hostesses. He speaks with Nicki Campbell and Paola Barale, then the respsective hostesses of the British and Italian versions of the show.

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 4, contestant Steve sweeps the game and wins a trip to Paris in the Bonus Round. He sweeps the game again on November 5 but loses $25,000 in the Bonus Round.
 * On November 15, the camera is further to the right than usual during the Bonus Round, showing the extra trilons in the middle rows.
 * One episode from "Wheel Around the World" features the third known instance of Quotation being used during the Bonus Round.

December 1991 :

January 1992 :

February 1992 :

March 1992 :
 * The weeks of March 2-16 are the Watch and Win Sweepstakes. Home viewers compete via mail, attempting to answer at least three of the five "questions" (likely puzzles). Winners receive a trip for two to Los Angeles and "a chance" to attend the show's 10th-Anniversary Gala (see September 1992 for more).

April 1992 :
 * The weeks of April 27-May 18 are taped at Walt Disney World.
 * The first 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!" Disney World-related video footage appears during the opening, ending with an animation of Tinker Bell using her magic wand to "zap" the screen as the transition to the typical shot of Pat and Vanna walking onstage. As soon as Charlie says "On Wheel of Fortune!", the 1989 logo zooms up just before Tinker Bell "zaps" the screen.
 * A second intro with the same opening spiel uses the former Round 1 template complete with Free Spin, the blue $150 between the peach $200 and red $450, and a sparkly blue center that is also used as a bumper graphic accompanying the text "Wheel of Fortune from Orlando". In the first few seconds of the intro, the template is seen on the bottom of the screen zooming out as the camera flies over footage of Mickey Mouse waving while standing on top of the Epcot Center dome.
 * The third intro is "On location in Orlando, Florida! America's favorite game show! Coming to you from America's favorite theme park!" More footage is seen before the usual 1989 intro graphics fly into place, and the intro continues, "The famous Wheel is spinning your way, with lots of cash and fabulous prizes! And now, here are your host and hostess, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" As usual, Tinker Bell appears and "zaps" the screen with her wand to transition from the logo to the studio.
 * The fourth intro starts with Vanna's intro of "It's Wheel of Fortune from Walt Disney World!", followed by Tinker Bell "zapping" to a shot of Cinderella's castle. Then the 1989 intro graphics fly into place before more footage of Walt Disney World is seen, as the opening text is "Tonight, the famous Wheel is spinning your way! America's favorite game show! Coming to you from America's favorite theme park in Orlando, Florida! It's fun and fantasy! With lots of cash and fabulous prizes just waiting to be won! And now, here are your host and hostess, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!". It ends with a shot of the monorail traveling at sunset, before a graphic of the aforementioned Round 1 template "rolls" counterclockwise to wipe the screen to a shot of the studio.
 * There are two separate bumpers featuring only the bumper graphic Wheel that features no text: a time-lapse of Cinderella's castle at the Magic Kingdom from day to night, and a fireworks show at said castle.
 * On certain shows, the bumper graphic Wheel used is the Rounds 1-2 template from the Goen NBC era (complete with Free Spin disc and Prize wedge) which rolls beneath the screen (often seen on certain Goen episodes as well). The graphic has the white text "Wheel of Fortune" in two-line form on the template.

May 1992 :
 * On May 6:
 * All three contestants give incorrect responses when asked what the Clue puzzle THE SOUL OF WIT describes: Nancy says "Pat Sajak", Scott says "Bill Cosby", and Sherry says "laughter". When Pat then tells them that the correct response is "brevity", Nancy asks what "brevity" means.
 * Pat's Final Spin lands on a Prize wedge.
 * Foreign Word(s) makes its first known appearance in the Bonus Round, although it is not known why the answer DEJA VU is called Foreign Words instead of Foreign Phrase.
 * On May 8, a contestant solves the bonus 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.
 * May 11 is College Week.
 * On May 18, the cameras switch to the over-the-Wheel shot too soon during a spin in Round 4, catching it in mid-flight.

June 1992 : (season ends June 19)
 * For at least the weeks of June 1 and 8, Pat and Vanna announce several winners of the Watch and Win Sweepstakes.
 * On June 3:
 * The lights around the Wheel are turned off during the intro.
 * There is an unusual situation in Round 2: after a $350 spin, contestant Kathy buys an I and the I's in the puzzle light up, but a stagehand can be heard telling Pat "she doesn't have enough". Pat then asks why her scoreboard reads only $100, but the confusion is quickly straightened out and Vanna turns the I's. A likely explanation is that her scoreboard immediately displayed the $100 she had left after buying the vowel, instead of displaying $350 and then removing the $250 for the vowel.
 * At the end of the show, footage is shown of Pat in Blair, Nebraska (specifically the D.L. Blair Company) reading the names of three winners from the first week of the above Sweepstakes. He does this by grabbing envelopes while standing on a very large bin of them and verifying that they are winners.
 * As of June 3, Augustus still provides Pat's wardrobe.
 * On June 5:
 * A Prize wedge is placed over the pink $200 instead of the red $300.
 * The winning contestant has only $200 cash and one of the Wheel prizes.
 * June 15 is a Teen Week salute to Disneyland, taped in CBS Television City's Studio 33.

Season 10 (1992-93)
Season Changes :
 * After the chant, spotlights criss-cross to reveal the intro, which is changed to an animated one, featuring a disco ball, anthropomorphic Wheel wedges walking down a staircase, and a "10th Anniversary" graphic that fades out after a few seconds. Charlie's intro is "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 logo for this and the following season is a "falling wedges" variation of the 1989 logo, as the Wheel surrounds the "of" in the traditional version of the show's logo. The template is a variation of the Round 4 template with $3,500 in place of the pink $300, $2,500 in place of the blue $200, and a pink $200 in place of the second Bankrupt. The Wheel spins counterclockwise as the wedges form, and as the show's logo completes transformation (with a color-only version of the template in the background spinning clockwise), it fills the screen with light and wipes into center stage using a star-like graphic.
 * The walking wedges include a $1,500 dressed with a hat and cane (dancing on the word "Fun!"), a $2,500 dressed as a showgirl (showing off on the word "Glamour!"), a $5,000 dressed as a magician (using its magic wand as an arm and waving on the word "Excitement!"), and a $3,500 dressed as a beauty princess (using its sash as an arm and waving on the word "Surprises!" to magically reveal the logo).
 * Where Are We? and Fill In the Blank debut. For no particular reason, the latter is just "Blank" on the category strips until the end of Season 12.
 * The question following a Clue, Fill In the Blank or Where Are We? puzzle is now preceded by the "rolling doubles" chime from the Wink Martindale version of High Rollers.
 * The "decade" categories, which are known to have gone back as far as The Twenties, also debut. Initially, the "decade" categories offer a $1,000 bonus for answering a trivia question related to the puzzle answer.
 * Some Quotation puzzles begin offering a $1,000 bonus if the contestant can identify the source of the quote. Unlike Clue and Fill In the Blank, 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 Artist/Song. By 1996, the category starts alternating between Artist/Song and Song/Artist before settling on the latter in late 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.
 * The contestant backdrops are changed to a "burst" pattern shaped like interlocking W's atop clear blocks. The same clear blocks are also used at stage left as a backdrop for the Bonus Round prizes.
 * The blue wedges become teal.

September 1992 : (season begins September 7)
 * For the first two weeks, the contestants are still seen running to their positions during the chant.
 * On September 7:
 * Slang debuts in Round 1.
 * A contestant sweeps the 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.
 * Fred Hayman begins providing Pat's wardrobe. This essentially concludes the long-standing relationship between Augustus and Wheel, dating back to at least April 6, 1978.
 * On September 10:
 * In a fairly rare occurrence, all three contestants are male.
 * The Round 1 puzzle SLIPPED ON A BANANA PEEL is inexplicably categorized as Event instead of Phrase (although "slipping" would make it an Event).
 * Slang makes its first known appearance in the Bonus Round. Despite its short life, this category appears with disproportionate frequency in the Bonus Round.
 * On September 14:
 * The last line of Charlie's intro is changed to "Here they are, the stars of the show, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
 * Foreign Phrase makes its last known appearance (in Round 4). After the puzzle MAZEL TOV is solved, Pat explains that there are multiple acceptable pronunciations of the answer, then refers to it as "the category from Hell". It is likely that the leeway with pronunciation led to this category's short life.
 * On September 15:
 * Round 4 features the first known instance of a "normal" category offering a $1,000 bonus for answering a trivia question related to the puzzle's answer: in this case, a Person puzzle of TEXAS BILLIONAIRE ROSS PEROT. The contestant is asked how Perot made his money, and she guesses real estate instead of the correct answer, information technology.
 * When Charlie plugs the new Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune video games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis system, he mispronounces "Sega" as "Saga".
 * When the credits start, the Wheel can be seen slowly starting its automation.
 * September 17 has four Thing puzzles: Rounds 2, 4, 5 and the Bonus Round.
 * During the week of September 21, footage is shown from a "Wheel of Fortune gala" at the end of each episode. Footage is shown of Vanna and Merv Griffin singing on the 24th.
 * On September 21:
 * The camera now makes a low-level pan from the $25,000 sign to the contestant area during the chant, with the contestants now walking into place instead of running. Also, "Here they are" in Charlie's spiel is replaced with "And now".
 * The prop holding the W-H-E-E-L envelopes is changed to a heavier, sturdier, rectangular frame with lights that flash when a Bonus Round puzzle is solved. The letters are now red and arranged in a zig-zag. When a contestant picks an envelope, a chime sounds as the chosen letter's light turns off (a high-pitched one at home base, a low-pitched one on road trips).
 * The center Wheel rug is enhanced with a gold border.
 * September 23 has the first known instance of a Same Name puzzle with three "names" instead of two.
 * On September 24, the puzzle-solve cue does not play when the Round 2 puzzle is solved.
 * Between September 22 and 24, the same contestant loses the same Bonus Round prize (a gazebo/spa package) for three days in a row. He fails to solve CORK with only the K missing on the 23rd.
 * September 28 is Teen Week, using the Friday Finals.
 * On September 29:
 * Three females play.
 * In Round 3, two contestants try to buy a vowel after spinning, but are both stopped by Pat.
 * A Prize is added for Round 4, even though it goes to Speed-Up only two spins in.
 * There is a blue frame around the Speed-Up split-screen.

October 1992 :
 * On October 5:
 * Vanna is wearing yellow, but the category strips are blue.
 * The Surprise wedge debuts. For the first week, it has a much thinner and plainer font similar to Helvetica. It starts out on the peach $200 in Rounds 1-2, and moves to the tan $200 in Rounds 3+. If it is claimed before Round 4, the Round 4 prize takes its place on that particular wedge; however, if neither it nor the Round 2 prize are claimed before Round 4, the Round 4 prize is placed on the blue $200.
 * The bonus puzzle WAX is the first known nighttime instance (and only second overall) of both a three-letter bonus puzzle and a bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it. The contestant solves at the last second with only the A revealed.
 * Charlie accidentally refers to the contestant's car as a Volvo 940 GLS instead of GLE.
 * On October 8:
 * Vanna is wearing blue, but the category strips are red.
 * The Surprise is on the purple $150 in Round 3, but moves to its customary position on the tan $200 in Round 4.
 * The bonus puzzle is once again a three-letter answer without RSTLNE in it. The contestant's letter choices (including the second 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.
 * Contestant Dalet retires with $100,257.
 * On October 12, the lettering on the Surprise wedge is changed to a much heavier font, and sparkles are added to the letters.
 * On October 14:
 * Pat's Final Spin lands on Bankrupt.
 * 14 wrong letters are called in the Speed-Up, including 6 in a row.
 * Contestant Mark accidentally calls four consonants in the Bonus Round.
 * 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 on at least three separate occasions). 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.
 * On October 26:
 * Surprise is accidentally placed over $1,000. Pat still tells the contestants that $1,000 is the top dollar value, although he seems to do a quick double-take in realization of the error.
 * For what may be the first time, a "decade" category is followed by a trivia question. After a puzzle of FLOWER CHILDREN FLOCK TO SAN FRANCISCO (The Sixties), the contestant who solves is asked what district the Flower Children flocked to, and is unable to come up with the correct response of Haight-Ashbury.
 * Six rounds are played.
 * Charlie's closing spiel is changed to "Merv Griffin Enterprises produces..." (over copyright/title screen and drumroll) "...Wheel of Fortune!", with the title said over the copyright/title screen. The King World logo and spiel are accompanied by their own music. The 1984 Merv Griffin Enterprises logo that appeared the previous two seasons (and on Jeopardy! from 1984-93) now has the byline "A Sony Pictures Entertainment Company" to reflect the ownership change from Columbia (which later is bought by Sony).

November 1992 :
 * The weeks of November 2 and 23 are 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.
 * The San Francisco episodes are the second known set of road shows to use the rugs and turntables.
 * On November 2:
 * Round 2 is edited out because the puzzle answer is VANNA'S PREGNANT. She had become pregnant when the episode taped in September, but miscarried by the time it aired. As shown during Vanna's A&E Biography, Merv Griffin comes onstage with balloons to congratulate Vanna after she reveals the 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 says that the show "played a round" during the spiel and mentions that the winner got $1,350, as a still shot of the winning contestant appears in a circle at the bottom of the screen.
 * After the Bonus Round, Charlie promotes the remaining three road trip weeks (see below). The touched-up Wheel rug can be seen during the promotions.
 * The Wheel does not spin during the credits.
 * The weeks of November 9 and 16 are taped at the Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center (which closed in 1996 and was torn down in 2005). November 16 is the show's first My Favorite Teacher Week, with teacher/student teams.
 * Vanna introduces the November 9 episodes with "From Philadelphia, the birthplace of America, it's America's favorite game: Wheel of Fortune!" from a vantage point overlooking the city at night, after which Elton John's "Philadelphia Freedom" plays over footage of Philadelphia. Afterward, Charlie's introduction is, "From the home of the Phillies, the Flyers, the Sixers and the Eagles, here in Philadelphia's Civic Center, it's Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
 * The intro for the week of November 16 begins with Vanna saying "From Philadelphia, it's Wheel of Fortune!" followed by "Philadelphia Freedom", and finally Charlie saying "We're at the Civic Center on the University of Pennsylvania campus to celebrate My Favorite Teacher Week! And now, your host and hostess: Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
 * On November 10, a contestant wins a historic document signed by Benjamin Franklin in the Bonus Round.
 * On November 20:
 * The Round 2 Prize Wedge, a trip to United States Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, has "SPACE" written vertically at the top in very narrow letters, and then "CAMP" written horizontally underneath.
 * The bonus puzzle NEIGHBORHOOD takes up all but one space of the second row, obviously meaning that the camera is zoomed out further than usual during the Bonus Round.
 * The Bonus Round prize is a pair of Gold MasterCards worth $10,000 each.
 * The Quaker City String Band makes a guest appearance in the final segment, playing music over the fee plugs and credits.
 * The week of November 23 is Soap Opera College Challenge, which has a college student playing against two soap opera stars. The student plays for themselves, while the soap stars play for charity (and possibly also themselves, but this is uncertain). During this week:
 * Each star's total is matched and donated in cash to a charity or charities of their choice, with a minimum guarantee of $10,000.
 * After each soap star is introduced, a clip is shown from their respective soap.
 * The Friday Finals is used, and the top winner receives a trophy on Friday.
 * The intro this week begins with Vanna saying "Join us from San Francisco!" followed by the 1992 "Changing Keys" music, with Charlie saying "It's Wheel of Fortune's Soap Opera College Challenge! With daytime stars from: Days of our Lives, Melissa Reeves and Michael Sabatino! From The Young and the Restless, Lauralee Bell and Scott Reeves! From All My Children, Jill Larson and Richard Lawson! And from (The) Guiding Light, Fiona Hutchison and Frank Dicoupolos!" with each star's image in a split-screen over footage of the Golden Gate Bridge. Over an extended timpani roll, Charlie continues, "From the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco, it's Wheel of Fortune! And now, the stars of our show: Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
 * An episode during the above week features what may be the most expensive Wheel prize car ever offered: a $17,483 Chrysler LeBaron convertible in Round 4, which is won.
 * On another episode during the above week:
 * Nine consecutive wrong letters (including one vowel) are called in Round 1.
 * There are two sets of repeated categories: Clue in Rounds 1 and 3, Phrase in Rounds 2 and 4. The former is the only known instance of a bonus category being repeated, and the first known instance of more than one being played.
 * The answers to both Clue puzzles and the Round 2 Prize value are blue, while the rest of the chyrons are red.
 * In Round 2, Scott tries to buy a vowel after spinning, but is stopped by Pat. Frank also tries to do this in Round 3.
 * There is no Round 4 prize due to it beginning as a Speed-Up. In a rare occurrence, its puzzle uses all four rows.
 * For the first known time, a puzzle uses incorrect grammar or spelling. The answer given is FOG HORN, which is one word.
 * The commercial bumpers for all four weeks are the same: the 1992 logo rolls by and leaves behind either "from San Francisco" (November 2 and 23) or "from Philadelphia" (November 9 and 16).
 * For all four weeks, the Merv Griffin Enterprises logo fades in instead of flipping down.

December 1992 :
 * From around this point until about February, at least some of Charlie's intros are obviously pre-recorded, as the intros on at least December 9, 25 and 29 are identical and far less enthusiastic than usual. On at least the 29th, Charlie's words do not synchronize properly with the animation.
 * Sometime this month, possibly during the week of December 14:
 * Both Rounds 3 and 4 are Before & After.
 * A contestant sweeps the game and wins a Holiday Dining package in the Bonus Round.
 * On December 14, Vanna forgets to turn either the O or F 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 puzzle, BAMBI, is solved.
 * December 21 is a Family Tournament with the Friday Finals format. The winning family on Friday receives a silver bowl as a bonus prize.
 * During the week of December 21, there is a large red bow across the top of 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:
 * The Surprise is a $15,065 Geo Tracker, which is won. This is the most expensive known Surprise, and one of the few known cars to be offered outside the Bonus Round.
 * For what may be the first time, two different "bonus" categories are played: Fill In the Blank in Round 1 and Clue in Round 3.
 * The Round 4 prize (an $11,953 Monterey Travel trailer) is removed before Round 5, as that round begins as a Speed-Up.
 * Before the Bonus Round, in an unusual move, Pat opens the sole remaining envelope to show the $25,000 prize instead of holding it until the end. Ben and Bunnie win the cash, leaving with a grand total of $130,708 plus the silver bowl.
 * Following the Bonus Round, Vanna gives Pat a book by Jack Paar.
 * During the credits, Charlie notes that winnings over $125,000 are donated to the charity of the team's choice, and that "This show has been edited for broadcast."
 * December 28 is the first "Wheel into the New Year" Week. During this week:
 * The Wheel rugs and turntables are all replaced with giant silver stars:
 * Aside from the cash, almost all the Bonus Round prizes are cars.
 * The 1989 version of "Changing Keys" is used during the credits.
 * On December 28:
 * After a The Twenties puzzle of BATHTUB GIN & FLAPPERS, contestant Kelly (who later appears on "Some of the Greats" Week in February 1995) is asked for the most popular dance of that decade. He responds by saying "the dance that goes like this" while 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.
 * On December 29:
 * All three contestants are male.
 * The opening pan is now shot at a higher level.
 * While the category strips and Round 4 Prize value are red, Round 2's is blue.
 * Round 3 is the first of only two known instances of an "old style" Fill In the Blank having its question mark in the middle (SHOULD AULD ? BE FORGOT). The contestant who solves it says "should auld be", stops, then re-solves correctly while reading the question mark as "question mark".

January 1993 :
 * On January 4, the on-screen text (category strip, prize values, credits, etc.) changes from Helvetica to Gill Sans.
 * On a 1993 episode (exact date unknown, but likely 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 bonus answer is "crumbs or ashes". One contestant gives a humorous guess of "maid".

February 1993 :
 * The weeks of February 8-22 are the Red Letter Sweepstakes. One puzzle each day in Round 3 has some red letters in it, which spell out a word when unscrambled. Once the puzzle is solved, the rest of the board is dimmed while the red letters remain lit. Home viewers may submit each day's word for a chance to enter a prize drawing, with three out of that week's five words correct in order to win, and entries must be received by March 15. Some other notes about this sweepstakes:
 * Over $1,000,000 in prizes is offered, including a $10,000 GM MasterCard as a grand prize to be awarded to 10 winners (Vanna can be seen holding a giant version of the card, with a GM car on a Wheel turntable and the light towers in the background), a 7-week Caribbean cruise aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines and a chance to audition for the show as a first prize (cruise departs May 23), a Bulova watch or clock as a second prize, and a Laguna Sportswear package as a third prize. Charlie plugs all these prizes before each Round 3.
 * Viewers requesting a list of rules and/or winners may send a self-addressed stamped envelope by March 15.
 * These weeks use the 1989 version of "Changing Keys" during the credits. In addition, the Wheel rugs and turntables are replaced by red stars, all similar in appearance to "Wheel into the New Year" Week.
 * When these episodes rerun on GSN in the late 1990s, most references to the sweepstakes are edited out.
 * February 25 and 26 both have three male contestants.
 * On February 25, during the Speed-Up puzzle BUTTINSKY (Slang), the contestants give multiple consecutive mispronunciations, almost all of which come with only vowels remaining. By the fifth turn, Pat starts prompting the contestants to call for a free vowel; one contestant declines because he does not know the answer, and the other two call incorrect vowels. Finally, on the ninth turn, a contestant calls U to fill in the puzzle entirely, mispronounces the answer, then gives the correct pronunciation immediately afterward.
 * On February 26:
 * Charlie's intro is the same pre-recorded one from December 9, 1992.
 * The Round 2 prize is tickets to the Broadway musical Jelly's Last Jam, plus hotel and restaurant fare and a limousine ride.
 * Rounds 2-4 are Phrase.
 * The bonus puzzle, FEBRUARY, is inexplicably categorized as Thing instead of the more logical Event.
 * Greg retires with $43,245, having lost all three of his Bonus Rounds.
 * The sweepstakes rules are shown before a full credit roll, resulting in the entire 1989 "Changing Keys" playing and then looping back to the beginning.

March 1993 :
 * On an episode from some point this month:
 * The Round 2 Prize value uses Helvetica, while Round 4's uses Gill Sans.
 * The Wheel rug is lacking its golden border.
 * A contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle EYEBROWS with EYE_RO_S showing.
 * The 1989 version of "Changing Keys" plays during the credits.

April 1993 :
 * On April 1, the Merv Griffin Enterprises logo is changed to a gold-colored statue of a griffin in front of a cloudy background (the same one used for Columbia Pictures Television, Tri-Star Television, and later Columbia Tri-Star Television), with the Merv Griffin Enterprises text and Sony Pictures Entertainment Company byline all in the same Bank Gothic MD font as the aforementioned logos.
 * April 2 and 9 use the 1989 version of "Changing Keys" during the credits.
 * On April 2:
 * All three contestants are male.
 * When solving Round 2's Fill In the Blank puzzle, the contestant reads the question mark as "blank".
 * Round 3 is a Clue puzzle of THERE ARE TWO DAILY DOUBLES IN THIS ROUND (Double Jeopardy!).
 * Round 4 is a Same Name puzzle with three "names" instead of two.
 * The contestant's first Bonus Round letter, D, is mis-heard as G and put on the screen as such. His second letter, G, is initially mis-heard by Pat as V but not shown on-screen. The contestant then clarifies that he said D and G, and the chyron is corrected to match.
 * April 5 is Teen Week.
 * In a rather rare occurrence, April 9 has two Before & After puzzles (Rounds 4 and 5).
 * Reruns air during the week of April 12.
 * On April 26:
 * Round 1 is an Artist/Song puzzle of HANDEL'S MESSIAH, matching the concept of the Composer/Song category used only once in Season 13. This is also the first known appearance of Artist/Song.
 * Round 2 is a Same Name puzzle with three "names" instead of two.
 * A contestant solves the Round 3 puzzle TOM & ROSEANNE ARNOLD with only the R's showing.

May 1993 :
 * May 3 is Sports Stars Week. Some notes about this week:
 * The intro starts out with the walking $3,500 wedge "waving" its arm to reveal the logo, followed by a cut to the studio after the chant.
 * Charlie's intro is "They've set world records, captured pennants, and won medals! San Francisco 49ers' Steve Young, Philadelphia Eagles' Herschel Walker, Houston Oilers' Warren Moon, boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard, Olympic gold medalist Florence Griffith-Joyner, baseball great Steve Garvey, Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis, football hall-of-famer Dick Butkus, basketball hall-of-famer Bill Walton, baseball hall-of-famer Ernie Banks, hockey hall-of-famer Phil Esposito, and Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee! These superstars of sports face the Wheel challenge! Can they spin to win? We'll find out. But first, here are Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
 * As Pat mentions in his opening speech, the celebs are playing both for charity and themselves. This is the only confirmed instance of such a payout structure.
 * The 1989 version of "Changing Keys" plays during the credits.
 * The weeks of May 10 and 17 are taped in Boston. May 17 is College Week.
 * On May 21, the former shopping cue "Nightwalk" plays while Charlie plugs the hotel that accommodated the staff and contestants (before the Bonus Round).
 * 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.
 * Pat and Vanna read off the names of the 10 grand prize winners of the $10,000 GM MasterCard in the Red Letter Sweepstakes.

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

Season 11 (1993-94)
Season Changes :
 * Except for the removal of the "10th Anniversary" graphic and the addition of a closed-captioning bug, the opening animation is unchanged from last season. The higher-level shot introduced in early 1993 is also retained.
 * Charlie's opening narration is slightly changed to begin with "From Hollywood, it's America's Game! A show the whole family can enjoy!" The rest is the same as it was on September 21, 1992.
 * For this season only, the 1989 version of "Changing Keys" is used on road shows as the opening and closing themes, and the 1992 version continues to be used as a bumper.
 * The Red Letter puzzles debut.
 * This is the final season produced by Merv Griffin Enterprises.
 * At some point this season (known to have been rerun in July 1995), AX is a bonus puzzle. This is certainly the shortest puzzle ever used on the show.

September 1993 : (season begins September 6)
 * September 6 is Teen Week, with the 1989 version of "Changing Keys" used during the credits.
 * On September 21:
 * A very unusual prize is offered in Round 2: a certified authentic autograph of Florence Nightingale with an engraving of her, valued at $1,250.
 * Following the Bonus Round, Vanna offers Pat some tomatoes and bread from her then-husband, George San Pietro.
 * A repeat of this episode from about 1995 uses the "Created by Merv Griffin" credit (no chyron, just Charlie's voice), then segues into the Columbia Tri-Star Television spiel used since April 1995.

October 1993 :
 * On October 4, when the Super NES and Sega Genesis video games for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune are plugged by Charlie, the Jeopardy! video game for Sega's Game Gear can be seen as well.
 * On October 5:
 * Vanna wears a shirt and pants.
 * The contestant's letters fill in the bonus puzzle TOP-NOTCH completely.
 * There is no Pat & Vanna chat at the end.
 * Sometime this month, contestant Angela Thompson-Murphy retires with $60,693. She later appears on "Some of the Greats" Week in February 1995.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are won the week of October 18.
 * October 25 is a New York-themed week taped at Studio 33.

November 1993 :
 * The week of November 1 is taped on a cruise ship.
 * Sometime this month, contestant Maria Mason (notable for picking Pat up) retires with $76,421. She later appears on "Some of the Greats" Week in February 1995.
 * On November 12:
 * In honor of the show's 2,000th nighttime episode, the hosts of the Hungarian version congratulate Pat after Round 2, and the hosts of the Greek version congratulate him after Round 3.
 * There are two sets of repeated categories: Rounds 1, 2 and 5 are Phrase, Round 3 is People and the Bonus Round is Person.
 * Round 2 is the first known Red-Letter puzzle: NOTHING TO LOSE AND EVERYTHING TO GAIN, with a hidden word of STEREO.
 * At the end of the episode, footage is shown of Vanna, Merv and the King brothers at a press conference.
 * November 15 is My Favorite Teacher Week.
 * From around this point until the end of the season, Vanna starts wearing suits (at least some of the time) while pregnant with her son, Nicholas.

December 1993 :
 * December 20 is Family Week, taped at Walt Disney World with the same rules as the December 1992 tournament. On all of the Walt Disney episodes:
 * Mannheim Steamroller's rendition of "Deck the Halls" plays during the intro in place of "Changing Keys".
 * Charlie's intro is "Join us for Family Week, as we celebrate the holidays at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida! 'Tis the season for sparkling lights, merriment and good cheer, Christmas caroling, fireworks, parades, and memorable moments! And now, your host and hostess: Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" Falling snowflakes are used as a "wiping" graphic.
 * The puzzleboard is decorated with a wreath at the top and a tall toy soldier on each side.
 * The 1992 version of "Changing Keys" is played as the bumper and closing theme.
 * The closing credits feature the 1992 logo scrolling up first before the actual credits start scrolling. The credits themselves are in a white font similar to Gill Sans.
 * On December 24:
 * Round 1 is a rare one-word answer, HIPPOPOTAMUS.
 * The former shopping-round cue "Nightwalk" plays while Charlie describes the Round 2 prize.
 * The Round 2 prize's value is in Helvetica, but Round 4's uses Gill Sans.
 * The Bonus Round cars, which are won, are topped with golden bows. The cars are a Chevrolet Lumina coupe and Cavalier convertible worth $40,190.
 * Reruns air during the week of December 27.

January 1994 :
 * Around this point, the "three question marks" style of Fill In the Blank debuts. Until December 1994, both styles of Fill In the Blank are used.
 * On January 25, a contestant wins a historic document signed by Abraham Lincoln in the Bonus Round.
 * On January 28, contestant Phil retires with $81,357.
 * Raymond Taylor appears at some point this month. He acts particularly goofy and offbeat, winning over $81,000 and retiring undefeated. He later appears on Some of the Greats Week in 1995.
 * During the week of January 31, the second Wheel prize is not in play due to the time allocated to plug the upcoming Gold Letter Sweepstakes. It is likely that these episodes also feature only one round in the first segment.

February 1994 :
 * The weeks of February 7 and 14 are the Gold Letter Sweepstakes. Each game has one puzzle with gold letters that, when unscrambled, spell the last name of an Academy Award winner. Some of the games this week have only three rounds because of the time needed to explain the Sweepstakes.
 * On February 7, the contestant's letters reveal the bonus puzzle CABARET completely.
 * The weeks of February 21 and 28 are taped in Miami.

March 1994 :
 * March 11's bonus puzzle of AVOCADO is a tie for the longest known bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it. It is not solved.
 * On March 25, the 1989 version of "Changing Keys" plays during the credits.

April 1994 :
 * April 4 is Teen Week from Disney World.
 * The intro of the Disney World shows is similar to the 4th intro of the Season 8 shows, with the alteration of the last few lines to include "Fun, fantasy, and fireworks! With lots of cash and fabulous prizes just waiting to be won!" The 1992 logo then flies up and settles at the center of the screen before the star wipe to the studio. In addition, the closing variation of the 1989 theme is used as an intro.
 * The weeks of April 11 and 18 are taped at Disney/MGM Studios.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are won on the week of April 11.

May 1994 :
 * The weeks of May 2 and 16 are taped at Disney/MGM Studios.
 * May 2 is Music Stars Week, which has singers competing for charity under the Friday Finals format. The intro starts out with the chant as the show's logo forms, and the chant finishes just as the logo fills with light and star-wipes to the studio. The opening variation of the 1989 theme is used for the first time since its final use at the end of Season 9.
 * Charlie's intro for this week is "It's time to rock around the Wheel with these superstars of the musical world! In alphabetical order: James Brown, Lee Greenwood, Marilyn Horne, Gladys Knight, Tone Lōc, Little Richard, David Sanborn, Tanya Tucker, Tammy Wynette and 'Weird Al' Yankovic! Now your host and hostess: Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" Oddly, Brown and Richard play as a team.
 * May 3 uses the conventional four-round structure. All other games this week feature a commercial break between Rounds 1 and 2, with $3,500 on the Wheel for Round 2 and only three rounds played.
 * On May 3:
 * Al jokingly asks to buy an umlaut in Round 1.
 * Al plugs his album Alapalooza after Round 1, and part of the music video for "Bedrock Anthem" is shown.
 * On May 6:
 * After solving the Round 1 puzzle, Al makes a reference to the shopping era by quipping, "I'd like to buy the TV set for $500!" to which Pat replies, "No, no, no. That's the old show, the old show. The ceramic duck is gone!"
 * Marilyn Horne reappears to help Lee Greenwood in the Bonus Round.
 * The trilon containing the U in the bonus puzzle HUMOR accidentally lights up before the timer starts, and it remains lit throughout the round.
 * Lee and Marilyn fail to solve the puzzle, after which Pat inadvertently gives away the answer by saying that Marilyn showed "a little operatic humor" by guessing "bummer" after time expires. He then brings in Al, Little Richard and James Brown to help them end the week on a win. He asks them to provide more letters, but Al just says the answer.
 * On May 11:
 * Six rounds are played. Round 5 is a rare one-word answer of ELBOWROOM.
 * Charlie appears on-camera after his name is the Speed-Up puzzle.
 * May 12 has a rare instance of a bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it. The puzzle, YO-YO, is solved.
 * May 16 is College Tournament Week.
 * On May 18, none of the three contestants can identify the person described by the Clue puzzle PRESIDENT ELECTED TO FOUR TERMS (Franklin Roosevelt).

June 1994 : (season ends June 17)
 * On June 7, contestant Kelly Nykirk retires with $141,198.
 * On June 17:
 * Pat announces that it is the end of the season, and that there will be encore presentations during the Summer (this had to do with Vanna's pregnancy).
 * The Merv Griffin Enterprises logo and spiel are used for the final time, including repeats; however, weekend repeats of the show use the Columbia Tri-Star Television logo and spiel adopted the following season.

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.
 * Charlie's intro is changed to "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 starts with the logo in gold letters over a graphic of the Wheel, which has undergone a few layout changes: the lone Bankrupt is replaced by a purple $300, and the pink $200 from Rounds 3-4+ and the $3,500 swap places. As the letters fly towards the screen, the Wheel graphic rotates towards its side to reveal hand-drawn animations of Pat and Vanna "riding" the middle of it, with various America-related graphics in the background. The words "SPIN THE WHEEL", written in white letters a semicircle, spin around at the end of the "riding" graphic and wipe to a shot of Vanna blowing a kiss while the words "America's Game" appear in cursive on gold squares; the square with the S flips to show another America graphic. Afterward, "Millions Won!" appears in orange at the bottom as the "riding" graphic returns, with frames of international versions of the show in the background. The Wheel graphic then tilts again as Charlie says "soaring into your lives", and finally, graphics of Pat and Vanna parachuting with their hands extended appear along with a circular, white wipe to a shot of center stage. Lastcbs1.jpg
 * The puzzle board's border is changed to a "spiky" style and includes lights on the bottom. It has "dummy" trilons in the corners like the road show board.
 * Charlie no longer describes the Round 4 Prize unless it is won.
 * Columbia-TriStar Television (owned by Sony) takes over production; thus Charlie's closing spiel is changed to "Wheel of Fortune is produced by..." (over copyright/title screen and drumroll) "...Columbia TriStar Television!" (accompanied by the Columbia Pictures Television music), with the King World logo, music, and spiel playing out as usual.
 * This is the last season in which the show's logo appears in the credits.

September 1994 : (season begins September 5)
 * September 5 is Teen Week.
 * On September 5:
 * The first Wheel prize is a set of backpacks and a camera, worth $826. This is very likely the last Wheel prize under $1,000.
 * The camera is zoomed too far back when the board is shown at the beginning of Round 1.
 * On September 14, Vanna shows off her newborn son, Nicholas (Niko).
 * On September 15, contestant Lesley sets a new one-round record of $45,000 in the Speed-Up.
 * September 16 is the second known instance of an "old-style" Fill In the Blank's question mark being in the middle. The puzzle is HARRIET ? STOWE (with the question mark by itself on the second row), and none of the contestants can identify her middle name, Beecher.
 * September 20 is the debut of Megaword.
 * On September 23, contestant Kevin retires with $101,388.
 * On September 27, a buzzer sounds on a correct letter.

October 1994 :
 * On October 4, the puzzle-solve cue is changed to a "big band" style.
 * As of October 18, "decade" categories are no longer followed by trivia questions.
 * On October 24:
 * Vanna wears a tie-dye shirt and pants.
 * Contestant Danny retires with $53,092. He sweeps the game, but loses $25,000 in the Bonus Round.
 * The week of October 31 is taped at Fair Park in Dallas, home to the State Fair of Texas. This week uses the closing variation of "Changing Keys", using the big-band orchestration but the original melody, during the intro. During all of the Dallas episodes:
 * The category strips are in Helvetica, but slightly less bold in appearance than the 1985-93 strips. Also, some of them are yellow with a black outline.
 * The traditional Wheel logo is altered with horseshoes in place of the dots, a lasso rope in place of the Wheel, a Texas Ranger badge in place of the "o", and a cactus in place of the "f".
 * On October 31:
 * The former shopping cue "Nightwalk" plays as Charlie describes the Round 2 prize.
 * A contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle AWARD with only the W missing.
 * Merv Griffin appears in the final segment.

November 1994 :
 * On November 4:
 * The "old" Fill In the Blank makes its last known appearance before being renamed Next Line Please.
 * A contestant accidentally calls N in the Bonus Round, and N is briefly placed on the chyron.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are lost on the week of October 31. Interestingly, the only prize picked all week is an annuity. RedWhiteBlue111594.jpg
 * The weeks of November 7 and 14 are the Red White and Blue Sweepstakes. Similar to the Red Letter Sweepstakes of Season 10 and the Gold Letter Sweepstakes of Season 11, each episode has a puzzle where some letters are red on top and blue on the bottom, which spell out the last name of a U.S. President when unscrambled. While the contest plugs are typically cut out of GSN reruns, at least one episode (November 15) is shown with the sweepstakes address intact.
 * November 21 is Dallas Week from Fair Park, with the same changes as the week of October 31.
 * On November 21:
 * There are two returning champions: Teresa from November 18, and Bree from November 4.
 * Rounds 2 and 4 are Things, while the Bonus Round is Thing.
 * Teresa retires with $103,240.
 * On November 22:
 * The Nineties makes its first known appearance.
 * Rounds 1 and 5 are both Before & After.
 * A contestant spins $5,000 three times in a row in Round 4.
 * The contestant's hands are visible in the shot of the board during the Bonus Round.
 * On November 28:
 * The spikes on the puzzle board no longer flash while the other lights are flashing, a change that remains for the rest of the season. Pat jokes that something new will appear on the puzzle board.
 * Round 1 is a Same Name puzzle with three "names" instead of two.
 * The former shopping cue "Nightwalk" plays as Charlie describes the Surprise. The video for the prize shows Vanna with a white-haired man whose face is not seen clearly, but is likely Merv. Lastcbs2.jpg
 * The $10,000 cash prize debuts in Round 3. For the first two weeks or so, the "$10,000" text is smaller than it would later be.
 * On November 29, a contestant sweeps the game but loses $25,000 in 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. This is the last known puzzle to do so.
 * December 9 is the debut of Next Line Please, which is identical to the "old" Fill In the Blank minus the question mark. From this point onward, Fill In the Blank refers only to the "three question marks" puzzles.
 * On a episode sometime this month, 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 Family Week, played identically to the ones in 1992 and 1993.
 * December 19 is the last known appearance of Nickname.
 * On December 20, the Round 4 prize is erroneously placed on the purple $700 (between Bankrupt and the blue $500).
 * December 22 is the only known instance of a contestant failing to use a Megaword (COPACETIC) in a sentence.
 * On December 23:
 * A family pair solves the Speed-Up puzzle CHRISTMAS WREATH with only the C revealed.
 * Each family pair gets a box of Perugina chocolates after the Speed-Up round.
 * In a very rare occurrence, RSTLNE comprises more than half of the bonus puzzle (FRASIER).
 * The Teen Week from September 5 is rerun during the week of December 26.

January 1995 :
 * Reruns air during the week of January 2.
 * On an episode sometime this month, footage is shown after the Bonus Round of Pat calling the winners of the Red White and Blue Sweepstakes.
 * On what is most likely January 9:
 * Vanna wears a shirt and pants.
 * The contestant calls her vowel first in the Bonus Round, but against precedent, the chyron shows her letters in the traditional order.
 * The Bonus Round prize is a pair of motorcycles (valued at $7,198) plus $10,000 cash.
 * On January 10 or 11:
 * A contestant incorrectly solves the fully-revealed Megaword puzzle PRISTINELY by mispronouncing it.
 * At least one of the Prize wedges has a shorter font.
 * On January 12, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle RODEO despite getting no help from their extra letters.
 * January 16 is Best Friends Week, with the Friday Finals format.
 * On January 20, a team sweeps the game. In an unusual move, Pat lets the contestants pick between the two remaining bonus prizes (two cars or two pianos) instead of using the W-H-E-E-L envelopes. 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 briefly put on the chyron.
 * On February 3, Vanna turns a letter too far in the Bonus Round, causing the plastic sheet to slide partway off the trilon. The contestant says "THE BLAH..." among his guesses, stopping just shy of saying the full answer, THE BLAHS.
 * The weeks of February 6-27 are taped at Disney World. They were probably taped in late 1994, as the numbers on the $10,000 wedge are once again smaller than usual. Some other notes about this week:
 * For reasons unknown, the letters on the Surprise wedge on all Disney World episodes have no sparkles on them.
 * These episodes have the 1994 logo zooming up and then wiping away vertically in the intro.
 * As with the Dallas episodes, the category strips are in the Helvetica font.
 * February 6 is the last My Favorite Teacher Week. Teacher-themed weeks do not occur again until May 28, 2007.
 * 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 instances of them being at the end instead of the beginning.
 * February 20 is Some of the Greats Week, which has 11 past winners competing for charity. During the interviews, clips are shown from each contestant's prior episode(s). Contestants who finish with $0 are given $500 towards their charities, instead of consolation prizes. Oddly, the returning-champion rule remains in effect minus the three-day limit, which results in a player competing on all five shows.
 * On February 20:
 * Raymond Taylor appears.
 * Nobody gives a correct response to the question asked by the Clue puzzle CERVANTES' ROMANTIC IMPRACTICAL KNIGHT (Don Quixote).
 * On February 23, the Speed-Up puzzle OF CABBAGES AND KINGS (Quotation) is followed by Charlie asking the contestant for the origin of the quote. The contestant is unable to provide the correct response of Alice in Wonderland.
 * On February 23 and 24, two bonus puzzles in a row do not use RSTLNE (VOODOO and COWBOY, respectively). Neither is solved.
 * On February 24, the contestant calls the vowel in the Bonus Round before her third consonant. Against precedent, the chyron still displays the vowel last and leaves a gap for the third consonant.
 * By February 24, Charlie's closing spiel is changed to begin with "Created by Merv Griffin", and a separate chyron credit with said text is made to reflect this change.
 * On an episode during the week of February 27, 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 (in her last known appearance), who says "If she really feels that way!"

March 1995 :
 * March 10 has six rounds. Round 6 is an extremely short puzzle of GLOVES.
 * On March 15, it takes the contestants 11 turns to reveal any letters in the Megaword puzzle OXIDIZED (easily a record), and 12 more before it is solved. Every consonant is called except J, and the round lasts over 6 minutes (including three Bankrupts and an incorrect vowel).
 * On March 16, Pat mis-hears a contestant's call of A as E, but corrects himself and tells the contestant that there are four A's in the puzzle. He then corrects himself again when the buzzer sounds, as the puzzle actually has four E's but no A's.
 * On March 17:
 * There is a rare one-word puzzle (LEPRECHAUN) in Round 4, even though the game is 5 rounds. Strangely, Rounds 1 (BIG AS LIFE) and 5 (CHUCK IT) are also very short puzzles.
 * A buzzer does not sound on an incorrect letter in Round 5.
 * On March 22, Vanna is wearing blue, but the category strips are purple.
 * On March 24:
 * The Speed-Up puzzle SCRAM is believed to be the shortest puzzle ever used in the main game. It is not known why so many games this month have extremely short puzzles, although it is possible that the ones in Rounds 5+ were originally loaded in as bonus puzzles until it was realized that enough time remained for another round.
 * The winner'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 :
 * As of April 7, Charlie's opening spiel is still the same as it was on September 5, 1994.
 * On April 7:
 * Megaword makes its last known appearance.
 * At the end of the show, Vanna uses the bonus puzzle to show how the trilons work.
 * April 10 is Teen Week.
 * Reruns air during the week of April 17.
 * Slang and Red-Letter Puzzles are both retired around this point.

May 1995 :
 * May 1 is Celebrity Award Winners week, with the softer closing mix of the theme used during the intro. At least some of the games have a commercial break after Round 1, resulting in some three-round games.
 * 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.
 * The Free Spin is on $1,000.
 * On an episode sometime this month (possibly during the week of the 8th), Pat accidentally goes straight to the bonus puzzle before the contestant picks an envelope. Vanna turns the RSTLNE letters while the camera is still focused on Pat.
 * By the above episode, the intro spiel is slightly changed to remove "the" before the show's title and the phrase "soaring into your lives".
 * From possibly the above week, there is a rare instance of a bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it. The answer, PUPPY, is solved.
 * 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.
 * A contestant solves the bonus puzzle GAME PLAN at the last second despite getting no help from his extra letters.
 * On May 30:
 * Fictional Place makes its first known appearance.
 * The chyron for the contestant's two-day total reads $52,592 instead of $51,592.
 * Charlie appears on-camera after the Bonus Round.
 * 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.
 * On June 9, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle MENU with only the U missing.
 * June 12 is Alaskan Cruise Week.
 * June 19 is Teen Week.
 * By June 22, Harry Friedman replaces Nancy Jones as producer.
 * On June 22, Harry appears on-camera at the end of the show.
 * June 23 is the last episode taped at CBS Television City's Studio 33.

Season 13 (1995-96)
Season Changes :
 * The show moves to its current taping location, Stage 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 shown in full.
 * The $1,000 space is now sparkly green.
 * If a Quotation puzzle is followed by a bonus question asking for the source of the quote, Pat now asks this question instead of Charlie, and the High Rollers chimes are now used instead of the beeps.
 * 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 opening logo is almost the same, but is no longer angled facing frontward and the Wheel is now spinning clockwise. When the logo breaks, the letters fly towards the sides, and the wedges all separate as they zoom forward while the center zooms back. It also transitions to different graphics related to the show, shown in the letters of "WHEEL", followed by a fly-over shot of Sony Pictures Studios just before Pat and Vanna are introduced.
 * This season is apparently the debut of Who Is It?
 * Two other categories, Composer/Song and Show/Song, are used only once each at some point 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.
 * Charlie signs off with "This is Charlie O'Donnell speaking. (over copyright/title screen and drumroll) Wheel of Fortune was created by Merv Griffin." This is the only closing spiel where he signs off with his name. The CPT music and logo are played as he says "Produced by Columbia-TriStar Television." The King World logo and music play as usual with spiel. 1stsony2.jpg
 * The last of the music cues composed by Merv Griffin (first used on the daytime version in August 1983) are replaced with new music cues.
 * The Free Spin moves to the purple $200 (clockwise from Lose A Turn), where it stays for the entire season and the first two weeks of Season 14. Previously, it did not have a fixed location.
 * For the closing credits, the first few credits from Executive Producer to Associate Director are shown as chyron before scrolling to reveal the remaining credits. Pat and Vanna's wardrobe credits are accompanied with their appropriate logos.
 * As of this season, it has become increasingly rare to see the same category twice in the main game.

September 1995 : (season begins September 4)
 * For the first few weeks of the season, the road show board is used.
 * September 4 is Teen Week, the last time that the season begins with one.
 * On September 4:
 * The Double Play token debuts. For this day only, it is on the purple $200 for Round 2 (since Free Spin was claimed), then moves to the tan $200 for Rounds 3+. A post-production shot of the latter position is used when Pat describes the token at the start of Round 2.
 * After contestant Jay loses the $10,000 wedge (still blank on the reverse) to a Bankrupt, he removes it from his arrow and tries to keep Pat from retrieving it, to which Pat replies, "I don't want to have to fight you for this. It's only a piece of cardboard!".
 * The Round 3 puzzle PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE BEEP (Phrase) sets what may be a record for the most instances of one letter in the same puzzle, with 10 E's. This puzzle is known to have been used on at least one other occasion (October 21, 2009).
 * On September 5:
 * Double Play takes its normal position on the blue $300 for Round 2, and the pink $200 for Rounds 3+.
 * Pat's Final Spin lands on Bankrupt.
 * On an episode sometime in late September or early October:
 * Vanna wears a shirt and pants.
 * JEOPARDY PREMIERES is the Round 1 puzzle (The 60's).
 * A contestant solves the bonus puzzle TAKE A BOW despite getting no help from their extra letters.

October 1995 :
 * By about this point, the $10,000 wedge now has a shiny gold $10,000 design on the back. If it is claimed, it is now placed on the contestant's arrow with this design face-up.
 * Also around this point, a new puzzle board frame debuts, which looks like a cross between the original nighttime frame and the Season 12 frame.
 * On October 24, the Round 3 puzzle JOLLY GREEN GIANT SQUID (Before & After) uses all four lines of the puzzle board, which Pat notices (calling it a "uniform style").
 * October 26 is the first known instance of a puzzle with a slash in it: JULIE ANDREWS STARS IN VICTOR/VICTORIA. This is also one of the last known appearances of Person/Title.
 * October 27 has a rare instance of two Before & After puzzles in one game (Rounds 2 and 4).
 * On an episode from sometime in the Fall, Pat kills a fly on the Wheel by swatting it with the Surprise wedge.

November 1995 :
 * The weeks of November 6 and 13 are taped in Seattle. November 13 is College Week.
 * November 20 is Celebrity Week, with a $5,000 house minimum and the Bonus Round worth $25,000.
 * On November 20, Ed Asner sweeps the game and wins the Bonus Round, his letters filling in the bonus puzzle SLEIGH entirely. Before the Bonus Round, Pat mentions that he lost against Ed on an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy! about two years earlier.
 * Johnny Gilbert fills in for Charlie for the weeks of November 27 and December 4, the only time until Charlie's death in November 2010 that someone fills in for him.
 * During the week of November 27, Pat and Vanna's post-game discussion is about 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 jokes that Wheel "isn't like Jeopardy!, where if you finish in second place with $10,000, you get a lounge chair!", to which Johnny deadpans, "But it's a $10,000 lounge chair."

December 1995 :
 * On December 1, Pat cuts off a lock of Vanna's 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. The puzzle-solve cue plays as she walks out.
 * On December 11:
 * Charlie returns.
 * During Round 2, contestant Todd tries to buy a vowel despite having only $200; he manages to call a vowel before Pat realizes the error and the "purchase" is voided.
 * Pat accidentally calls the Bonus Round the Speed-Up Round.
 * On December 15:
 * Contestant Pamela sweeps the game and wins a $35,000 art collection in the Bonus Round.
 * Pat notes after the above win that $73,150 may be the one-day record "and if it's not, you know, we're not above spreading misinformation".
 * December 18 is Family Week, played identically to the ones in 1992-94.
 * Reruns air during the week of December 25.

January 1996 :
 * January 8 is Best Friends Week.
 * On January 25, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle WHISPER despite getting no help from her extra letters.

February 1996 :
 * February 5 is Sweethearts Week, with the Friday Finals format. During this week, the contestant window in the Bonus Round is heart-shaped.
 * During two episodes of Sweethearts Week, Peter Argyropolous and Deborah Cohen set a new winnings record of $146,529. On their first episode, Peter and Deborah use Double Play on the $10,000 cash prize.
 * On February 9:
 * Peter loses his nametag in Round 2. It is recovered in Round 3.
 * $1,000 Slogan makes its first known appearance.
 * There is an extremely-rare instance of Artist/Song appearing in Round 4, which leads to an equally-rare instance of a four-line puzzle in a Speed-Up round.
 * Peter and Deborah sweep the game and win his-and-hers Ford Mustangs in the Bonus Round.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are won on the week of February 5. HawaiiFamilyWeek96.jpg
 * 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 a unique piece of lap steel guitar music in the intro, a timpani roll under Charlie's introduction, a lap steel guitar rendition of the original "Changing Keys" melody, and surfboard-shaped backdrops.
 * February 12 and 13 both have Same Name puzzles with three "names" instead of two.
 * Pat's daughter Maggie makes an appearance on February 13.
 * The week of February 19 has a commercial break between Rounds 1 and 2. They also introduce $3,500 in Round 2 and $5,000 in Round 3. It is possible that the week of February 12 did this as well.
 * On February 19, Vanna forgets to turn the first O in the Round 1 puzzle A MOTHER'S INTUITION after it is solved.

March 1996 :
 * March 4 is the first known instance of Author/Title being used instead of Title/Author.
 * On March 7, a contestant solves the Speed-Up puzzle BORN FREE with only the B showing.
 * On March 14, Round 1 is a Before & After of WHEEL OF FORTUNE COOKIE.

April 1996 :
 * On April 1, APRIL FOOL'S DAY is the Round 1 puzzle. At the end of the show, Pat jokes that this is the last show.
 * On April 2, a contestant solves DICK & JERRY VAN DYKE with only the R's revealed.
 * April 3 is the first known appearance of Who Said It?
 * Reruns air during the week of April 8.
 * On April 15, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle GULF despite getting no help from her extra letters.
 * The weeks of April 22 and 29 are Olympics-themed weeks taped at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. During these weeks:
 * The contestant backdrops are shaped like Olympic torches.
 * There is a video wall at center stage, with "ATLANTA" in illuminated letters at the top.
 * Since the $25,000 sign is not present, a graphic is used onscreen if someone wins it.
 * The "Atlanta 1996" Olympic logo is on the floor near center stage.
 * The Friday Finals format is used, and the same round structure as the Hawaii Family Week episodes.
 * The intro segment begins with Pat and Vanna chroma-keyed in front of an overhead shot of Atlanta on an American flag background. Pat says "From the site of the 1996 Olympic games...", then Vanna says "...it's Wheel of Fortune from Atlanta!" Afterward, a unique piece of music plays over a montage of Olympics-themed graphics, ending with a shot of the Olympic flame/torch with the 1995-1997 logo in the upper right corner flipping over to reveal "OLYMPIC KICKOFF WEEK". This is followed by a shot of the Fox Theatre and a timpani roll under Charlie's introduction of "From the fabulous Fox Theatre, here are the stars of our show: Pat Sajak and Vanna White!".
 * One of the Bonus Round prizes during at least the week of April 22 is a historic document signed by Robert E. Lee.
 * Between April 22 and 24, the outer frame of the Wheel is misaligned by about half the distance between two pegs, which is most noticeable when a contestant hits one of the Bankrupts on the $10,000 wedge on the 24th. The frame is finally fixed before Round 3 on the 24th.
 * On April 23:
 * The Round 2 prize is a $1,500 shopping spree at Gap. The Prize wedge features the Gap logo on a white background at the top, followed by "CLOTHING" in what is otherwise the normal Prize wedge design.
 * FREE SPIN LOSE A TURN & BANKRUPT is the Round 2 puzzle.
 * A contestant sweeps the game and wins a Ford Taurus in the Bonus Round.
 * By April 23, Fill In the Blank's question marks begin to be displayed at the beginning of the round (in this case, Round 3) rather than Vanna turning them like any other punctuation.
 * On April 24:
 * The slide whistle does not sound when a contestant hits Bankrupt in Round 2.
 * Only three rounds are played. Despite plugs for an Olympics T-shirt after Round 1 and a fairly long Round 2, the episode has a full credit roll.
 * A contestant solves the bonus puzzle PISTACHIO on the buzzer, after which Pat informs him that they will have to stop tape to check. In the final segment, Pat tells him that he beat the buzzer, and he and Vanna sign off after Charlie describes the trip to Greece that the contestant won. Strangely, the full answer is never seen, although the O can be seen in the final segment.
 * From around this point until the mid-2000s, some episodes with Bonus Round wins feature a slow-motion replay of the contestant's reaction near the end of the credits.
 * April 30 is the first known instance of Song/Artist being used instead of Artist/Song. The show continues to alternate between the two for the next 12 years.

May 1996 :
 * May 1 has the last known instance of a Same Name puzzle with three "names" instead of two.
 * Between May 6 and 31, the Olympic torch backdrops are used in Culver City.
 * The week of May 6 is the Olympic Sweepstakes, with each Round 2 puzzle having red-and-blue letters that spell out an Olympics-related word. This is the last time that differently-colored letters are used as part of a contest. These games also feature one round in the first segment, with May 10 having only three rounds.
 * On May 6, Rounds 1, 2 and the Bonus Round are Thing.
 * On May 7:
 * There are two duplicate categories: Phrase in Rounds 1 and 3, Thing in Round 2 and Things in the Bonus Round.
 * A contestant sweeps the game and wins Amtrak tickets with $15,000 cash in the Bonus Round.
 * On May 8:
 * The A in the bonus puzzle THE KING AND I is accidentally revealed despite the contestant calling I as his vowel. The contestant solves, and Pat notes that he won "fair and square" despite the error (most likely because the letter choices made it obvious that he already knew the answer).
 * Contestant Carl retires with $84,455.
 * On May 13, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle FROG despite getting no help from their extra letters. This previously happened with the same puzzle on September 7, 1992.
 * The week of May 27 uses 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 :
 * The three-day champion rule is replaced by the Friday Finals. Each contestant plays for one day on Monday-Thursday, and the week's three highest winners (counting contestants who did not proceed to the Bonus Round) compete on Friday. The winner of the Friday episode wins an extra prize.
 * Double Play is retired.
 * The $25,000 sign is retired. When the cash is won, a $25,000 graphic now "flips" into place on the bottom of the screen.
 * Classic TV, Headline and Show Biz all debut. Until around 1998, these categories use a unique wipe instead of the "rolling Wheel" one: a console TV, folded-up newspaper, and drawing of crossed spotlights, respectively.
 * The "bonus" category award is increased to $2,000, resulting in $1,000 Slogan being renamed Slogan. Also, the categories are used no more than once an episode; previous episodes often had two in the same game.
 * Some fee plugs are now pre-recorded by the company.
 * 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 intro is changed to an animation of Sony Pictures Studios, which zooms in through the studio doors. In the background, a yellow version of the two-row logo can be seen on a black rectangle. On top is the Columbia-Tristar Television logo, in between "COLUMBIA" (on the left) and "TRI-STAR" on the right. (This is also seen on Jeopardy!) A few seconds into the intro, the circular concrete transforms into a Wheel graphic, which contains no Bankrupt or Lose A Turn spaces. Four gold squares with the two-row logo on the reverse zoom around to show Pat, Vanna, and a CGI version of the now-retired $25,000 sign, using the previous season's graphics as a backdrop. The graphic then zooms up to the fourth square as Pat and Vanna walk out. During the "Wheel! Of! Fortune!" chant, the logo is seen in a purple background.
 * A video screen is added at center stage, near where Pat and Vanna walk out. It features that particular week's theme for the entire show until the close, where it is replaced by the show's logo. This lasts until at least the following season. During some spins, it changes to a close-up of the Wheel in mid-spin.
 * For some weeks this season, the insides of the prize envelopes are sparkly green. There does not seem to be any pattern as to when the green ones are used versus the existing gold design.
 * For this season only, when Charlie plugs the $25,000 cash prize leading into the commercial break before the Bonus Round, Vanna (or sometimes Pat) is shown holding a sparkly green battery-operated envelope with flashing numerals. Occasionally, the normal envelope is used instead.
 * The $10,000 wedge is moved to Round 2.
 * The Prize wedge is changed to dark green text (in the Clarendon font) on a glittery greenish-brown background.
 * The Surprise wedge is changed to its final design: plain black text (in the same font) with each letter outlined in a thin silver holographic film on a sparkly dark red background.
 * The second Wheel prize is moved to Round 3, but only appears if the Surprise is claimed before then.

September 1996 : (season begins September 2)
 * On September 2:
 * The show begins with Pat and Vanna walking out without theme music playing, and conversing with each other briefly before the intro segment. PastelCategoryStrip.jpg
 * The category strips are changed to a bold but narrow white font on a multicolored pastel rectangle. This design is only used until December, making it the second style to last less than a full season. The post-Bonus Round total is white Times New Roman numbers on the same pastel background, with the entire graphic flashing.
 * The original yellow $1,000 is accidentally present for Round 1.
 * Between September 2 and 20, the only Bankrupts 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 was accidental.
 * On September 4, Janet Russo (who was the champion on June 6 and 7) re-appears for her third episode. No explanation is given of her return.
 * On September 6:
 * Proper Name debuts.
 * I'LL GIVE THE WHEEL A FINAL SPIN is the Round 2 puzzle.
 * Between September 2 and 9, six bonus puzzles in a row are Thing.
 * September 9's bonus puzzle, OWL, is the last known instance of a three-letter bonus puzzle.
 * On September 12:
 * The camera closest to the blue contestant is noticeably cockeyed, an error which remains for at least the next month.
 * At the end of the show, Pat and Vanna discuss the upcoming Jackpot round. He also shows off the Jackpot wedge, holding it upside-down and calling it the Topkcaj.
 * On September 16:
 * The Prize wedges no longer have glitter.
 * The music cue for the first Wheel prize (a trip to Hawaii) is the lap steel version of the original "Changing Keys" from the previous season's Hawaii episodes. Jackpot96.jpg
 * The Jackpot wedge debuts in Round 3. The wedge, initially placed over the orange $300, starts out as a shiny red color with "Jackpot" written on it in Cooper Black with gold letters. Initially, the Jackpot total is displayed in the upper-left hand corner, in black numbers on a pastel background. For the first couple weeks or so, the numbers do not scroll as the Jackpot increases.
 * Many Wheel wedges are recolored or moved:
 * A template based on the one formerly used only in Round 3 is now used throughout the entire game (albeit with only one Bankrupt in Rounds 1 and 2) and the minimum value is increased to $250. These changes result in the retirement of $150, $200, $750 and $1,500. The space which holds the second Bankrupt in Round 3 (between the red $600 and green $500) is now a tan $300. Also, the top dollar values are now in the same spot, which retains the original yellow $1,000 underneath.
 * Free Spin moves to the green $300, where it stays until it is retired.
 * Lose A Turn is now very light yellow, nearly white.
 * Surprise moves; previously on the peach $200 for Rounds 1 and 2, and the tan $200 for Rounds 3 onward, it is now on the yellow $400 near Lose A Turn.
 * From September 16 to at least the 26th, the second Bankrupt is "off-model", using Clarendon instead of the custom Bankrupt font. As a result, it resembles a Prize wedge with the Bankrupt color scheme.
 * September 26 has the first Jackpot win. The contestant solves GREEN EGGS AND HAM BY DR. SEUSS with only the G's revealed, which results in the only known instance of the Jackpot being won for its base value of $5,000.
 * September 30 has a $12,350 Jackpot win.
 * Beginning September 30, a closed-captioning promotional plug is added after Round 2. This is normally read by Vanna, but sometimes by Charlie. At this point, "Changing Keys" is no longer used as bumper music.

October 1996 :
 * By October 2, the "off-model" Bankrupt is fixed.
 * October 2 has a Quotation puzzle of MATCHMAKER MATCHMAKER MAKE ME A MATCH in Round 2, followed by Pat asking the contestant for the musical that the quotation comes from. The contestant is unable to come up with the correct response of Fiddler on the Roof.
 * By October 2 and lasting until mid-Season 20, the credits end with the copyright tag followed by "Created by Merv Griffin", then the King World and Columbia-TriStar Television logos (with no spiels for any of these).
 * Possibly by October 11, and definitely by the 29th, the opening is slowed down and altered to remove the CGI $25,000 sign (although there are still four squares present in the open, the zoom now happens on the third one). This is not certain since the only available copy of October 11 is its repeat from January 3, and the opening may have been edited as well.
 * As of October 11, the aforementioned camera is still cockeyed.
 * October 29 and 30 both have Jackpot wins.
 * By October 29, the cockeyed camera angle is fixed.
 * October 31 is a Halloween show. When a Bonus Round envelope is selected, evil laughter is heard instead of the traditional chime.

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 College Week. A marching band plays "Changing Keys" live, but with the original melody instead of the altered melody of the "big band" remix.
 * From this point onward, unless noted otherwise, any College Weeks taped on the road have the contestants introduce themselves while walking from center stage, followed by a local college's cheerleading squad (and often the mascot) introducing Pat and Vanna.
 * Pat has laryngitis for the entire College Week, and hosts with a hoarse voice throughout. This results in two oddities, both done so that Pat can rest his voice:
 * On November 21, he and Vanna trade places during the Bonus Round. While doing so, Pat turns a letter so hard that it can be heard rattling.
 * On November 22, he uses hand gestures throughout the beginning of Round 4 (pointing to the contestants when it is their turn, hitting the railing with his fist for wrong letters and a Bankrupt, and a series of gestures for the Final Spin spiel) until the Speed-Up begins.
 * On November 21, the category strip disappears briefly during Round 2.

December 1996 :
 * December 9 is Beverly Hills Week, taped in Culver City.
 * Four of the Beverly Hills episodes, one of which is the Friday Finals, have Jackpot wins. As a result, Gregg is the only contestant known to have won the Jackpot twice.
 * On December 10, Vanna shows behind-the-scenes footage of her CD Santa's Last Ride. In the clip, she sings "Making Toys" with Tony Danza.
 * On December 12, at the end of the show, Vanna sings "Holiday Time" from the above CD to several children, including her son.
 * December 16 is Family Week.
 * On December 16: Jackpot97.jpg
 * The category strips are changed to a heavier white font on a blue oval. The "rolling Wheel" wipe is retained, and Bonus Round totals continue to use the pastels although the graphic no longer flashes.
 * The Jackpot wedge is redesigned, with JACKPOT written in a semicircle at the top of the wedge and written again vertically down the middle of the wedge. The letters are now yellow and in a thinner, sans-serif font.
 * The Jackpot display changes to a red semicircle with "Jackpot" in gold letters along the curved part, and the total in white numbers underneath.
 * On December 18, the bare Round 1 template is seen, complete with yellow $1,000, as the Wheel spins during the credits.
 * December 20 may be the last regular episode with the "interlocking W's" contestant backdrops. Once they are discarded, the contestant backdrops become randomized.
 * December 23 is the first Happy Holidays Week, which is the name of the Christmas week episodes for the next several years. Starting this season, various Christmas songs are used as bumpers. EditedCategoryStrips96.png
 * The week of October 7 is rerun during the week of December 30, edited to include the blue oval category strips and curved Jackpot display.

January 1997 :
 * As of January 3, the category strips still look the same as they did on December 16, 1996.
 * On January 6:
 * The Wheel is tightened and, with very rare exception, no longer spins automatically during the opening and credits.
 * A contestant forgets to pick up the Free Spin after hitting it. Three turns later, Pat walks over to the other side of the Wheel, removes the Free Spin and gives it to her.
 * On January 9, a contestant accidentally asks for a "brother" (part of the puzzle answer) in one round. Pat has the contestant try again, and he calls a B.
 * On at least January 10, the $10,000 wedge is placed upside-down on the Wheel for Round 4 and treated as a cash space. It is possible that this is a short-lived experiment for Friday Finals episodes.
 * On January 13, Vanna announces that she is pregnant with her first daughter, Giavonna. As was the case when she was pregnant with Nicholas, she begins wearing suits for the next several months of taping.
 * On January 16:
 * The second Bankrupt is accidentally placed on the Wheel for Round 1.
 * During Round 5, the yellow contestant's flipper lands on $250 but can barely be seen flipping over to $400 while he calls a 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.
 * January 20 is the first NFL Players Week, featuring teams composed of contestants and NFL players. This and all subsequent weeks with celebrity/civilian teams have the contestants receive their winnings in cash and prizes as normal, while a cash amount equal to the contestant's winnings (with a minimum of $10,000) is donated to a charity of the celebrity's choice. Also, bleachers are set up onstage to increase the audience size. Except for Season 19, the rerun of NFL Players Week is always the last of the Summer reruns.

February 1997 :
 * February 3 is Sweethearts Week.
 * By February 3, the category strips are changed again to a slightly different font and a smaller blue oval, and the end-game total graphic is changed to match.
 * 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 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.
 * On February 24: PuzzleBoardNew.jpgWOF_Bonus.jpg
 * Charlie's intro is just "Ladies and gentlemen: Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" (which becomes the official intro in Season 19), with no chant or music playing. Pat and Vanna then walk out, discuss the new electronic puzzle board and show time-lapse footage of the old board being dismantled before walking to their respective places. 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.
 * The gray parallelogram nametags are replaced by the current white-on-blue, oval-shaped nametags identical to the category strips in use at this point.
 * The W-H-E-E-L envelope holder changes from white lights and red letters to gold lights (similar in style to the puzzle board's frame) and green letters.
 * Final Spins that land on anything other than a cash amount are now edited out. Also, remaining Prize wedges (including the Surprise) and the second Bankrupt are removed before the last round if it begins as a Speed-Up.
 * At the end of the episode, Vanna uses the bonus puzzle to demonstrate how the board works.
 * For the last known time, the Wheel spins automatically during the credits.

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 (where the Prize should be), $10,000 on the red $600 (instead of the Round 3+ Bankrupt) and the Prize on the orange $300. The Prize is won, so the Jackpot wedge ends up in its correct place for Round 3.
 * Rosie O'Donnell makes a cameo after TALK SHOW HOST ROSIE O'DONNELL is the Round 2 puzzle. She then helps Vanna touch letters in Round 3.
 * At the March 13 taping session, Raymond Taylor makes an unauthorized appearance in the studio audience and is forced to leave. He refuses and is physically ejected from the stage.
 * 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 December, these episodes are edited to include the oval category strips and curved Jackpot display. 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 becomes a recurring category identical to its Wheel counterpart). Some notes 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 1991 episode of To Tell the Truth on which Charlie was a substitute announcer (although his guest-hosting gig apparently came two weeks after Charlie left daytime).
 * After Alex's opening dialogue with Lesly, Johnny introduces Pat and Vanna using Jeopardy!'s "Now entering the studio..." intro 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. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.jpg
 * Round 3 is SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS, in the joke category of "Really Long Title" and hyphenated twice (as shown in the picture) to fit on the board. It is also given a "bonus" question asking for the musical it came from, and Pat gives the correct answer of Mary Poppins.
 * Alex's Final Spin moves only five wedges.
 * The Speed-Up round 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. 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.
 * 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.
 * Sometime during the week of April 28, the Round 2 puzzle BILLIE JO BOBBIE JO & BETTY JO (Classic TV) is followed by a trivia question asking for the hometown of those characters. The contestant is unable to provide the right answer of Hooterville.

May 1997 :
 * May 5 is a special week where celebrities and their mothers play together.
 * On May 5:
 * The Jackpot round begins to have sponsors whose logos are also displayed on the Jackpot wedge. The first is Pizza Hut.
 * For all Culver City episodes, there are fixed music bumpers leading into the commercial breaks after Rounds 2 and 3, a change which remains for the rest of the season.
 * On May 8:
 * Twice in Round 1, Bonnie Hunt's mom accidentally calls a vowel after spinning.
 * In Round 2, Bonnie accidentally starts to spin again before Vanna can reveal the letter that was called. Bonnie then stops the Wheel in mid-spin, causing her and Pat to joke around for several seconds before he tells her to "spin the damn Wheel."
 * Round 3's answer of BARBARA BILLINGSLEY AS JUNE CLEAVER is categorized as Classic TV instead of Star & Role for no particular reason.
 * The weeks of May 12 and 19 are taped at the San Diego Convention Center. May 19 is College Week. Neither is rerun during the Summer.
 * May 26 is New York Week, 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, as is Charlie's opening narration: The intro no longer involves the circular concrete Wheel graphic, and Charlie's opening is slightly altered to: "From the Sony Pictures Studios, it's America's Game!" On a light blue starry background, a new logo similar to the traditional logo appears, but with no dots on the sides. Each word pops up during the opening cheer. The background and logo then wipe away sideways to reveal a cut to the studio.
 * "Changing Keys" is rearranged for the final time. This version is arranged by Steve Kaplan, generally retaining the altered melody of the "big band" version.
 * The puzzle-solve cue is updated.
 * 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 [random object], Charlie, it's time for our Jackpot round!"
 * At some point in late 1997, Karen Griffith and Steve Schwartz take over as producers.
 * The end-game totals are now on a green oval, which is kept through Season 16.
 * The Wheel's base is now blue with four long, golden spikes. Among all the light layers, the top is replaced with a new layer similar to the old one, but with smaller bulbs. Season15Wheel.jpg
 * The W-H-E-E-L envelope prop changes to align the five letters evenly, rather than the "staggered" style used beforehand. The letters themselves are now the only part of the prop to have lights.
 * Starting this season, the credits are done in Times New Roman. This continues until the end of Season 17.

September 1997 : (season begins September 1)
 * The weeks of September 1 and 8 are taped at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus, Ohio. September 1 is Family Week. For these weeks:
 * There is a commercial break between Rounds 1 and 2, resulting in some three-round games without the Jackpot.
 * For the first known time, the audience does the "Wheel! Of! Fortune!" chant instead of the pre-recorded chant.
 * On September 1:
 * Pat walks out on his own and jokes about Vanna being late because she had to tend to her second child. She then drives onstage in a Hummer, which she says will be awarded as an extra if the winner of the Friday Finals wins the Bonus Round. It is not won.
 * After Round 2, Charlie announces the prize that will be awarded to the winner of the Friday Finals: a trip for 10 to Hawaii.
 * Because Round 3 begins as a Speed-Up, $3,500 is kept as the top dollar value. This is the only known game in which $5,000 is not used.
 * John Sweeney, then-president of the AFL-CIO, makes a guest appearance in the final segment.
 * 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.
 * On September 15, Vanna shows off her newborn daughter, Giavonna.
 * September 29 has six rounds.

October 1997 :
 * October 20 is Broadway Week, taped in Culver City.
 * 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. This also begins the tradition of Halloween sounds replacing the chime when a Bonus Round envelope is selected.

November 1997 :
 * November 3 is Celebrity Week, which does not use the Friday Finals format. It also has the same round structure as the season premiere.
 * On one of the Celebrity episodes (with Robert Guillaume), there is a Jackpot win.
 * On November 5, Alicia Witt is a contestant. She previously appeared as a contestant during the Teen Week of September 3, 1990, and clips are shown of that appearance.
 * On November 6, William Shatner quits after Round 2 and Julie Pinson takes his place.
 * The weeks of November 10 and 17 are taped at The Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre (part of Denver Center for the Performing Arts) in Denver. November 17 is College Week.
 * During the week of November 17, the University of Colorado marching band plays "Changing Keys" during the intro, again using the original melody and not the "big band" melody. The band also plays music going into and out of commercial.
 * On November 20, the Round 2 puzzle of ALPHA BETA GAMMA & DELTA (Things) is followed by a trivia question, asking for the last letter of the Greek alphabet. The contestant fails to provide the correct answer of omega.
 * November 24 is Best Friends Week.

December 1997 :
 * December 22 is Happy Holidays Week, and the Surprise wedge is changed to have the word written out horizontally with a gift box below. When the Surprise is claimed and won, the box is opened to reveal a card that says "I've won [name of prize]. Tell me about it, Charlie!" which then segues into the prize description. The concept is very similar to the Prize Box on Wheel 2000, which at this point is still in first-run.
 * Reruns air during the week of December 29.

January 1998 :
 * 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 Family Week.
 * On one of the Vegas episodes, a contestant wins a custom-built Shelby Cobra worth over $100,000 in the Bonus Round. This is believed to be the most expensive prize ever offered in the Bonus Round until the $1,000,000 prize debuts.
 * On February 4, the Prize just has "VIDEO" in white Clarendon text on a magenta background, as opposed to a graphic. Also, it is on the orange $300 instead of $350, but since it is claimed, the Jackpot ends up in its proper space in Round 3.
 * On February 12, BEFORE & AFTER DINNER DRINK is a Before & After puzzle.
 * February 16-27 is 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, and home viewers can submit the answer for a chance to win $1,000,000 in cash 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 :
 * Matthew Fenwick, a then-wanted criminal on two counts of child molestation, appears as a contestant on March 18 (taped February 13) and wins $4,400. He is arrested on the 20th after one of his alleged victims sees him on the show, then sentenced to 6½ years in prison on October 7.
 * Reruns air during the week of March 23, the last time that reruns air mid-season.

April 1998 :
 * April 7 is the debut of Fill In the Number.
 * Beginning 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 College Week.
 * On May 4:
 * Pat is visible in the shot of the board during the Bonus Round.
 * The winning contestant has only $3,200.
 * The week of May 18 is Wheel Goes to the Movies, a recurring theme 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)
 * On June 5, Charlie appears on-camera.
 * During the week of June 8 (Summer in the City), various Summer-related songs play leading into the commercial break after Round 2.
 * On June 11:
 * For no particular reason, a contestant gets buzzed for buying a repeated I in Round 2.
 * The "only vowels remain" beeps do not sound in Round 5.
 * Pat gives all three contestants a Wheel of Fortune baseball cap after the Speed-Up.
 * June 12 is the first appearance of the Puzzler round.

Season 16 (1998-99)
Season Changes :
 * The opening graphics change again, placing the show's logo over the door frame during the chant. A red version of the two-row logo is seen on a marquee above the door frame; the doors have the Columbia-TriStar Television logo on the left and "STAGE 11" on the right, with a small "ON AIR" sign in front of them. The logo above the marquee is a flashing lights variation of the logo introduced last season, with each word lighting up during the chant. After the chant, the doors open to reveal the studio. Towards the fade from the Sony Pictures Studios exterior to the interior, a photo of Pat and Vanna can be barely seen on the left towards the pan to Stage 11.
 * The Friday Finals format is eliminated, with a single exception for this season (see below). As was the case before September 1989, contestants once again stay for only one episode. In the 2000s, Pat revealed on the Sony Rewards website that this was done because the most skilled contestants are not always the top winners.
 * Rhyme Time debuts.
 * 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. As a result, the second Wheel Prize is always in Round 3.
 * Throughout most of Seasons 16-17, Game Show Network is promoted in a short ad during the credits of Wheel and Jeopardy!
 * Jackpot is moved to the green $500 next to $800 ($250 for this season).
 * The three pink $250 wedges are increased: the ones between $900 and $400, as well as between Lose A Turn and $400, become pink $300s. The one between $600 and the top dollar value is changed to a yellow $300, while the purple $500 is decreased to $250. The yellow $1,000, present underneath the top dollar values, is replaced by a blank white wedge.

September 1998 : (season begins September 7)
 * The weeks of September 7 and 14 are taped at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh. September 7 is Family Week. During these two weeks:
 * The audience does the "Wheel! Of! Fortune!" chant.
 * All of the prizes are American-made.
 * The episodes use the same round structure as Season 15's premiere week.
 * Due to the smaller size of the Benedum Center, any prizes won in the Bonus Round are shown on the video screen instead of onstage.
 * The contestant window in the Bonus Round is shaped like a keystone.
 * Charlie's intro is "From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, America's game salutes the American working family!", followed by pictures of working men and women in gear-shaped "windows".
 * A special opening theme debuts for road shows, which is still used into the mid-2000s.
 * On September 7, a family pair 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.
 * There is a rare one-word puzzle in Round 4.
 * The contestant's letters fill in the bonus puzzle FORK entirely.
 * The bonus prize is an unusual bundle consisting of a Dodge Durango, barbecue grill and food basket.
 * On September 17, the Round 2 prize includes a shopping spree at a Pittsburgh mall, most likely Ross Park Mall.
 * On September 21:
 * A video wall is added behind the contestants.
 * The Puzzler round is made official.

October 1998 :
 * On October 6, WHEEL OF FORTUNE GOES NIGHTTIME is the Round 1 puzzle (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.
 * October 12 is one of the only known instances of a Puzzler being in Round 3.
 * As of October 12, the Puzzler is still indicated by a series of bells.
 * October 13 has six rounds.
 * On October 15, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * On October 30, FAT FREE SPIN is a Before & After puzzle.

November 1998 :
 * November 9 is Soap Stars Week, with soap star/contestant teams. It has the round structure of the season premiere week.
 * By November 9, the bells are removed from the Puzzler round.
 * On November 9, Tyler Christopher and his contestant sweep the game and win a BMW Z23 Roadster in the Bonus Round.
 * On November 10:
 * The winning team (Allison Sweeney and her contestant) has only $2,450 before the Bonus Round.
 * The bonus puzzle is HAIRCUT. Less than a month prior, on October 12, the bonus puzzle was a very similar HAIRDO.
 * November 13 has a very short Round 1 answer of DYNASTY, followed by a Puzzler of JOHN FORSYTHE. This is one of only three known instances of the Puzzler being longer than the puzzle before it.
 * The weeks of November 16 and 23 are taped at the Las Vegas Hilton.
 * November 20 is the show's ceremonial 3,000th episode, although it is actually #2,980. It is a clip show with commentary from Pat and Vanna.
 * The show begins with an open from January 18, 1978 which cuts to the then-current (1998) intro nine seconds in, followed by a montage of the various opening segments in chronological order, over a sound montage of contestants, Pat and the game's sound effects. Afterward, the screen dissolves to a "3000th Show from Las Vegas" logo, which then wipes to Charlie onstage in a tuxedo. Charlie's introduction is "And now, ladies and gentlemen, for the 3,000th time, it's my pleasure to introduce the stars of our show, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!", over a timpani roll.
 * Pat and Vanna sit at director's chairs on center stage, with a ceramic Dalmatian by the chair that Vanna sits at.
 * A unique music bumper is used at the end of each segment.
 * The first segment includes clips from one of the two 1974 pilots hosted by Edd Byrnes.
 * Merv appears in two different segments: discussing the show's creation in the first segment and the selection of Vanna in the second.
 * In the second segment, Robert Palmer's "Simply Irresistible" plays over a montage of Vanna's outfits.
 * In the third segment, the road show opening music plays over a montage of road show openings.
 * In the third segment, "Simply Irresistible" plays again over a montage of Pat's "wardrobe", but it stops about 10 seconds in and the clips switch to Mary Wells' "My Guy" playing over a montage of Pat's quirky behavior.
 * In the fourth segment, Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston's "It Takes Two" plays over a montage of Pat and Vanna's interactions, and as a bumper.
 * Pat and Vanna do not sign off.
 * The credits are done under the "3000th Show from Las Vegas" logo.
 * November 23 is Family Week, with the round structure of the season premiere weeks. This is the last week to have that round structure. All games after this point introduce $5,000 in Round 4 and do not end before then, even if the time spent on the first three rounds would warrant otherwise.

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. This puzzle is also the show's first known use of a colon.
 * December 21 is the first Christmas week to be called Christmas Week instead of Happy Holidays.
 * On December 25:
 * A contestant is from Toronto.
 * Round 3's Prize is a trip to Walt Disney World plus a $2,500 gift certificate redeemable at The Florida Mall or any other mall owned by Simon Property Group. The Florida Mall graphics show Maison Blanche, which is converted to Dillard's by the time the episode airs.
 * The Round 3 Prize wedge has a small gift box in the center, suggesting that it is a leftover Surprise wedge from the week of December 22, 1997. Pat opens the box to find a CD jewel case with his picture on it, and gives this to the contestant who wins it (also that day's winner) before the Bonus Round.
 * There is a Jackpot win.
 * Contestant Bruce finishes in second place with $17,700, the highest known second-place total at the time.
 * December 28 is Wheel into 1999 Week. This is the last time the New Year's week is called "Wheel into [year]", and the last New Year's-themed week until December 27, 2010.

January 1999 :
 * January 4 is Fabulous Florida Week, taped in Culver City.
 * January 25 is NFL Players Week, and the last use of the Friday Finals format.

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. 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 :
 * May 3-24 is the Come Play in LA Sweepstakes. Home viewers may submit each day's bonus puzzle. The grand prize is a trip for two to Los Angeles, which includes a tour of the Wheel set and a chance to audition.
 * The weeks of May 3 and 10 are taped at the Apollo of Temple (now Liacouras Center) in Philadelphia. During these weeks:
 * Full shots of the board have "Philadelphia" written atop a Liberty Bell at the top of the screen.
 * The contestant window in the Bonus Round is the Liberty Bell "ringing" until its bottom tilts to form the window.
 * On May 3, a contestant wins a "Sports Fantasy" package consisting of 12 tickets to a Flyers/76ers game, a backstage dinner, cigars from Holt's Cigar, a luxury suite at the First Union Center, autographed merchandise from both teams and a locker room tour.
 * On May 4:
 * The opening chant is done by a crowd at Three Rivers Stadium, led by Vanna in a baseball uniform.
 * Round 1 is an extremely short answer of TAILOR followed by a Puzzler of LET IT OUT, accounting for one of the only known instances of a Puzzler longer than the answer before it.
 * For no particular reason, Round 2's answer of JOHN TRAVOLTA AS VINNIE BARBARINO is categorized as Classic TV instead of Star & Role.
 * On May 5:
 * The opening segment includes Vanna riding a carriage in front of Independence Hall. She then looks at the camera and says, "That's Independence Hall, and this is Wheel of Fortune from Philadelphia."
 * The winning contestant kisses Pat's shoes after winning the Bonus Round.
 * As of May 6, games may still end without a Speed-Up.
 * On May 7:
 * There is a Jackpot win.
 * The audience boos the bonus puzzle THAT'S IFFY after the contestant fails to solve it.
 * During the week of May 10 (College Week):
 * The audience does the "Wheel! Of! Fortune!" chant.
 * Unlike other College Weeks on the road, the contestants introduce themselves from their podiums, instead of walking from center stage.
 * The Bonus Round prizes comprise four cars and $25,000 cash.
 * On May 10:
 * The shot of the Round 1 puzzle being revealed is accidentally re-used for the puzzle reveal in Round 2.
 * The Round 2 prize is a $2,500 shopping spree at King of Prussia Mall.
 * Boyz II Men makes a cameo after Round 2.
 * The Temple University band plays "Smoke on the Water" after Round 3.
 * A contestant sweeps the game and wins $25,000 in the Bonus Round. After winning, the contestant picks Pat up and pretends to wrestle him.
 * On May 20, VANNA WHITE WEDDING DRESS is a Before & After puzzle.
 * On May 21:
 * Kermit and Gonzo promote Muppets from Space in front of the puzzle board, which also reads MUPPETS FROM SPACE, at the top of the show.
 * Round 5 is a very short answer of PAYDAY. Interestingly, the second letter called in the round is D.
 * A contestant accidentally calls T and E in the Bonus Round.
 * In honor of director Dick Carson's last show, he appears on-camera after the Bonus Round to chat with Pat and Vanna. During the chat, black-and-white photos are shown of various people that Carson has worked with, including Merv Griffin and Don Rickles, followed by clips from early episodes and 1990s episode bumpers. At the end of the credits, "Directed by Dick Carson" is shown on footage of Carson leaving the studio.
 * 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. In fact, the Bankrupt between the orange $900 and purple $500 is replaced by the sparkly green $1,000.
 * Around this point, the video screen generally stops showing the Wheel in mid-spin.
 * 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 make the Wheel spin very tightly and loudly. Jackpot99.jpg
 * The Jackpot wedge is redesigned again, with "JACKPOT" surrounded by a semi-circle of yellow dots that light up.

September 1999 : (season begins September 6)
 * On September 6:
 * There is a now-rare occurrence of a one-word puzzle in Round 1.
 * Around the House debuts. For this season only, its category strip wipe is a drawing of a house.
 * The weeks of September 20 and 27 are both filmed at Universal Studios in Orlando; November 27 is Family Week. This is the last time until March 2009 that a road show does not occur during November, February or May sweeps.
 * On September 20, On the Map is used for the first time in the Bonus Round.
 * September 23 has a rare instance of a Puzzler longer than the puzzle before it: in this case, the Round 1 answer SWIMMERS is followed by a Puzzler of BACKSTROKE.

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.
 * Several changes are made on October 4: Preview.jpg
 * The Preview Puzzle debuts.
 * 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.
 * The Final Spin now has $1,000 added to its value.
 * The digits on the wedges now have a white outline, as does the lettering on Lose A Turn.

November 1999 :
 * The weeks of November 8 and 15 are taped at Madison Square Garden. November 15 is Best Friends Week.
 * On November 8:
 * The 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. The full answer, BROADWAY, is also revealed in this fashion.
 * For the only known time, Show Biz is used twice in one show (the Preview Puzzle and Round 3).
 * November 11 has a well-known incident where a contestant guesses A GROUP OF PILL-PUSHERS in the Speed-Up, causing a stunned Pat to scream, "This is Wheel of Fortune, Joe!"
 * November 22 is the first NBA Week, with baskbetball star/civilian teams. 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 when the trilon board was still in use. After Vanna walks out, she reveals its 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. A new piece of music accompanies this intro.
 * The intro from a 1980s episode appears after that (with the original "Changing Keys" dubbed over), followed by a wipe to Pat and Vanna discussing the special week.
 * The set has 1970s flower-power decor, prize turntables and a ceramic Dalmatian.
 * The contestant video wall shows the 1992-96 contestant backdrops.
 * A Shopping wedge is used in place of the regular Wheel prizes, allowing the contestant to "shop" for one of three trips (each represented by props on a turntable). 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. It is likely that this theme continued throughout the entire week.
 * December 27 is the first known appearance of Around the House in the Bonus Round.
 * On December 28, Richard Simmons makes a guest apperance in the final segment. He promotes his show Dream Maker, which is already canceled when the episode airs.

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

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

March 2000 :
 * On March 20, an animated bumper is added following 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 on-screen graphics.

May 2000 :
 * The weeks of May 1 and 8 are the WheelOfFortune.com Sweepstakes, with every Round 3 puzzle being computer-related.
 * For 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 Family Week. The set is a replica 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 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 Gift Tag debuts on the red $900. The first one is for Art.com.
 * 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 wedge is moved to Round 2, and the $10,000 wedge is moved back to Round 3, but unlike seasons 12 and 13, the $10,000 wedge is removed after Round 3 even if unclaimed.
 * 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, replaced by a new theme composed by Steve Kaplan called "Happy Wheels". The puzzle-solve cue is also changed to match.
 * The category strips are 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 as the category "pops" out of it, on blue with a plain font. The unique category wipes for Show Biz, Headline, Around the House and Classic TV are retired.
 * The beeping timer in the Bonus Round has music added to it.
 * As of this season, and possibly earlier, the house minimum is increased to $500.
 * The animated bumper following Round 3 is dropped.
 * Many puzzles between now and Season 22 begin including redundant A's at the beginning, most often Thing puzzles (e.g. A ROLL OF FILM).

September 2000 : (season begins September 4)
 * During the week of September 4 (Fast Cars), the Bonus Round prizes comprise four cars and $25,000 cash.
 * On September 4:
 * Pat gives a contestant an advantage after Round 2's Clue puzzle IT'S THE FAMOUS CARTOON CALL OF THE ROADRUNNER. After she says, "I don't know", Pat elaborates by saying "What does the Road Runner say?" and she provides the correct answer.
 * The Round 3 Prize is a Triumph Thunderbird motorcycle.
 * The week of September 11, Endless Summer, has 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 Beauregarde, Violet's father, in the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) is a contestant.
 * On September 25:
 * Pat's son and daughter, Patrick and Maggie, appear at the end of the show.
 * The version of "Happy Wheels" used at the end of the Bonus Round plays during the closing credits.

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. This is the show's last all-celebrity match. Some notes about this episode:
 * 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 throw Round 1 by deliberately calling incorrect letters with most of the puzzle revealed, then joking about their incorrect calls.
 * The second Toss-Up is not played.
 * 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 at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.
 * On November 6:
 * Background music is added to the Speed-Up round.
 * The $10,000 is mistakenly placed on the Wheel in Round 2, where it is won. Pat comments on the error at the start of Round 3, and it remains for that round as well.
 * The week of November 13 is the 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 around this point, the background of the set changes before the Bonus Round.

January 2001 :
 * At some point this year, a bonus puzzle of PIKACHU is the last known instance of one that does not use RSTLNE.
 * January 1 is Las Vegas week, taped in Culver City.
 * January 22 is NFL Players Week, taped at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. This is the first time since the Olympics episodes in 1996 that a road show runs for more than two weeks, and it is the first time since then that episodes from the same venue do not air contiguously.
 * January 29 is San Francisco Week, taped in Culver City.

February 2001 :
 * February 5 is College Week, taped at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.
 * On February 6, for what may be the first time, nobody gives a correct response to a Toss-Up. The correct answer is SHE ACED IT, and two contestants ring in with wrong answers.
 * On February 9:
 * There is a Jackpot win.
 * Pat accidentally starts prompting Vanna to reveal the contestant's Bonus Round letters before he has picked a vowel.
 * The contestant solves the bonus puzzle I'M SO HAPPY with only I'M S_ _____ revealed.
 * Sometime during the week of February 5, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle GOPHER despite getting no help from his extra letters, after which Pat pretends to frisk him.
 * The weeks of February 12 and 19 are taped outdoors, in front of the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Hawaii. February 12 is Family Week, and the week of February 19 has all Hawaiian contestants.

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, a transparent Wheel of Fortune bug is added in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, written in the same font as the two-row 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]".
 * The week of March 12 is Fast Cars, also the theme of the season premiere week. This is the only known "regular" theme, other than Big Money and America's Game, to occur more than once in one season.
 * March 14 is the debut of Living Thing.
 * On March 21, a contestant is credited with a $550 spin in Round 1 despite landing on the adjacent $800. While the contestant wins anyway, the credits mention that a portion of the show had to be re-produced, so it is possible that she actually spun $550 but the spin was re-shot, or an overhead shot from another episode was dubbed in.
 * On March 30, nobody gives a correct response to the second Toss-Up.

April 2001 :
 * On April 2, WHEEL OF FORTUNE is the second Toss-Up. After it is solved, Pat jokes that they have officially run out of puzzles.
 * April 6 may be the first appearance of Living Thing in the Bonus Round.
 * April 9 is the second and final 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 used 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 the second Big Money Week of the season.
 * April 23 is San Diego Week, taped in Culver City.
 * April 30 is Soap Stars Week.

May 2001 :
 * The weeks of May 7 and 14 are taped at the Dallas Convention Center. May 14 is Best Friends Week.
 * During the week of May 14, one of the Bonus Round prizes is 1,000,000 Advantage Miles from American Airlines.
 * May 18 is the 3,500th nighttime episode.
 * On May 18, the Round 3 puzzle A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED is categorized as Phrase instead of Rhyme Time, possibly because Round 4 is also Rhyme Time.
 * May 29 has a Star & Role puzzle of ROBERT BLAKE AS BARETTA. Between the episode's taping and airing, Blake is 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 :
 * The first Toss-Up now determines who is interviewed first. A Toss-Up worth $2,000 is added before Round 1 to determine who starts it, and the one before Round 4 is upgraded to $3,000. Toss-Ups are now split-screened in the same fashion as Speed-Up rounds, and they are now introduced with a wipe consisting of "Toss-Up" written on a purple disc.
 * The opening still shows flashbacks, but the graphics surrounding the clip are changed. For the first week only, a clip of a woman jumping is briefly visible just before the show's logo appears. The Wheel graphic used is the Speed-Up template.
 * Charlie's intro is changed to "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. The "rolling Wheel" effect is replaced with a white "burst" effect.
 * Road shows now last for three weeks instead of two.
 * Some tapings from Culver City now comprise six episodes, the sixth episodes of which are put into special weeks throughout the season.
 * This season may be the debut of Song Lyrics.
 * 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)
 * Between September 3 and October 19, the W-H-E-E-L envelopes comprise three cars and two $25,000 envelopes, with all five prizes in play all week.
 * On September 3:
 * Pat forgets to say the category for the first Toss-Up until about half of the letters are revealed.
 * Charlie promotes the three other Bonus Round prizes before the contestant picks an envelope, instead of after the Speed-Up. As he does this, Vanna is seen holding the flashing electronic $25,000 envelope from the late 1990s. It is possible, but not certain, that Charlie's plugs are in this spot until the debut of the Bonus Wheel.
 * September 17 is San Francisco Week, taped in Culver City.
 * The week of September 24 is the Italian Sweepstakes.
 * On September 24, contestant Chad picks C, H, A and D in the Bonus Round.
 * At some point early this season, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle HUMIDITY, repeatedly guessing "humditty". After time expires, he misreads the fully-revealed answer as "humditty", and asks Pat, "Didn't I say 'humditty'?"

October 2001 :
 * On October 1:
 * Two contestants mispronounce Tea Leoni's name as "tea" (the beverage) instead of "tay-a" when trying to solve the puzzle DAVID DUCHOVNY AND TEA LEONI.
 * In the Speed-Up round, all three contestants guess BALL PEN AND PENCIL SET, when the actual answer is BULL PEN AND PENCIL SET.
 * October 15 (Wheel Around the World) is the first week of sixth episodes.
 * On October 22:
 * The category strip disappears briefly during round 4.
 * The W-H-E-E-L envelopes are replaced with a 24-space Bonus Wheel, which spells out B-O-N-U-S-[pink space]-W-I-N-[blue space]-$-1-0-0-,-0-0-0-[red space]-C-A-S-H-[green space]. One envelope has $100,000 cash, while the rest have either $25,000 or cars. A special piece of music plays as the Wheel is spun. The first prize landed on, a Honda Accord, is not won.

November 2001 :
 * The weeks of November 5-19 are taped at the Knight International Center in Miami. November 12 is Cruise Week, and November 19 is Family Week. During these weeks:
 * Because of 9/11, Charlie is unable to make the flight to Miami, so all of his announcing is pre-recorded. Contestant coordinator Gary O'Brien handles audience warm-ups.
 * Also because of 9/11, the episodes have extremely small audiences.
 * During the first week's taping, members of the audience draw raffle tickets for a chance to audition. One of the audience members is a contestant on November 7.
 * On November 8, one of the Toss-Ups is re-shot for an unknown reason.
 * On one of the Miami episodes, Marvel Comics writer Barry Dutter is a contestant.

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, taped in Culver City.
 * On December 19:
 * Vanna wears pants and a shirt.
 * The $100,000 is won for the first time.
 * On December 20:
 * Around the House is used twice (Round 5 and the Bonus Round), one of the few known games to do so.
 * There is a now-rare instance of a Wheel prize that is not a trip. In this case, the Round 3 prize is a snowmobile, plus a collection of James Bond DVDs and film soundtracks.
 * As of December 20, Pat still reveals the location of the $100,000 envelope at the end of the Bonus Round.
 * December 31 is I Love NY Week, 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 such week to not be rerun during the Summer.
 * January 14 is New Orleans Week, taped in Culver City.
 * January 31-February 6 is the Hershey's Pot of Gold Sweepstakes, with no theme name seen for those shows. The respective weeks' sets are retained as per usual.
 * Due to the Hershey's Sweepstakes, only 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 February 7 and 8 use the week's theme name, Island Fever.
 * The weeks of February 11-25 are taped at the Las Vegas Hilton. February 11 is Sweethearts Week and February 25 is Best Friends Week.
 * By February 11, Pat no longer reveals the $100,000 envelope at the end of the Bonus Round.
 * On February 11, two teams forget to add an S to the $3,000 Toss-Up, IN-ROOM MOVIES.
 * February 18 is Big Money Week, another case of that week occurring twice in one season. For this week, amounts of $30,000, $35,000, $40,000, $45,000 and $50,000 are added to the Bonus Wheel.

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 D.C. Week, taped in Culver City.
 * March 19 has seven rounds.
 * March 25 is San Diego Week, taped in Culver City.

April 2002 :
 * April 22 is NASCAR Week. One of the bonus prizes this week is a lifetime supply of gasoline, the only known prize since the introduction of the Bonus Wheel that is not a car or cash.
 * As of April 25, very short puzzles may still be used in Round 1 (in this case, a 9-letter answer of PAULA ZAHN).
 * On April 25:
 * The $2,000 Toss-Up is Things and Round 4 is Thing.
 * The Round 4 puzzle (AN ON/OFF SWITCH) is only the second known instance of a puzzle with a slash in it. Harry Friedman tells Pat that it is their first slash when asked, but before the Bonus Round, Pat says that the research department has found another puzzle with a slash in it.
 * After failing to solve the bonus puzzle HOCKEY FANS, the contestant misreads the fully-revealed answer as "hokey fans".
 * During Pat and Vanna's chat, footage is shown of the stagehands dressed as a pit crew while adding the $3,500 and second Bankrupt to the Wheel.
 * April 29 is the first Teen Best Friends Week.
 * During a Teen Best Friends episode, a contestant rings in on the $1,000 Toss-Up and says CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE. Her teammate quickly adds an S to form the right answer, and it is accepted.

May 2002 : (season ends May 31)
 * The weeks of May 6-20 are taped at Navy Pier in Chicago. May 13 is College Week, and May 20 is Chicago Sports Week.
 * Sometime during the week of May 13, all three contestants call repeated letters in a Jackpot round.
 * On May 21:
 * Pat's mother makes a guest appearance.
 * Vanna sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".

Season 20 (2002-03)
Season Changes :
 * The $10,000 prize is moved again, to Round 1.
 * The long-standing practice of very short Round 1 puzzles seems to disappear around this point.
 * The Mystery Wedges debut in Round 3, worth $500 per letter if not flipped over. They are located over the green $500 and the orange-yellow $500. Charlie's original spiel for the Mystery Round is "The Mystery Round: It's all or nothing. What's on the other side of the Mystery Wedge? It could be a Bankrupt, or this [name of car] — [amount]!" An animation of the wedges dropping onto the Wheel appears as Charlie says the first sentence, with the right one flipping over to reveal Bankrupt and the slide whistle sounding.
 * The Gift Tag moves to the green $700.
 * The puzzle-solve cue is changed.
 * A second music bed is added to the Bonus Round. This one starts when the "spinning the Bonus Wheel" music ends, and ends when the timer starts.
 * As of this season, every game now ends in a Speed-Up.
 * The eggcrate score displays are replaced with computer-generated panel displays. These displays are colored with respect to each podium with an "embossed" texture of the Bankrupt-$600-$400-$300-Lose A Turn section of the Wheel as a background. Scores are displayed in a white Impact font. Whenever a score is altered, it swivels as it morphs to the new score. If a contestant hits Bankrupt or Lose A Turn, those words are shown on the display (in the color scheme of the wedge) for a few seconds.
 * The extra amounts added to the Bonus Wheel for Big Money Week in February 2002 are made permanent.
 * Contestants who fail to earn anything are now given $500 cash instead of parting gifts, to alleviate the cost of travel. $1,000 is awarded to two-person teams.
 * 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 strip is a purple rectangle with a green line at the top and bottom, and very narrow, white letters.
 * "Happy Wheels" is given a new re-arrangement which samples the first few bars from the 1997 "Changing Keys".
 * For this season only, there is a "20th Anniversary" bug on-screen, which also forms part of the contestant window during the Bonus Round.
 * The Wheel pegs are changed to shorter, bronze-colored pegs. The Wheel spins a little more loosely than in the past two seasons, but it is still quite loud.
 * All sixth episodes this season retain the name of their respective weeks.
 * From this season onward, the last week of the season is always composed of sixth episodes.
 * 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.
 * Either in this season or early in the next, there is a $3,000 Toss-Up of WHAT A RELIEF for which no one even rings in. This is believed to be the only time this has ever happened.
 * Around this point, puzzles begin using more punctuation, such as periods, exclamation points and question marks.

September 2002 : (season begins September 2)
 * On September 2, the very first Mystery Wedge is flipped. The other side is Bankrupt. For most of the first few weeks, if a contestant flips over a Mystery Wedge, Pat flips over the other one at the end of the round. However, he does not do this on September 2.
 * September 9 is Las Vegas Week, taped in Culver City.
 * September 9 is a $100,000 loss.
 * On September 10:
 * Charlie does not do the Mystery Round intro.
 * A contestant mispronounces "jalapeño" as "jalapeña" when solving the Speed-Up puzzle JALAPENO AND DR PEPPER, but is still ruled correct. This is also the first known instance since 1989 of a Same Name spelling AND, and one of the last known instances of Same Name in the Speed-Up round.
 * Not long afterward, the show stops using Before & After, Same Name and three-line puzzles in the Speed-Up. This change was probably done for time constraints.
 * There is no Pat & Vanna chat at the end.
 * Donny Osmond makes a cameo on September 16 after the puzzle TV GAME SHOW HOST. He promotes Pyramid, which debuts that day.
 * Season 20 starts with 13 consecutive Bonus Round losses, the longest known losing streak in the show's history.
 * September 30 is Florida Week, taped in Culver City.

October 2002 :
 * October 7 is the last European Vacation Week (or EuroTour, as in this edition) until Season 24.
 * October 21 is Wheel Takes Manhattan, taped in Culver City.
 * October 28 is Halloween Week.

November 2002 :
 * The weeks of November 4-18 are taped in Seattle. November 11 is College Week, and November 18 is Family Week.
 * On November 8:
 * Vanna wears a shirt and pants.
 * The Round 4 answer CINEMATOGRAPHY 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 :
 * December 2 is 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 week of May 22, 2000. This Family Week has a sixth episode. It was originally scheduled for the week of December 30, but rescheduled to avoid being pre-empted by the Rose Bowl on ABC affiliates.
 * On December 3:
 * The $2,000 Toss-Up is Things, and the $3,000 Toss-Up is Thing.
 * There is a rare instance of a one-word puzzle in Round 5.
 * The contestant window in the Bonus Round does not appear until after Vanna reveals the letters the contestants called.
 * The bonus puzzle, WORKBENCH, is categorized as Around the House. While it keeps that category the next time the puzzle is used (May 5, 2005), it is only categorized as Thing on April 9, 2010.
 * On December 4, a team sweeps the game and wins $100,000 in the Bonus Round. This is believed to be the first sweep since the introduction of Toss-Ups.
 * December 5 has a rare one-word puzzle in Round 4, even though the game is 5 rounds.
 * December 6 has a Jackpot win.
 * On December 12:
 * Vanna wears a sleeveless shirt and pants.
 * The blue contestant solves the Speed-Up just after the buzzer. After the red contestant solves, Pat tells them that the scores are tentative because they need to check the tape in regards to the blue contestant. After the commercial break, it is determined that the blue contestant was beaten by the buzzer, so the red contestant is present at the Bonus Round.
 * There is a $100,000 loss.
 * Sometime around December, Rhyme Time makes its first known appearance in the Bonus Round. The contestant's letters fill in the answer, FINE WINE, completely.
 * December 30 is San Francisco Week, taped in Culver City.
 * Sometime during the week of December 30, a contestant solves KELSEY GRAMMER AS DR. FRASIER CRANE with only the R's and S's revealed.
 * December 30 is a $100,000 loss.

January 2003 :
 * January 13 is the first Big Money Week to occur only once in a season.
 * Sometime around January, the font changes on every dollar amount to a variant of Clarendon, except the top dollar value. Lose A Turn also changes to Clarendon.
 * 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 3-17 are 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 10 is Sweethearts Week (and the last Hershey's Pot of Gold Sweepstakes).
 * On February 13, a couple sweeps the game and wins a pair of Mercedes SLKs in the Bonus Round.
 * February 17 is the first Country Music Stars Week, with teams consisting of a contestant and a country music singer. The singers are Wyonna, George Jones and Alison Krauss on Monday; Lorrie Morgan, Darryl Worley and Mark Wills on Tuesday; Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Charley Pride and Richie McDonald (of Lonestar) on Wednesday; Ricky Skaggs, Brenda Lee and Joe Nichols on Thursday; and Barbara Mandrell, Billy Ray Cyrus and Pam Tillis on Friday.
 * On February 17:
 * Steve Azar makes a guest appearance.
 * Alison Krauss and her teammate 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 after the Slogan puzzle THE CLEAR ALTERNATIVE TO CELLULAR. The contestant gives the right answer of Sprint.
 * The game ends in a tie, the first instance of one since the introduction of Toss-Ups. It 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 in one show: Round 3 is Thing, while the tie-breaking Toss-Up and Bonus Round are Things.
 * March 17 has a Jackpot win.
 * On March 18, Pat forgets to open the envelope after the Bonus Round.
 * March 21 has what may be the longest puzzle ever used on the show in terms of spaces used: a Who Is It? of SHE JUST WON A SEVENTH U.S. FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIP (Michelle Kwan), which uses 47 of the 52 spaces. In terms of letters used, it is only the second-longest known answer, as a 46-letter puzzle appears in October 2007.
 * March 24 is Hawaii Week, taped in Culver City.
 * March 27 is a $100,000 loss.

April 2003 :
 * April 7 is NASCAR Week.
 * April 21 is Salute to Chicago Week, taped in Culver City.
 * April 24 begins a 20 Cars in 20 Days sweepstakes in honor of the nighttime version's 20th season. Home viewers can enter each week's bonus puzzle on the show's website for a chance to win one of 20 different cars.
 * April 24 is a $100,000 win. The contestant solves JOCKEY with _O__E_ revealed.
 * The weeks of April 28-May 12 are taped at the San Diego Convention Center. From this point through the end of the season, the gold frames at the top and sides of the puzzle board are missing, and only the ones at the bottom are present. It is possible that this change is related to the addition of the board's neon frame next season.
 * April 30 is a $100,000 loss.

May 2003 : (season ends May 30)
 * On May 1, contestant Kara accidentally breaks her buzzer following the $2,000 Toss-Up, by jumping in celebration while holding it. It is fixed in time for the $3,000 Toss-Up.
 * 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 for Round 4. This ends up affecting the game, as she uses this money to buy a vowel despite having only landed on a Prize wedge. However, she later hits Bankrupt.
 * May 12 is College Week.
 * During a College Week episode, contestant Sarah mentions that her mother won a trip on the show in 1977, which resulted in her marriage and Sarah's birth.
 * 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. The contestant has only $5,500 before the Bonus Round, which is very likely the lowest pre-Bonus Round total since the introduction of Toss-Ups.

Season 21 (2003-04)
Season Changes :
 * The gold borders around the Wheel and puzzle board are replaced with the current blue and purple LED borders. The borders around the Wheel are made of Plexiglas, and the Wheel base is rebuilt.
 * The video wall behind the contestants now has moving pictures instead of a singular pattern.
 * The Toss-Up wipe is changed to a blue ring saying "Toss-Up" on the top and bottom, with the amount written on a blue bar in the middle. 335px-WoFpuzzleboard.jpg
 * 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 Gift Tag moves again, to the green $700.
 * 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 part of the puzzle board that Vanna walks on.
 * Like the two from Season 19, weeks composed of sixth shows 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 camera shot is changed slightly in the Bonus Round. Instead of showing a static shot of the board when the category is revealed, the camera now slowly zooms in on the board until the timer starts. By the time the shot stops zooming in, the extra monitors in the middle two rows are cut off.
 * This is the only season in which the $100,000 is not won.
 * As of this season, the second Bankrupt is over the purple $600 next to $3,500 in Round 3, and the orange-yellow $300 in Rounds 4+.

September 2003 : (season begins September 8)
 * September 8 is Big Money Week.
 * On at least September 8, the Gift Tag is $1,000 cash in the form of then newly-redesigned $20 bills (which is also the shape of the Gift Tag), which Pat promotes before the first Toss-Up. This is also a smaller Gift Tag than usual, as it does not fully cover the 7, nor does it overlap onto the adjacent wedges.
 * On September 8:
 * There is a Jackpot win.
 * The second Bankrupt in Round 3 is accidently placed on the yellow $300.
 * On September 10:
 * On the Menu debuts.
 * Pat and Vanna go into the audience during their chat.
 * The 2000 closing theme plays during the credits.
 * September 11 is the debut of the Prize Puzzle.
 * On September 12, after the Headline puzzle QUEEN ELIZABETH CELEBRATES MILESTONE, Pat asks whether it is Queen Elizabeth's 40th, 50th or 60th anniversary of coronation, and the contestant provides the right answer of 50th. This is the last time until November 2011 that a "normal" category has an extra question.
 * On September 22, Pat jokes before the $3,000 Toss-Up that "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.
 * During the week of October 27, a jack-o'-lantern is projected onto the center of the Wheel.
 * On October 27, Vanna's son and daughter, Niko and Giavonna, appear in their Halloween costumes at the end of the show.

November 2003 :
 * The weeks of November 3-17 are taped at Radio City Music Hall. On all of these episodes, the Jackpot display is inexplicably in the lower left-hand corner instead of the upper left-hand corner.
 * On November 6, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle CAB FARE with _A_ FARE revealed.
 * On November 7:
 * The original Round 1 is thrown out because a contestant is inadvertently allowed to buy a vowel despite having only $50 and the $10,000 prize.
 * Pat pretends to wrestle the same contestant after he wins the Bonus Round.
 * November 10 is the ceremonial 4,000th episode, which like #3,000 is composed entirely of clips narrated by Pat and Vanna. [[Image:1978Fakeout.jpg|thumb|right]]
 * Charlie's intro is "And now from Radio City Music Hall, celebrating 4,000 shows together, here are the stars of Wheel of Fortune, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
 * During the first clip montage, a 2003 intro is shown before "rewinding" through various footage. The rewind ends with the January 18, 1978 opening used in the ceremonial #3,000, which is inexplicably identified as 1983. This then cuts again to the traditional 1980s "logo" shot, with a timpani roll dubbed in underneath.
 * The next montage consists of various clips over songs with "round" in the title, including "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" by Dead or Alive and "I Get Around" by the Beach Boys.
 * The first montage in the second segment consists of humorously incorrect attempts at solving, including "AT MY CAT'S END", followed by correct attempts. Also included are some bonus puzzles that were solved with little to no help from the extra letters, which are followed by "A GROUP OF PILL-PUSHERS".
 * The first montage in the third segment consists of screaming contestants set to "Shout" by the Isley Brothers, then "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge.
 * Also included in the third segment is a montage of entertaining contestants, part of which is set to "Can't Get Enough of You Baby" by Smash Mouth.
 * Vanna discusses her audition in the fourth segment. Afterward, "She's a Lady" by Tom Jones plays over a montage of her outfits. "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred then plays over a montage of Pat's.
 * The next segment consists of Pat's funnier moments set to "Born to Be Wild" by Bruce Springsteen.
 * Afterward, a blooper reel is shown for a local promo made for KDRV in Medford, Oregon.
 * The next segment consists of Pat and Vanna eating, set to "Eat It" by "Weird Al" Yankovic.
 * The next segment consists of road show footage set to "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson.
 * The next segment consists of Pat and Vanna clips set to "I Got You Babe" by Sonny & Cher.
 * In the final segment, Pat and Vanna are onstage with most of the show's staff, including producers Karen Griffith and Steve Schwarz, executive producer Harry Friedman, director Mark Corwin and Charlie O'Donnell. The board reads "AMERICA'S GAME".
 * November 11-14 is Best Friends Week. Strangely, during reruns in Summer 2004, November 3-6 are packaged with November 10, which re-airs on a Friday.
 * From November 11-14, the Mystery prize is a $10,000 Macy's gift card.
 * On one of the Best Friends episodes (either the 11th or 12th), a Toss-Up is thrown out because the lockouts are not activated on the buzzers, allowing one team to accidentally ring in twice. The discarded puzzle, PURRING KITTENS, later appears in the Speed-Up round on April 28, 2004.
 * November 14 has a grammatically incorrect bonus puzzle: PIECE OF MIND, a conflation of PEACE OF MIND and A PIECE OF YOUR MIND.
 * November 17 is NBA Week.
 * 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; road shows use ones with themed graphics.
 * November 26 is a $100,000 loss.

December 2003 :
 * Around this point, one of the cars available in the Mystery Round is a Chevy Aveo. For no particular reason, it is shown in a still image on a white background, instead of footage of it being driven, as Charlie describes it.
 * Starting December 8, Charlie now announces two sponsors after the first commercial break with "Tonight's show brought to you by..." Reruns of episodes before this point are edited to include the sponsors.
 * December 8-19 is the Blue Cash Sweepstakes. 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. A promotional clip for this sweepstakes shows a Bonus Round win from earlier in the season, edited so that the board says BLUE CASH (in the wrong font).
 * December 15 is Blue Cash Week. During this week:
 * All cars in the Bonus Round are blue.
 * Both the neon parts of the set and the category strips are darker blue than usual.
 * The Mystery Round prize is $10,000 towards the purchase of products from Sony Style.
 * On December 16, music director Steve Kaplan dies in a plane crash.
 * On December 17:
 * All three contestants hit Bankrupt consecutively in Round 3 (the second by way of a Mystery wedge).
 * The tight close-up of the red contestant's arrow is not used during the Final Spin. Instead, the camera stays on the zoomed-out, angled shot the whole time, so that the whole Wheel is seen during the entire Final Spin.
 * On December 22:
 * Contestant Khalilah says that her mother also competed on the show.
 * Six rounds are played.
 * December 23 is a $100,000 loss.
 * December 24 is the first known instance of a Prize Puzzle offering something other than a trip: in this case, the answer GIZMOS AND GADGETS offers a home entertainment package.
 * On December 29, both Wheel and Jeopardy! show a black-and-white picture of Steve Kaplan after the credits.
 * For the week of December 29, the Jackpot score display is again in the lower left-hand corner. 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 a Title/Author.
 * On January 2:
 * In Round 3, a contestant incorrectly solves the fully-revealed answer FRANCIS FORD AND SOFIA COPPOLA by mispronouncing "Coppola", only the fifth known time that this has happened.
 * Another contestant accidentally calls C twice in the Bonus Round.
 * "Happy Wheels" continues to play under the first pre-recorded fee plug.
 * January 5 is NFL Week.
 * January 6 has a redundant puzzle, STAR CONSTELLATION, as the $1,000 Toss-Up.
 * On January 9, a Same Name in Round 3 spells out AND.
 * On January 13 and 14, two contestants in a row call G C D O in that order in the Bonus Round.
 * On January 28, a contestant makes an extremely close incorrect guess 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, a Hawaii-themed week taped in Culver City.
 * February 3 and 6 both have six rounds.
 * On February 6:
 * One of the older cues (possibly the one introduced in 2000) accidentally plays after the $3,000 Toss-Up is solved.
 * The bonus puzzle A NEW JOB is inexplicably categorized as Phrase instead of Thing.
 * The weeks of February 9-23 are taped at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. February 9 is Sweethearts Week, and February 23 is Teen Best Friends Week.
 * Unusually for a road show, February 9 appears not to have been the first taped episode from that week, as Pat makes no mention of it being their first week in Phoenix.
 * February 9 is a $100,000 loss.
 * On February 10, THE FAMILY CIRCUS CARTOON is a puzzle. During their post-game chat, Pat and Vanna show a Family Circus strip where a character mentions her.
 * On February 13:
 * All three teams ring in with wrong answers on the $1,000 Toss-Up, CORNER BARBERSHOP.
 * A couple technically sweeps the game (disregarding the unsolved $1,000 Toss-Up) and wins $25,000 in the Bonus Round. Their letters fill in the bonus puzzle A CLEAN SHAVE entirely.
 * On February 18, one of the contestants is picked out of the audience. She makes it to the Bonus Round, where she tries to call four of the six letters that are already given (T, N, S, R), even with an R already in the answer.
 * 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 game anyway.
 * 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 sponsored by the Aruba Tourism Authority. During this week, home viewers may submit each episode's bonus puzzle to the show's website for a chance to win a vacation to Aruba.
 * During the week of March 1, at least three contestants get no help from their letters in the Bonus Round.
 * On March 9, after SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS is a puzzle, Pat says, "What do you mean, 'Fictional Character'?" and quotes the entire SpongeBob SquarePants theme song.
 * March 12 is the first use of On the Menu in the Bonus Round.
 * On March 15:
 * Several clear arches are added to the set. The arch behind Pat has a smaller video screen which displays the show's logo atop a graphic of a spinning Wheel.
 * The Wheel Watchers Club debuts, a rewards program which home viewers may join to win the prize offered in a Prize Puzzle. After Charlie finishes the prize plug, he reads a randomly-drawn SPIN ID. 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. New SPIN IDs are edited into reruns.
 * Following Round 3's Clue puzzle A ROMAN GOD OR THE PLANET NEAREST THE SUN, the contestant gives an incorrect guess of Pluto. Pat then lets her guess again, and she then guesses the Moon, Mars and Saturn before finally saying the right response of Mercury. (Obviously, the subsequent guesses are not taken.)
 * The bonus puzzle A GROUP HUG is categorized as Event. The next two times this answer appears (February 27, 2006 and January 12, 2010), it is categorized as Thing and doesn't have the A.
 * During the post-game chat, Pat reminds Vanna that during a chat in November, she wished that Thanksgiving could be at another time, such as March. He then reminds her it's now March, and surprises her with a turkey dinner.
 * 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.
 * On March 18, the second-place contestant has $26,900, believed to be the highest second-place total at the time. This is later beaten on October 12, 2009.
 * March 25 is a $100,000 loss.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are lost on the week of March 29.
 * March 29 has an unusual Next Line Please puzzle in Round 3. 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" after she fails to provide a guess. While these two lines appear in that order once, they are more commonly seen and quoted in the opposite order, which may have misled the contestant.
 * During the week of March 29, Wheel Changes Lives segments are shown during Pat and Vanna's talk. During these segments, the two discuss past winners who have sent in letters.
 * On March 31, a contestant mispronounces "plush" as "plus" when solving THICK PLUSH BEACH TOWELS. Against precedent, she is asked to say the answer again, and pronounces it correctly the second time. Pat then explains that she was allowed a second chance because the puzzle is a tongue twister.

April 2004 :
 * On April 1, a contestant incorrectly solves a fully-revealed puzzle, mispronouncing "sheepshank" as "sheep's hank" in the Clue puzzle OVERHAND SQUARE & SHEEPSHANK ARE TYPES (knots).
 * On April 2, contestant Heather makes a second appearance because of an error on her first episode. She finishes this episode in third place with $2,050.
 * Between January 17 and April 5, Fictional Place appears four times, when it normally appears far less than once in an entire season.
 * April 8 has a very unusual, non-sequitur puzzle of SPARROWS & PARAKEETS as the $1,000 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.
 * April 12 is Wheel Around the World Week.
 * On April 12, the theme to the Australian version is used as a cue for the Wheel Prize, which is a trip to Australia.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are lost on the week of April 12, three of which have the players getting no help from their letters. The losing streak extends to the 20th.
 * On April 19, I'D LIKE TO BUY A VOWEL is the Round 1 puzzle.
 * On April 28:
 * Round 2 is the last appearance of Fill In the Number. Interestingly, it is also the only known Fill In the Number puzzle to have two different numbers in it (# SCORE AND # YEARS AGO).
 * 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 :
 * The weeks of May 3-17 are taped at Moscone Center in San Francisco. May 3 is the first Mom & Me Week (with mother/son and mother/daughter teams), while May 17 is College Week. These episodes are the source of a frequently re-aired outtakes reel, where Vanna repeatedly flubs the line "Highlight your nightlife" while shooting a bumper.
 * On May 3:
 * The $1,000 Toss-Up, CHOOSY MOMS CHOOSE JIF, is both the third known instance of a Slogan puzzle with the product's name in the answer (obviously meaning that the $3,000 bonus is not in play) and the only known use of that category as a Toss-Up.
 * Willie Mays makes a guest appearance after the Round 2 puzzle BASEBALL HALL OF FAME.
 * May 4 is the first of only two known appearances of Classic TV in the Bonus Round.
 * On May 10:
 * The lights briefly go out during a round. Gameplay is simply picked up from where it left off, and the show is edited.
 * The Bonus Wheel spin is re-shot because it did not go all the way around the first time, with the original spin edited out.
 * 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.
 * The weeks of May 24 and 31 have themed backdrops for the split-screen during Pat and Vanna's talk, despite these weeks being taped in Culver City.
 * On May 25:
 * One of the contestants is from Italy.
 * A contestant makes an extremely close incorrect guess in the bonus round by saying KODAK BEAR when the answer is KODIAK BEAR.
 * On May 28, a contestant sweeps the game but loses $25,000 in the Bonus Round.

June 2004 : (season ends June 4)
 * On June 2:
 * Seven rounds are played.
 * The scoreboards glitch out at the end of the Speed-Up round.
 * On June 3, the Bonus Round contestant says the words "boiling" and "point" at various times among his 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 tilts to form the O in OF, and the rest of the letters in the logo are silver on a starry blue background. The Wheel graphic in this intro is extremely inaccurate, lacking both Lose A Turn and Bankrupt while including $1,500 (retired in 1996) and $2,000 (never used on nighttime).
 * The Bonus Wheel is redone in neon colors to match the set. Also, the colored spaces are changed to stars.
 * The category strips are still white on dark blue, but darker than the ones in Season 21. The font is also slightly taller and heavier, and the edges of the blue field are more pronounced. They also reveal with a white "spark" effect.
 * This season is the last one to begin on Labor Day.
 * A small graphic now informs home viewers if there are no more vowels left in the puzzle. The first one is written in black on a yellow rectangle, which "pops" out of the category strip. MysteryWedge3.png
 * The face value of the Mystery Wedges is increased to $1,000. Their color scheme is also reversed, with the wedges themselves now blue and a black circle around the question mark. Also, the prize offered is sometimes $10,000 cash instead of a prize worth roughly $10,000.
 * The Final Spin now has a graphic wipe, with the words "Final Spin" written in several fonts in orange letters (like the opening).
 * A second Gift Tag is added, on the pink $300.
 * The Prize Puzzle bug sometimes shifts to "Have Your SPIN ID Ready".
 * The cash totals after the Bonus Round are now in a wide silver font.
 * The Pat & Vanna talk backdrop is a blue "starry sky" pattern.
 * The practice of editing out "null" turns (i.e., player control goes a complete cycle without affecting score or the puzzle) appears to begin around this point. If this occurs in the Jackpot round, any Wheel spins landing on a dollar amount that are edited out are not counted towards the Jackpot. If this occurs in a Speed-Up round, it is typically masked by cutting to Pat.
 * The Mystery Round spiel changes to "And in tonight's Mystery Round, one of our players could win a [description of prize] — [amount]!" It is now accompanied by the words "Mystery Round" written on a blue background, with spinning blue $1,000 wedges on either side, and a blue question mark in the center of the screen.
 * The Jackpot display is now in the silver rectangle instead of in the red semicircle, with the amount wriiten in red.

September 2004 : (season begins September 6)
 * For at least the first week (it is known to have been present on the 10th), there is a cylindrical prop with the show's logo, to the viewer's right of the blue contestant. On the season premiere, Pat jokingly refers to it as a soft drink machine.
 * For the week of September 6, the Mystery Round prize is a year's worth of travel on Southwest Airlines.
 * On September 6:
 * Fun & Games debuts, interestingly as the second Toss-Up.
 * At least one "good" 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 on the board despite not being present before she called the C. Also, the contestant is holding both Gift Tags at the end of the round, although one of them is never seen being hit.
 * September 8 is the debut of Best Seller, in Round 5.
 * On September 9 (the first Prize Puzzle of the season), a wipe is added for the Prize Puzzle.
 * On September 10, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle GUITAR PICK with only ___TAR ____ revealed.
 * September 13 has a rare instance of a contestant referring to a previous episode's puzzle: after failing to solve her bonus puzzle, she says "I couldn't get HIPBONE either" (in reference to the February 17, 2004 show).
 * 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.
 * On September 21, a contestant accidentally leaves out "big" when solving the Round 2 puzzle CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG. He stops just shy of saying the G in "dog", then says the correct answer, which is accepted.
 * By September 27, the "soft drink machine" is removed. Precedent would suggest that it was only present for the first week of taping.

October 2004 :
 * October 6 is the first appearance of Fun & Games in the Bonus Round.
 * On October 18, a contestant sweeps the 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 changed to a sparkling red color.
 * There is a $100,000 loss.
 * On October 29:
 * Nobody gives a correct answer to the $1,000 Toss-Up, RIGHT OFF THE BAT.
 * There is a Jackpot win.
 * The bonus puzzle ALMOND JOY is very misleadingly categorized as Around the House, perhaps due to being a Halloween episode. This may have been one of the reasons behind renaming On the Menu to Food & Drink in Season 24.

November 2004 :
 * On November 4:
 * There is a Jackpot win.
 * There is a very non-sequitur puzzle of FLAMINGOS KOALAS & GIANT PANDAS, three animals which are not only extremely unrelated, but also native to completely different continents.
 * On November 5, Pat accidentally asks the winning 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 at the Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) Center in Philadelphia. November 15 is Family Week.
 * On November 16, a family pair fails to solve the bonus puzzle THE VIEW with THE _IE_ revealed.
 * On November 17:
 * All three teams are composed of identical twins.
 * Song Lyrics makes its first of only two known appearances in the Bonus Round.
 * Between November 19 and 23, three contestants in a row call their vowels out of order in the Bonus Round: third on the 19th, second on the 22nd and first on the 23rd.
 * November 23 is the last appearance of Landmark in the Bonus Round, and possibly its only appearance there in the 2000s.

December 2004 :
 * December 13's winning contestant leaves with only $6,550, quite possibly the lowest post-Bonus Round total since the introduction of Toss-Ups.
 * On December 14, the contestant's letter choices fill in the bonus puzzle KEEPSAKE completely. The second K 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 second known instance of a puzzle with a colon in it: Round 2's answer 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 :
 * January 3 is NFL Week, with introductions from former Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown.
 * 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, in Round 3.
 * 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.
 * January 28 has only the third known instance of a puzzle with a colon in it: the $3,000 Toss-Up, CSI: MIAMI. Pat gives a joking over-reaction to the colon's presence, suggesting that this week may have been taped before the week of December 28. Colons begin occurring with increasing frequency from this point onward.
 * January 31 is Teen Best Friends Week, from Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.

February 2005 :
 * February 3 is the first $100,000 win since May 21, 2003.
 * The weeks of February 7-21 are taped in Las Vegas. February 7 is Sweethearts Week, February 14 is Las Vegas Week, and February 21 is Big Money Week.
 * 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.
 * There 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, the B is accidentally revealed in the bonus puzzle SUBWAY, despite the onscreen graphics correctly showing the contestant's choices of M P D A. The contestant solves, and during Pat and Vanna's post-game chat, he says that they will let her keep the prize since the board operator mis-heard the P.

April 2005 :
 * April 4 is a $100,000 loss.
 * April 11 is the last Big Money Week until the one from Las Vegas in Season 28. This is also the last time that it's used more than once in the same season.
 * On April 11, no one gives a correct response to the $2,000 Toss-Up, WILD DINGO. The second wrong answer comes with only the second D missing, so the third contestant does not have a chance to ring in.
 * On April 15, a wheelchair-bound contestant has his brother spin the Wheel for him.
 * On April 19, a contestant sweeps the game and wins $25,000 in the Bonus Round.
 * On April 28, the Round 2 answer WRITER'S & H&R BLOCK is the only known Same Name to have more than one ampersand in it.

May 2005 :
 * The weeks of May 2-16 are taped at Bartle Hall in Kansas City, Missouri. May 2 is Mom & Me, and May 16 is College Week.
 * May 2 has a Jackpot win.
 * 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 is the last Wheel Goes to the Movies Week, although movie-themed weeks continue to air: Season 23 has Hollywood Walk of Fame 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 only four-letter bonus puzzle since BALI in November 2001, although 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 now until season 29, 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 Prize wedge moves to Round 1.
 * The question mark on the Mystery Wedges is now in a red circle instead of black. Also, the numbers on the Mystery Wedges are darkened.
 * The category strips are white on a blue strip that fades at the ends, with a plain font similar to Arial.
 * Cars won in the Bonus Round are now available to Wheel Watchers Club members. Charlie reads the SPIN ID after describing 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, the commercial break between the Bonus Round and post-game chat is replaced with a short promotional plug.
 * The "no more vowels" graphic now slides on-screen from the left.
 * For this season and Season 24, the Jackpot bumper is the Jackpot logo superimposed over the contestant area. During this shot, Pat often does something amusing.
 * 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. As a result, the Wheel is now noticeably quieter.
 * The "$3,000 bonus" categories begin occurring much less frequently.
 * The Prize Wedge, Gift Tags and second Bankrupt are always removed from the Wheel after Round 3.
 * The second Bankrupt is now on the orange-yellow $300 for Round 2.
 * The Mystery Wedge intro is shortened to "Tonight's Mystery Round features this [prize] — [amount]!" over footage of the prize. Its value reveals on-screen in the same font as post-Bonus Round totals.

September 2005 : (season begins September 12)
 * The season starts with seven Bonus Round losses.
 * The week of September 12 is Wheel Around the World.
 * On September 12:
 * The Round 1 puzzle, LUXURY BOX OF KLEENEX, is the only known puzzle to have three X's in it.
 * TV Title debuts in Round 2.
 * In round 3, contestant Gloria asks to buy an O even though Pat had informed the contestants that no more vowels remained (in fact, the answer has all five vowels in it). She loses her turn.
 * September 19 is the debut of Movie Title, as the third Toss-Up.
 * Between September 20 and 27, six bonus puzzles in a row are Thing.
 * On September 21:
 * There is a very rare instance of Star & Role appearing in Round 4. It is not known why this category almost never appears in Round 4.
 * A contestant sweeps the 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. During these weeks, the Gift Tags award 10,000 Wheel Watchers Club Points/Sony Rewards Points and $1,000 cash.
 * September 26's bonus puzzle, A GULF, is one of the last examples of a puzzle with a redundant A at the beginning.
 * September 27 is the debut of In the Kitchen, as the third Toss-Up.
 * 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 October 3, a graphic effect now shows home viewers what is on the other side of a Mystery Wedge if it is landed on. The prize is now always $10,000 cash, barring at least seven episodes mentioned below.
 * For the entire month, one of the Gift Tags awards $1,000 cash courtesy of AstraZeneca, and a $1,000 donation is made to breastcancer.org in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
 * 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 has three female contestants.
 * October 7 has a grammatically incorrect bonus puzzle, as the answer WIDE-AWAKE is incorrectly hyphenated.
 * The weeks of October 10-24 do not have any animated intros. October 17 is a sixth-show week.
 * Kurt Warner gives introductions on October 10 and 13. The former is also the debut of a maroon-colored "full" intro used whenever the animations are not.
 * October 13 is the debut of Song Title, as the first Toss-Up.
 * October 18's sixth show taping is of the previous week.
 * October 19 and 20 are sixth-show tapings from the weeks of September 26 and 19, respectively. As a result, the Mystery prize is not $10,000 cash, and there is no graphic showing what is on the reverse of the wedge.
 * On October 21, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle SKUNK despite getting no help from their extra letters.
 * October 24 is the first College Week from Culver City. As a result, no marching band or cheerleading squad is present, and the contestants do not introduce themselves while walking onstage. Also during this week, the Mystery Round prize is a $10,000 Capital One credit card.
 * On October 24:
 * College Life debuts.
 * The Jackpot wedge is re-colored shiny silver like the $5,000 wedge, with a red triangular Jackpot logo.
 * A contestant ties the one-round record of $54,000 in the Speed-Up round.
 * On October 25:
 * Rock On! debuts.
 * The bonus puzzle BIG GULP is very misleadingly categorized as On the Menu; this may have been one of the reasons behind renaming the category to Food & Drink in Season 24.
 * 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. Hurricane Katrina forced the crew to evacuate, canceling a third week (Family Week) which would have been taped there. The teams scheduled for the third week eventually appear in May 2006.
 * November 14 and 21 have $100,000 wins.
 * On November 15, a contestant is only one peg away from the $100,000 envelope.
 * Round 1 is edited out on November 16, 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 LOUISIANA SUPERDOME), but Round 1 of the November 16 show is replaced with another clip of Pat and Vanna thanking those who donated.
 * November 21 is Teen Best Friends Week, and the first in Culver City since Season 20.
 * Between November 21 and 23, three teams 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 21 also has three instances of teams calling their vowels out of order in the Bonus Round: second on Monday, first on Wednesday and third on Friday.
 * The week of November 28 does not have any animated intros.

December 2005 :
 * December 2 is 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, a 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.
 * The week of December 12 is 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. All 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 week of December 19, 'Tis the Season, is the second holiday-themed week that has a name other than Happy Holidays.
 * December 21 begins a streak of seven consecutive Bonus Round losses, spread over two weeks.
 * December 23 is the second known appearance of Rhyme Time in the Bonus Round.
 * During the week of December 26, four contestants land on the car (a Chevy HHR) in the Bonus Round.

January 2006 :
 * On January 4:
 * Both the $2,000 Toss-Up and Bonus Round are Living Thing.
 * A contestant solves the bonus puzzle HEIFER despite getting no help from her extra letters.
 * January 9 is Hollywood Walk of Fame week, the first movie-themed week that isn't in May or called Wheel Goes to the Movies.
 * January 9 is the last appearance of On the Menu in the Bonus Round.
 * When the January 10 show 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.
 * January 20 is a sixth episode from the week of January 30, making for the first instance of a sixth episode airing before the rest of the corresponding week.
 * On January 20, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle HOUSEFLY despite getting no help from their extra letters.
 * January 23 is the last NFL Players Week, taped at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale.
 * January 24 is a $100,000 win.
 * January 30 is Las Vegas Week, taped in Culver City and using the slot machine background from the February 2005 Vegas shows.
 * 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.
 * On February 3, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle A BRIGHT FUTURE despite getting no help from their extra letters.
 * The weeks of February 6-20 are taped at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Strangely, February 6 is Sweethearts Week as opposed to February 13.
 * 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 couple 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 a $100,000 loss.
 * 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. During this week:
 * The soap stars' nametags have golden letters and outlines.
 * The Prize wedge (sponsored by Soap.com) is on the yellow $400 near Lose A Turn. This was probably done to prevent the red wedge from being next to the red $800.
 * The contestant window in the Bonus Round is a gray television set.
 * On February 27, the Jackpot and the second Bankrupt are on the wrong wedges: Jackpot on the orange $800 and the second Bankrupt on the green $500.
 * February 28 is a $100,000 win. It also sets a new one-day record of $142,550.

March 2006 :
 * March 2 ends in a tie. As was the case on the last tie game on March 13, 2003, it is broken by a fourth Toss-Up.
 * The week of March 6 does not have any animated intros.
 * March 13, 17 and 20 all have two males and one female.
 * March 14 is a $100,000 loss.
 * March 20 is the second Wheel Watchers Club week.
 * 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.
 * On April 7, the bonus puzzle JAZZ GUITAR is inexplicably categorized as Show Biz.
 * April 18 has two males and one female contestant.
 * On April 28:
 * Six rounds are played.
 * There is a $100,000 loss.

May 2006 :
 * The weeks of May 1-15 are taped at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. May 1 is Great Outdoors Week, May 8 is Mom & Me Week, and May 15 is 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.
 * May 2 has a grammatically incorrect bonus puzzle, as the answer HALF-OFF is incorrectly hyphenated.
 * 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 is the last appearance of In the Kitchen in the Bonus Round until April 2007.
 * May 12 has a rare one-word puzzle in Round 4.
 * The week of May 15 is the Text Me to Paradise Sweepstakes. During this week, home viewers may text the Bonus Round answer to a special number for a chance to win prizes. The grand prize is a one-week trip for four to Hawaii.
 * May 15 is a $100,000 win.
 * May 22 is Family Week, consisting of teams originally planned for the canceled New Orleans tapings.
 * The week of May 29, Wheel Across America, does not have any animated intros. Before the intro, Vanna promotes the week's theme at the top of the show.

June 2006 : (season ends June 9)
 * June 5 is the third Wheel Watchers Club week, composed of sixth episodes.
 * June 5's sixth-show taping is of the previous week.

Season 24 (2006-07)
Season Changes :
 * Both Wheel and Jeopardy! now broadcast in high definition.
 * Letters called on the Jackpot wedge are now worth $500 each, plus $500 toward the Jackpot, even if it is won.
 * The Jackpot wedge is given a red border, and the triangle is changed to a gold star. Also, the Jackpot amount is now in the red rectangle instead of silver.
 * The numbers are lightened on the Mystery Wedges.
 * The puzzle-solve cue is changed to the current one.
 * The animated intros seen throughout most of Season 23 are retired. The opening is a gold logo on a graphic of the Wheel, starting with a gold "center" dropping into the Wheel graphic, which contains a purple $500 in place of $550, a light purple $400 in place of $450, a dark purple $800 in place of $350, and a red $600 in place of $800. For the season premiere week (and its sixth show taping), there is a flashback clip during Charlie's "Ladies and gentlemen..." announcement.
 * "Happy Wheels" is given a new re-orchestration by Frankie Blue.
 * The logo bug in the bottom left-hand corner is changed from transparent to gold, and is only shown during the intro and shots of the board.
 * After the first letter reveal in Round 3, a graphic now drops down from the top of the screen to show the contestants' names and scores at that point. The graphic is white text on rectangles corresponding to the respective contestant's scoreboard color.
 * The Round 1 prize plug begins and ends with a graphic of the Wheel dipping down from the top of the screen and briefly framing the trip graphics.
 * 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. 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 now have sparkly outlines around the digits and lettering, instead of just solid white outlines. In addition, the orange $900 becomes pink, the orange-yellow $500 becomes blue, the orange-yellow $300 becomes red, the red $600 becomes blue, and the pink $300 between Lose A Turn and $400 becomes blue. This is the first time since Season 14 that any of the wedges have been blue.
 * The top dollar value wedges are changed so that their fonts match the rest of the Wheel.
 * The Pat & Vanna talk backdrop is now purple with the show's logo at the top.
 * The Toss-Up graphic is changed again.
 * Starting around this period, the Culver City studio audience no longer reacts regularly to notable spins such as the top dollar value.

September 2006 : (season begins 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.
 * The slide whistle does not sound when a contestant finds a Bankrupt on the reverse of a Mystery Wedge.
 * On September 15, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle FUEL GAUGE at the last second despite getting no help from their extra letters.
 * On September 26:
 * There is a promo for the Sony Pictures Animation movie Open Season, which is also part of the Round 1 prize, before the opening.
 * The bonus puzzle FICUS is the first five-letter one since October 21, 2005.
 * On September 27:
 * A "decades" category appears for the last regular time (The 70's, in Round 2). These had been extremely sporadic in the last several seasons.
 * The bonus puzzle has a redundant "the" at the beginning (THE FAIRWAY).
 * 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 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.
 * October 17 is the first appearance of Food & Drink in the Bonus Round. The contestant solves the puzzle HOT WINGS despite getting no help from their extra letters.
 * October 20 has two males and one female contestant.
 * October 23 is College Week, from Culver City.
 * October 23 is the debut of the Wild Card, which relocates the second Gift Tag to the yellow $400 between $300 and $600.
 * 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-November 13 are taped at the Nokia (now Verizon) Theatre at Grand Prairie in Dallas, Texas. October 30 is Best Friends Week.

November 2006 :
 * On November 8:
 * Nobody gives a correct respopnse to the $2,000 Toss-Up, STAR POWER.
 * The bonus puzzle is JULY FOURTH, the day this episode is rerun in 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.
 * On December 5:
 * Both the $1,000 Toss-Up and Jackpot Round are Event.
 * There 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 of December 25 is Spirit of the Season, using the set from the previous season's Denver shows.

January 2007 :
 * January 1 is Las Vegas Week, taped in Culver City and using the slot machine background from the February 2005 Vegas shows.
 * On January 3, the original bonus puzzle is thrown out due to some sort of error in revealing the letters. For some reason, the Bonus Wheel spin is also re-shot with a dummy envelope in place, but the contestant plays for the prize that was picked on the original spin.
 * On January 8:
 * Six rounds are played.
 * 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, and its sixth episode, 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, GREENHOUSE.
 * The week of January 29 is Teen Best Friends Week.
 * On January 29, one team's Wild Card is not taken away after they hit Bankrupt. The mistake is never realized, and they even go to the Bonus Round with it (but do not solve the puzzle).
 * On January 31, one member of the yellow team shouts the answer to the Speed-Up puzzle during the red team's turn. His teammate informs him of his mistake as the red team gets buzzed-out. They then call a consonant in the puzzle and solve.

February 2007 :
 * The weeks of February 5-19 are taped at the Charleston Area Convention Center in Charleston, South Carolina.
 * On February 5:
 * There are two males and one female contestant.
 * New music beds debut for the Toss-Ups, Speed-Up and Bonus Round. The new Bonus Round music features a ticking clock sound.
 * On February 7, a contestant ties the one-round record of $54,000 in the Speed-Up. After winning a Winnebago in the Bonus Round, they leave with $128,177.
 * February 12 is the last Country Music Stars Week. The stars are Steve Azar; Terri Clark; Josh Gracin; Michael Britt, Richie McDonald, Keech Rainwater and Dean Sams of Lonestar; Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry of Montgomery Gentry; Lorrie Morgan; Julie Roberts; Trent Tomlinson; Mark Wills; Wynonna and Trisha Yearwood.
 * On February 13, Julie Roberts and her contestant sweep the game and win $100,000 in the Bonus Round.
 * On February 20, a contestant wins 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 14 and 22 both have six rounds. Round 5 on March 22 is a one-word puzzle, PHILANTHROPIST.
 * On March 22, one round (which one is unknown) with the answer of HE SAID SHE SAID is replaced, because a contestant says HE SAYS SHE SAYS and is credited with a correct response. According to the contestant who gave this erroneous answer, all three contestants are given a $100 bonus.

April 2007 :
 * April 5 is a $100,000 loss.
 * On April 6:
 * Three female contestants play. This does not happen again until March 21, 2011.
 * Six rounds are played. Round 6 is a rare one-word puzzle, AMSTERDAM.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are lost on the week of April 9. The losing streak extends to nine before another 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.
 * April 23 is Choose Your Own Vacation Week, where the Prize wedge offers the contestant a choice of four different trips.
 * On April 23:
 * There are two males and one female contestant.
 * A gold "$50,000 Cash" graphic is added to the Sony Card announcement after SPIN ID draws.
 * April 24 is the first appearance of In the Kitchen in the Bonus Round since May 10, 2006. The contestant solves the bonus puzzle BACKSPLASH, then asks Pat what a backsplash is.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are won on the week of April 23. This does not happen again until the week of March 7, 2011.
 * The weeks of April 30-May 14 are taped at the San Diego Convention Center: 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, a 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.
 * On May 29, nobody gives a correct response to the $2,000 Toss-Up, PONDEROSA PINES.
 * 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, contestant Dave imitates Charlie's "The prices of the prizes have been furnished to the contestants prior to the show." spiel.
 * Merv Griffin dies on August 12.

Season 25 (2007-08)
Season Changes :
 * The opening is a photomosaic of flashback clips, which zoom out to form a yellow "25" logo, with a blue background and several multicolored squares for confetti. This is also seen as the Pat & Vanna talk backdrop, with a yellow "25". The opening logo contains a silver two-row logo under the "25". This is the only time that the logo has a hole in the R.
 * The second Gift Tag is removed, leaving only the one on the pink $300.
 * A new theme composed by John Hoke debuts for use in the opening, with the 2006 "Happy Wheels" remaining as the closing theme.
 * The Prize Puzzle graphic is now a globe with the words PRIZE PUZZLE written in yellow, with a blue background.
 * The Jackpot and Mystery wipes are now the respective wedges flipping and dropping down into place on the Wheel.
 * The second Bankrupt moves to the yellow $300. 25Wedge.pngBigMoneyWedge.png
 * Two special wedges are also added to honor the show's 25th nighttime season: a "25" prize and the Big Money Wedge.
 * The Jackpot sponsor's logo is no longer shown on the Jackpot display.
 * 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.
 * 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 green $300 with Free Spin now offers both it and $300 per letter. To reflect this change, Free Spin is placed higher on the wedge, so that it does not obscure the 3. Also, the disc is now on the Wheel for Rounds 1-3, instead of just Rounds 1 and 2.
 * Only two locales are now used on road shows.
 * A fifth week of sixth-show tapings is added for each season. Four of the five in this season make up the Thanks a Million Sweepstakes in February, and do not use any theme names beyond that.
 * Very strangely, Merv Griffin's death is never mentioned on the show.
 * Around this point, bonus puzzles start to become longer. What few one-word answers are used are now typically compound words.

September 2007 : (season begins September 10)
 * On September 10, the contestant score displays are upgraded to enlarged plasma screens. They now display the score in very tall numbers, and the contestant's name in very small letters over the score, and the player in control is indicated by his/her name blinking. If Lose A Turn is hit, those words are now on two lines of the scoreboard instead of one. Also, "Big Money" is placed over the score if the contestant has the Big Money wedge. When not in use, the scoreboards show the 25th Anniversary logo.
 * The week of September 10 has a "starry sky" background on the set.
 * September 10 begins the season with a $100,000 loss.
 * September 12 is the debut of What Are You Doing?
 * September 17 is Casino Night, taped in Culver City with the slot machine background from the February 2005 Vegas shows.
 * On September 17:
 * The contestant names are removed from the scoreboards, while the scores themselves are given a new font and moved upward. This change was done most likely because the font used on the 10th was often blocked by the Wheel pegs. In the space below the score, two blinking arrows pointing at each other are added. They appear whenever the respective player has control or rings in on a Toss-Up. The scoreboards still show the 25th Anniversary Logo when not in use and the "Big Money" graphic just before the Round 3 puzzle is displayed.
 * The 25 wedge moves from Round 1 to Round 2.
 * Cash values won on the Big Money wedge can now be used to buy vowels. Also, the scoreboard no longer shows "Big Money" over the contestant's score.
 * On September 19, a contestant loses $33,450 in cash and a $6,296 Caribbean trip by adding an "-ES" to the puzzle GLEAMING WHITE SAND 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 ten 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 wins out of 23.
 * On October 12:
 * The 2006 "Happy Wheels" is used in the intro instead of the John Hoke theme.
 * The first, third and fourth spins of Round 3 appear to be added in post-production as evidenced by sudden disappearances and reappearances of the Free Spin and Prize wedge.
 * October 15 is College Road Trip Week, and the first of three weeks this season to use a double-width $2,500 cash space (which extends counterclockwise over the purple $600 and has its numerals arranged horizontally). It is sponsored by Dawn dish soap, whose logo is also on the wedge.
 * October 22 and 26 are believed to be the first occasion of contestants calling U in the Bonus Round twice in one month, much less one week. The former is also the first U called there since December 12, 2006.
 * October 23 is the only appearance 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 and, at 46 letters, is also believed to be the longest puzzle ever used on the show in terms of letters (although one answer in March 2003 used 47 spaces of the board, it included two periods).
 * October 25 is a $100,000 loss.
 * The week of October 29 is the second to use the double-width $2,500.
 * October 29's bonus puzzle, RUGBY, is 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 5-19 are taped at Radio City Music Hall.
 * November 5 is Best Friends Week.
 * November 12 a celebrity/civilian week is sponsored by People magazine and, unlike most other such weeks, has no particular theme to the celebrities. Also, Show Biz is renamed People for this week only, with the magazine's logo on the category strip. Furthermore, this is the last week to use the double-width $2,500 space.
 * 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.
 * On November 23, nobody gives a correct response to the $3,000 Toss-Up, ROBIN REDBREAST. The cameras cut to Pat after the time's-up buzzer, and then, unusually, back to a full shot of the puzzle board with the answer still on it.
 * From around this point until the end of the season, 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.
 * On December 4, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle WALK OF FAME with _AL_ _F FAME showing.
 * December 7 has a grammatically incorrect bonus puzzle, as the answer HIGH-AND-MIGHTY is incorrectly hyphenated.
 * 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 of December 24 is Happy Holidays for the first time since Season 22. Both it and the week of the 17th use identical props on the set, which were also seen on the Denver episodes in 2006.
 * On December 24:
 * Rhyme Time makes its only appearance in the Bonus Round between March 2006 and May 2011.
 * The final segment is a reunion of the three contestants who appeared on Pat's first show (December 28, 1981), with clips shown from that episode.
 * December 27 is a $100,000 loss.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are lost on the week of December 24.
 * On December 31, a contestant mispronounces the Prize Puzzle TUNING A UKULELE by putting long E's in the word "ukulele", but her answer is accepted.

January 2008 :
 * On January 2, Pat and Vanna show off the ceramic Dalmatians that they own.
 * January 7 has six rounds.
 * January 9 is the first appearance of What Are You Doing? in the Bonus Round. The category appears in the Bonus Round again on the 17th, but is not used there again until December 2010.
 * On January 22, a contestant says both "boxing" and "fan" at various points during the Bonus Round, but never says the right answer of BOXING FAN.
 * January 28 is 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, going against precedent that puzzles have to be solved exactly as they appear on the puzzle board. 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 until November 28, 2011.
 * The weeks of February 4-25 are 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 the sixth episode from the season premiere week, complete with the scoreboards from that week.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are lost on the week of February 4.
 * On February 13:
 * BUYING A VOWEL is the $1,000 Toss-Up.
 * There is a $100,000 loss.
 * On February 19:
 * Round 2 is the last appearance of Slogan.
 * Pat eats a piece of cake throughout Round 3, 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's Round 2 is the last instance of Author/Title being used instead of Title/Author.
 * February 27 is a sixth episode from Teen Best Friends Week.

March 2008 :
 * 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 in QVC merchandise on the contestant's birthday.
 * On March 11:
 * Vanna wears a shirt and pants.
 * There is a $100,000 loss by a contestant who 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 is a $100,000 win.
 * The week of March 31 is Wheel Around the World.
 * 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 may have produced 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 7 is the first Going Green Week, which occurs around this time every season.
 * On April 9:
 * There are two males and one female contestant.
 * A contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle KIND OFFER with _IND _FFER revealed.
 * Between April 7 and 10, the contestant in the blue position is the top winner for four days in a row.
 * April 14 is the first Pet Lovers Week, in which contestants show off their pets (though not in the sixth show tapings for any editions of this week).
 * April 17's Round 3 is the last appearance of Next Line Please.
 * In the six weeks of episodes between March 10 and April 18, only four Bonus Rounds are won.
 * On April 23:
 * Who Is It? appears for the last time.
 * A contestant loses $35,000 (the $10,000 Mystery Wedge and $25,000 from the Big Money Wedge) to Bankrupt, which may be a record.
 * On April 24:
 * A contestant tries to turn in her Free Spin while the Speed-Up bells sound. Pat declines, noting that the bells sounded first.
 * Pat accidentally says that the Final Spin is worth $350 instead of $1,350.
 * April 25 has six rounds.
 * The weeks of April 28-May 12 are taped at Navy Pier in Chicago. April 28 is College Week, May 5 is Family Week, and May 12 is Get in the Game (which has to do with Chicago sports teams). During these three weeks, the onscreen bug says "Chicago", with the Wheel forming the first C.
 * During the week of April 28:
 * The audience does the opening chant.
 * The Northwestern University marching band plays music going into and out of commercial breaks.
 * In April 28's Bonus Round, a contestant says "mytholo-", stops, then says the answer MYTHOLOGY just after the buzzer. After an obvious edit, Pat says that the buzzer beat her. Unusually, a long shot of the set is used as the answer is revealed.

May 2008 :
 * On May 1, HAMSTER WHEEL OF FORTUNE is a Before & After puzzle (Round 1).
 * 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 is the last appearance of Classic TV (Round 4) until April 2, 2010.
 * On May 13:
 * A contestant gives incorrect answers to Rounds 2, 3 and 4.
 * The top winner has only $8,750.
 * On May 15, a contestant sweeps the 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.

June 2008 : (season ends June 6)
 * On June 6:
 * The Prize plug includes a trailer for Kung Fu Panda.
 * Six rounds are played. Round 6 is a rare one-word answer of CYBERSPACE.

Season 26 (2008-09)
Season Changes :
 * The opening consists of the Wheel wedges (including the new Million-Dollar Wedge seen from its reverse) falling into place. Once the graphic of the Wheel is complete, it wipes to a silver logo on a blue-and-white background with spotlight beams. The blue-and-white background is also used for the Final Spin graphic and Pat and Vanna's post-game chat. Also, the window for the chat is much smaller, and has 13 lights underneath flashing from left to right.
 * When not in use, the scoreboards now show "Wheel" on red, "Of" (with the Wheel as the O) on yellow and "Fortune" on blue.
 * 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 Mystery Wedges are lightened in color, and the black outlines on the sides are removed.
 * The $10,000 cash prize wedge is replaced with the identically-structured Million-Dollar Wedge. On any episode where the Million-Dollar Wedge is taken to the Bonus Round, Pat reveals the location of the $1,000,000 envelope regardless of outcome.
 * Any week comprising the "leftover" sixth episodes from a taping session is now themed as America's Game.
 * The Wild Card is now removed from the wheel after Round 3.
 * The category strips are changed to their current design, with white text on a spotted background that cycles from purple to blue to green. These strips extend the length of the screen, and incorporate the golden logo bug. These are still used through Season 29, making them the first style to last more than a full season since the Gill Sans strips used from 1993-95. JackpotWedge.png
 * The Jackpot wedge is changed again to its current design, which recycles the housing of the Big Money wedge from Season 25. Also, it is moved to the red $300, giving $300 per letter.
 * 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, which continues through the end of Season 28.
 * One of the Mystery Wedges is moved from the blue $500 (between $900 and $300) to the blue $300 between $400 and Lose A Turn.
 * The outlines on the edges of the Mystery Wedges are removed.
 * The green $500 becomes a second blue $500, the blue $600 is changed to a yellow $500, and the yellow $300 is changed to a green $600.
 * The second Bankrupt is moved again, to the purple $600 next to an orange $300.
 * The Bonus Wheel is altered to say A-M-E-R-I-C-A-'-S-★-G-A-M-E-★★S-P-I-N-&-W-I-N-★★★, with a different font.

September 2008 : (season begins September 8)
 * On September 11, a contestant sweeps the game and wins $30,000 in the Bonus Round.
 * 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.
 * September 22 is Teen Best Friends Week.

October 2008 :
 * October 3 is the first instance of a contestant taking the Million-Dollar Wedge to the Bonus Round. The contestant loses $25,000.
 * On October 6:
 * A contestant uses the Wild Card on $550 in Round 4.
 * There is a $100,000 loss.
 * October 10 is the last appearance of Proper Name in the Bonus Round.
 * 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 in a pre-recorded segment.
 * October 13 has an extremely rare instance of RSTLNE comprising more than half of the Bonus Round answer (JEAN SHORTS).
 * On October 14:
 * Around the House appears for the last time in the Bonus Round.
 * Michelle Loewenstein becomes the show's first $1,000,000 winner. She hits the Million-Dollar Wedge on her first spin.
 * On October 16:
 * JEOPARDY! HOST ALEX TREBEK is the Round 1 puzzle.
 * 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).
 * All three contestants make repeated, incorrect guesses on the Speed-Up puzzle WOOD-BURNING STOVE.
 * On October 17, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle with 0.3 seconds left, resulting in the only known instance of the timer being shown on-camera.
 * On October 20, the contestant is only two pegs away from the $1,000,000 envelope.
 * October 22 is a $100,000 loss.
 * On October 24:
 * Two contestants call a repeated I in Round 1.
 * There is a $100,000 win. For no particular reason, an audience pan (identical to the opening segment) is used when Charlie announces the win.
 * October 28 has a rare one-word puzzle in Round 5.

November 2008 :
 * November 4 is pre-empted in most of the country due to coverage of President Obama's election.
 * November 4 has only the third 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 front of the Hilton Waikoloa Village in Hawaii. The Hawaii episodes start on a Wednesday, most likely to prevent the string of episodes from being interrupted by the aforementioned presidental coverage.
 * As a result, Wheel Across America week is split up. The first two episodes air November 3 and 4, and the last three air 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 and has to be reminded from offstage.
 * There is a $100,000 win.
 * 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 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.
 * On December 5:
 * The Prize is $5,000 cash from LowerMyBills.com.
 * Six rounds are played.
 * On December 8, Betty White makes a guest appearance in honor of Pet Lovers' Week after the Round 2 puzzle THE GOLDEN GIRLS. Since the puzzle is categorized as TV Title, and Classic TV is not used at all this season, it is likely that the show was pushing to retire Classic TV.
 * December 15 is the last Hollywood Movie Magic week. Each Prize this week includes a plug for a movie: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on Monday, The Tale of Despereaux on Tuesday, Horton Hears a Who! on Wednesday, Bedtime Stories on Thursday and Bride Wars on Friday.
 * 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 16:
 * Bankrupt is hit four times in the Jackpot round.
 * The same round's Same Name puzzle is an awkward answer of FACTS & ACTION FIGURES, obviously phrased in this nonconventional way to avoid any confusing phrasing with two "and"s in it.
 * On December 18, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * December 19 is only the fourth 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, and has to turn in both pieces after losing it to a Bankrupt.
 * There is a Jackpot win.
 * Charlie appears on-camera at the end of the show to give Christmas greetings.
 * On December 25, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are lost on the week of December 22, the second year in a row that this happened during Christmas Week. 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 fails to solve DOUBLE AGENT with ___BLE AGENT revealed.
 * December 30 is the only instance after March 3, 2008 of Artist/Song being used instead of Song/Artist (in Round 1).

January 2009 :
 * On January 1, a Same Name puzzle (in Round 2) spells out AND. From this point onward, several Same Name puzzles begin doing this, seemingly at random.
 * 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 has two males and one female contestant. This makes six consecutive episodes without the typical two female/one male setup, and interestingly also makes six consecutive episodes with at least one member of the Armed Forces. His presence here probably explains the two males/one female abnormality, as he could have not gotten the cut for the previous week (probably taped immediately before since both weeks have the same set).
 * January 19 is Teachers Week.
 * 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 game and wins $30,000 in the Bonus Round, solving the bonus puzzle BALCONY at the last second despite getting no help from her extra letters.

February 2009 :
 * On February 6:
 * The Round 2 puzzle ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM is inexplicably categorized as Quotation instead of Song Lyrics.
 * 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 (as opposed to the other two times that this happened) finds $10,000 on the reverse.
 * A contestant solves the Speed-Up puzzle THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY with only the T's showing.
 * February 9 is Second Honeymoon Week, from Hawaii, with a sweepstakes involved. All couples this week are Hawaiians.
 * On February 13:
 * One team loses over $17,000 and a trip to New York by mis-solving the puzzle GOING TO THE CHAPEL AND WE'RE GONNA GET MARRIED with a second "going to" in place of "gonna".
 * There is a $100,000 loss.
 * On February 16:
 * Michelle Loewenstein appears at the end of the show, with Pat giving her an oversized replica check and discussing the win. This was presumably done because the episode ran unusually short. (According to a YouTube user present at this taping, the staff took away her fake check immediately after the segment and handed her an envelope; after opening it, she "looked shocked and seemed like she started crying. It was obvious that part wasn't meant to be on TV though.")
 * Following Loewenstein's segment, there is a post-production clip of Pat and Vanna paying tribute to wardrobe manager Alan Mills, who died on the 6th.
 * 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.
 * On February 20, a contestant seems to have added an S to the Prize Puzzle FANTASTIC SURFING SPOT, but this mistake is never realized.
 * February 23 is a sixth-episode week.
 * February 27 is the ceremonial 5,000th nighttime episode, with mostly regular gameplay. The only real connections to the event are the first two Toss-Ups (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 2-16 are taped at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida.
 * March 9 is Family Week.
 * On March 10, the yellow contestants appear to say the Speed-Up Puzzle 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 says that there is a possibility that the yellow contestants beat the buzzer and won instead of the blue contestants. Before the Bonus Round, it is determined that the yellow contestants did not beat the buzzer, so the blue contestants have won.
 * Between March 5 and 18, ten bonus puzzles in a row are Thing(s).
 * On March 18, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle BOLD MOVE with __LD ___E showing.
 * On March 20, Pat accidentally calls the $1,000 Toss-Up the Bonus Round.
 * March 23 is a $100,000 win.

April 2009 :
 * April 6 is a fourth week of episodes from SeaWorld.
 * On April 6, a very short contestant has a friend spin the Wheel for him.
 * On April 10, the winning contestant has only $9,872.
 * April 14 is a $100,000 win.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are lost on the week of April 20. This is part of a nine-loss streak stretching from April 15-27.
 * 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.
 * May 7 has a rare one-word puzzle in Round 5.
 * On May 12, a contestant (who solves the bonus puzzle) is only one peg away from the $1,000,000 envelope.
 * On May 13, SAME NAME is the $2,000 Toss-Up, and the Round 1 puzzle category is Same Name.
 * On May 15:
 * There are two males and one female contestant.
 * Show Biz makes its last appearance in the Bonus Round until May 4, 2011.
 * On May 22, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle on the buzzer. Although the winning music plays and the answer is revealed, Pat tells him that they will have to stop tape to check his answer. After returning from a Wheel Watchers Club plug, Pat and Vanna tell the contestant that he solved 1/10 of a second before the buzzer, and the show ends after he climbs into the car that he won. This is also the last car win in the Bonus Round until December (see below).
 * May 27's winning contestant leaves with only $8,400.
 * On May 28:
 * The Wheel prize is $5,000 cash, following a promotion of Columbia Pictures' Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
 * A contestant makes two incorrect guesses 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)
 * July 13 is World Café Week, counted as part of Season 26. These episodes are part of a sweepstakes sponsored by CoffeeMate non-dairy creamer, which offers home viewers a chance at winning a European vacation. This is only the second time that new episodes have aired out of the typical September-June cycle.
 * Beginning 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. Interestingly, the contestant had lost the Millon-Dollar Wedge earlier in the game.
 * 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 graphic is now an illuninated logo atop a neon graphic of the Wheel, with a cityscape background and beams of light (like an illuminated billboard). The Final Spin Graphic and Pat & Vanna talk backdrop reflect the opening, and the window for the Pat and Vanna post-game chat is bigger than before.
 * The contestant railing is redesigned with LED lighting and Plexiglas.
 * The Prize Puzzle bug now says "PRIZE PUZZLE" again. It is also now purple and yellow.
 * The Toss-Up graphic is now a purple wheel with a yellow center.
 * If a contestant has friends and/or family in the audience on a Culver City episode, they are now shown from their seats, instead of at the railing in front of the audience. Road shows, however, still have 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.
 * The second Bankrupt is now on the Wheel for the entire game, replacing the purple $600 next to the top dollar value. FreePlayWedge.png
 * The Free Spin is retired, and Free Play is introduced. The latter is an electronic wedge (similar to the Big Money Wedge and the Jackpot Wedge) which replaces the yellow $400 near Lose A Turn.
 * The Jackpot wedge moves to Round 1. Nothing new is added to the Wheel in Round 2.
 * The Jackpot amount is now in a blue rectangle instead of red.
 * The design of the $1,000,000 envelope changes to black text with "ONE" in very small letters and "MILLION" in much larger letters. Previously, the lettering was sparkly green, with "One Million Dollars" in curved text surrounding a large green dollar sign, similar to that of the Million-Dollar Wedge's reverse.
 * Until November 30, only cash is available in the Bonus Round.
 * One of the arches on the set now has a clear, vertical replica of part of the Wheel seen with the Million-Dollar Wedge's reverse.

September 2009 : (season begins September 14)
 * On September 14, the SPIN ID reveal is changed to "Tonight's winning SPIN ID number, [number], belongs to [first name and last initial] of [city, state]. You have 24 hours to log on to wheeloffortune.com to claim your [description of trip]." Also, 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.
 * The weeks of September 14 and 21 are taped in Las Vegas: the 14th at the Venetian, and the 21st at the Palazzo. This is the first time since Season 16 that the season premiere is on the road, although in the September 14 post-game chat, Pat and Vanna erroneously say that this is the first time the season ever opened on the road.
 * Nine of the first ten bonus puzzles are Thing(s). September 15's Occupation is the exception, and the last appearance of that category in the Bonus Round.
 * On September 16:
 * Anthony Crivello, who portrays the title character in the Las Vegas production of The Phantom of the Opera, makes an in-character guest appearance at the top of the show.
 * No one gives a right answer to the $1,000 Toss-Up, CUTTING THE CARDS. Two contestants ring in with wrong answers.
 * Bankrupt is hit five times in the Jackpot round.
 * On September 24, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle BRIEF PAUSE despite getting no help from her extra letters.

October 2009 :
 * October 1 has the only known appearance of Rock On! as a Toss-Up (the $2,000 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.
 * On October 5, Pat introduces a Rock On! puzzle (in Round 2) 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.
 * Beginning on October 12, and barring April 12, 2010, every episode has a Before & After or Same Name puzzle. The former generally appears four times a week, and the latter no more than once.
 * On October 12:
 * The $3,000 Toss-Up BUDAPEST HUNGARY is accidentally categorized as Place instead of On the Map.
 * The second-place contestant has $35,000, which may be the highest second-place total in the show's history. Interestingly, none of it came from touching the Wheel directly: $5,000 came from the second and third Toss-Ups, and the rest from the Speed-Up.
 * 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 14, 2004 that a bonus puzzle is completely filled in, and the only time that a Wild Card has assisted in doing so.
 * The week of October 19, Welcome Aboard, is the last week to use a blue-sky background.
 * October 20 and 23 both have six rounds. Round 6 on October 23 is a rare one-word puzzle, LOCKSMITH.
 * During the week of October 26 (Halloween Week), the Mystery Wedge chord is replaced with the sound of a wolf howling.
 * On October 26, a Same Name puzzle in Round 2 spells out AND.
 * 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 accidentally not split-screened, although the shot of the puzzle board is still positioned as normal.

November 2009 :
 * The weeks of November 2-16 are 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 only six-letter bonus puzzle since HOT WAX on February 27. From this point onward, all bonus puzzles are seven letters or longer, with a single exception on November 28, 2011.
 * On November 6, a contestant tries to call L and E in the Bonus Round, even though both are in the puzzle.
 * November 9 is College Week.
 * November 9, 10, 12, 16 and 17 all have two males and one female contestant.
 * On November 12:
 * Round 1 is a very rare instance of a Proper Name puzzle that is not a person's name, sports team or college name: THE INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE.
 * There is a $13,150 Jackpot win.
 * During the week of November 16 (Boston's Got Game), the intro segment starts with several sports-related images done in the style of a comic book. Afterward, the "Boston's Got Game" logo appears on a graphic representation of a Jumbotron, followed by various sports-related photos. Charlie's intro is "And now, from Boston, one of America's great sports towns, here are the stars of our game, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
 * On November 16, I'D LIKE TO SPIN is the $2,000 Toss-Up.
 * 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.
 * On November 25, Bankrupt is hit eight times.
 * On November 27, a letter from 2006 winner Linda Buford is shown at the end.
 * On November 30:
 * The Million-Dollar Wedge is accidentally placed on the red $800 (next to Lose A Turn) instead of the orange $800.
 * Contestant Jerissa spins $3,500 four times in a row in Round 2. Strangely, there is no audience reaction to any of these spins.
 * Cars are once again available in the Bonus Round, albeit no longer to Wheel Watchers Club members.

December 2009 :
 * December 1 has a $7,000 Jackpot win by contestant Scott, who solves SHAGGY AND SCOOBY-DOO with only the S's revealed.
 * On December 2, contestant Alex loses $5,700 plus the Gift Tag, Wild Card, and Million-Dollar Wedge to a Bankrupt.
 * December 3 has the first car win since their reintroduction: a $23,275 Honda Element, also a now-rare instance of a bonus prize less than $25,000.
 * On December 8, contestant Cheron mentions that her father was on the show in 1976.
 * On December 11, the Mystery Wedge next to the Million-Dollar Wedge is hit three times, including two turns by the same contestant (Tom), who doesn't flip it over but later hits Bankrupt. The second contestant to hit it, Brooke, opts to flip it over and finds a Bankrupt.
 * December 14 is Heroes Week, featuring members of the Armed Forces, and the Sears Holiday Sweepstakes. During this week:
 * The Wheel prize this week is a $5,000 Sears shopping spree.
 * 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.
 * There is a Before & After puzzle every day, but no Same Name.
 * December 16 has only the third known instance of a puzzle with a slash in it: COMBINATION MICROWAVE/CONVECTION OVEN, in Round 3.
 * On December 17, a contestant solves the Speed-Up puzzle LITTLE ROCK ARKANSAS with only the T's revealed.
 * During the week of December 21:
 * The category strips are dark red with gift boxes on the left side. During main-game rounds, the Wheel of Fortune bug is green with a Santa cap over the W.
 * No cars are available in the Bonus Round, perhaps because the week is taped out of order. They return on the 28th.
 * On December 23, contestant Mitch hits $5,000 three times in Round 4.
 * December 29 has the first What Are You Doing? puzzle without a gerund: THE NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE (Round 3).
 * On December 31, contestant Courtland loses $24,350 and the Wild Card to a Bankrupt.

January 2010 :
 * January 1's winner leaves with $12,345, which is also only $147 over second place.
 * January 4 is a military week.
 * On January 4, the contestants make four incorrect guesses on the puzzle REGIS PHILBIN & KELLY RIPA by mispronouncing one or both names, one of which happens with the entire puzzle revealed.
 * January 5 has six rounds.
 * On January 7 and 8, the Speed-Up puzzles (THE HOST WITH THE MOST and CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA, respectively) are both solved with only the T's showing.
 * At the end of the January 11 episode, a clip is shown from the December 10, 2009 episode of Jeopardy!, on which a contestant says 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 very rare instance of RSTLNE revealing more than half of the bonus puzzle (THE PLOT THICKENS).
 * On January 15, a contestant (who does not solve her bonus puzzle) misses the $1,000,000 envelope by only one peg.
 * January 18 is Wheel Watchers Club Week.
 * On January 20, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle FOLK HERO with _OL_ HERO revealed.
 * January 25 and 29 both have six rounds.
 * January 28 is the second known instance of a Prize Puzzle offering something other than a trip. Pat also foreshadows this at the start of the round. The answer WHAT WILL THEY THINK OF NEXT? offers a $5,000 HomeGoods shopping spree.

February 2010 :
 * February 1 is NYC Salute Week. During this week, various people associated with New York City give greetings: Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa on February 1, Michael Bloomberg on February 2, Sam Champion on February 3 and Regis again 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 April 1, 1997.
 * On February 4, a Same Name puzzle in Round 2 spells out AND.
 * On February 5:
 * The Wheel Prize includes tickets to Rock of Ages.
 * A contestant uses the Wild Card on $900 in Round 3.
 * The week of February 8 is Sweethearts Week, taped at the Venetian in Las Vegas.
 * On February 8:
 * The intro is edited so that Blue Man Group is briefly seen standing at the contestant area.
 * For no reason, the audience applauds in the middle of the $1,000 Toss-Up.
 * 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. Unusually, the category strip disppears as soon as Vanna touches the last H, but before the timer starts.
 * 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 blurred freeze-frame of the puzzle board. The answer is THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, which had 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 (counting reruns). The donations are eventually capped at $200,000, but Feeding America plugs continue to air for a short time after the amount is reached. Episodes now feature a Maxwell House plug before the Bonus Round, and a Maxwell House bug in the upper left-hand corner, both of which are also edited into reruns.
 * On February 24, Pat almost forgets to interview one of the contestants.

March 2010 :
 * On March 3, a Same Name puzzle in Round 1 spells out AND.
 * On March 5:
 * For the second time, a What Are You Doing? puzzle does not contain a gerund (THE TEXAS TWO-STEP).
 * Six rounds are played.
 * On March 8, Pat accidentally rules a contestant's answer 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 this show, with the contestant not realizing the answer until just after the buzzer.
 * On March 18:
 * Contestant Barry's nametag falls off and lands under the Wheel during his first spin. It is never retrieved.
 * For the third and final time, a What Are You Doing? puzzle does not contain a gerund. The answer is PULL-UPS PUSH-UPS SIT-UPS AND CRUNCHES. All three could logically have been categorized as Fun & Games to avoid this oddity, although March 5 also had Fun & Games as the third Toss-Up.
 * Barry becomes the season's first $100,000 winner.
 * March 22 is Family Week, promoting Beaches Family Resorts. It also has a Before & After puzzle each day, and no Same Name puzzles.
 * On March 22, the winning contestants exceed $100,000 without hitting that amount in the Bonus Round. Following a $45,000 win there, they leave with $100,850.
 * March 23 is the second $100,000 win of the season.
 * March 29 is Hawaii Week, taped in Culver City. Every Wheel prize this week is a trip to Hawaii, and the category strip features a dashboard hula dancer throughout.
 * On March 29:
 * There are two males and one female contestant.
 * A contestant accidentally pulls Free Play off the Wheel, causing a stopdown. The incident is edited out.

April 2010 :
 * On April 1, the show does ten things that are "wrong", all of which are revealed in the next episode. Home viewers may also print out a form to see if they can find all ten things that are "wrong". 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 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". The only Bankrupts hit all game are on the Mystery Wedge and Million-Dollar Wedge, so it is not known if the scoreboards would have changed accordingly had either "Bankrut" wedge been hit.
 * 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) Pat (in his original suit) and Vanna are seen sitting behind the winning contestant's family members at the start of the Bonus Round.
 * 10) Pat and Vanna wear nametags at the end.
 * 11) Also, the montage of Hawaii-themed clips at the beginning includes two seconds of rodeo footage, but this "wrong" moment is never pointed out.
 * The $1,000 Toss-Up on April 2 is the only appearance of Classic TV since May 6, 2008. This could have been a fluke, as at least one classic TV-related puzzle in between was categorized as TV Title.
 * 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 during their chat.
 * April 12 is the first episode after October 9, 2009 to have neither Before & After nor Same Name. Perhaps in relation to this, 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 six rounds.
 * 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, 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 21 and 22, the winning contestants both leave with $52,550 after winning $35,000 in the Bonus Round.
 * April 26 is World Capitals Week. All week long, the first Toss-Up is the name of a world capital.
 * On April 26:
 * A Same Name puzzle in Round 2 spells out AND.
 * The bonus puzzle is the grammatically-incorrect WAIT A WHILE, when it should have been WAIT AWHILE.
 * On April 29:
 * Bankrupt is hit four times in the Jackpot round.
 * The winner leaves with only $7,907, which appears to be the lowest total since Prize Puzzles began occurring daily.

May 2010 :
 * May 3 begins 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, 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, although it is not mentioned during the rest of the week.
 * On May 3 and 4, the first Toss-Ups (THE WINDY CITY and NAVY PIER, respectively) are both solved with only one Y revealed (the first Y on May 3).
 * For the week of May 10, the category wipe is pigs running across the screen.
 * At the end of the May 10 show, Pat and Vanna promote the Wheel of Fortune Hall of Fame which had just opened at Stage 11.
 * May 17 is Dads & Grads Week.
 * The week of May 17 is the only week of Season 27 in which all five Bonus Rounds are lost.
 * On May 25 and 26, against precedent, two mispronounciations are taken as correct answers: a pronounced H in "heir" when solving HEIR TO THE THRONE on May 25, and CRUSOE as "Caruso" in AND HERE'S TO YOU MRS. ROBINSON CRUSOE on the 26th.
 * On May 31, no one gives a right answer to the $1,000 Toss-Up, TREASURE MAP. All three players ring in with wrong answers, and unusually, the third wrong answer comes with more than one letter unrevealed.

June 2010 : (season ends June 11)
 * The week of June 7 has a Before & After puzzle each day, and no Same Name puzzles.
 * 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.
 * On June 11, the winning contestant (who fails to solve the bonus puzzle) is only one peg away from the $100,000.

Season 28 (2010-11)
Season Changes :
 * Most Culver City episodes use animated intros featuring the Pat and Vanna avatars from the show's Wii game, which is released in November.
 * The Pat & Vanna talk backdrop is a dark blue "starry sky" motif.
 * Vehicles won in the Bonus Round now come with a $5,000 cash bonus. The vehicle plug ends with "...plus $5,000 cash. Your grand prize total: [amount]!"
 * $30,000 is now the lowest cash amount on the Bonus Wheel.
 * Prize Puzzles no longer occur in the Jackpot Round.
 * The Wheel logo is changed to a variant of the "round" style retired at the end of Season 11. After the chant, the logo zooms into the O in "of" and cuts to the studio.
 * On several 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.
 * Wheel Deals (part of the Wheel Watchers Club) now has a sponsor, which is announced at varying points in the show.
 * A laser arrow is now projected onto the Wheel at the start of each round, due to constant problems with contestants forgetting that it is their turn. While normally seen only by the contestants, it is sometimes briefly visible at the start of a round.

September 2010 : (season begins 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. Both Friday episodes have two males and one female contestant.
 * On all of the Las Vegas episodes this season:
 * The category wipe has poker chips falling into place on the left side.
 * A slot machine-like graphic displays the RSTLNE letters in the Bonus Round.
 * For the week of September 13, every Prize Puzzle is categorized What Are You Doing?
 * On September 15:
 * Same Letter debuts in Round 1.
 * A contestant solves the Speed-Up puzzle CHERRY BLOSSOMS with only the S's revealed.
 * On September 16:
 * There is a Jackpot win.
 * What's That Song? debuts in Round 2. After the contestant is unable to provide the correct song ("The Gambler"), Pat has the audience shout it out.
 * For the first time since April 12, 2010 (and second since October 9, 2009), neither Same Name nor Before & After is used.
 * September 20 is the last appearance of Food & Drink in the Bonus Round until October 13, 2011.
 * September 21 is the first $100,000 loss of the season. The puzzle, QUALITY TIME, previously caused a $100,000 loss on February 18, 2005.
 * On September 22:
 * A contestant solves the $1,000 Toss-Up THE A-TEAM with only the M showing.
 * When the Round 4 puzzle is revealed, the category strip says TV Title (not used on this episode) instead of Person. Immediately afterward, the round goes into Speed-Up, and the category strip is correct for the rest of the round.
 * On September 23:
 * Pat grabs the wrong envelope from the Bonus Wheel and has to be corrected from offstage.
 * For the first time, a contestant calls 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 contradicts the precedent of the graphics showing the letters in the order called.
 * The contestant wins a Lexus IS 250, the first vehicle win under the new "$5,000 bonus" rules.
 * September 24 has an obvious edit near the start of Round 2: a contestant starts with $1,200 and earns two more letters at $600, but Pat states the score is $1,200 rather than $2,400. After earning another $600 consonant, his scoreboard reads $1,800 rather than $3,000 and the Wild Card, which he had earned earlier, has disappeared. The player most likely spun a Bankrupt after his first turn, which was edited out along with two "null" turns from the other two contestants; further, the Wild Card can be seen sitting near Pat in certain shots.
 * September 29 has a Jackpot win.
 * On September 29 and 30, two contestants in a row take 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:
 * Contestant Bevin says that her mother competed on the show in 1983 while pregnant with her.
 * Bevin starts to say THE VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN instead of THE VIEW FROM THE TOP OF A MOUNTAIN, but catches herself after saying the third "the" and restarts from the beginning. Her answer is accepted.
 * Bankrupt is hit eight times: three times each in Rounds 2 and 3, and twice in Round 4.
 * The animated intro for the week of October 4 uses the Speed-Up bells as cruise ship bells.
 * On October 4:
 * A contestant accidentally removes the backing from a Gift Tag when trying to pick it up.
 * All three contestants hit Bankrupt in Round 1, and again in Round 3.
 * 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.
 * 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. The contestant in question loses the Million-Dollar Wedge to Bankrupt in Round 4.
 * During the week of October 18 (Get Out of Town), the logo used in the opening is the two-row version, with the logo zooming up into the "O" in "Fortune" before cutting into the studio. This is possibly the only time any part of the logo (in this case, "WHEEL" and "FORTUNE") is displayed in the unofficial font "SF Fortune Wheel", rather than the undisclosed font that is normally used for the logo.
 * 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 $550 instead of the orange $800 for Rounds 1 and 2. This ends up affecting the game, as in Round 2 a contestant hits one of the Bankrupts on the wedge, and another hits the edge of the orange $800 (meaning that, under normal circumstances, these spins would have landed on $550 and Bankrupt, respectively).
 * The Halloween episodes start on Friday, October 22. As a result, the last two episodes from Get Out of Town (which started October 18) air during the same "sixth episode" week. This is believed to be the first time since February 2002 that a theme lasts less than a full week.
 * On all six Halloween episodes:
 * The "Wheel! Of! Fortune!" chant is pitch-shifted to sound deep and scary, and the Pat and Vanna animation is black-and-white, made to look like an old horror movie.
 * The Wheel prize is $5,000 cash courtesy of Ally Bank.
 * The category strips are orange with a pumpkin at one end.
 * October 22 and 28 both have a rare instance of a Wheel prize that isn't a trip: namely, an entertainment package including a Wii, a Sony home theater system with an HDTV, and a Kmart shopping spree, all worth $5,000.
 * 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.
 * On October 28:
 * A contestant solves the What's That Song? puzzle THEY'RE CREEPY AND THEY'RE KOOKY with only the T's and E's showing. A different fanfare than usual is used when he provides the right answer of The Addams Family.
 * There is 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.
 * October 29 is the last regular episode announced by Charlie.

November 2010 :
 * Charlie dies the morning of November 1.
 * Johnny Gilbert announces the weeks of November 1-15. It is apparent that Charlie had fallen ill in October, and Johnny was called in as a last-minute replacement. Coincidentally, Johnny also filled in for Charlie in late 1995, the only other time that someone filled in for him.
 * During the week of November 1, the category wipe is a graphic of a person surfing. Unlike most of the graphic wipes used in the late 2000s, this one wipes from left to right instead of right to left.
 * On November 3:
 * There are two males and one female contestant.
 * A 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 this round.
 * The show ends with Pat and Vanna giving a short tribute to Charlie, which was recorded earlier in the week and appended to this episode. It includes a montage of photos of all of his work and ends with a black-and-white portrait of him on a black background, with the caption "Charlie O'Donnell: 1932-2010".
 * The week of November 8 is taped in the Venetian in Las Vegas, and is announced by Johnny in post-production. The remaining seven weeks recorded before Charlie's death, set to air at varying points over the rest of this season, have his work dubbed over by guest announcers and dub over or remove direct references to him.
 * 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 appears 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 is left in after his death.
 * For the week of November 15, Round 1 is an Around the House or In the Kitchen puzzle. 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. The wedge is placed over the green $300 instead of $350, most likely to keep the red wedge from being next to the red $800.
 * On November 16, a contestant makes an incorrect guess in the Speed-Up, then tries to call a letter. The letter is disregarded since it is not in the puzzle anyway.
 * On November 18, a contestant wins $42,000 in the Speed-Up.
 * Rich Fields announces the weeks of November 22-December 13, doing the first two weeks in post-production.
 * From November 29-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.
 * On November 29, Pat forgets to take away a contestant's Prize wedge after she hits Bankrupt in Round 3. He takes it away later in the round.

December 2010 :
 * On December 1:
 * For the first known time, a contestant calls Q in the Bonus Round.
 * The Pat and Vanna chat is done from behind the blue contestant's scoreboard, as the two are discussing the image of Trevi Fountain on the video wall.
 * On December 2, a contestant jokingly calls 7 as his vowel in the Bonus Round.
 * On December 3, Charlie's call of "Rock On!" is dubbed over with Pat saying the category name.
 * On December 6, the arches are removed from the set. There is now a series of blue-tinted transparent panels behind Pat, one of which has the 1980s logo on it. This set was first seen on the Charlie O'Donnell tribute in November.
 * On December 7:
 * There is a rare instance of a duplicate category in the main game, as the first two rounds are both Phrase.
 * At the end of the episode, clips are shown from the military shows taped aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1995.
 * On December 10:
 * Bankrupt is hit four times in Round 2.
 * The very unusual non-sequitur puzzle SPARROWS & PARAKEETS is used for the second time, this time in the Speed-Up.
 * On December 13:
 * What Are You Doing? makes its first appearance in the Bonus Round since January 17, 2008, and only the third overall.
 * A contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * On December 14:
 * The closed captioning is finally corrected on the Mama Lucia Meatballs plug, which has aired on the show for several years, to say "on a roll" instead of "on the road".
 * The split-screen during Pat & Vanna's post-game chat doesn't have 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 on January 25, 2006, and AGE-OLD RIVALRY on December 17, 2010.
 * December 17 is the first time this season that Before & After appears in Round 1.
 * Jim Thornton announces the weeks of December 20-January 3 in post-production. During these episodes, Vanna reads the SPIN IDs and Wheel Deals plugs.
 * During the week of December 20, the puzzle-reveal chime is replaced with chimes playing a Christmas song, except during Toss-Ups.
 * John Sly, co-owner of The Price Is Right fan site Golden-Road.net, is the winning contestant on December 21.
 * The week of December 27 is taped at the Palazzo in Las Vegas.
 * December 29 is the fourth $100,000 loss of the season.
 * December 30 has two males and one female contestant.

January 2011 :
 * January 3, America's Game, is the last week of Culver City episodes originally announced by Charlie. During this week, the Wheel prize is $5,000 cash courtesy of Ally Bank and the category strips reveal with a "spark" effect.
 * On January 3:
 * The yellow contestant, whose actual first name is Victor Trey, is referred to as Funklove throughout the show.
 * The category strip disappears twice during the Jackpot round.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are lost on the week of January 3.
 * On January 4:
 * For the only time this season, Same Name appears in Round 1.
 * $100,000 is lost for the fifth time this season. The puzzle is A KNOWN FACT, and the contestant says AN UNKNOWN FACT twice.
 * January 5-18 is the Vanna for a Day contest, allowing 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.
 * On January 7:
 * The board refuses to activate for several seconds during the $2,000 Toss-Up.
 * The category strip does not appear during the $3,000 Toss-Up.
 * Both the Speed-Up and Bonus Round are What Are You Doing?
 * $100,000 is lost for the sixth time this season. The contestant asks Pat to "show me something small", prompting Pat to drop the envelope and start walking offstage as the contestant opens the envelope himself.
 * Lora Cain announces the week of January 10. Even though Lora is not announcing in post-production, Vanna reads this week's SPIN ID, 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 website and Twitter account close on January 16.
 * Jim Thornton announces the weeks of January 17 and 24. The former is his first week announcing from the studio.
 * On January 17:
 * A contestant tries to use his Wild Card on a vowel in Round 3, but Pat stops him before he can do so. On his next turn, he turns it in to get six N's on $3,500.
 * There is 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.
 * On January 21, a contestant who has $50 and a Caribbean trip lands on the Mystery Wedge next to the orange $800 and decides not to flip it over, lest she lose the trip. Later in the round, with $2,800 and the trip, she lands on the other Mystery Wedge and flips it over, finding $10,000 on the reverse.
 * On January 23, after supposedly having $3,000, a contestant's podium can briefly be seen reading $2,750 before being covered with the "BANKRUPT" graphic after she lands on one. This was most likely from an edit that involved her buying a vowel not in the puzzle, followed by lost turns from the other contestants.
 * On January 24, the blue contestant's arrow can be briefly seen flashing during the Final Spin. There is an obvious edit here that results in the Final Spin music briefly playing over itself in a different spot, possibly masking a Final Spin that landed on Bankrupt or Lose A Turn.
 * The week of January 31 is Teachers' Week. During this week:
 * Rich Fields announces.
 * The category wipe is a school bus driving from right to left.

February 2011 :
 * On February 2:
 * A contestant calls a single consonant in Round 1, buys all five vowels, then solves.
 * Six rounds are played.
 * On February 3, the Prize copy includes a trailer for Just Go with It.
 * February 7 is Sweethearts Week, taped at the Venetian in Las Vegas. During this week:
 * Jim Thornton announces in post-production.
 * The category wipe is Cupid shooting an arrow on a background of clouds.
 * On February 7, contestant Chris lifts up half of the Wheel template when picking up the Wild Card in Round 3.
 * On February 8:
 * One set of contestants attempts to solve the Round 2 puzzle with only three T's and an H showing. The male of that team, Louis, guesses BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC, which does not fit the blanks or the category of What Are You Doing? (The actual answer is GETTING COZY BY THE FIREPLACE.)
 * What's That Song? makes its last appearance of the season.
 * Neither Before & After nor Same Name is used.
 * 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.
 * February 14 is Teen Best Friends Week. During this week:
 * Lora Cain announces.
 * All of the week's contestants are shown in a clip at the beginning, making this the first week from Culver City not to have a Wii intro.
 * February 14 has a rare instance of a Wheel prize that isn't a trip: namely, a gaming package including a TV.
 * 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.
 * On February 23, after the contestants struggle with the Speed-Up answer AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND, and one of said contestants says that he's never heard of it, Pat incorrectly says that it's the capital of New Zealand. In the final segment, he corrects himself and says that the capital is actually Wellington.
 * On February 24, a pre-recorded audience gasp is obviously dubbed in when contestant Jared lands on the Million-Dollar Wedge in Round 1.
 * 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 and 3 are the eighth and ninth $100,000 losses of the season.
 * Joe Cipriano announces the week of March 7.
 * On March 8:
 * The original Round 3 is edited out, apparently because a contestant calls a letter before spinning but the letter lights up anyway. As a result, the round is discarded, and the contestant (Sandy) is given back the Wild Card that she had used in the round.
 * The Used Letter Board malfunctions during the replacement Round 3, resulting in another stopdown. When the yellow contestant lands on a Mystery Wedge, the blue contestant can be seen trying to notify Pat of the issue.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are won on the week of March 7, the first all-win week since April 23-27, 2007.
 * John Cramer announces the week of March 14. Vanna does the Jackpot plugs and SPIN IDs.
 * March 14 is Pet Lovers' Week. In honor of this:
 * Tillman, a skateboarding bulldog, appears at the beginning of the March 14 episode.
 * Natural Balance Pet Foods has a $1,000 Gift Tag on the Wheel and, 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 show, everyone in the audience receives a goodie bag of pet treats.
 * On March 15, Ron Horetski of the Los Angeles County Fire Department appears at the end of the show 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 weeks of March 21 and 28.
 * During the week of March 21, the Final Spin is framed through the viewfinder of a Sony camera, with a camera flash as the transition to the split-screen.
 * On March 21:
 * For the first time since April 6, 2007, three female contestants play.
 * Pat nearly forgets to open the bonus envelope.
 * On March 23:
 * Bankrupt is hit four times in the Jackpot round.
 * $100,000 is lost for the tenth time this season, setting a record.
 * 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, and she models a car during the post-Round 4 bumper. The other four contest finalists are shown in the audience just before the Bonus Round.
 * The Mystery Round, $3,000 Toss-Up and Bonus Round are all Phrase. This is very likely the first time since March 2003 that the same category has been used three times in one show.
 * The week of March 28, taped at the Palazzo in Las Vegas, is the last week originally announced by Charlie. Unlike all the other weeks with dubbed-in announcers, Jim also reads the Mystery Round plug and SPIN IDs.
 * On March 29:
 * A contestant mispronounces "Miami" (with a long E sound on the first I) when solving the $1,000 Toss-Up CSI: MIAMI, but his answer is still accepted.
 * Pat forgets to take away a contestant's Prize wedge after she hits Bankrupt. He takes it away later in the round.

April 2011 :
 * On April 1:
 * As an April Fool's 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.
 * 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.
 * On April 4:
 * The Mystery Round sponsor is permanently removed. Some episodes before then did not have a sponsor.
 * There is an unusual occurrence in Round 3. A contestant hits a Mystery Wedge, calls a letter that reveals the puzzle entirely, then opts to flip the Mystery Wedge only to find a Bankrupt on the other side. The completely filled-in puzzle gets passed to the next contestant, who solves it.
 * On April 5:
 * The same contestant hits Bankrupt four times.
 * The answer to the Round 4 puzzle reveals like an unsolved bonus puzzle: the letters fill in one at a time in a zig-zag pattern instead of all at once, and the board's border does not flash.
 * A contestant sweeps the game, taking both the Wild Card and Million-Dollar Wedge to the Bonus Round, where she wins $30,000.
 * The 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.
 * 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 or The Sixties on the original episode, and would have been more logically categorized as Event today.
 * The 60's makes its only known appearance since Retro Week in 1999. 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.
 * Pat accidentally calls the Free Play a Free Spin.
 * Contestant Matt's nametag falls off during Round 3.
 * There is 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 ad-libs "Vanna not included".
 * $100,000 is lost for the eleventh time this season.
 * From April 11 to May 15, Wendy's offers five Wheel-themed toys in its kids' meals, with puzzle answers on game pieces in the toy packaging.
 * Joe Cipriano announces the week of April 11.
 * The week of April 11 features two special ½ Car wedges in honor of Road Trip week. One is placed over the orange $300, and the other over the blue $500 next to the red $900. The first car offered by the wedges is a Hyundai Accent, which is not won, as only one tag is even hit all week.
 * As a result of the ½ Car wedges, two other changes are made for the week of April 11 only: the red $900 is changed to blue until Round 4 to avoid two adjacent wedges of the same color, and the Wild Card moves to the pink $900. The latter change becomes permanent at the start of Season 29, which also introduces a modified version of the ½ Car tags.
 * On April 12 and 14, the opening title card 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" as "Pasadayna" when solving IT'S THE LITTLE OLD LADY FROM PASADENA, but is still credited with a correct response.
 * What Are You Doing? appears for the fifth time in the Bonus Round since December 13. As was the case on January 7, the last puzzle before the Bonus Round is also What Are You Doing?
 * After the contestant calls her Bonus Round letters, some letters are lit up (but not touched) before Pat realizes that she has a Wild Card. He then asks her 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.
 * All the changes from the week of April 11 are reverted on the week of the 18th.
 * Jim Thornton announces from April 18 onward.
 * On April 18:
 * Bankrupt is hit eight times, including five in Round 3.
 * A pre-recorded audience "ooh" is dubbed in when contestant Whitney lands on $3,500 in Round 3.
 * Maxwell House Coffee begins donating $2,500 to Rebuilding Together every time the Bonus Round is won, with a cap of $200,000 (i.e., 80 wins). Once again, this is promoted before the Bonus Round, a Maxwell House logo is put in the upper left-hand corner during the round, and reruns from before this point are edited to include both.
 * A contestant accidentally calls N and E in the Bonus Round.
 * On April 21:
 * Contestant Erin mentions that her mother was on the show in 1978.
 * Six rounds are played.
 * April 22's Round 3 is the only appearance of Best Seller since February 8, 2007. It is extremely likely that this is a fluke.
 * April 26 has two males and one female contestant.
 * On April 27, a spin from the 28th is dubbed 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 2-16 are taped at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Jim'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 weeks of May 2 and 16, the puzzle chimes are replaced with a saxophone riff, except in the Toss-Up rounds. The category wipe is a saxophone with music notes coming out of its bell.
 * On May 2:
 * For reasons unknown, the Million-Dollar Wedge is not present.
 * 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.
 * Rhyme Time makes its only appearance in the Bonus Round since December 24, 2007.
 * On May 3:
 * A spin from another episode is edited into Round 1. The contestant lands on the red $800, but the post-production clip shows the orange $800. This dubbed-in spin is more obvious as both the Million-Dollar Wedge and Jackpot wedge are missing from it.
 * For no particular reason, there is no audience reaction when a contestant hits $2,500 in Round 1.
 * There is an extremely rare instance of a Family puzzle which refers to a family name in general, instead of individual members (THE NEVILLE BROTHERS).
 * Pat, Vanna and the winning contestant dance to zydeco music during the credits.
 * May 3 and 4 both have Jackpot wins.
 * 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.
 * 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, then says the right answer (although it is edited out because it would not have mattered).
 * A contestant spins $3,500 three times in a row in Round 3.
 * Between May 5 and 25, fifteen bonus puzzles in a row are 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 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.
 * 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 twice), cardinal is a family of birds and canaries are a species.
 * On May 11:
 * College Life makes its first known appearance as a Toss-Up.
 * There is a Jackpot win.
 * 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 in Round 3 spells out AND.
 * The bonus puzzle QUALIFICATIONS is only the second known answer to take up the entire second row of the current puzzle board, obviously meaning that the camera is zoomed out further than usual.
 * 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.
 * 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. Before the credits, a local chef describes the food.
 * May 17 is a $100,000 win.
 * May 18 and 19 are the only two appearances this season of In the Kitchen this season 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.
 * May 23 is Family Week, sponsored by Wendy's. Before the $3,000 Toss-Up, a promotional puzzle is shown. If it matches a game piece acquired from a Wendy's kids' meal in April or May, the home viewer may submit the game piece to win a prize.
 * Wendy's also sponsors the Wheel prize each day, which is only given a generic description of being a trip to the Caribbean.
 * The neon frames around the Wheel, contestant scoreboards and video wall are a yellowish-pink, possibly to match Wendy's yellow-and-red logo.
 * On May 24:
 * Vanna forgets to touch one of the W's in the Round 1 puzzle, and does not notice until a stagehand points it out to her on the next turn.
 * The winning team accidentally calls 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 is done most likely because the May 24 episode is pre-empted in some markets by the series finale of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
 * On May 26, one of the family teams includes a wheelchair-bound contestant who barely speaks throughout the entire game: he only says "yes" during Pat's interview, does not call any letters or touch the Wheel, and otherwise says only part of the Round 1 answer in unison with his teammate.
 * On May 27, Bankrupt is hit four times in Round 2, including one which claims $22,000. Overall, it is hit six times.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are lost on the week of May 23.
 * May 30 is Tennis Week, sponsored by the Tennis Channel. Three different tennis players appear 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.
 * When Lisa lands on the Mystery Wedge between Free Play and Lose A Turn, an overhead shot of the other Mystery 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 during the Pat and Vanna chat.

June 2011 : (season ends June 10)
 * On June 2, the winning contestant jokingly asks Pat who he has in the audience at the start of the Bonus Round.
 * June 3 has what may be the second-most expensive Wheel prize ever offered: a trip to Istanbul worth $16,400, which is not won.
 * The week of June 6 is America's Game. The Wii animation is the same one used during the week of January 3.
 * On June 7, the Speed-Up bells sound just as a contestant starts to spin. He is allowed to complete the turn, and Pat makes the Final Spin immediately afterward.
 * On June 8, a Same Name puzzle in Round 3 spells out AND.
 * On June 9:
 * Before & After appears in Round 1 for only the second time this season.
 * Despite being the sixth episode from the Family Week of May 25, the neon frames on-set use their normal colors.
 * 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 (which obviously would also mean losing her turn).
 * Jim and Vanna both read portions of the Prize Puzzle copy.
 * Neither Same Name nor Before & After is used.
 * 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.

Summer Reruns :

(Note: While this Wiki does not generally keep track of these, an exception was made for Season 28 due to Charlie's death and the subsequent tryouts.)
 * On June 13, Jim is confirmed as the permanent announcer.
 * Jim is dubbed over any of the guest announcers during the Summer reruns, reading the new SPIN ID, Maxwell House and Mystery Round plugs. Charlie is retained on episodes that originally aired before his death.


 * The Summer reruns are as follows:
 * Week of June 13: September 13-16 on Monday-Thursday, January 3 on Friday.
 * Week of June 20: December 13-14 on Monday-Tuesday, December 16-17 on Wednesday-Thursday, January 5 on Friday.
 * Week of June 27: November 8 on Monday, November 10-12 on Tuesday-Thursday, January 6 on Friday.
 * Week of July 4: January 24-27 on Monday-Thursday, January 7 on Friday. (Coincidentally, January 7 is the sixth episode taping from the week of January 24.)
 * Week of July 11: September 27-October 1.
 * Week of July 18: September 20-23 on Monday-Thursday, March 3 on Friday.
 * Week of July 25: March 21 on Monday, March 23-25 on Tuesday-Thursday, March 4 on Friday.
 * Week of August 1: November 29-December 2 on Monday-Thursday, June 7 on Friday.
 * Week of August 8: April 11-13 on Monday-Wednesday, April 15 on Thursday, June 8 on Friday.
 * Week of August 15: March 28-31 on Monday-Thursday, June 9 on Friday.
 * Week of August 22: May 9-13.
 * Week of August 29: May 30-June 3.
 * Week of September 5: May 16-20.
 * Week of September 12: November 1-3 on Monday-Wednesday, November 5 on Thursday, June 10 on Friday. (Oddly, November 5 retains Pat and Vanna's tribute to Charlie.)
 * On reruns of September and October episodes, an unknown female announces the newly-recorded SPIN ID and Maxwell House segments while another announces the Mystery Round sponsor. The closed captioning alternates between erroneously crediting these announcements to Jim, Charlie, Vanna, or simply "woman"; it is believed that these women are Kelly Miyahara and Sarah Whitcomb of the Jeopardy! Clue Crew.
 * On July 25, the Sony Card graphic used during SPIN ID draws is updated to reflect its new, black design.

Season 29 (2011-12)
Season Changes :
 * The Wii animations are retired as intros, though some return as the pre-Round 2 bumpers. The title card graphic is the same as last season's, but it starts with the colored strips flying into place around the logo, and the words "Wheel of Fortune" now appear on the gold center of the logo as they are chanted. Also, the camera now zooms in between the O and F.
 * The relatively consistent rule of having a Same Name or Before & After in every game is reverted. Both categories start appearing in Round 1 with increasing frequency.
 * Each week's theme is now shown on the scoreboards at the top of the show.
 * SPIN ID draws no longer award $50,000 to winners who have an active Sony Card.
 * The Prize Puzzle and Final Spin graphics are updated to use the color scheme from the Season 28 logo. The former now includes a graphic of a navigational compass, and the latter features two graphics of the Wheel with the words "Final Spin" on two rows in between.
 * The backdrop for Pat and Vanna's post-game chat is two spinning golden Wheels, one at the top and one at the bottom.
 * The green $700 is reduced to $500, and Wild Card moves from it to the pink $900.
 * Some Prize Puzzles are less obviously themed to the corresponding prize.
 * A lottery promotion runs during this season and through January 11, 2012, with the winners flown to Culver City to spin the Wheel for cash or a prize; at least three of these winners will be randomly chosen to play a special Lottery Winners episode (or Week) with Pat, Vanna, Jim, and the same rules as normal episodes (minus the trips). For reasons unknown, the Lottery Winners show(s) will be recorded but not aired, with strict internet guidelines put on the contestants.
 * All sixth-episode weeks are once again called "America's Game".
 * The buzzer now sounds after incorrect attempts at solving.

September 2011 : (season begins September 19)
 * September 19 is Home Sweet Home Week, with family teams competing. The Wheel Prize this week is $7,500 cash courtesy of Maxwell House Coffee (excluding the sixth episode).
 * Between September 19 and November 18, the map for SPIN ID draws now always shows Alaska and Hawaii, instead of showing those states only if the SPIN ID owner is from one of those states.
 * On September 19:
 * Pat briefly mentions that Jim Thornton is the permanent announcer.
 * At the end of the show, footage is shown of Vanna at the Gary Center (a social service agency in La Habra, California), promoting the Maxwell House sponsorship.
 * On September 20:
 * What's That Song? makes its first appearance since February 8.
 * A new graphic is introduced for the Mystery Round intro, showing money in a bank vault. The show alternates between this and the existing graphic consisting of $100 bills on a green background.
 * Bankrupt is hit four times in Round 3. During the second one (by the blue team), their scoreboard does not show "Bankrupt".
 * On September 19 and 20, two teams in a row solve the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * On September 21:
 * $100,000 is lost for the first time this season.
 * At the end of the show, everyone in the audience receives a can of Maxwell House Coffee.
 * On September 22:
 * During Round 1, a contestant on the yellow team starts to call R, which has already been called, but catches herself and says S. She is credited with the S, which is in the puzzle.
 * Vanna reads the second line of the Prize Puzzle copy.
 * Before the Bonus Round, one of the winning team's mothers is shown off to the side of the audience in a wheelchair.
 * At the end of the episode, Pat shows off his Lifetime Achievement Award.
 * On September 23:
 * A "null" cycle is edited out at the start of Round 2. It is obvious that one of the edited-out turns is a Bankrupt from the red team, as the Wild Card that they claimed in Round 1 is absent.
 * Jim appears onstage with Pat and Vanna at the end of the show as they introduce him as the permanent announcer. He does the "Promotional consideration provided by..." tag from center stage.
 * On September 23, September 26 and October 7, Same Name in Round 2 spells out AND.
 * The category wipe for the week of September 26 is a floating red flower. Strangely, the font is far narrower than usual when the strip reveals.
 * On September 26: HalfCar.png
 * The new ½ Car tags are introduced, which offer a $15,000 Kia Soul (except during Halloween Week). One is still over the blue $500 next to the red $900, but the other is now over the green $500 (formerly $700). From this point onward, Jim plugs the car after the "Promotional consideration provided by..." tag if it is not won.
 * On September 27, contestant Bob is credited with $2,250 after solving a puzzle when he should have won only $1,750, most likely due to being erroneously credited with five consonants at $500 each instead of four. While this mistake does not affect the outcome, it is never acknowledged or corrected on-camera nor is there a disclaimer in the credits.
 * September 27 and 29 have two males and one female contestant.
 * On September 28:
 * $500 per consonant is now awarded with the ½ Car tag.
 * The ½ Car is won for the first time.
 * On September 29:
 * Movie Quote debuts. Strangely, Pat makes no mention of it being a new category.
 * A graphic related to the Prize Puzzle's prize is briefly visible on the contestant video wall.

October 2011 :
 * During the week of October 3, the category wipe is a driving boat, and Vanna promotes the Mystery Round prize.
 * On October 3:
 * TV Quote debuts. Once again, Pat makes no mention of it being a new category.
 * The ½ Kia graphic displayed on contestants' scoreboards is changed to match the tags.
 * At the end of the episode, footage is shown of Vanna presenting Pat with his Lifetime Achievement Award (which is also the answer to Round 1).
 * On October 4, Bankrupt is hit 6 times in Round 2, a tie for the most known Bankrupts in one round; interestingly, 5 of them are on the Million-Dollar Wedge. All three contestants hit Bankrupt again in Round 3. Also, at least one other Bankrupt may have been edited out of Round 1.
 * October 5 and 6 have ½ Car wins, the former by a contestant who is holding three tags. When the third tag is picked up, the graphic of the second tag disappears from the contestant's scoreboard and its animation is replayed.
 * At the end of the October 5 episode, a Changing Lives segment is shown for a contestant who won on Soap Stars Week in February 2006.
 * On October 7:
 * A Same Name (in Round 1) spells out AND, for the third time in a row.
 * The Prize Puzzle trip is worth $11,500, the highest known value for one on a non-team episode.
 * The third-place contestant has $18,000, the highest known third-place total.
 * During the week of October 10, the category wipe is a flying bird, and the Final Spin wipe is butterflies flying diagonally across the screen.
 * On October 13:
 * Vanna reads all but the first line and prize value of the Prize Puzzle copy.
 * Food & Drink makes its first appearance in the Bonus Round since September 20, 2010.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are lost on the week of October 10. This is part of an eight-loss streak starting on the 5th.
 * During the week of October 17:
 * The category wipe includes a strip of sand and a tree, with the sand dissolving to form the strip.
 * The Wii intro previously used for Desert Oasis week in Season 28, with the Pat and Vanna avatars relaxing against a desert background, is seen before the pre-Round 2 promotional plugs.
 * The Mystery Round is in Round 2 and Prize Puzzles are in Round 3. Also, presumably to avoid having a contestant win two major prizes in the same round, the Prize Wedge is now removed after Round 2.
 * On October 18:
 * The scoreboards briefly shut off after the Prize Puzzle is solved. There is also an edit after the wide shot showing all three contestants and Pat, though the displays are still off afterward. They are back on after the trip description, but the winning contestant's round score disappears instead of swiveling out.
 * Neither Bankrupt or Lose A Turn is hit.
 * At the end of the show, a Changing Lives segment is shown, honoring Maxwell House's donations to a farmers' market in Denver called the Grow Haus.
 * On October 19, the audience does not shout suggestions when two contestants land on Mystery Wedges.
 * On October 20, Same Name once again uses an ampersand.
 * Between October 20 and 31, the show holds a contest sponsored by The Popcorn Factory. Home viewers may tweet each day's bonus puzzle to the show's official Twitter account for a chance to win Halloween snacks and a $100 gift card. This contest is promoted during all six Halloween episodes by a pop-up at the start of the Bonus Round.
 * On October 21:
 * There are two male contestants and one female.
 * An edit at the start of Round 2 shows the red contestant's first spin land on a different wedge than the spin shown in the wide shot.
 * Two contestants in a row call repeated letters in the Speed-Up.
 * Two "null" cycles in the Speed-Up, one of which includes the aforementioned repeated letter calls, are not edited out.
 * October 24-28 and 31 are Halloween Week. It is also the first taped week of Season 29, recorded on July 14. During this week:
 * The set has fewer Halloween decorations than usual.
 * Two category wipes are used: a jack-o'-lantern on an orange strip (accompanied by a moan) and a witch flying a broomstick on a green strip (accompanied by her cackle). The latter uses a different font during the reveal.
 * The Mystery Round is back to Round 3. The traditional sound effect is replaced with moaning.
 * The Prize Wedge stays on for Round 3.
 * The previous season's Wii animation for Halloween Week, with zombie versions of the Pat and Vanna avatars rising from their graves in black-and-white, is used for the pre-Round 2 bumper.
 * The ½ Car tags are generic (with "½ Car" in blue text), and they offer a Ford Fiesta worth $14,999. They still offer $500 per consonant even though they did not on September 26 and 27, the first two episodes taped after this week.
 * On October 24:
 * There is a ½ Car win.
 * When Pat takes away the Million-Dollar Wedge after a contestant loses it to Bankrupt, a pre-recorded audience groan is dubbed in, despite a rather unusual opportunity for such a thing.
 * On October 25:
 * Pat accidentally refers to a ½ Car tag as a Gift Tag as a contestant picks one up.
 * Special projects coordinator Curtis Stanton dies.
 * On October 26:
 * Wheel Deals is renamed Wheel Deals Wednesdays, and is only promoted on that day.
 * A contestant sweeps the game, but loses $35,000 in the Bonus Round.
 * On October 27:
 * There is a Jackpot win. Afterward, Pat comments that the off-screen Jackpot display on the Used Letter Board is "out".
 * Pat jokes at the start of Round 3 that the category Fictional Family has only been used eight times. At the end of the show, he is told that the category actually had been used only eight times to that point.

November 2011 :
 * November 1-4 is Fun & Fit week, a rare instance of a theme lasting less than a full week. During these four episodes:
 * The category wipe is a personal watercraft.
 * The ½ Car tags permanently revert to their Kia design, once again offering a Kia Soul. Also, Pat stops describing how they work.
 * The Mystery Round moves back to Round 2 and Prize Puzzle in Round 3, with the Prize Wedge once again removed before Round 3. Once again, this does not include episodes taped before this point.
 * Vanna promotes the Mystery Round prize.
 * On November 1:
 * The Wheel is not in the proper position before Round 1, as the yellow contestant's flipper is on the green $300 instead of $2,500. This was most likely due to it not being reset after practice spins.
 * The Wheel Prize is a $5,000 shopping spree at Dick's Sporting Goods, even though the rest of the week's Wheel prizes are trips.
 * The top winner has only $8,650.
 * A Changing Lives segment is shown, in which Jack Wagner discusses his and his contestant's win during Soap Stars Week in February 2006.
 * On November 2, the buzzer does not sound after an incorrect answer in Round 2.
 * On November 3:
 * There is a Jackpot win.
 * There is a $100,000 loss.
 * November 7-22 is the Secret Santa Sweepstakes. During these episodes:
 * Pat, Vanna, Jim and the first two contestants of that night's show promote the sweepstakes before the intro.
 * The set is decorated for Christmas.
 * The category strips have Christmas lights along the top and bottom, but only when the category is revealed. The strips themselves are "frozen" on the green cycle.
 * The Wheel Prize is a Sears shopping spree worth $5,000. Although the wedge is red, it is still in its normal spot on $350, unlike past episodes with red Prize wedges.
 * Three SPIN IDs are drawn per game: ones corresponding to the second- and third-place contestants are drawn after the Speed-Up, and one corresponding to the top winner after the Bonus Round. The owner of each SPIN ID wins whatever cash and prizes his or her corresponding contestant wins. During the draws, the SPIN ID is shown on gold Christmas decorations on a white background with presents, a Sears card and the Million-Dollar Wedge underneath, with the home viewer's name written in red letters that zoom in underneath the SPIN ID.
 * Most Secret Santa Sweepstakes shows are moved from their originally-scheduled dates. It is known that November 7 was originally scheduled for the 11th, November 8 for the 21st, November 9 for the 7th, November 10 for the 17th, November 11 for the 15th, November 15 for the 18th, and November 21 for the 10th. November 22nd was not moved.
 * On November 7:
 * The buzzer once again does not sound after an incorrect answer in Round 3.
 * A contestant takes the Million-Dollar Wedge to the Bonus Round. She wins $30,000 and is only two envelopes away from the $1,000,000.
 * The segment in which Pat reveals the location of the $1,000,000 envelope is done in post-production.
 * On November 8:
 * The blue contestant's scoreboard continues to display the $1,000 from the first Toss-Up, and after she solves the second one, her score changes to $3,000.
 * For the first time since September 12, 2003, a "normal" category is followed by a bonus question. The Round 2 puzzle I'LL GET YOU MY PRETTY AND YOUR LITTLE DOG TOO! (Movie Quote) is followed by Pat asking for the movie that provides the quote, and the contestant correctly identifies it as The Wizard of Oz.
 * A tribute for Curtis Stanton is added in after the credits using a picture of Stanton with the caption "In loving memory of Curtis Stanton", which fades in and out.
 * On November 9, in a fairly rare occurrence, no wrong letters are called all game.
 * On November 10:
 * There is a Jackpot win by a contestant who hits the Jackpot wedge twice before winning it.
 * Vanna almost touches an H in Round 3 instead of a W.
 * On November 11, Pat holds the Bonus Round envelope too low at the end of the round, and it ends up being blocked by the contestant's end-game total. He shows the envelope again after Jim reads the Secret Santa SPIN ID.
 * On November 14, Round 4's answer (TICK-TOCK TICK-TOCK) has only three consonants in it, tying a record for the least known amount in a main-game puzzle.
 * November 15 has a ½ Car win.
 * On November 16, the category strip for Round 4 (an Occupation) accidentally changes to TV Title (the category of the $3,000 Toss-Up) after the round goes into Speed-Up.
 * On November 17, after the $2,000 Toss-Up of TELEVISION DIRECTOR, Pat asks director Mark Corwin to "have the camera do something", resulting in Pat's face briefly distorting and turning blue while his hair turns bright yellow. Once Jim finishes the Prize plug, the camera shakes and Pat says "Mark Corwin is not only a fine director, but universally beloved", after which the shot cuts to a cue card with that phrase on it. Some extras can be seen in this shot, including a Mystery Wedge, a ½ Kia tag and the red $300 used in place of the Jackpot Wedge.
 * On November 18:
 * For the first known time since the mid-1990s, there are two duplicate categories: the $1,000 Toss-Up and Round 1 are Event, and Round 3 and the Bonus Round are Phrase.
 * Four ½ Kia tags are hit, but none are claimed.
 * On November 21:
 * During Round 1, contestant Daniel tries to buy a vowel despite having only $50. He manages to call a vowel before Pat realizes the error and the "purchase" is voided.
 * The home viewer's state is no longer mentioned during the SPIN ID draw. As a result, their name now appears in larger letters against a ring on either a green, blue or purple background.
 * On November 22:
 * Contestant Ainsley mentions that she was in Tulane University's marching band when they played during College Week from New Orleans on May 9-13.
 * A Same Name puzzle in Round 1 spells out AND.
 * A contestant takes the Million-Dollar Wedge and Wild Card to the Bonus Round. As was the case on November 22, she wins $30,000 and is only two envelopes away from the $1,000,000.
 * Since all 12 shows for the Secret Santa Sweepstakes are aired together, November 23-25 is Wheel Loves New York week. This appears to be the first time since the Hershey's Pot of Gold Sweepstakes in 2002 that a theme has run for only three days. During this week:
 * The opening consists of the regular logo, followed by New York City footage over a unique opening music bed.
 * The category wipe is a taxi driving across the screen.
 * On November 23, the Prize copy includes a trailer for Arthur Christmas.
 * On November 24, the Prize includes tickets to Anything Goes.
 * On November 25:
 * Contestant Mark is originally from England.
 * The audience does not shout suggestions after contestant Toni lands on a Mystery Wedge.
 * Though Pat spins $5,000 for the Speed-Up round, the cameras do not cut to the contestants before the transition to the split-screen shot, and the audience reaction is more subdued than usual.
 * During the week of November 28:
 * The category wipe is a snowman sliding across the screen.
 * The Wii intro from the previous season's Christmas week, with the Pat and Vanna avatars ice-skating to form the logo, is used in the pre-Round 2 bumper.
 * A graphic of a log cabin forms the contestant window in the Bonus Round.
 * On November 28:
 * A Same Name puzzle in Round 1 spells out AND.
 * The ½ Car graphic on the scoreboards is the generic blue one.
 * The bonus puzzle, GLOBE, is the first five-letter bonus puzzle since ICING on February 1, 2008, and the only one since November 3, 2009 that is shorter than seven letters. The contestant fails to solve it with only the B missing.
 * On November 29:
 * The Prize copy includes a trailer for Hugo.
 * A "null" cycle is not edited out of Round 4 (during Speed-Up).
 * On November 30:
 * There is a ½ Car win. The contestant picks up the second tag and sets it on the railing before calling a letter, causing Pat to stop her. She sets it back on the wedge and calls a letter, then picks it back up once the letter is revealed.
 * The audience does not shout suggestions when a contestant lands on a Mystery Wedge.
 * Round 4 is Fictional Place. This is only the second known time that this category has been used more than once in the same season, as it previously appeared on October 31 (also in Round 4).
 * The Bonus Round category is Places, the only known time that a plural category other than Things (including Living Things) or People has been used in the Bonus Round.

December 2011 :
 * On December 1 and 2, Vanna wears a shirt and pants.
 * On December 1:
 * Nobody gives a correct response to the $2,000 Toss-Up, PONDEROSA PINES, the only ring-in coming with only the E in PINES missing. This previously happened with the same puzzle on May 29, 2007.
 * The Round 2 puzzle THREE LITTLE KITTENS THEY LOST THEIR MITTENS ties a record for the most known instances of a letter in a puzzle, with 10 T's.
 * On December 2, Bankrupt is hit five times in the Mystery Round.
 * During the week of December 5, the category wipe is the Wheelmobile driving across the screen. Because it is a sixth-episode week, some elements are different than the surrounding weeks:
 * December 5 is from the season premiere week, so the ½ Kia tags are absent.
 * On December 5-8, the Mystery Round is in Round 3.
 * In an unprecedented streak, every episode has a Song Lyrics puzzle.
 * On December 5:
 * The Wheel Prize is a trip, instead of the $7,500 cash prize used for the rest of that week.
 * In a fairly rare occurrence, no vowels are bought in Round 1.
 * Since family pairs are competing, Jim refers to the $5,000 vehicle bonus in the Bonus Round as "$2,500 cash for each of you."
 * On December 6-16, Vanna announces the Mystery Round prize.
 * On December 8:
 * The Prize copy includes a trailer for The Smurfs.
 * Jim and Vanna both read portions of the Prize Puzzle copy.
 * A Changing Lives segment is shown for a contestant from Kansas City (specifically May 9, 2005, although this is not mentioned).
 * On December 9, the Wheel prize is a $5,000 shopping spree from Beyond the Rack.com.
 * During the weeks of December 12 and 19, the floor is blue.
 * December 12 is Sandals Golf Getaway. During this week:
 * The Sandals logo is on the floor at center stage.
 * A sweepstakes is held. Home viewers may submit the bonus puzzle to the show's website for a chance to win a trip to Sandals Emerald Bay.
 * The opening logo is not used. Instead, Pat and Vanna promote the sweepstakes at the top of the show, followed by a Caribbean-sounding piece of music over golf footage.
 * The category wipe is a golf ball being knocked into a hole, with the category written in a different font on the "green".
 * The Wheel Prize is a trip to Sandals Emerald Bay plus some Greg Norman apparel. Interestingly, Pat reads the copy.
 * Vanna reads the pre-Round 2 bumper and Mystery Round bumper.
 * Jim reads a plug for Sandals Resorts before the $3,000 Toss-Up.
 * December 14 is the only game this week not to have two males and one female.
 * On December 12:
 * Vanna reads the Prize Puzzle copy.
 * The Pat & Vanna chat is done from Sandals Emerald Bay.
 * On December 13, Vanna plugs the Reef Golf Course at Sandals Emerald Bay before Round 3. Pat, Lesly and golfer Greg Norman are also seen in the clip.
 * On December 14:
 * Vanna reads all but the first line of the Prize Puzzle copy.
 * A contestant wins by $50.
 * On December 15:
 * There is a $7,100 Jackpot win by a contestant who hits the Jackpot wedge twice before claiming it.
 * Greg Norman plugs the Reef Golf Course after Round 2.
 * Though Pat spins $5,000 for the Speed-Up round, the cameras do not cut to the contestants before the split-screen shot, possibly because they did not show reactions sufficient enough to be shown on-camera.
 * Clips are shown of Pat, Vanna and Greg at the golf course at the start of the Pat and Vanna chat before wiping back to the studio.
 * On December 16:
 * Contestant Josh appears to have pluralized "chip" when solving the Round 2 puzzle CHOCOLATE CHIP SHOT, but this mistake is not realized.
 * At least twice in Round 2, the camera in front of a contestant zooms out to show their score changing while they call a letter, an unusual camera approach which seems to develop out of nowhere mid-round.
 * After Josh wins Round 2, his scoreboard accidentally displays $21,500, which Pat also says is his total at that point. At the start of Round 3, right after the Prize Puzzle chimes sound, Pat points out that his score is actually $11,500. As a result, the Prize Puzzle wipe does not appear until Pat's explanation is done.
 * When contestant Cathy picks up a ½ Kia tag in Round 3, the graphic on her scoreboard is the generic blue one from Halloween week, though the correct graphic was used in Round 1.
 * December 19 is the first known Christmas week not to have a Christmas theme or decorations. Its theme is Great Escapes. During this week:
 * The category wipe is a red car driving across the screen and peeling out.
 * Clips of the staff wishing viewers a Merry Christmas are shown after Round 1.
 * On December 20:
 * There is a Kia win in Round 1.
 * Round 2 is a Same Name that spells out AND.
 * On December 21:
 * The Prize copy includes a trailer for Midnight in Paris.
 * Round 1 is the third appearance of Fictional Place this season.
 * Against precedent, the linking word in Round 2's Before & After is not on its own line, even though it would fit.
 * A contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * On December 22:
 * There is a $6,450 Jackpot win.
 * Both Rounds 1 and 3 are Phrase.
 * On December 23:
 * All three contestants hit Bankrupt consecutively in Round 1.
 * Round 2 is PAT I'D LIKE TO SOLVE THE PUZZLE.
 * The buzzer does not sound after an incorrect answer in Round 3.
 * All five Bonus Rounds are lost on the week of December 19, part of a seven-loss streak.
 * The week of December 26 is "Best of the Best". This may be in reference to Sajak's 30th year of hosting.

January 2012 :
 * January 9 is a sixth-episode week.
 * January 23 is Wheel Around the World Week.

February 2012 :
 * February 6 is Military Spouses Week, originally scheduled for March 12. As a result, Wheel Goes Country may be moving to March 12.
 * February 13 is Sandals Romance Week, which will use a contest similar to that of December 12-16.

March 2012 :
 * March 5 is a sixth-episode week.

April 2012 :
 * April 23 is a sixth-episode week.
 * The weeks of April 30-May 21 will be taped in Portland, Oregon on March 30-31 and April 2-3, the first time since Season 12 that four consecutive weeks will be done from the same locale and the first time Wheel has taped there (although the week of September 21, 1981 had contestants flown in from Portland).
 * April 30 is Going Green Week.

May 2012 :
 * May 7 is Portland Week.
 * May 14 is College Week.
 * May 21 is Great Outdoors.

June 2012 : (season ends June 15)
 * June 4 is Newlyweds Week.
 * June 11 is a sixth-episode week.