User:Daniel Benfield/Nighttime Video Archive/Season 30

Go back to Season 29, or forward to Season 31?

September 17, 2012 - June 14, 2013

The logo adopts "30th Anniversary" in cursive over the logo with a nice 3D-esque Wheel underneath and strings of lights in the background (reminds me of the 1975-76 curtain), except the centerpiece has reverted to the more compact (but far less eye-catching) two-row style. It's the big 3-0 of nighttime, yet you drop the classic logo...why?

The borders around the contestant scoreboards are removed, making them touch each other for the first time since 2007, and the week's theme is displayed across the entire area during the opening. Another monitor is added for Pat's area, which displays the two-row logo and occasionally changes to fit the theme; other than that, does it have a point? Probably not.

The Wild Card, Gift Tag, and Prize wedge now award $500 per letter, and the ½ Car now changes every week. When the fans said "add variety in your prizes", Wheel somehow thought that meant "more cars" (although starting off with a Ford Fiesta has to be on purpose, as that was the car offered in the tags' first taped use of Season 29).

Most of the Wheel values either increase or decrease, but overall it's a gain compared to Season 29. Notably, $700 comes back after a year's vacation (and more plentiful, as one replaces Jackpot for Rounds 2+), while $650 rises from its grave to make a triumphant return to gameplay after 33 years (or 14½, counting Wheel 2000).

Following Round 2, a retro Bonus Round is shown as Vanna gives the year and asks the audience to solve it. Sure, it's the Preview Puzzle, but it's a lot better and draws more from the Retro Week of '99 than anything else.

The Bonus Round contestant window now has something else from days long ago: an onscreen timer, not used since the Star Bonus "stopwatch" graphic in 1978. This one consists of 20 segments, counting downward on each side as the timer itself goes down.

In addition to all this, the SPIN IDs are now used in drawings for $5,000 (like they were in Season 26, but now given the time between the Bonus Round and post-game chat), plus "Ask Pat" returns as "Ask Pat & Vanna". The All Trips All The Time Round Prize Puzzle no longer awards said trips to home viewers, except on the weekend feed's replacement drawings.

A Tweetstakes is held the week of October 29, solely to promote The Amazing Spider-Man.

Returning Categories: The 90's on September 18, The 80's on September 20, The 70's on October 12.

Road Shows: Madison Square Garden in New York City (April 29-May 24).

GSN Repeat Dates: N/A as of yet.

LEGAL STUFF SO I DON'T GET SUED: I'm only linking to these videos, none of which were uploaded by me, for the purposes of research and as a public record. Footage ©2012-13 Califon Productions/Merv Griffin Entertainment and associated entities.

Retro Opening Clip Montages
September 24-28 (Wheel Around The World) replaced them with greetings from the hosts of international adaptations, while November 9/12-16 (Military Families) showed footage of soldiers over the old road-show theme and November 19-30 promoted the Secret Santa Sweepstakes. The weeks of January 28-February 11 (Making Disney Memories, NBA Week, and Sandals Resorts Romance) and March 15 (Sandals Resorts) don't use them for various "gotta plug themes" reasons, while the week of March 4 (Shopping Spree) simply recycles clips and the New York weeks generally eschewed them with at least two exceptions.

In a rarity, some clips include Jack Clark.

NOTE: The dates given are those used by Wheel, unless a more specific date is known or they don't actually give a year. Also, I'm not sure how many of these are present in the other video archives.


 * September 17-21, 2012 (Spa Getaway: 12/13/82 {Vanna's official debut}, 9/7-10/99 {Endless Summer: Vanna and nightgowns, following the bonus puzzle NIGHTGOWN}, 1998 {the clown/mortician Frank}, 10/16/08 {the WOOD-BURNING STOVE debacle}, 5/20/11 {New Orleans: Pat and Vanna dive face-first into beignets})
 * October 1-5, 2012 (Fun & Fit: 1997 {addressing the "married" comments}, undated {2/85 to 11/86, Vanna moves like a bug Pat once sprayed; music almost entirely removed, remainder is "Frisco Disco"}, 1997 {Vanna talks about her "foundation" aka "girdle"}, 2010 {bumper with Vanna fanservice}, 11/11/08 {Hawaii: Kalaau goes nuts after getting the Wild Card})
 * October 8-12, 2012 (Home Sweet Home: 12/28/81 {Pat's debut}, 11/18-22/02 {Seattle Family Week: mother pats Sajak's rear end}, undated {circa 1993; Pat and Vanna naked in a hot tub}, 5/14/98 {Houston College Week: Alvaro goes nuts after solving the Speed-Up IT TOTALLY BLEW ME AWAY for $25,000; music replaced by current Toss-Up solve cue}, 3/17/10 {Charles does some beatboxing, Pat says his own attempts to beatbox just end up with drool})
 * October 15-19, 2012 (Southern Hospitality: 4/ to 12/91 (Vanna hits Pat with a pie, he retaliates by doing the same; the light-up chevrons are briefly visible}, 5/10/12 {Portland: Carrie's BIFFY OCEAN mis-solve on Free Play}, 12/4/95 {Vanna debuts her new haircut, with a flashback to 12/1; music...not replaced, surprisingly}, 4/10/07 {Pat says a gorilla entered the studio, peeled Vanna, and ate her; that's up there with "Vanna will...show you her hyphen" in getting crap past the radar}, 1999 {Fabulous Florida: "Now do Forrest Gump as the Road Runner."})
 * October 22-26, 2012 (Teachers Week: 5/5-9/03 {Armed Forces Week: Gervy slaps Pat's butt after solving the $2,000 Toss-Up, Vanna does the same after the Bonus Round}, undated {4/11/02: the "AN UGLY CHILD" mis-solve by a school counselor; Toss-Up music replaced by current bed}, 2001 {Lou solves a puzzle for $4,600, Pat imagines them in a car dealer commercial since they're wearing the same outfit}, 11/14/94 {Red, White, & Blue Sweepstakes: contestant solves The Forties puzzle GERMAN OCCUPATION OF PARIS, complete with '94 puzzle-solve cue}, 1998 {Pat and Vanna show off their red tongues after eating candy})
 * October 29-November 2, 2012 (Halloween Week: 10/98 {Halloween Week: Pat and Vanna mention their Halloween costumes}, 2/4/02 {Kareem's MINERS & HOES guess; cues dubbed over with current ones}, 10/03 {Halloween Week: Vanna's kids, Nico and Giovanna, show off their costumes}, 5/25/12 {Devan talks about her French bulldog, Rocco}, 10/10 {Halloween Week: Pat and Vanna talk about the week before fading away})
 * [November 5-8 (America's Game I) to come soon...er or later.]
 * December 3-7, 2012 (Bed & Breakfast: 10/13/10 {Ceanne screams after solving the bonus puzzle GROWN-UP}, 11/21/96 {San Francisco College Week: Pat and Vanna trade places for the Bonus Round, complete with '94 puzzle-solve cue}, 5/23/12 {Portland: Pat's GOOEY CINNAMON BUNS high-school nickname}, 2003 {Vanna screws up "What's with all the exclamation points?" for a KDRV promo}, 11/30 to 12/?/98 or so {Angela's TEENY-WEENY solve, with the '97 puzzle-solve cue dubbed over; Wheel says '97, but Rhyme Time wasn't introduced until 11/12/98 and the special weeks of that period put this no earlier than 11/30})
 * [Weeks from December 10 onward to come soon...er or later.]

September 2012

 * September 17, 2012 (#S-5656/Season Premiere/Spa Getaway, Day 1: Lisa/Candace/Matt, with commercials {retro bonus puzzle: JEAN JACKET, 2/2-13 or 11/16-27/98 from Vegas; alternate copy of episode, no commercials or fee plugs})
 * September 19, 2012 (#S-5658/Spa Getaway, Day 3: Mike/Linda/Mary Beth; fast-forwards through commercials, ends right after Jim congratulates the Bonus Round winner {retro bonus puzzle: VIDEO GAMES, 10/13/04})
 * September 20, 2012 (#S-5659/Spa Getaway, Day 4: Toni/Matt/Ginny {retro bonus puzzle: BAYWATCH, 11/11-22/96 from San Francisco})

November 2012

 * November 2, 2012 (#S-5690/Halloween Week, Finale: Jay/Kamela/Janet {retro opening clip: Pat and Vanna vanish into thin air before the closing plugs, 10/29/10; retro bonus puzzle: CUBICLE, 2001})
 * November 5, 2012 (#S-5691/America's Game I, Day 1: Harry/Sharonda/Jeremy, with some pretty putrid gameplay but an awesome Bonus Round {retro opening clip: Pat discovers the meaning of the "Aloha Spirit" in a Hawaii episode with the puzzle-solve cue dubbed over, 2/19-23/01; retro bonus puzzle: YOU'VE GOT SPUNK, 1/2/03})
 * November 6, 2012 (#S-5692/America's Game I, Day 2: Reggie/Kate/Lindsay {retro opening clip: Pat disses Vanna's product endorsements while doing one for "Got Milk?" which sails over the current audience's heads, 1997; retro bonus puzzle: WEB BROWSER, 2005; alternate copy of episode})
 * November 13, 2012 (#S-5697/Military Families, Day 3: Makeeka & Darren/Greg & Glenn/Anna & Jonny; Round 3, third Toss-Up, full Round 4, and Bonus Round {beginning right before the winners' letters are revealed}, a bunch of mis-solves and other odd blunders {retro bonus puzzle: FORGE AHEAD, 1997})


 * November 2012 (Promo package for Week 1 of the Secret Santa Sweepstakes {11/19-23}: a 15-second promo for each episode and several versions of a weekly promo {30 seconds, 20 seconds, 10 seconds, and four seconds; the 30-second one was put on the show's website}, all preceded by slates!)
 * November 23, 2012 (#S-5705/Secret Santa Sweepstakes, Day 5: Russell/Kathy/Erin, with a full credit roll)
 * November 30, 2012 (#S-5710/Secret Santa Sweepstakes, Day 10: Jason/Kathy/Ashley)

December 2012

 * December 12, 2012 (#S-5718/American Heritage, Day 3: Marcus/Jocelyn/Betsi {retro opening clip: Pat gets Photoshopped onto Mount Rushmore during National Parks Week, 12/13-17/10; retro bonus puzzle: PAGER, 9/4/96})
 * December 28, 2012 (#S-5730/Happy Holidays, Finale: Cindy/Wil/Robyn, with a huge winner {retro opening clip: Pat drives a cart onto the set and hits the steps of the puzzle board, 2002; retro bonus puzzle: LO AND BEHOLD, 11/4/94; alternate copies: #1, #2})

January 2013

 * January 25, 2013 (#S-5750/Weekend Getaways, Finale: Joe/Feikamoh/Brooke, with a bad Jackpot mis-solve {awkward silence is really awkward} and some weird miscommunication in the Bonus Round {retro opening clip: contestant David has a dog named Lucy and Pat asks him to lick her, 2002; retro bonus puzzle: WORKPLACE, 1999})

February 2013

 * February 7, 2013 (#S-5759/NBA Week, Day 4: Chris/Jim/Natalie)
 * February 12, 2013 (#S-5762/Sandals Resorts Romance Week, Day 2: Jeff & Anne/Karlie & Matt/Shaun & Kim; montage with an extreme oddity: only a one-third portion of the Wheel is ever hit!)
 * February 14, 2013 (#S-5764/Sandals Resorts Romance Week, Day 4: Katie & Les/Tara & Dwayne/Phil & Kianna, with the worst Speed-Up decision in recent memory)
 * February 20, 2013 (#S-5768/Pet Lovers' Week, Day 3: Aundrea/Priscilla/Tim {retro bonus puzzle: THE HIMALAYAS, 1/10/89-wait, that's...})

March 2013

 * March 6, 2013 (#S-5778/Shopping Spree, Day 3: Nicole/Michael/Dave {retro opening clip: impressions of the Road Runner and Forrest Gump, 1999; retro bonus puzzle: I'M KEYED UP, 1999}; followed by promo for March 7)
 * March 18, 2013 (#S-5786/America's Game III, Day 1: Adriana/Nate/Jason {retro opening clip: Pat kisses a dolphin in Hawaii, 2008; retro bonus puzzle: LAMB CHOP, 1992 road show})
 * March 20, 2013 (#S-5788/America's Game III, Day 3: Brent/Jessi/Daryl {retro opening clip: Pat discovers the meaning of the "Aloha Spirit" in a Hawaii episode with the puzzle-solve cue dubbed over, 2/19-23/01 [repeat from 11/5/12]; retro bonus puzzle: WAFFLES, 1999}; taped from KABC, with commercials)
 * March 21, 2013 (#S-5789/America's Game III, Day 4: Susanna/Andrew/Jen, alternate episode for CBS stations that were pre-empted by March Madness {retro opening clip: "16 years on the show and you've never jumped on me like that.", 1998 [repeat from 11/8/12]; retro bonus puzzle: HOCKEY GAME, 1999}; taped from KXAN, with most commercials)
 * March 25, 2013 (#S-5791/Pure Paradise, Day 1: Melanie/Matt/Vishta, with a fun blooper reel in the final segment {retro opening clip: Pat paddling onto the set in Hawaii, 1999; retro bonus puzzle: HOLD THE MAYO, 1/19-23/98}; promotional consideration plugs cut out)
 * March 28, 2013 (#S-5794/Pure Paradise, Day 4: Robyn/Ryan/Cheryl {retro bonus puzzle: ALBANY, 1/13/97}; taped from WABC, begins right after Pat and Vanna reach the video wall, fast-forwards through commercials and the retro bonus puzzle{?!})

April 2013

 * April 1, 2013 (#S-5796/Spring Break, Day 1: Laura/Sue/Cliff {retro opening clip: Vanna hits Pat with a pie, he retaliates by doing the same; the light-up chevrons are briefly visible, 4/ to 12/91 [repeat from 10/15/12]; retro bonus puzzle: SHORT CIRCUIT, 10/ to 12/88}; taped from WHP, begins during opening retro clip but missing answer to retro bonus puzzle and ends just before promotional consideration plugs)
 * April 10, 2013 (#S-5803/Island Hopping, Day 3: David/Sandy/Ben {retro opening clip: Pat and Vanna naked in a hot tub, circa 1993 [repeat from 10/10/12]}; taped from WABC with most commercials, ends during CBS Television Distribution logo)
 * April 15, 2013 (#S-5806/Sightseeing, Day 1: Patrice/Krystie/Steven {retro opening clip: Pat on Mount Rushmore, 2010 [repeat from 12/12/12]; retro bonus puzzle: FLAGPOLE, 1998})

New York


 * July 2013 (30-second weekly promo for summer rerun of NYC Week {7/15-19, originally aired 4/29-5/3}, followed by slate for a 20-second version)
 * April 29, 2013 (#S-5816/NYC, Day 1: Erin/Joe/Laura, with Pat poking fun at Mayor Bloomberg's soda policy with his 32oz logo-censored {it's a Big Gulp from 7-Eleven} soda cup; taped from WABC, has no pre-Round 1 plugs and ends after Pat congratulates the second-place winner {alternate copy of Pat's comment})

May 2013

 * May 3, 2013 (#S-5820/NYC, Finale: Lou/Amanda/Derek, clip of the final segment with a look back at the PILL-PUSHERS clip)
 * May 6, 2013 (#S-5821/Mom's Week, Day 1: Andrea/Alex/Chrissy, ends just before SPIN ID drawing)
 * May 8, 2013 (#S-5823/Mom's Week, Day 3: Laura/Valerie/Patricia, $3,000 Toss-Up and Round 4 {full Speed-Up} with several mis-solves)
 * May 14, 2013 (#S-5827/Best Friends Week, Day 2: George & Mark/Kerry & Paula/Lisa & Jessica, begins during NYC montage, ends just before SPIN ID drawing; $100,000 loss)
 * May 15, 2013 (#S-5828/Best Friends Week, Day 3: Kevin & Chris/Sheila & Colleen/Justin & Brad; featuring a big Round 2 and a Million-Dollar Bonus Round)
 * May 16, 2013 (#S-5829/Best Friends Week, Day 4: Kristine & Jonathan/Lois & Barbara/Simon & Chad, with Pat jokingly berating the Bonus Round players for their incompetence; taped from WABC, with a commercial after the show)
 * May 17, 2013 (#S-5830/Best Friends Week, Finale: Robert & Linda/Henry & Fred/Elaine & Dianne; taped from WABC, fast-forwards through commercials and ends shortly into SPIN ID drawing)

Back to Culver City


 * May 24, 2013 (Promo for "Celebrating 30!" {even though it's over 38, show can't count, etc.} with a $1,000,000 win teased in a very primetime-network-game-show kind of way {hint: "sometime next week" = "Friday", except maybe not})
 * May 27, 2013 (#S-5836/Celebrating 30!, Day 1: Jonathan/Patti/Antonia {retro opening clip: Pat joins Rockin' Dopsie onstage, 2011; retro bonus puzzle: BACK TALK, 1993})
 * May 28, 2013 (#S-5837/Celebrating 30!, Day 2: Kristen/Renea/John, with a "Changing Lives" segment on Robyn Martini of 12/28/12 {retro opening clip: Pat rehearsing in his dressing room, 1997; retro bonus puzzle: KICKING BACK, 2000})
 * May 29, 2013 (#S-5838/Celebrating 30!, Day 3: Kathleen/Paulette/Brad, with a stupid/hard/stupidly hard bonus puzzle and Pat and Vanna trolling the viewers like you won't believe {retro opening clip: Alvard solves IT TOTALLY BLEW ME AWAY, 1998 ['97 puzzle-solve cue dubbed over]; retro bonus puzzle: HUGS THE ROAD, 2/ to 12/97}; has a few commercials, but ends just before promotional consideration plugs)
 * May 31, 2013 (#S-5840/Celebrating 30!, Finale: Billy/Autumn/Ashley {aired 5/30}, with the second $1,000,000 win and a new winnings record {retro opening clip: STYROFOAM CUP with the puzzle-solve cue dubbed over and lots of jump cuts, 9/87 to 6/89 [some female/Bill/Lucy]; alternate copy of full episode; alternate copies of Bonus Round: #1; #2; #3, from the show's YouTube page})

June 2013

 * June 7, 2013 (#S-5845/Dad's Week, Finale: John/David/Tony, with a ventriloquist doing what he does best {retro opening clip: Vanna isn't in place for the second Toss-Up, 2006; retro bonus puzzle: BLUE JAY, 1993}; taped from a New York station with commercials, begins at very end of opening clip)