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

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

Season 1 (1983-84)
September 1983 : (season begins September 12)
 * The first syndicated season of Wheel of Fortune begins on September 12, 1983. It plays identically to the daytime version present on NBC at the time, although the prize budget is much higher. The top dollar value on the Wheel is $5,000, on a shiny silver wedge.
 * Some of the earliest nighttime episodes use the same commercial-break structure as the daytime version, meaning that episodes occasionally go to commercial during a round while Pat asks the contestants to turn their backs.

October 1983 :

November 1983 :

December 1983 :

January 1984 :

February 1984 :

March 1984 :

April 1984 :

May 1984 :

Season 2 (1984-85)
September 1984 :
 * "Changing Keys" is remixed slightly, removing a flute line to make the melody sound less "chirpy". Also it now cued up at its beginning during the show's intro; for the first year of use, it was cued up at the 0:56 mark.

October 1984 :
 * On one episode from Fall 1984, "Changing Keys" plays in a lower pitch than usual during the intro. Also, the Wheel spins very slowly during the intro.
 * On the same episode, a contestant gets four Free Spins in Round 1.
 * On the same episode, Pat runs up to the puzzle board to reveal the apostrophe in the Round 3 puzzle; later on in the same round, a buzzer sounds on a correct letter.
 * On the same episode's bonus round, Pat informs the contestant that her bonus puzzle is both a Phrase and a Title (although the category strip shows only Phrase). This is the only known instance of a contestant being informed that the puzzle fits into more than one category.

November 1984 :

December 1984 :

January 1985 :
 * On a 1985 episode, apparently around January (due to winter decorations on the set), the outer frame on the Wheel is slightly misaligned. This causes Pat to claim that a contestant has landed on $500 in the second round, when she actually landed on $400. This error does not affect the outcome, as the contestant would still have won by a wide margin anyway.
 * The same episode has one of the only known appearances of Landmark in the bonus round.

February 1985 :

March 1985 :

April 1985 :

May 1985 :

Season 3 (1985-86)
Season Changes :
 * The category strips are updated to a bold Helvetica font. Also, they now display in one of several colors (often matching Vanna's outfit) with white outlines; previously, they were always white.

September 1985 :
 * At some point in early Season 3, a contestant is known to have solved TUTTI-FRUTTI ICE CREAM with only the T's revealed.

October 1985 :

November 1985 :

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

January 1986 :

February 1986 :

March 1986 :

April 1986 :

May 1986 :
 * On May 5, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle on the buzzer. Since there is no time for another commercial break, a stop-down is required before he is declared a winner. This stop-down results in a very sloppy jump cut and an unusual camera angle while Vanna reveals the puzzle answer.

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

September 1986 :

October 1986 :

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

December 1986 :

January 1987 :

February 1987 :

March 1987 :
 * On March 30, Pat forgets the "person does not always mean proper name" reminder twice.

April 1987 :

May 1987 :

Season 5 (1987-88)
September 1987 : (season begins September 7)
 * For the first four weeks of Season 5 only, contestants still shop for prizes.
 * Sometime in September, a contestant sweeps the main game and wins a Mazda in the bonus round.
 * On the above episode, the prize wedge is in a different font than usual. Also, the Wheel inexplicably has three $900 wedges on it.

October 1987 :
 * October 5 is the first week in Big Month of Cash, a special format which eliminates the shopping rounds and has the contestants play for cash. Top dollar values in the first and second rounds are increased to $2,500 and $3,500, represented by sparkling wedges that are greenish-blue and magenta, respectively. Also, 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 this sign is lowered if the contestant chooses to play for that prize.
 * Jack Clark's intro on the first Big Month of Cash episode is "The studio is buzzing today in anticipation of magnificent prizes and lots of money in this month of cash on Wheel of Fortune! And here's our host, who's also buzzing to tell us more about it, Pat Sajak!" During the intro, the puzzle board reads WHEEL OF FORTUNE.
 * Also starting October 5, "I'm a Wheel Watcher" now plays when Vanna walks out. Previously, her walk-outs were accompanied by the bridge of "Changing Keys".
 * On October 5, the first four puzzles all have apostrophes in them.

November 1987 :
 * Once Big Month of Cash ends, the changes from that month are made permanent. The nighttime version no longer has shopping rounds, while the daytime version keeps them until Rolf Benirschke's last episode in June 1989.

December 1987 :

January 1988 :

February 1988 :

March 1988 :

April 1988 :

May 1988 :

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

Season 6 (1988-89)
Season Changes :
 * Season 6 begins with M.G. Kelly announcing. Jack Clark had reportedly wanted Charlie O'Donnell (who announced the daytime version until 1980) to take over, but Charlie was busy announcing The Newlywed Game at the time.
 * The first episode of Season 6 is also the debut of the second (and more familiar) $25,000 sign, which is composed of green and blue light bulbs and shaped like an elongated hexagon.
 * The Same Name category debuts. For the first season of use, the category spells out the word AND, resulting in nearly every contestant picking N, D and A first.
 * Season 6 may also be the premiere of the short-lived Nickname category. This category was particularly ill-defined as to what was considered a Nickname.

September 1988 : (season begins September 5)
 * September 5 is the debut of Same Name.
 * On the September 5 episode, Pat pays tribute to Jack Clark at the end of one round.
 * On a September episode, the original Speed-Up round puzzle was thrown out for an unknown reason. Due to an error in editing, the original, thrown-out puzzle is introduced normally at the top of the round (just as the Speed-Up bells ring), but the replacement puzzle is seen immediately after Pat makes the final spin. The edit is more obvious in that the original puzzle was a Phrase, and the replacement puzzle is People.

October 1988 :
 * On October 3, the bonus round rules are altered. Now, the contestant is given R, S, T, L, N and E automatically, and is asked for three more consonants and a vowel. The time limit is also reduced from 15 seconds to 10. This change was done most likely because almost every contestant was picking R, S, T, L, N and E under the old rules.
 * BOOKKEEPER is the first bonus puzzle under the new rules; it is solved for $25,000.
 * THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE is used as a bonus puzzle within the first couple weeks of the rule change. At 20 letters, this is the longest known bonus puzzle (counting both old and new rules) until the April 5, 2010 bonus puzzle BUZZING WITH EXCITEMENT, which beats it by one letter.
 * October 24 is the show's first Wipeout week. This is an experimental week where any prize won in the bonus round is "wiped out" for the rest of the week and not available for the other contestants. Any prize that is won has a red "WO" placed on it, and a portion of "Wipeout" by The Surfaris accompanies any bonus round win.
 * On one of the Wipeout episodes, a contestant sweeps the main game and wins $25,000 in the bonus round.

November 1988 :
 * The weeks of November 14 and 21 comprise the show's first set of travel episodes, which are taped at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. New contestant backdrops and a new puzzle board are built exclusively for this and other future road shows.
 * During this set of episodes, the prize budget is even higher than usual, with Porsches and boats among the prizes. Several celebrities make cameos throughout the two weeks, typically after their name is used as a puzzle. Also, "Changing Keys" is played on the house organ.
 * Don Pardo announces the two weeks of New York episodes. This is the only game show work he has done since the NBC version of Jackpot! ended in September 1975. He is shown on-camera on the November 14 episode.
 * On one of the New York episodes, a contestant gets booed for failing to solve his bonus puzzle; Don Pardo can also be heard groaning after time expires.

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

January 1989 :

February 1989 :
 * February 13 is the show's second and final Wipeout week.
 * February 27 is the debut of the Before & After category.

March 1989 :
 * At some point in March 1989, Charlie O'Donnell replaces M.G. Kelly as announcer. Except for two weeks in November-December 1995, Charlie continues to announce until his death in November 2010.
 * Sometime within Charlie's first couple weeks of announcing, Marla Gibbs makes a cameo after her name is the answer to the round 2 puzzle. She appears again at the end of the episode, and Pat mentions the episode of 227 on which Gibbs' character, Mary Jenkins, appears on Wheel.

April 1989 :

May 1989 :

June 1989 :

Season 7 (1989-90)
Season Changes :
 * September 1989 moves the nighttime version from NBC Studios in Burbank to CBS Studio 33, the same studio used by the daytime version at the time. This is also the same studio in which The Price Is Right has taped since 1972.
 * The updated wrong-letter buzzer, Bankrupt slide whistle, "only vowels remain" beep, Final Spin bells and category chimes from Bob Goen's first episode (July 17, 1989) all carry over to nighttime.
 * The second re-arrangement of "Changing Keys", which also made its debut on Goen's first episode, also carries over to nighttime.
 * The Person/Fictional Character category, which also made its debut on the first daytime episode with Bob Goen, carries over to nighttime as well. By the end of the season, the category is renamed Star & Role.
 * The categories Family and Husband & Wife debut.
 * Some Person and People puzzles begin including descriptive phrases (e.g. COUNTRY SINGER JOHNNY CASH instead of just JOHNNY CASH). This tradition continues into the present day with most Proper Name puzzles.
 * The nighttime version adopts a three-day returning champion rule; previously, each episode featured three new contestants.
 * Same Name puzzles now use an ampersand instead of spelling out the word "And", to prevent contestants from starting the round with the same three letters. This change is strangely reversed on rare occasions in the 2000s.
 * Furthermore, some other puzzles now contain ampersands, most often Things puzzles that list two or more objects.
 * The contestant's bonus round prize is now determined by picking from one of five envelopes that spells out W-H-E-E-L. Any prize that is won is taken out of rotation for the rest of the week; if only one prize remains on Friday, it is typically revealed at the start of the bonus round. The change to the W-H-E-E-L envelopes was presumably done because almost every contestant chose to play for the $25,000 cash.
 * The intro is changed to "From our studios in Hollywood, It's America's most watched game show! The famous Wheel is spinning your way with lots of cash and an assortment of fabulous and exciting prizes! Over [amount], just waiting to be won tonight! And now, here are your host and hostess, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" Because Pat and Vanna now walk out together, "I'm a Wheel Watcher" is no longer heard on the show.
 * The Nickname category is retired early in the season.
 * The contestant backdrops are updated to a chevron shape. The midsection of the backdrop shows a contestant's cumulative score if he or she has been on for more than one day.
 * Bonus puzzles use no more than two lines of the puzzle board. Previously, many bonus puzzles would be spread out over three or even four lines, even if they could legibly fit on two.
 * This season also starts a trend towards much shorter bonus puzzles. BINGO on the season 7 premiere is the first known five-letter bonus puzzle, and many three- to six-letter answers appear throughout the decade, most frequently in the form of one-word Thing puzzles. The trend is reversed gradually throughout the 2000s; no bonus puzzle after November 2009 is shorter than seven letters, and one-word bonus puzzles become increasingly rare by that point.
 * For the first few weeks of this season, some of the O's on the board are wider and rounder than usual, clearly not matching the font of the other letters. These unusual O's also appeared on daytime around the same time; it is believed that they are actually zeroes which were loaded in by mistake.
 * Prize wedges are claimed differently. Originally, a contestant claimed a prize wedge automatically upon hitting it, and then spun again. Starting this season, the contestant still receives it automatically upon hitting it, but instead of spinning again, he or she now calls a letter for the value underneath it.

September 1989 : (season starts September 4)
 * On September 4, the contestant gets no help from her extra letters in the bonus round.
 * On September 4, Pat does not reveal the contents of the bonus envelope, and places it back in the holder. From September 5 onward, he always opens the bonus envelope at the end of the round.
 * September 6 has what may be the most expensive Wheel prize ever offered on nighttime: a Fred Joalier gift certificate worth $11,500, which can be used to purchase a gold and diamond bracelet.
 * On September 7, Pat is briefly visible in the "contestant circle" at the bottom right of the bonus round shot.
 * On September 8, the contestant gets no help from his extra letters in the bonus round. This is also the first known instance of a contestant choosing U as their vowel in the bonus round; interestingly, the answer is VOWELS.
 * At some point during the week of September 11, Vanna plays a round for charity at the end of a game, and Pat turns the letters for her. She does so by spinning the Wheel once and calling letters until the answer is 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 a September episode, a contestant accidentally buys an A that has already been revealed. Making this situation all the more unusual, all of the vowels in the puzzle have been bought, but Pat had not yet informed the contestants of this.
 * On the same episode, the contestant's letters fill in the bonus puzzle MARMALADE completely.

October 1989 :
 * On October 16, the Free Spin wedge is retired and replaced with another $300 wedge. From this point until its retirement, there is now only one Free Spin disc, placed over a dollar amount; its position changes repeatedly until Free Spin is retired for season 27. It starts off on the red $300, three wedges to the viewer's right of a Bankrupt. Initially, it is claimed in the same way that prizes are at the time.

November 1989 :
 * On an episode from sometime in the fall (known to be after the retirement of the Free Spin wedge), Pat's final spin lands on Bankrupt three times in a row. He finally hits $5,000 on the fourth spin.
 * On the same episode, in a very rare occurrence, all three contestants are female.

December 1989 :
 * The week of December 18 is a family week.

January 1990 :
 * At some point in 1990, Wheel of Fortune becomes the first game show to be closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired.
 * The January 12 episode has six rounds. Unusually for a six-round game, this is accomplished by playing two "third round"s with the $3,500 wedge in the third segment.

February 1990 :
 * The week of February 12 is taped at Walt Disney World.
 * On one of the Disney World episodes, a contestant gets no help from his letters in the bonus round.
 * On one of the episodes immediately after the return from Disney World, Bankrupt is hit four times in the third round, including the first two spins.
 * On the same episode, contestant Tom Gauer was later a winner on Caesars Challenge in 1993.

March 1990 :

April 1990 :

May 1990 :

June 1990 : (season ends June 1)
 * On June 1, the Free Spin disc comes loose during Round 1 and nearly falls off the Wheel. It is also placed on the blue $500 by mistake.

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

September 1990 : (Season begins September 3)
 * At some point this month, Mindi Mitola sets a winnings record of $146,014 over three days.

October 1990 :
 * October 1990 is the debut of the Clue category, a special category where the puzzle describes a specific person, place or thing. After solving, the contestant wins a $500 bonus if s/he can identify what the Clue puzzle describes; if not, the next contestants in line are offered the Clue question bonus. The bonus question is signaled by a chime previously used on the 1987-88 version of High Rollers.

November 1990 :

December 1990 :

January 1991 :
 * Vanna is absent for two weeks of episodes in January 1991 because of her wedding, which was on New Year's Eve (and interestingly on Pat and Lesly's first anniversary). Tricia Gist, then the girlfriend of Merv Griffin's son Tony, takes her place for these episodes.
 * During one of the episodes that Tricia filled in, the Free Spin disc is placed higher on the wedge than usual.

February 1991 :

March 1991 :

April 1991 :
 * On the April 9 episode, the blank puzzle displayed on the board during the opening pan does not match up to the first round's answer. Charlie mentions at the end that the program was edited for broadcast, so it is apparent that some sort of error caused the original first round to be thrown out.

May 1991 :


 * The week of May 13 is College Week.

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

September 1991 : (season begins September 9)
 * The week of September 30 is taped in Chicago.

October 1991 :
 * October 28 begins a month of episodes taped at MGM Studios in Orlando titled "Wheel Around the World". This set of episodes pays tribute to various international versions, and starting with week two, each day's episode features a guest appearance from an international version's hostess.
 * On October 28, a contestant sweeps the main game and wins a trip to Paris in the bonus round.
 * On October 29, a contestant accidentally picks L in the bonus round, and this L is even placed on the chyron for a few seconds.

November 1991 :
 * On November 15, the contestant gets no help from their extra letters in the bonus round. The bonus puzzle is also placed further to the left than usual.

December 1991 :

January 1992 :

February 1992 :

March 1992 :

April 1992 :
 * The weeks of April 27 and May 4 are taped at Walt Disney World. The intro to the Walt Disney World episodes is "America's most-watched game show! Celebrating Walt Disney World's 20th anniversary surprise celebration! Special friends, entertainment, fun, fantasy, magic, fabulous fireworks! On Wheel of Fortune! And now, here are your host and hostess, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" An animation of Tinker Bell appears in one of the transitional wipes during the intro, using her magic wand to "zap" from one of the introductory graphics to a shot of the studio.
 * During one of the Walt Disney World episodes, the chimes do not play when Pat asks for the bonus answer to a Clue puzzle.
 * An episode from the first week in Disney World has the first known appearance of Foreign Word(s) in the bonus round.
 * During one of the Walt Disney World episodes, JAZZ GREAT DIZZY GILLESPIE is the answer to a round 2 puzzle. This is obviously a record for the most Z's in one puzzle.

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

June 1992 :
 * On June 5, a prize wedge is placed over the pink $200 wedge instead of the red $300.
 * On June 5, the winning contestant has only $200 cash and one of the Wheel prizes.

Season 10 (1992-93)
Season Changes :
 * Season 10 is the debut of the Fill In the Blank and Where Are We? categories. Until the category strips are overhauled in 1996, Fill In the Blank is shown as just "Blank" onscreen.
 * This season is the debut of the "decade" categories (e.g. The 60's), which are known to have gone back as far as The 20's. For season 10 only, the category name is written out as a word (i.e., "The Twenties") instead of a number.
 * For seasons 10 through 12, Quotation puzzles offer a $1,000 bonus if the contestant can identify the source of the quote, and the "decade" categories offer a $1,000 bonus for answering a trivia question related to the puzzle answer. Unlike the Clue and Fill In the Blank puzzles, Charlie asks the bonus question, which is signaled by four low-pitched beeps; also, these questions are available only to the contestant who solves the puzzle.
 * Season 10 is also the debut of the short-lived Slang category.
 * 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.
 * Season 10 uses an animated intro which features anthropomorphic Wheel wedges walking down a staircase. Charlie's opening spiel is now "From Hollywood, celebrating its 10th anniversary, the world's most popular game show! Filled with fun, glamour, excitement, surprises — Wheel of Fortune! And now here are your host and hostess, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" Within a few weeks, the last sentence is changed to "And now the stars of the show, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
 * The contestant backdrops are changed to a shape similar to the MetLife logo.

September 1992 : (season begins September 7)
 * September 7 is the first use of Slang.
 * The September 7 episode has a main game sweep. The contestant solves the bonus puzzle FROG despite getting no help from their extra letters.
 * On September 10, in a very rare occurrence, all three contestants are male.
 * On September 10, a contestant solves SLIPPED ON A BANANA PEEL with only the N's and L's revealed.
 * September 10 is the first appearance of Slang in the bonus round. Although it is used regularly in the main game until its retirement, it almost never appears in the bonus round after this.
 * September 14 is believed to be the last appearance of Foreign Phrase. At the end of a round, Pat explains that there are several acceptable pronunciations for the answer MAZEL TOV, giving a very likely explanation behind the category's retirement.
 * Starting September 21, a chime now sounds when a contestant picks a bonus round envelope.
 * Between September 22 and 24, the same contestant fails to win the same bonus round prize (a gazebo/spa package) for three days in a row.
 * On September 23, the aforementioned contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle CORK with COR_ revealed.
 * On September 24, the puzzle-solve cue does not play when the round 2 puzzle is solved.
 * At the end of the September 24 episode, footage is shown of Vanna White singing with Merv Griffin at a party.

October 1992 :
 * October 5 is the debut of the Surprise wedge. This functions almost identically to the existing prize wedges on the Wheel, but the prize is not revealed until after the contestant wins it. For its first month or so of use, the wedge has SURPRISE written on it in a thin, Arial-type font against a pink background.
 * October 5 has the first known instance of a three-letter bonus puzzle, and the first known instance of a bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it. The answer is WAX, and the contestant solves it at the last second with only the A revealed.
 * October 8 contestant Jason Block later appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2000 and was a five-time champion on Jeopardy! in 2001.
 * On October 8, the bonus puzzle is once again a three-letter answer without RSTLNE in it. The contestant's letter choices (including the first known instance of Z being called in the bonus round) reveal the answer ZOO completely. Strangely, the category strip disappears as soon as the second O is revealed, but several seconds before the timer starts.
 * On October 9, Pat walks out on the right and Vanna on the left.
 * On October 22, the bonus puzzle BABY BOY is believed to be the longest bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it (a record which is later tied by AVOCADO in 1994). The contestant solves it without any letters revealed, the only known instance of this happening.
 * October 23 is the month's third instance of a three-letter bonus puzzle, and fourth instance of a bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it. The answer is WIG; the contestant gets no help from their extra letters and does not solve.
 * On October 26, the Surprise wedge is accidentally placed over the $1,000.
 * October 26 has six main game rounds.

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

December 1992 :
 * On December 9, the contestant gets no help from his extra letters in the bonus round.
 * On December 14, Vanna forgets to turn one of the letters when a contestant solves the Speed-Up puzzle BALE OF HAY.
 * December 18 has a rare instance of a bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it. The answer is BAMBI, and it is solved.
 * The week of December 21 is a family tournament. It uses a variant of what would later become the "Friday Finals" format: each episode features two-person teams playing for one episode, with the top three winning teams playing against each other on the Friday episode. The winners of the Friday episode receive an engraved silver bowl.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of December 21. This is known to be part of a winning streak comprising at least seven episodes.
 * On December 25, Charlie announces the intro much more softly than usual.
 * On December 28, the contestant gets no help from their letters in the bonus round.

January 1993 :
 * In early 1993, the font is changed slightly on the category strips.

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

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

April 1993 :
 * Reruns air during the week of April 12.

May 1993
 * The weeks of May 10 and 17 are taped in Boston. May 17 is also a college week.
 * On May 21, the former shopping-round cue "Nightwalk" plays while Charlie plugs the hotel that accommodated the staff and contestants.
 * On May 25, the bonus puzzle NICE AND WARM uses three lines of the puzzle board. This is the only known instance after Season 6 of a bonus puzzle using more than two lines.

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

Season 11 (1993-94)
Season Changes :
 * Except for the removal of "celebrating its 10th anniversary", the intro is unchanged from Season 10.
 * For this season only, the 1989-1992 version of "Changing Keys" is used on road shows.
 * This season is also the debut of the Red Letter puzzles. Similarly to the Red Letter Sweepstakes in Season 10, these puzzles feature red letters that spell out a small word when unscrambled; if the contestant can unscramble the word, s/he wins a $500 bonus.
 * On a 1993 episode (exact date unknown, but possibly in this season), none of the contestants or Pat can figure out what is meant by the Clue puzzle SILENT BUTLER'S TARGETS, for which the answer is "crumbs or ashes". One contestant gives a humorous guess of "maid".

September 1993 :
 * September 21 has a very unusual prize: a certified authentic autograph of Florence Nightingale with an engraving of her, valued at $1,250.
 * On September 21, the contestant gets no help from his extra letters in the bonus round.
 * At the end of the September 21 episode, Vanna offers Pat some tomatoes and bread from her then-husband, George San Pietro.

October 1993 :


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

November 1993 :
 * The week of November 1 is taped on a cruise ship.
 * November 12 is the nighttime version's 2000th episode, with normal game play.
 * The week of November 15 is My Favorite Teacher Week.

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

January 1994 :
 * On January 25, a contestant wins a historic document signed by Abraham Lincoln in the bonus round.

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

March 1994 :
 * March 11's bonus puzzle of AVOCADO is a tie for the longest known bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it. It is not solved.
 * The 1989-1992 version of "Changing Keys" plays during the closing of the March 25 episode.

April 1994 :


 * April 4 is Teen Week.
 * The weeks of April 11 and 18 are taped at MGM Studios.


 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of April 11.
 * On April 18, the contestant gets no help from their letters in the bonus round.

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

June 1994 : (season ends June 17)

Season 12 (1994-95)
Season Changes :
 * This season is the debut of the Megaword category. Pat showed obvious disdain for Megaword from its first use, often going out of his way to make sarcastic remarks about it.
 * "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.
 * The puzzle board's border is changed to a new, "spiky" variant.
 * Red Letter Puzzles and puzzles with bonus questions are now worth $1,000.
 * The show's intro is "From Hollywood, it's the Wheel of Fortune! America's most popular game show, and now, the world's! Here they are, soaring into your lives, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" The intro is accompanied by various animations representing cities where Wheel has taped road shows, and countries that have versions of the show; it also includes an animation of Pat and Vanna "riding" the Wheel, and ends with an animation of them parachuting as Charlie says the phrase "soaring into your lives".
 * As of this season, and maybe earlier, the "house minimum" for a round is $200. Any contestant who solves a puzzle with less than $200 has his or her score increased to that amount.
 * Charlie no longer describes the second Wheel prize unless it is won.

September 1994 : (season begins September 5)
 * The season begins with a Teen Week.
 * The first Wheel prize on September 5 is a set of backpacks and a camera, worth $826; this is believed to be the least expensive Wheel prize ever offered on nighttime.
 * Vanna shows off her newborn son Nicholas (Niko) at the end of the September 14 episode.
 * September 16 has a (presumably unique) instance of Fill In the Blank's "blank" being in the middle instead of the end. The puzzle is HARRIET ? STOWE, and none of the contestants can identify her middle name, Beecher.
 * September 20 is the first use of Megaword.
 * On September 24, Fill In the Blank becomes a completely different "bonus" category, with answers similar to a Tribond puzzle. For this season only, the "new" Fill In the Blank category is still shown as just "Blank" on the category strip.
 * On September 27, a buzzer accidentally sounds when a correct letter is revealed.
 * At some point in September, a contestant sets a new one-round record of $45,000.

October 1994 :
 * On October 4, the puzzle solve cue is changed to a "big band" style as well.
 * The Fill In the Blank puzzle on October 24 has four question marks instead of three.
 * The week of October 31 is taped at Fair Park in Dallas, home to the State Fair of Texas. This week also has an unusual version of "Changing Keys" with the big-band orchestration but the original melody.
 * On the Dallas episodes, the category strips are in a slightly different font than usual, with black outlines instead of white.
 * On October 31, the former shopping cue "Nightwalk" plays as Charlie describes the Round 2 prize.
 * On October 31, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle AWARD with only the W missing.
 * Merv Griffin makes a cameo at the end of the October 31 episode.

November 1994 :
 * On November 1 and 2, the same contestant gets no help from his bonus round letter choices for two days in a row.
 * November 4 has one of the original-style Fill In the Blank puzzles, suggesting that this week was taped before the week of October 24. This is most likely the last appearance of the "original" Fill In the Blank category.
 * On November 4, the bonus puzzle is on the top two lines of the puzzle board.
 * On November 4, a contestant accidentally calls N in the bonus round, and this N is even placed on the chyron for a few seconds.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of October 31-November 4. Interestingly, the only prize picked all week is an annuity.
 * During the weeks of November 7 and 14, the show holds its Red White and Blue Sweepstakes. Similar to the earlier Red-Letter home viewer sweepstakes, each episode has a puzzle where some letters are red on top and blue on the bottom; when unscrambled, the letters spell out the last name of a U.S. President.
 * On November 11, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle OVEN despite not getting any help from their extra letters.
 * On November 17, a contestant solves THERE'S NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT with only the T's revealed.
 * November 28 is the debut of the Bankrupt/$10,000/Bankrupt space. Introduced in Round 3, the space has a one-peg-wide $10,000 cash prize with a one-peg-wide Bankrupt on either side. The $10,000 is treated as a prize, and cannot be spent on vowels. For the first couple weeks or so, the "$10,000" text is smaller than it would later be.
 * On November 29, a contestant sweeps the main game, but gets no help from his letters in the bonus round and fails to solve the bonus puzzle.

December 1994 :
 * December 9 is the debut of the Next Line Please category. It is identical to the "old" Fill In the Blank category, except that it does not use a question mark to indicate the end of the phrase.
 * December 19 is a family week, played identically to the ones in 1992 and 1993.
 * On December 23, one family pair solves the Speed-Up puzzle CHRISTMAS WREATH with only the C revealed.
 * On December 23, each family pair gets a box of Perugina chocolates after the Speed-Up round.
 * December 23 also has a rare instance of RSTLNE revealing more than half of the bonus puzzle (FRASIER).
 * The Teen Week from September 5-9 is rerun during the week of December 26.

January 1995 :
 * Reruns air during the week of January 2.
 * On either January 10 or 11, a Megaword puzzle leads to only the second known instance of a contestant incorrectly solving a fully-revealed puzzle. The answer is PRISTINELY, but she pronounces it "prist-in-ell-y".
 * The week of January 16 is Best Friends Week.

February 1995 :
 * On February 1, a contestant accidentally calls E in the bonus round, and this E is even put on the chyron for a couple seconds.
 * The weeks of February 6 through 27 are taped in Orlando.
 * February 6 is the show's final My Favorite Teacher week. Teacher-themed weeks do not occur again until May 28, 2007, and then it's without students.
 * February 10 has a rare appearance of Slang in the bonus round.
 * On February 10, Vanna turns a letter too far in the bonus round, causing the plastic sheet to slide about halfway off the trilon.
 * On February 15, the contestant gets no help from her letters in the bonus round.
 * February 20 is Some of the Greats Week, which invites back fifteen past winners. During the interviews, clips are shown from each contestant's prior episode(s). All games this week are played for charity.
 * During the week of February 20, the numbers on the $10,000 wedge are smaller than normal, suggesting that this week was taped around the same time as the late November 1994 episodes that introduced the wedge.
 * Raymond Taylor appears on February 20.
 * February 22 has a rare appearance of Slang in the bonus round. The bonus puzzle is also on the top two lines of the board.
 * On February 23 and 24, the bonus puzzles do not have RSTLNE in them. Respectively, the answers are VOODOO and COWBOY.
 * On February 24, the contestant calls the vowel before her third consonant, but the chyron still puts it in last. This goes against precedent, as the chyron almost always shows the letters in the order called, even if the vowel is called "out of order".
 * Sometime between February 27 and March 2, a contestant offers "Being on Wheel of Fortune is a bombastic experience." as the sentence for their Megaword (BOMBASTIC). This results in a quip from then-producer Nancy Jones, who says "If she really feels that way!"

March 1995 :
 * The March 10 episode has six rounds. Round 6's answer, GLOVES, is believed to be the shortest puzzle ever used outside the bonus round. It is likely that the answer was originally intended to be a bonus puzzle.
 * On either March 15 or 16, the Megaword puzzle OXIDIZED takes eleven spins before a right letter is called (easily a record) and twelve more before it is solved. The round lasts nearly six minutes, and every consonant is called except J.
 * On March 24, the contestant's letter choices reveal the bonus puzzle LOCKER completely.
 * On March 31, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle WAY OFF BASE with ___ O__ __SE revealed.

April 1995 :
 * April 6 appears to be the last use of Megaword.
 * April 10 is a Teen Week.
 * Reruns air during the week of April 17.

May 1995 :
 * May 1 is Celebrity Award Winners week. The softer mix of the theme is used during the intro, and each game has only three rounds.
 * On May 3, Jess Walton accidentally asks for a 4 in the first round.
 * On May 3, the Free Spin is accidentally placed over the $1,000.
 * Paul Rodriguez competes on one of the Celebrity episodes. During his episode, clips are shown from his version of The Newlywed Game, which he hosted from 1988-89.
 * On a May episode (presumably during the week of the 8th), Pat accidentally goes straight to the bonus puzzle before the contestant has picked an envelope. Vanna reveals the RSTLNE letters while the camera is still focused on Pat.
 * 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. The unusual taping location results in an oddity during one episode, when a siren sounds during a round. Also, all contestants in the first week are members of the military.
 * One of the episodes has a rare three-letter bonus puzzle, which is also a rare instance of a bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it. The answer is GUY, and the contestant gets no help from his extra letters.
 * On another one of the Virginia episodes, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle GAME PLAN at the last second without any help from his extra letters. This bonus puzzle is also put on the top two lines of the puzzle board.

June 1995 :
 * June 1's bonus puzzle HUG is and a rare instance of a bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it, and the last known appearance of a three-letter bonus puzzle. The contestant gets no help from his extra letters. From this point onward, there are only two other known bonus puzzles without RSTLNE in them: A DAY OFF in October 1999 and PIKACHU at an unknown point in 2001.
 * By the end of the season, Harry Friedman has replaced Nancy Jones as producer.
 * The week of June 19, the season finale week, is a Teen Week.
 * The season finale on June 23 is the last episode taped at CBS Studio 33.

Season 13 (1995-96)
Season Changes : September 1995 : (season begins September 4)
 * The show moves to its current taping location, Studio 11 at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City.
 * This season is the debut of the Double Play token, which is shaped like a Venn diagram. A contestant may turn in to double the value of the next spin. If used before hitting Bankrupt or Lose a Turn, it is discarded. It is also believed that it would have been discarded if used before hitting a prize, Surprise or Free Spin, although this never happened; however, it was used on one episode to double the value of the $10,000 cash prize.
 * The category graphics are updated to a white font (similar to Times New Roman) on a tan background. Also, the category strips are now revealed with a miniature graphic of the Wheel, which "rolls" from left to right.
 * The $1,000 space is now sparkly green.
 * If a contestant does not give a correct answer to the question asked after a "$1,000 bonus" puzzle, the question is no longer offered to the other two contestants.
 * The intro is changed somewhat, 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!" Also, the intro is replaced with graphics related to the show, followed by a still shot of Sony Pictures Studios just before Pat and Vanna are introduced.
 * It may also be the debut of the Who Is It? category, another "bonus" category where the puzzle gives a clue to a famous person. On very rare occasions, this category is pluralized as Who Are They?
 * Yet another category that debuted this season is Song/Artist. It goes back and forth between Artist/Song and Song/Artist several times before settling on Song/Artist by the late 2000s.
 * Slang, Megaword and the Red-Letter puzzles are all retired.
 * Two-line bonus puzzles are once again displayed on the middle two rows.
 * For Seasons 13 and the first couple weeks of Season 14 only, Charlie O'Donnell signs off with "This is Charlie O'Donnell speaking. Wheel of Fortune was created by Merv Griffin." These are the only seasons in which Charlie signs off with his name.
 * The puzzle board frame is changed again.
 * For this season only, several Same Name puzzles have three "names" instead of two.
 * The last of the music cues composed by Merv Griffin (first used on the daytime version in mid-1983) are retired.
 * The Free Spin is moved to the the purple $200 (to the viewer's right of Lose a Turn). Previously, the position was never fixed.
 * As of the season premiere, there is still nothing on the reverse of the $10,000 wedge. Within a few weeks of this season, it has a shiny gold $10,000 design on the back. It is believed (but not yet confirmed) that one week of episodes used the back side of the wedge as a cash space, as a one-time experiment.
 * September 4 is a Teen Week.
 * On September 4, a post-production shot from Round 3 is used during Round 2 when the Double Play disc is introduced.
 * September 4 sets what may be a record for the most instances of one letter in the same puzzle: the answer PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE BEEP has ten E's.
 * At some point in either late September or early October, JEOPARDY PREMIERES is the answer to the round 1 puzzle. The category is The 60's.
 * On the same episode, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle TAKE A BOW without any help from their extra letters.

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

November 1995 :


 * The weeks of November 6 and 13 are taped in Seattle. November 13 is a College Week.
 * The week of November 20 is a Celebrity week.
 * On one of the Celebrity episodes, Ed Asner is the top winner. Before the bonus round, Pat mentions that he once played against Ed on an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy!
 * Ed's letters fill in his bonus puzzle SLEIGH entirely.
 * Johnny Gilbert announces for the weeks of November 27 and December 4 because Charlie is ill. This is the only time until Charlie's death in November 2010 that someone filled in for him.
 * Throughout the week of November 27, during the Pat & Vanna talk, Pat and Vanna discuss Vanna's decision to cut her hair. On November 28, they show computer-generated images of what she would look like in certain hair styles.
 * On November 29, Pat makes a joke about Jeopardy!, to which Johnny counters with a sarcastic remark of his own.
 * On November 29, the contestant gets no help from her letters in the bonus round.

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

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

February 1996 :


 * During two episodes of a Sweethearts Week in February, Peter Argyropolous and Deborah Cohen set a new winnings record of $146,529.
 * The weeks of February 12 and 19 are taped in Hawaii. February 19 is Family Week.
 * Pat's daughter Maggie debuts on February 13.

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

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

May 1996 :
 * From May 6 to May 31, the Olympic torch backdrops are used, even though the episodes are taped in Culver City.
 * On May 13, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle FROG despite getting no help from the extra letters. This previously happened with the same puzzle on the September 7, 1992 episode.
 * May 27 has the Friday Finals format.

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

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

Season 14 (1996-97)
Season Changes :
 * Season 14 replaces the three-day champion rule with the Friday Finals format. Each contestant plays for one day on Monday through Thursday, and the week's three highest winners (counting contestants who did not proceed to the bonus round) compete against each other on Friday. The winner of the Friday episode wins a prize package.
 * This season is also the debut of the Proper Name category, meaning that Pat no longer has to remind contestants "Person does not always mean proper name" (which he often forgot to do, particularly in the later seasons). Proper Name is also used for the names of sports teams, institutions and businesses.
 * After only one season of use, the Double Play is retired.
 * The border around the puzzle board is changed slightly, shortening some of the spikes. This border remains in use until the electronic board debuts in February 1997.
 * The category graphics are updated again to a bold, white font on a multicolored pastel rectangle, still with the "rolling Wheel" effect.
 * This season is the debut of the Classic TV and Show Biz categories. For this season only, these categories have a unique wipe instead of the "rolling Wheel" one: Classic TV uses a drawing of a console TV, and Show Biz uses a drawing of crossed spotlights.
 * This season is also the debut of the Slogan category. This is another "bonus" category where the puzzle answer is a company's slogan, and the bonus question involves identifying the product. For its first season of use only, the category is called "$1,000 Slogan". (There are three known instances in the 2000s of Slogan puzzles that had the product name in them; obviously, in these cases, the extra question was not asked.)
 * This season may also be the debut of the Star & Role category. An identical category called Person/Fictional Character was previously used on the first CBS daytime episodes in 1989 and part of nighttime season 7.
 * From the beginning of the season until the debut of the electronic puzzle board in February 1997, the question marks in Fill In the Blank puzzles are already revealed when the blank puzzle is shown. Previously, Vanna would turn them.
 * As of this season, "$1,000 bonus" categories are used no more than once an episode; previous episodes often had two in the same game.
 * Same Name puzzles revert to using only two "names".
 * Some of the fee plugs are now pre-recorded by the company.
 * The intro is changed to an animation of Sony Pictures Studios, which "zooms in" through the studio doors. During the cheer, the logo is seen in a purple background. Charlie's spiel is slightly changed to "From the Sony Studios, it's America's Game — Wheel of Fortune! And now here are the stars of our show, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
 * The set now has a video wall in the middle, near where Pat and Vanna walk out.
 * For some weeks in this season, the insides of the prize envelopes are sparkly green.
 * The $10,000 space is only in play during Round 2.
 * The prize wedge is changed to green text (in the Clarendon font) on a greenish-brown background. For the first two weeks, the background is glittered.
 * Round 4 no longer features a second wheel prize.

September 1996 : (season begins September 2)
 * On September 2, Pat and Vanna walk out without theme music playing, and converse with each other before the actual intro.
 * Pat and Vanna discuss the then-upcoming Jackpot round at the end of the September 11 episode. He also shows off the Jackpot wedge.
 * From September 2 until September 16, the only Bankrupts on the Wheel in Round 2 are the ones on the $10,000 space.
 * On September 16, the show debuts its current Jackpot round, which starts at $5,000 and has the value of each spin added to it. To claim the Jackpot, the contestant has to land on the wedge, call a correct letter and solve the puzzle within the same turn.
 * Initially, the Jackpot wedge is in Round 3. The wedge starts out as a shiny red color with "Jackpot" written on it in a thick font in gold letters. It is placed over the orange $300.
 * Also on September 16, many of the Wheel wedges are recolored. The most obvious change is the Lose a Turn wedge, which is now very light yellow (nearly white). Only a single wheel template is in use now, which was previously the Round 3 template. $750 and $1500 are no longer in play.
 * The Free Spin disc moves to the green $300, where it stays until its retirement in season 27.
 * On September 16 and the next couple weeks afterward, the second Bankrupt in Round 3 is in a different design: it uses the Clarendon font, and the letters do not decrease in size as they reach the bottom of the wedge.
 * On both September 12 and 16 (and possibly other episodes from these weeks), the camera closest to the blue contestant is cockeyed, causing several side-view shots that are extremely tilted.
 * September 26 has the first Jackpot win. The contestant solves GREEN EGGS AND HAM BY DR. SEUSS with only the G's exposed. It is known that the "off-model" Bankrupt was still on the Wheel at this point; this was probably fixed by early October, and is known to have been fixed by October 29.
 * On September 27, the contestant gets no help form his letters in the bonus round.
 * Starting on September 30, there is now a promotional plug for closed captioning. Vanna reads this plug, which occurs after round 2.

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

November 1996 :
 * November 4 is Best Friends Week.
 * The weeks of November 11 and 18 are taped at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.
 * November 18 is also a College week. A marching band plays "Changing Keys" live, but this rendition follows the original melody instead of the altered melody of the "big band" remix.
 * Pat has laryngitis for the entire College week, and hosts with a hoarse voice throughout. On November 21, he decides to rest his voice, so Vanna hosts the bonus round while Pat turns the letters.
 * On November 21, the category strip disappears briefly during round 2.

December 1996 :
 * On December 16, the category strips are changed again to a heavier white font on a blue oval.
 * The week of December 16 is Family Week.
 * On December 18, the original yellow $1,000 wedge is inexplicably visible when the Wheel spins at the end of the show. This error would suggest that the shiny green $1,000 wedge was simply placed over the existing yellow one.
 * December 23 is the first Happy Holidays Week, which has aired Christmas Week ever since.
 * The week of October 7-11 is rerun during the week of December 30-January 3. The reruns are edited to include the blue oval category strips.

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

February 1997 :
 * Starting on February 7, the Jackpot is increased to a starting value of $10,000 on Friday Finals episodes.
 * February 3 is a Sweethearts week with husband-and-wife teams playing.
 * The weeks of February 10 and 17 are taped at the Blockbuster Desert Sky Pavilion (now known as the Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion) in Phoenix. February 17 is a Family week. Unusually for a road show, neither week is rerun during the summer.
 * During the week of February 10 only, the category strips are inexplicably in the style used in season 13.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of February 10.
 * February 21 is the last episode with the mechanical puzzle board. The last official puzzle on it is the bonus puzzle POUND SIGN, but at the end of the episode, Vanna reveals FOR SALE on the board.
 * February 24 is the debut of the show's electronic puzzle board. The game can now be taped in a much shorter time window, as the new board does not need to be rolled offstage between rounds to have the new puzzles loaded in. Also, this board has one more space on each row; the middle two rows have 14 spaces, and the top and bottom rows have 12. Each square is a touch-sensitive monitor, on which Vanna touches the right side of the monitor to reveal the letter.
 * Any punctuation in a puzzle is automatically revealed with the blank spaces, and when a contestant solves, the rest of the puzzle fills in automatically. Also, many puzzles now include punctuation that was not previously present, such as periods (which were previously not included at all), exclamation points and question marks outside Fill In the Blank puzzles.
 * On February 24, the gray parallelogram nametags are replaced with the blue ovals to match the category strips.
 * The February 24 episode is an unusual cold open; Charlie's opener is just "Ladies and gentlemen, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" (which becomes the official intro in Season 19), and no theme music is playing. Pat and Vanna then walk out and discuss the new puzzle board, also showing time-lapse footage of the old board being dismantled. After the contestant interviews, a curtain reveals the new board while the puzzle-solve cue plays.
 * The first puzzle on the new board is VALENCIA SPAIN, and Vanna's first letter on this board is S.
 * At the end of the February 24 episode, Vanna uses the bonus puzzle to show how the new puzzle board works. Pat tries in vain to light up a letter, going so far as to kick the board.
 * It is believed that the practice of editing out Final Spins that land on Bankrupt, Lose a Turn or prize wedges began around this time. In later seasons, prize wedges and the Free Spin are removed from the Wheel before round 4 to decrease the odds of Pat hitting something other than a cash amount.

March 1997 :
 * On March 4, Rosie O'Donnell makes a cameo after her name is the answer to the round 2 puzzle. She then helps Vanna touch letters in the next round.
 * On March 4, the Surprise, $10,000 prize and Wheel prize are all on the wrong wedges.
 * March 17 is the first Spring Break week.
 * The week of October 21 is rerun during the week of March 24. As was the case in the December reruns, these episodes are edited to include the blue oval category strips. This is the first known spring rerun not to be the week after Easter, since Easter was March 30 that year.
 * March 31 is the first European Vacation week, a tradition whcih since then has occurred 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 the day's game for charity as part of an April Fools' Day gag. Pat's wife, Lesly, works the puzzle board and Alex Trebek hosts; conversely, Pat hosts that day's Jeopardy!, whose Double Jeopardy! round features Wheel-themed categories (including Before & After, now a recurring category identical to its Wheel counterpart). These episodes retain the European Vacation set.
 * On the April Fools' Day episode, Alex opens by mentioning that he had previously guest-hosted a week of daytime episodes in 1980. He had previously confirmed this fact on a 1990 episode of To Tell the Truth on which Charlie O'Donnell was a substitute announcer.
 * Johnny Gilbert and Charlie O'Donnell split announcing duties during the intro. Also, after Alex's opening dialogue with Lesly, Johnny introduces Pat and Vanna while the Jeopardy! opening music plays.
 * The episode features several humorous puzzles, including SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS, which is given a joke category of "Really Long Title" and hyphenated twice to fit on the board. This is also given a "bonus" question asking for the source of the song; Pat correctly identifies it as being from Mary Poppins.
 * Pat and Vanna play the bonus round together. Counting the $25,000 won in the bonus round, their combined winnings are then 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.
 * April 14 is the first Puerto Rico week, a tradition that continued til 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 then renamed again to Road Trip in season 28.

May 1997 :
 * On May 2, the contestant gets no help form their letters in the bonus round.
 * May 5 is a special celebrity week where celebrities and their mothers play together.
 * On May 5, the Jackpot Round starts getting a sponsor, whose logo is also displayed on the Jackpot wedge. The first is Pizza Hut.
 * Starting on the May 5 show and for the rest of the season, for all Culver City episodes, there are fixed music bumpers leading into the commercial breaks after Round 2 (with the closed captioning) and 3. Those bumpers are retired after the end of the season.
 * On the May 8 episode, Bonnie Hunt's mother accidentally calls a vowel after spinning, twice in the same round. Also in the same round, Bonnie accidentally spins again before Vanna can reveal the letter that was called. Bonnie then jokes around for several seconds afterward; Pat eventually becomes visibly annoyed at her and tells her to "spin the damn Wheel."
 * The weeks of May 12 and 19 are taped in San Diego. May 19 is a College Week. This is the second and final time that a road show is not rerun during the following summer.
 * May 26 is New York week, but taped in Culver City.

June 1997 : (season ends June 13)

Season 15 (1997-98)
Season Changes :
 * The opening graphic of Sony Pictures Studios is changed slightly. The logo is seen on Sony Pictures studios, in a yellow light on a black rectangle.
 * "Changing Keys" is given a new arrangement by Steve Kaplan. This is the last version of "Changing Keys" to be used.
 * The puzzle solve cue is updated.
 * The font in the category strips is slightly narrower.
 * Prize wedges now have unique designs, typically with a graphic related to the prize.

September 1997 : (season begins September 1)
 * This season premiere begins with two weeks taped in Columbus, Ohio and has contestants who are members of the AFL-CIO, as the season begins on Labor Day. For this week, there's a commercial break between Rounds 1 and 2, and most games have only three rounds. As a result, some of these games do not have a Jackpot round.
 * September 13 is the debut of Wheel 2000, a special children's version hosted by David Sidoni. The show features puzzles and prizes more geared towards children, a motion-capture, CGI hostess named "Cyber Lucy" (portrayed by Tanika Ray) and multiple cosmetic changes. Games are played for points instead of cash, and the winner plays a bonus round (with identical rules to the nighttime version) to win a small prize. The show airs concurrently on Game Show Network (GSN) and CBS until it is canceled in 1998.
 * Vanna's daughter Giovanna debuts at the end of the September 15 episode, the first Culver City show of the season.
 * September 29 has six rounds.

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

November 1997 :
 * November 3 is a Celebrity week, which does not use the Friday Finals format. It also has the same round structure as the season premiere week, and the Jackpot on Friday starts at the normal $5000.
 * November 5 has Alicia Witt, who previously appeared on a Teen Week episode in 1989. Clips from her 1989 episode are shown.
 * On November 6, William Shatner quits after Round 2 and Julie Pinson takes his place.
 * The weeks of November 10 and 17 are taped in Denver. November 17 is College Week.
 * The week of November 24 is Best Friends Week.

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

January 1998 :
 * The weeks of January 19 is NFL Players Week.

February 1998 :
 * The weeks of February 2 and 9 are taped in Las Vegas. February 2 is a Family week.
 * The weeks of February 16 and 23 are the Come Spin and Win Sweepstakes, where portions of a quotation puzzle are shown, and more as the week progresses. For the first week, the puzzle is FOUR SCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO, and the second, SHOW ME THE MONEY.

March 1998 :
 * Reruns air during the week of March 23. This is the last midseason rerun.

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

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

June 1998 : (season ends June 12):
 * June 12 has the first Puzzler Round, which becomes permanent the following season. This is a smaller puzzle related to the previous round's puzzle, most often done in Round 1. The contestant is given its category and about half of the letters; solving the Puzzler within 5 seconds wins a $2,000 bonus. The bonus round beeps play during the 5 seconds. Also, until around November, a series of bells indicates the Puzzler round; afterward, there is no sound for it.

Season 16 (1998-99)
Season Changes :
 * The opening graphics change again, placing Wheel of Fortune's logo over the door frame during the cheer.
 * The contestant area now has a video wall instead of three separate backdrops.
 * The Friday Finals format is eliminated. As was the case before 1989, contestants are now one-and-done. Pat later reveals on the Sony Rewards website that the show eliminated returning champions because the most skilled contestants are not always the top winners.
 * The Rhyme Time category makes its debut within the first two weeks.
 * This season may also be the debut of the Headline category.
 * It may also be the debut of the Who Said It? category.
 * 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 discontinued.
 * A second prize is placed on the wheel for Round 3.

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

October 1998 :
 * 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.
 * On October 12, the Puzzler is in round 3.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of October 12.

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

December 1998 :
 * On December 3, a contestant states the number in the Fill In the Number puzzle ####: A SPACE ODYSSEY while solving, instead of waiting for Pat to ask for the number separately. The contestant is credited with the $2,000 bonus.
 * December 25 has a rare appearance of a contestant from Canada (Toronto, Ontario).
 * On the December 25 episode, the prize wedge has a small box on it. Pat opens the box to find a CD jewel case with his picture on it, and gives this to the winning contestant.
 * December 25 has a Jackpot win.
 * December 28 is Wheel into 1999 week. This is the last time that the New Year's week is called "Wheel into [year]", and the last New Year's themed week until the week of December 27, 2010.

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

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

March 1999 :
 * After SHE SELLS SEA SHELLS BY THE SEASHORE is a puzzle on March 8, all Pat & Vanna talks the week of March 8 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 :
 * The On the Map category debuts on April 14.

May 1999 :
 * The weeks of May 3 through 24 are the Come Play in LA Sweepstakes.
 * The weeks of May 3 and 10 are taped in Philadelphia. May 10 is College Week.
 * On May 5, the winning contestant kisses Pat's shoes after winning the bonus round.
 * May 7 has a Jackpot win.
 * On May 7, the audience boos the bonus puzzle THAT'S IFFY after the contestant fails to solve it.
 * May 20 has a Before & After puzzle of VANNA WHITE WEDDING DRESS.

Season 17 (1999-2000)
Season Changes :
 * The opening graphics are changed yet again.
 * 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.
 * The categories Around the House debuts. For this season only, its category strip has a drawing of a house on it.
 * Harry Friedman joins Merv Griffin as co-executive producer.
 * The Wheel pegs are upgraded, a fact which Pat references twice on the first episode. These new pegs cause the Wheel to spin very tightly and loudly for the next couple seasons.
 * The Jackpot wedge is redesigned again. It now has "JACKPOT" surrounded by a semi-circle of yellow dots.

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

October 1999 :
 * There are two very similar bonus round answers on two consecutive episodes, October 1 and 4: A DAY OFF and A WEEK OFF, respectively. The former is also the first known instance of a bonus puzzle without RSTLNE in it since HUG in June 1995.
 * October 4 is the debut of the Preview Puzzle. This is a short, partially-revealed puzzle (with a category) displayed before the intro. It is entirely for the home viewers, and has no impact on the game. Vanna asks home viewers to try and solve it at the top of the show; after she and Pat walk out, she reveals the Preview Puzzle answer. The first is TOM CRUISE.
 * Starting October 4, the final spin now has $1,000 added to its value.
 * Also on October 4, the $250 spaces are replaced with $300, $500, $600 and $800, thus making $300 the lowest-valued space on the Wheel. Pat and Vanna later discuss this change on the October 8 episode.
 * Also on October 4, the digits on the wedges now have a white outline.

November 1999 :
 * The weeks of November 8 and 15 are taped at Madison Square Garden. November 15 is Best Friends Week.
 * November 10 has a well-known blooper where a contestant guesses A GROUP OF PILL-PUSHERS in the Speed-Up round, prompting a stunned reaction from Pat.
 * November 22 is the first NBA Week, with baskbetball stars and partners playing for charity. For the next several seasons, the NBA week is always the first week of reruns during the summer.

December 1999 :
 * December 3 has a Jackpot win.
 * December 13 is the last Puerto Rico week.
 * December 27 begins the show's first Retro week, which pays tribute to the shopping era. Several changes are made for this week only, including:
 * The Preview Puzzle is a freeze-frame of a puzzle from an older episode when the mechanical board was still in use. After she walks out, Vanna reveals the Preview Puzzle answer on the current board.
 * The intro is an abridged version of the "look at this studio" intro from the 1980s, as Charlie describes that week's prizes (which appear on turntables). A new piece of music accompanies this intro.
 * The intro from an earlier episode appears after that (with the original "Changing Keys" music dubbed over), followed by a wipe to Pat and Vanna in the present day.
 * The set has 1970s flower-power decor and a ceramic dalmatian.
 * The contestant video wall has replicas of the 1992-1993 contestant backdrops on it.
 * Also, a Shopping wedge is used in place of the regular wheel prizes, allowing the contestant to "shop" for one of three trips. This wedge also has a drawing of a ceramic dalmatian on it.
 * On December 27, the 1980s clip used during the intro inadvertently leaves in a reference to Jack Clark.
 * December 27 has a unique category in the first round: 70's Song/Artists.

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

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

March 2000 :
 * March 20 is the first episode to use $1,000 gift tags on the Wheel. There are three of them, placed over money wedges; if won, they offer $1,000 towards a certain company's products. In later seasons, the gift tags are reduced to two, and then to one.
 * Also starting on March 20 and for the rest of the season, there is an animated bumper after round 3.

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

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

June 2000 : (season ends June 2)

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

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

October 2000 :

November 2000 :
 * On November 2, celebrities play the game for charity while in Halloween costumes, as part of an "unmask the stars" sweepstakes on the show's website. The celebrities are Richard Simmons, Tara Lipinski and Alex Trebek, who are respectively disguised as William Shakespeare, a genie and a gnome. Charlie reveals each celebrity's identity at the end of the episode. Alex Trebek's son, Matt, also appears in a gnome costume at the end of the show.
 * Perhaps because of time constraints, the November 2 episode does not have a second Toss-Up.
 * The week of November 6 is taped in Washington DC.
 * Starting November 6, background music is now played during the Speed-Up round.
 * On November 6, the Bankrupt/$10,000/Bankrupt is mistakenly placed on the Wheel in round 2, where it is also won. Pat comments on the error at the start of Round 3, and it remains for the normal Round 3 as well.
 * The week of November 13 is a Hershey's Pot of Gold Sweepstakes. It offers home viewers a chance to sit in the audience for the Hawaii episodes that air in February 2001; other prizes include $25,000 cash, a car, a Hawaiian vacation, and Hershey's chocolates.

December 2000 :
 * For a few weeks in December only, the background in the set changes before the bonus round.

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

February 2001 :
 * The week of February 5 is a college week taped in Washington DC. This is the first time since season 12 that more than two weeks were taped for a road show, and it is the first time that road show weeks from the same venue did not air contiguously.
 * On February 9, Pat accidentally starts prompting Vanna to reveal the contestant's bonus round letters before he has picked a vowel. The contestant also solves I'M SO HAPPY with only I'M S_ _____ revealed.
 * The weeks of February 12 and 19 are taped in Hawaii. February 12 is also a family week.

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

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

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

June 2001 : (season ends June 1)

Season 19 (2001-02)
Season Changes :
 * A third Toss-Up is added. The game opens with a $1,000 Toss-Up, and whoever solves it is interviewed first. A $2,000 Toss-Up follows the interviews to determine who starts round 1; a $3,000 toss-Up determines who starts round 4. Also, the Toss-Up rounds now use a split-screen identical to the one in the Speed-Up rounds, so that viewers can see which contestant rings in.
 * If the first Toss-Up is not solved, the red contestant is interviewed first; if the $2,000 Toss-Up is not solved, the red contestant starts round 1, and if the $3,000 Toss-Up is not solved, the contestant who started round 1 also starts round 4.
 * The opening still shows flashbacks, but the graphics surrounding the clip are changed.
 * Charlie's intro is now the current intro, "Ladies and gentlemen, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!" On travel shows, this is typically changed to "And now, from [venue], here are the stars of America's Game, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
 * The category strips are changed to white letters on a purple, rectangular background, and the "rolling" effect is removed.
 * Road shows now last for three weeks instead of two.
 * Tapings from Culver City now comprise six episodes; the sixth episodes are put into separate weeks throughout the season. In later seasons, this causes oddities such as a Teen Best Friends episode in the middle of a week.
 * This season may be the debut of the Song Lyrics category.
 * The long-standing practice of very short Round 1 puzzles is gradually abandoned around this time.
 * For the first seven weeks of the season, the W-H-E-E-L envelopes comprise three cars and two $25,000 prizes, and none are taken out of rotation if won.
 * The cash totals after the Bonus Round are now large, thin, white numbers.

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

October 2001 :
 * On October 1, two contestants mispronounce DAVID DUCHOVNY AND TEA LEONI when trying to solve. In the same game's Speed-Up round, all three contestants guess BALL PEN AND PENCIL SET; the actual answer is BULL PEN AND PENCIL SET.
 * October 15 is the first week of "sixth show" tapings, Wheel Around the World.
 * On October 22, the category strip disappears briefly during round 4.
 * On October 22, the W-H-E-E-L envelopes are replaced with a 24-space bonus wheel. One envelope has $100,000 cash; the rest have either $25,000 or cars. The first prize landed on, a Honda Accord, is not won; the contestant gets no help from his extra letters.
 * On October 22, and most likely the next several episodes afterward, Pat reveals the location of the $100,000 envelope on the bonus wheel at the end of the round.

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

December 2001 :
 * On December 3, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle BALI despite not getting any help from their extra letters. This is also 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.
 * December 10 is Hawaii week, but taped in Culver City.
 * December 19 is the show's first $100,000 bonus round win. The contestant has only one letter unrevealed in his bonus puzzle, A HAPPY MEAL, when he solves.
 * There may have been a rare use of Rhyme Time in the bonus round around this time. The puzzle is FINE WINE, and the contestant's letter choices reveal the answer completely.
 * December 31 is I Love NY week, but taped in Culver City. New York then-governor George Pataki does some of the intros, and 9/11 is addressed.

January 2002 :
 * January 7 is NFL Players Week. In this edition, only the partners, not the players, are on stage as contestants, while the celebrities speak about their charities and make comments from outside the studio. This is also the one edition not to rerun the last week of the summer reruns.
 * January 14 is New Orleans week, but taped in Culver City.
 * Sometime around the week of January 21, the round 3 Wheel prize is removed. There is once again only one prize on the Wheel.
 * January 31 - February 6 is the Hershey's Pot of Gold Sweepstakes, with no theme name seen for those shows. Since that's a Thursday - Wednesday, over the course of the two weeks with the sweepstakes, there are two different sets for the two Monday - Friday weeks as usual, but in the first week, the theme name (Romantic Destinations) is seen Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday only, and for the second, the theme name (Island Fever) is seen Thursday and Friday only.

February 2002 :
 * On February 1, the contestant's letter choices reveal the bonus puzzle THE JOKER completely.
 * The weeks of February 11, 18 and 25 are all taped at the Las Vegas Hilton.
 * The week of February 11 is a Sweethearts week, with husband-and-wife teams playing.
 * On February 11, two teams both forget to add an S to the $3,000 Toss-Up, IN-ROOM MOVIES.
 * On February 11, the contestants get no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.
 * On February 18, amounts of $30,000, $35,000, $40,000, $45,000 and $50,000 are added to the bonus wheel for Big Money Week, another case of that week occurring twice in the same season. This change is initially done only for this week, but becomes permanent in Season 20.
 * The week of February 25 is a Best Friends week.

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

April 2002 :
 * The week of April 22 is NASCAR Week.
 * The week of April 29 is the first Teen Best Friends week.
 * During one of the Teen Best Friends episodes, a contestant rings in on the first Toss-Up and says CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE. Her teammate quickly adds an S to the end to form the right answer, and it is accepted.

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

Season 20 (2002-03)
Season Changes :
 * The Bankrupt/$10,000/Bankrupt wedge is moved again, to Round 1. It stays on the Wheel through Round 3.
 * The Mystery Round debuts. Two Mystery wedges are placed on the Wheel during Round 3: one with a car (or $10,000 cash) on the reverse, and the other with a Bankrupt. Anyone who hits a Mystery wedge can take it for $500 a letter, or flip it over to see if it has the Mystery prize. If one wedge has been flipped over, the other functions as a $500 space for the rest of the round and cannot be flipped over.
 * For most of the first few weeks, Pat flips over the second Mystery Wedge at the end of the round if a contestant has flipped over the first one. However, he does not do this on September 2.
 * The eggcrate score displays are replaced with computer-generated panel displays. If a contestant hits Bankrupt or Lose a Turn, those words are shown on the display for a few seconds.
 * The extra amounts added to the bonus wheel during Big Money Week in February 2002 are made permanent.
 * Contestants who fail to earn anything are now given $500 cash instead of parting gifts. This change is done to alleviate the cost of travel.
 * The opening is now blue rings in a reddish background, forming the logo. Once it's complete, the "Wheel! Of! Fortune!" chant is heard.
 * The category strips are now on blue with a green frame surrounding them.
 * "Happy Wheels" is given a new re-arrangement which samples the first few bars from the 1998 remix of "Changing Keys".
 * For this season only, there is a "20th Anniversary" bug on the screen, which also forms part of the contestant window during the bonus round.
 * As of this season, Same Name, Before & After and three-line puzzles are no longer used during Speed-Up rounds. It is not known why this change was made.
 * The Wheel pegs are updated again; they are now slightly shorter and bronze-colored. The Wheel spins a little more loosely than in the past two seasons, but it is still quite loud.
 * For this season, compilation weeks don't have names; they simply have the name of the full set week. For this season, there are four, and since then, there's always been one the season finale week.

September 2002 : (season starts September 2)
 * On September 2, a contestant flips over a Mystery wedge for the first time. He finds a Bankrupt on the other side.
 * September 9 is Las Vegas Week, but taped in Culver City.
 * September 9 is a $100,000 loss.
 * Donny Osmond makes a cameo on the September 16 episode.
 * Season 20 starts with 13 consecutive bonus round losses, accounting for the longest known losing streak in the show's history.
 * September 30 is Florida week, but taped in Culver City.

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

November 2002 :
 * November 4, 11 and 18 are taped in Seattle. November 11 is a college week, and November 18, Family Week.
 * On one of the Seattle episodes, CINEMATOGRAPHY is the answer to a Speed-Up puzzle. This is believed to be the first time that a one-word answer fills in the entire second row of the current puzzle board, something which does not happen again until the bonus puzzle QUALIFICATIONS on May 13, 2011.
 * On November 27 and 28, two contestants in a row get no help from their letters in the bonus round.

December 2002 :
 * The week of December 2 is a family week, despite there having been one just two weeks before in Seattle. This one is called Family Vacations, and has the Universal Studios Orlando background, similar to the one the week of May 22, 2000. This week does have a sixth show taping.
 * December 4 has an Artist/Song puzzle, as opposed to the more common Song/Artist.
 * On December 4, a pair of contestants sweeps the main game and wins $100,000 in the bonus round. This is believed to be the first main game sweep since the introduction of Toss-Ups.
 * December 12 is a $100,000 loss.
 * December 30 is San Francisco Week, but taped in Culver City.
 * During the week of December 30, a contestant solves KELSEY GRAMMER AS DR. FRASIER CRANE with only the R's and S's revealed. The round takes about 45 seconds.
 * December 30 is a $100,000 loss.

January 2003 :
 * January 13 is the first Big Money week to occur only once in the season.
 * On January 13, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle WINNIPEG with _INNIPE_ revealed.
 * January 14 is a $100,000 loss.
 * On January 22, a contestant gets no help from their letters in the bonus round.
 * On January 23, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle BLACKBIRD while his extra letters are still lighting up.

February 2003 :
 * The weeks of February 3, 10 and 17 are all taped at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of February 3.
 * On February 3, the contestant's letter choices reveal the bonus puzzle SNOWPLOW completely.
 * February 10 is Sweethearts Week. This is the last Hershey's Pot of Gold sweepstakes.
 * February 17 is a Country Music Stars week, with two-person teams consisting of a contestant and a country music singer.
 * On February 17, Lee Ann Womack helps her contestant solve the bonus puzzle BOOKWORM at the last second with only ______RM revealed.
 * February 21 is a $100,000 loss.

March 2003 :
 * On March 6, the bonus puzzle is a redundant answer of CHURCH HYMN.
 * On March 13, in an unusual move, Pat gives the contestant a choice of three possible companies on a Slogan puzzle. The contestant gives the right answer.
 * On March 13, the show has its first tie game since the introduction of Toss-Ups. The tie is broken by a fourth Toss-Up, which does not have a cash value; whoever rings in with the right answer proceeds to the bonus round. This also creates a now very rare occurrence of the same category appearing three times within the same show, as Round 3, the tie-breaking Toss-Up and the bonus round are all Thing(s).
 * March 17 has a Jackpot win.
 * March 24 is Hawaii week, but taped in Culver City.
 * March 27 is a $100,000 loss.

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

May 2003 : (season ends May 30)
 * May 5 is Armed Forces Week, taped in San Diego.
 * May 12 is a college week from San Diego.
 * On May 15, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle ENJOY THE SHOW with EN_O_ THE SHOW revealed.
 * May 21 is a $100,000 win.

Season 21 (2003-04)
Season Changes :
 * The Prize Puzzle debuts. Occurring during any of the first three rounds, Prize Puzzles offer an extra prize (almost always a trip) to the contestant who solves that puzzle. For Seasons 21 and 22, the Prize Puzzles occur randomly throughout the week. They are also signaled by a higher-pitched version of the puzzle reveal chimes, immediately after the normal chime; also, a "Prize Puzzle" bug replaces the normal one throughout the round.
 * The gold borders around the Wheel and puzzle board are replaced with blue and purple Plexiglass borders.
 * The video wall behind the panel now has moving pictures.
 * The On the Menu category makes its debut. This category is renamed Food & Drink in Season 24.
 * The category strips are now white text on a dark blue-violet rectangle. The left and right sides of the strip "fade" instead of having distinct ends.
 * The Jackpot wedge is changed, now showing a golden-colored logo with "JACKPOT" written on a triangle.
 * The opening is the logo forming (first the wheel representing the O in "of", then the rest of it), on a white background with green streaks. It is slightly changed after only the second week of the season.
 * Black carpeting is added to the front of the puzzle board (the portion that Vanna walks on).
 * Like the two from Season 19, sixth show taping weeks now have their own names.
 * For the first time since Season 5, the season does not begin on Labor Day.
 * This is the only known season in the show's history not to have a Family week.

September 2003 : (season begins September 8)
 * September 8 has a Jackpot win.
 * September 19 has a contestant who does a Fred Flintstone impersonation. In response, Pat impersonates Barney Rubble.
 * On September 22, Pat takes a jab at Game Show Network (GSN) before the $3,000 Toss-Up by saying "I mean, there are shows on Game Show Network that don't give that away in a month!"

October 2003 :
 * On October 21, a contestant is given the bonus puzzle HICCUPS with only _____PS revealed, and Pat jokes that he will retire if she solves it. She does.
 * On October 27, Vanna's son and daughter, Niko and Giavonna, appear in costume at the end of the show.
 * The winning contestant on October 31 has only $6,950 before the bonus round.

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

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

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

February 2004 :
 * February 2 is Aloha Week, Hawaii themed, but taped in Culver City.
 * February 3 has six rounds.
 * February 6 has six rounds.
 * On February 6, the bonus puzzle A NEW JOB is inexplicably categorized as Phrase instead of Thing.
 * The weeks of February 9, 16 and 23 are taped at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. February 9 is Sweethearts Week, and February 23, Teen Best Friends.
 * February 9 is a $100,000 loss.
 * On February 13, no one gives a right answer to the $1,000 Toss-Up, CORNER BARBERSHOP. Unusually for an unsolved Toss-Up, all three teams ring in; the last team rings in with only the N missing but says nothing.
 * On February 13, the contestants' letters fill in the bonus puzzle A CLEAN SHAVE entirely.
 * On February 18, a contestant tries to call four of the six letters that are already given in the bonus round (T, N, S, R). After finally picking three more consonants and a vowel, she fails to solve the puzzle DAYBREAK.
 * On February 20, with a Slogan puzzle of OUTWIT OUTPLAY OUTLAST, a contestant loses her chance at the $3,000 bonus when an audience member shouts out the right answer of Survivor. This does not affect the outcome, as she wins the main game anyway.
 * On February 20, Pat stands over the bonus wheel and makes bizarre, pseudo-Indian chants before the contestant spins it.
 * All five winners on the week of February 16 are female.

March 2004 :
 * March 1 is Aruba week, with a sweepstakes.
 * The week of March 1 has three instances of contestants getting no help from their letters in the bonus round: (March 1, 2 and 5).
 * On March 9, after SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS is the answer to a puzzle, Pat recites the entire SpongeBob SquarePants theme song.
 * March 15 is the debut of a new set with several clear arches and video screens on it, hereinafter referred to on this wiki as "dips and columns" for ease of reference.
 * March 15 is the debut of the Wheel Watchers Club, which allows home viewers who are members of the show's rewards program a chance to win the prize offered in every day's Prize Puzzle. During each Prize Puzzle, a SPIN ID is drawn; home viewers who see their SPIN ID on the show may go to the show's website to confirm their ID and claim the prize.
 * March 15's bonus puzzle A GROUP HUG is categorized as Event. The next two times this bonus puzzle appears (February 27, 2006 and January 12, 2010), it is categorized as Thing and doesn't have the A.
 * During the Pat & Vanna talk on March 15, Pat reminds Vanna of another Pat and Vanna talk from the previous November about how Vanna wished Thanksgiving could be at another time, for instance in March. He then reminds her it's now March, and surprises her with a turkey dinner.
 * March 17 has a now-rare instance of a bonus round prize worth less than $25,000: a (base model) Chrysler PT Cruiser valued at just over $19,000.
 * March 25 is a $100,000 loss.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of March 29-April 2.
 * A Wheel Changes Lives segment is seen in the Pat & Vanna talk for all the March 29-April 2 episodes.

April 2004 :
 * April 5 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place as the first Toss-Up, which may also be the first time that category is used in a Toss-Up round.
 * April 8 has a very unusual, non-sequitur puzzle of SPARROWS & PARAKEETS as the first Toss-Up. These are two types of completely unrelated birds which are not commonly associated together.
 * April 9 has a very rare instance of a bonus puzzle without A, E, I, O or U in it. The answer is MYTHS.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of April 12. The losing streak extends to seven before another win occurs on the 21st.
 * The week of April 12 is Wheel Around the World, showing international versions of the show. This edition has the dips and columns set.
 * The week of April 12 also has three instances of contestants getting no help from their extra letters in the bonus round (April 12, 14 and 15).
 * On April 19, I'D LIKE TO BUY A VOWEL is the answer to the round 1 puzzle.
 * April 28 is the last appearance of Fill In the Number.
 * On April 28, a contestant fails to solve PROOF POSITIVE with only the I's and V missing.
 * The month of April has three bonus puzzles that are five letters long: MYTHS on the 9th, VOGUE on the 12th and FIBER on the 20th.

May 2004 :
 * May 3, 10 and 17 are taped in San Francisco. May 3 is the first Mom & Me Week, with contestants playing with their mothers, and May 17, College Week. These episodes are also the source of a frequently re-aired outtakes reel, where Vanna repeatedly flubs the line "Highlight your nightlife" while shooting a bumper.
 * On May 3, Willie Mays makes a guest appearance after his name is the answer to a puzzle.
 * May 4 is the first known appearance of Classic TV in the bonus round. Although the category was introduced in season 14, it is almost never used in the bonus round for some reason.
 * On May 17, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle MY GIFT TO YOU at the last second with only the T's and O's revealed.
 * For the weeks of May 24 and 31, even though they're in Culver City, there are theme-related backdrops for the split screen Pat & Vanna talk.
 * On May 25, a contestant makes an extremely close mis-solve in the bonus round by saying "Kodak Bear" when the answer is KODIAK BEAR.

June 2004 : (season ends June 4)
 * On June 3, the contestant says the words BOILING and POINT at various times among his bonus round guesses, but never says the right answer of BOILING POINT.

Season 22 (2004-05)
Season Changes :
 * The opening starts with the show's title written in many different fonts, in orange with a brown background. Then during the cheer, the logo written in silver with a blue starry sky background. The latter effect is seen for the Prize Puzzle announcement.
 * The category strips are still white on dark blue, but darker than the ones from Season 21.
 * This season is the last one to begin on Labor Day.
 * The categories Best Seller and Fun & Games debut. Best Seller is very rarely used.
 * The Mystery Wedges now offer $1,000 per letter if they are not flipped over, and the wedges are changed from black to dark blue. Also, the prize offered in this round is sometimes $10,000 cash instead of a prize worth roughly $10,000; by season 23, the prize is always $10,000 cash.
 * The Final Spin now has a graphic wipe, written like the show's title in the opening.
 * The Prize Puzzle bug sometimes shifts to "Have Your SPIN ID Ready".
 * The cash totals after the Bonus Round are now in a small but wide silver font.
 * The Pat & Vanna talk backdrop is the blue starry sky.

September 2004 : (season starts September 6)
 * September 6 has a rare appearance of Title/Author.
 * On September 13, the contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle, then says "I couldn't get HIPBONE either", in reference to the February 17, 2004 bonus answer. This is the only known instance of a contestant making reference to a previous episode's puzzle.
 * On September 15, an A in the bonus round 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.

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

November 2004 :
 * In an amusing coincidence, the bonus round answers on November 3 and November 4 are HIGH VOLTAGE and QUITE A SHOCK.
 * November 4 also has 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.
 * November 8 and 15 are taped in Philadelphia. November 15 is Family Week.
 * On November 16, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle THE VIEW with THE _IE_ revealed.
 * For the November 17 edition of Family Week, all three teams are composed of identical twins.
 * November 17 is the first known appearance of Song Lyrics in the bonus round.
 * November 23 has an extremely rare appearance of Landmark in the bonus round. It is also the last time that category appears in the bonus round.

December 2004 :
 * On December 14, the contestant's letter choices fill in the bonus puzzle KEEPSAKE completely. The second K in fails to reveal for several seconds after Vanna touches it.
 * December 20 has six rounds.
 * December 28 has the first known instance of a puzzle with a colon in it. The answer is EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION.
 * On December 28 and 29, C M P A may have been called in the bonus round in that exact order for two consecutive days.

January 2005 :
 * The week of January 3 pairs contestants with NFL players. This edition has Jim Brown narrating the gameplay.
 * Between January 7 and 14, the $25,000 bonus prize is hit six times in a row.
 * The week of January 17 has the first instance of $100,000 being hit twice in one week: on Monday and again on Thursday.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of January 17.
 * January 31 is Teen Best Friends week from Philadelphia.

February 2005 :
 * February 3 is a $100,000 win.
 * The weeks of February 7, 14 and 21 are both taped in Las Vegas. February 7 is Sweethearts Week and February 21, Big Money.
 * Instead of the video wall behind the panel, the background is a slot machine with three Lucky 7 images behind each contestant. At the start of each round, they spin, and what's included are 7s, the word BAR and cherries. They also show the cash amount during Toss-Up rounds, "Final Spin" during Speed-Up rounds and "Jackpot" if the Jackpot is won.
 * On February 18, a contestant sets a new one-round record of $54,000 in the Speed-Up round.
 * February 18 is a $100,000 loss; the contestant would have set a one-day record of $160,150 had she solved. The bonus puzzle, QUALITY TIME, caused another $100,000 loss on September 21, 2010.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of February 21.
 * Between February 28 and March 7, the $25,000 bonus prize is hit six days in a row.

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

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

May 2005 :
 * May 2, 9, and 16 are from Kansas City, MO. May 2 is Mom & Me, and May 16, College Week.
 * May 10 is the last appearance of Title in the bonus round.
 * May 23 has the last Wheel Goes to the Movies Week with that name and immediately following the May time on the road. In Season 23, it's in January and is called Hollywood Walk of Fame, and then it's Holiday Movie Magic, obviously between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
 * May 27's bonus puzzle FAWN is believed to be the first four-letter bonus puzzle since BALI in November 2001. It is also the last four-letter bonus puzzle; however, A GULF appears early in season 23.
 * May 30 is a $100,000 loss.

June 2005 : (season ends June 3)

Season 23 (2005-06)
Season Changes :
 * From this season onward, the season premiere is always the first Monday after Labor Day.
 * For all of Season 23, most shows begin with one of three animated intros featuring people getting ready to watch Wheel. One includes a man quickly driving home from work; one features a man seeming to get ready for a date (including a cat wearing an "I'm a Wheel Watcher" shirt); and one features a black family finishing dinner quickly before running into the living room. Each animation ends with the last bar of "Happy Wheels" and the logo in maroon with a blue background, as if it were joined in progress. These intros are not used during road shows. Some affiliates also use these animations as ads for the show.
 * Though the logo changes, the Prize Puzzle and Final Spin graphics and Pat & Vanna talk background don't.
 * Prize Puzzles now occur daily.
 * The category strips are white on light blue ovals, very similar to those of Season 18.
 * Cars won in the bonus round are now available to Wheel Watchers Club members; a SPIN ID is drawn after Charlie describes the car.
 * The category In the Kitchen makes its debut, as do three specific subsets of Title: Song Title, Movie Title and TV Title. As a result, Title itself now appears very sporadically.
 * It also appears to be the debut of the College Life and Rock On! categories. Charlie announces the latter in a deep "rock DJ" voice. The former is used only during college weeks.
 * The first commercial break is moved to the end of round 1; rounds 2 (Jackpot) and 3 (Mystery) are now in their own segments. Also, there is also no longer a commercial break between the bonus round and credits; instead, a brief promotional spiel (e.g., Wheelmobile plug) airs at this point.
 * The "no more vowels" bug is changed to a slanted appearance.
 * The consolation for contestants who fail to earn anything, and the house minimum for a round, are both increased from $500 to $1,000. During episodes with two-person teams, both are increased to $2,000.
 * The Wheel pegs are changed again to a silver color.
 * The "$3,000 bonus" categories begin occurring much less frequently.

September 2005 : (season starts September 12)
 * The season starts with seven bonus round losses.
 * The September 12 week is Wheel Around the World, with international versions of the show. This version has the dips and columns set.
 * On September 12, a contestant accidentally tries to buy a vowel after Pat has reminded the contestants that there are no more vowels in the puzzle. Because the vowel called is already in the puzzle, she loses her turn.
 * September 12 has a now-rare appearance of Next Line Please.
 * On September 21, a contestant sweeps the main game and win $25,000 in the bonus round.
 * September 22 is believed to be the only seven-round game in the show's history.
 * September 26 is the first of three Wheel Watchers Club weeks in the season. This is the first time other than Big Money a week has been seen more than twice per season. This edition has the dips and columns set.
 * September 26's bonus puzzle, A GULF, is one of the last examples of a puzzle with a redundant A at the beginning.
 * Except for the sixth show tapings of the weeks of September 12 and 26, the week of September 26 is the last time a car is the Mystery Round prize. From those episodes onward, it is always a $10,000 prize on the other side.
 * On September 28, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle KICKBOXING with _I_____ING revealed.
 * September 29 has two males and one female contestant.

October 2005 :
 * Starting on October 3, a graphic effect now shows home viewers what is on the other side of a Mystery wedge if it is landed on.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of October 3.
 * On October 5, the contestant gets no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.
 * October 6's contestants are all female.
 * The weeks of October 10, 17 and 24 do not have any of the animated intros.
 * Kurt Warner gives introductions on the 10th and 13th, making the 10th the first show not to have the animations, and the debut of the full length Season 23 intro, which is the maroon logo forming.
 * October 18's sixth show taping was of the previous week, making 6 out of 7 consecutive episodes the same set.
 * On October 21, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle SKUNK without any help from their extra letters.
 * The week of October 24 is a college week, and the first known College Week from Culver City. It is also the debut of the College Life category.
 * On October 24, the Jackpot wedge is re-colored shiny silver like the $5,000 wedge, and the triangular Jackpot logo on it is re-colored red.
 * On October 24, a contestant ties the one-round record of $54,000 in the Speed-Up round.
 * October 25 is the debut of the Rock On! category.
 * On October 25, the contestant gets no help from her letters in the bonus round. The puzzle, BIG GULP, is very misleadingly categorized as On the Menu; this puzzle may have been one of the reasons behind renaming the On the Menu category to Food & Drink in Season 24.
 * The week of October 31 is the last NBA Week.

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

December 2005 :
 * December 2 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 only.
 * On December 5, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle about a second after the buzzer.
 * December 7 is a $100,000 loss.
 * From December 12 until the end of the season, the animated intros are used on on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday only.
 * December 12 begins the Sony Winner Wonderland sweepstakes. Home viewers may collect game pieces from Circuit City stores or the show's website. If an episode's bonus puzzle matches the answer on a game piece, the home viewer may send in the piece for a chance to win a $25,000 prize. Also, all of the prizes this week are Sony products, making for a now-rare occurrence of Wheel prizes that are not trips.
 * The holiday themed week the week of December 19 is the first that has a name other than Happy Holidays. This version is 'Tis the Season.
 * December 21 begins a streak of seven consecutive bonus round losses, spread over two weeks.
 * December 23 has a rare appearance of Rhyme Time in the bonus round. This is only its second known appearance in the bonus round; its first was at some unknown point in season 19.
 * On the week of December 26, four contestants land on the car (a Chevy HHR) in the bonus round.

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

February 2006 :
 * On February 2, a contestant accidentally tries to pick S and T in the bonus round.
 * The weeks of February 6, 13 and 20 are taped at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This is the first time in exactly 11 years that four weeks of road shows were taped at the same locale. And also, if it hadn't been for Hurricane Katrina and what happened in New Orleans, with three weeks in Denver in May, this may have been the only season to have as many as 10 weeks on the road. February 6 is Sweethearts Week. Since February 13 is Fun in the Sun and February 20, Welcome Aboard, this doesn't have a theme week with the name of their locale.
 * February 6 is a $100,000 win.
 * On February 10, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * February 15 is the second known case of a contestant choosing not to look at the bonus round envelope after losing it.
 * February 16 is the second appearance of In the Kitchen in the bonus round.
 * February 16 is a $100,000 loss.
 * February 20 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * February 21 has a rare appearance of Classic TV in the bonus round.
 * February 24 is one of the occasional on the road weeks to have the two males and one female.
 * February 27 is Soap Stars Week, with teams composed of a contestant and a soap opera star.
 * February 28 is a $100,000 win. It also sets a new one-day record of $142,550.

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

April 2006 :
 * April 3 is Armed Forces Week.
 * On April 6, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle about a second after the buzzer.
 * April 18 has two males and one female contestant.
 * Ultimate Adventures the week of April 24 has the dips and columns set, even though previous editions, including one since the debut of the dips and columns set don't, such as the week of January 10, 2005, and March 8, 2004, the week before the debut.
 * April 28 has six rounds.
 * April 28 is a $100,000 loss.

May 2006 :
 * The weeks of May 1, 8 and 15 are taped at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.
 * The week of May 1 is Great Outdoors week.
 * The week of May 8 is Mom & Me week, with mother and son/mother and daughter teams playing.
 * On May 8's Pat & Vanna talk, they mention there's a Vana White, and they introduce her and show her ID.
 * May 10 is the third appearance of In the Kitchen in the bonus round. It does not appear in the bonus round again until April 2007.
 * The week of May 15 is a College Week. This makes Denver one of the few locales not to have a week with the name of their locale in the theme name.
 * During the week of May 15, the show holds a Text Me to Paradise sweepstakes.
 * May 15 is a $100,000 win.
 * May 16 and 17 have two females and one male contestant.
 * May 17 has a rare appearance of College Life.
 * May 22 is a Family Week, consisting of contestants who were originally to have appeared on the canceled set of New Orleans tapings earlier in the season.
 * May 22 has a rare appearance of Rock On!
 * May 24 has a rare appearance of Family.
 * On May 25, a Same Name puzzle spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * The week of May 29 does not have any animated intros. Instead, before the intro, Vanna promotes the week's Wheel Across America theme at the top of the show.
 * May 30 contestant Timothy Sternberg previously won $16,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2001.
 * May 31 has a now-rare appearance of Where Are We?

June 2006 : (season ends June 9)
 * On June 1, a Same Name puzzle spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * June 5 is the third Wheel Watchers Club week, This one is obviously composed of sixth episodes.
 * June 5's sixth show taping is of the previous week, making 6 consecutive episodes of the same set.
 * June 7 has a now-rare appearance of Who Is It?

Season 24 (2006-07)
Season Changes :
 * The On the Menu category is renamed Food & Drink so that all food-related puzzles can be categorized consistently. Previously, some foods were categorized as Thing or Around the House, and others were shoehorned into On the Menu.
 * Both Wheel of Fortune and sister show Jeopardy! now broadcast in high definition.
 * The Jackpot wedge now offers $500 per consonant.
 * The animated intros seen throughout most of Season 23 are retired.
 * The puzzle-solve cue is changed to the current fanfare.
 * The opening is a gold logo on a multicolored wheel, flipping and inverting before the cheer. For the season premiere week (and its sixth show taping), there's a flashback during Charlie's "Ladies and gentlemen ..." announcement.
 * The logo in the bottom left hand corner is no longer transparent; it's gold. And it's only seen during the intros and whenever there's a view of the category strips.
 * During the beginning of round 3, a graphic now "drops down" from the top of the screen to show the contestants' names and scores at that point.
 * The Round 1 Prize is now introduced with a wheel dipping down framing it, then zooming out for the announcement, then when it ends, the wheel comes down again, frames the last shot of the announcement, then zooms out again.
 * The Prize Puzzle and Final Spin graphic wipes are now those words written in gold with the multicolored wheel background.
 * The opening and closing music beds are changed. Strangely, this season's opening music is used only for this season.
 * The category strips are changed again, keeping the white-on-blue motif but adding a slight sunburst effect to the blue field and changing the font yet again.
 * The NO MORE VOWELS graphic is now written in white and curved. It now uses a fireworks sound effect.
 * With the show in HD, if it's on HD TVs (16 by 9), there are special borders. For this season, it's purple with circles of different sizes and getting bigger (but cut off at the borders to look like only forwards and backwards Ds).
 * For the intro to the two sponsors after the first commercial break, "the following" now follows "brought to you by."
 * For the Prize Puzzle, the SPIN ID intro changes a bit, 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 "decade" categories are apparently retired a few weeks into this season. Their appearances in the 2000s had been extremely sporadic.
 * The Wheel wedges no longer have white outlines around the digits.
 * The Pat & Vanna talk backdrop is now purple with spokes going to the center, and the show's logo is seen at the top.

September 2006 : (season starts September 11)
 * On September 11, the Bankrupt slide whistle is not heard when a contestant flips over a Mystery wedge and finds a Bankrupt.
 * On September 15, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle FUEL GAUGE without any help from their extra letters.
 * On September 20 and 22, the contestants get no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.
 * September 26 has a promo of the Sony Pictures Animation movie Open Season, which is the Round 1 prize in that round, before the opening.
 * September 26's bonus puzzle FICUS is the first five-letter bonus puzzle since SKUNK on October 21, 2005.
 * September 27 has a now-rare appearance of The 70's, which also seems to be the last appearance of a "decade" category.
 * On September 27, the bonus puzzle has a redundant "the" at the beginning. The answer is THE FAIRWAY.
 * September 28 has a rare appearance of Rock On!
 * On September 28, the contestant's original bonus puzzle was thrown out after she called her letters, apparently because it was realized that she did not spin the bonus wheel all the way around. The replacement bonus puzzle, WAVE GOODBYE, is inexplicably categorized as Thing instead of Phrase.

October 2006 :
 * October 2 has a now-rare appearance of Who Is It?
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of October 2.
 * October 10 is the first $100,000 loss of the season. The contestant also gets no help from their extra letters.
 * On October 17, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle HOT WINGS despite getting no help from their extra letters.
 * October 20 has two males and one female contestant.
 * October 23 is a College Week from Culver City.
 * October 23 is the debut of the Wild Card, which is placed over the green $700. This card can be turned in to call a second letter during a turn, for the same value as the last spin. If taken to the bonus round, it allows for a fourth consonant. Although the contestant does not have to solve the puzzle to claim the Wild Card, it is forfeited if the contestant hits Bankrupt. Pat would often forget the latter rule for the first several weeks.
 * October 25 begins a streak of eight consecutive bonus round losses, spread out over two weeks.
 * The weeks of October 30 and November 6 and 13 are taped in Dallas. October 30 is a Best Friends week.
 * October 30 has a rare appearance of Headline.
 * On October 30, the contestant gets no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.

November 2006 :
 * November 2 has a rare appearance of Landmark
 * On November 8, the contestant gets no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.
 * The November 8 episode, with a bonus puzzle of JULY FOURTH, coincidentally reruns on July 4, 2007.
 * Since it's on the road, 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. It is used again in the bonus round the next day.
 * On November 17, the contestant gets no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.
 * On November 24, the contestant gets no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.

December 2006 :
 * December 4 is the first Holiday Movie Magic week.
 * December 5 has a now-rare occurrence of a duplicated category within the main game, as both the $1,000 Toss-Up and Jackpot Round are Event.
 * December 5 is a $100,000 win.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of December 11.
 * On December 12, the contestant gets no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.
 * On December 20, the contestant gets no help from his extra letters in the bonus round.
 * December 22 has a now-rare appearance of Where Are We?
 * December 22 has the second (and final) known instance of Song Lyrics in the bonus round.
 * The holiday themed week the week of December 25 is Spirit of the Season. It has the set from the previous season's Denver shows.
 * December 26 has a rare appearance of Headline.
 * On December 28, the contestant gets no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.
 * December 29 has a now-rare appearance of Slogan.

January 2007 :
 * January 1 is Las Vegas Week, but taped in Culver City. Instead of the video wall, it has the slot machine background from the February 2005 Vegas shows behind the panel.
 * The bonus puzzle seen on January 3 is a replacement puzzle; the original bonus puzzle was apparently thrown out due to an error in revealing the letters. For some reason, the bonus wheel spin was also re-shot with a dummy envelope in place, but the contestant played for the prize that was picked on the first spin.
 * January 5 has a now-rare appearance of Where Are We?
 * January 8 has six rounds.
 * On January 8, all three contestants make incorrect guesses in Round 6 (FRUIT SALAD).
 * January 9 is a sixth episode leftover from College Week.
 * January 11 has a now-rare appearance of Where Are We?
 * January 18 has two males and one female contestant.
 * For the whole week of January 22, as well as the sixth show taping show, 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, one of the contestants is physically handicapped, and has to have a friend spin the Wheel for him.
 * January 26 has six rounds. Round 6 is a rare one-word puzzle.
 * The week of January 29 is Teen Best Friends week.
 * On January 29, the winning contestants' Wild Card is not taken away after they hit a Bankrupt. The mistake is never realized, and they even go to the bonus round with it. However, they fail to solve the bonus puzzle.

February 2007 :
 * On February 2, the contestant gets no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.
 * The weeks of February 5, 12 and 19 are taped at the Charleston Area Convention Center in Charleston, South Carolina.
 * On February 5, new music beds debut for the Toss-Ups, Speed-Up and Bonus Round. The new Bonus Round music features a ticking clock sound.
 * February 5 has two males and one female contestant.
 * On February 7, a contestant wins over $120,000 by winning a Winnebago in the bonus round.
 * February 8 has a category almost never seen in plural form (Places).
 * February 8 has a rare appearance of Best Seller.
 * The week of February 12 is a special Country Music Stars week, in which each team is composed of a country music singer and a contestant.
 * On February 13, Julie Roberts and contestant Peter Buccalletto sweep the main game and win $100,000 in the bonus round.
 * On February 21, the contestant gets no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.
 * February 23 is a $100,000 loss.

March 2007 :
 * March 7 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * March 14 has six main game rounds.
 * On March 19, the contestant gets no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.
 * March 22 has six main game rounds. Round 5 is a rare one-word puzzle.
 * On March 22, one round (which one is unknown) with the answer of HE SAID SHE SAID is thrown out and replaced, because a contestant said HE SAYS SHE SAYS and is credited with a correct response. According to the contestant who made this erroneous solve, all three contestants were given a $100 bonus.
 * On March 27, the contestant gets no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.

April 2007 :
 * April 5 is a $100,000 loss.
 * April 6 has three female contestants. This does not happen again until March 21, 2011.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of April 9. The losing streak extends to nine before another bonus round win comes on the 20th.
 * The April 9 sixth show taping show 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 in the bonus round.
 * On April 12, the contestant gets no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.
 * Fun in the Sun the week of April 16 has the dips and columns set, even though previous editions of this week had a scenic set.
 * On April 16, the contestant gets no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of April 23. This does not happen again until March 2011.
 * April 23 is Choose Your Own Vacation week, where the Round 1 prize is an option of four vacations that a contestant can choose.
 * On April 23, a gold "$50,000 Cash" graphic is added to the Sony Card announcement.
 * April 23 has two males and one female contestant.
 * April 24 has a rare appearance of In the Kitchen in the bonus round, the first since May 10, 2006. The contestant solves the bonus puzzle BACKSPLASH, then asks Pat "What's a backsplash?"
 * The weeks of April 30, May 7, and May 14 are in San Diego. April 30 is the last Mom & Me week (even though Mother's Day is May 13), and May 14 is Armed Forces week.

May 2007 :
 * On May 1, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of May 21. This is part of an eight-loss streak spread over three weeks.
 * May 28 is Teachers Week. This is the first edition without students, and the first edition since February 2005.
 * On May 29, the contestant gets no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.
 * May 30 is a $100,000 win.

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

Season 25 (2007-08)
Season Changes :
 * The opening is a photomosaic of flashbacks, which zoom out to form a "25" logo. The edge of this is seen as the HD border. This is also seen as the Pat & Vanna talk backdrop, with a yellow "25".
 * The Prize Puzzle graphic is now a globe with the words PRIZE PUZZLE written in a yellow slant, with a blue background. However, the Final Spin graphics don't change.
 * Many episodes begin with a pre-recorded greeting from a celebrity, congratulating the show on its 25th anniversary, and a flashback clip leading into the first commercial break.
 * For this season only, the Mystery round also includes a Big Money wedge, a neon wedge which alternates among three different cash values ($2,500, $7,500, $25,000), Lose a Turn and Bankrupt. As with the Bankrupt/$10,000/Bankrupt wedge, the values are not multiplied by the frequency of the letter called. For the first week only, its amounts are treated as prizes; for the rest of the season, any money claimed on the Big Money wedge may be used to buy vowels. After the wedge is hit for any of its cash values, it functions as a $1,000 space for the rest of the round.
 * Also for this season only, there is a second prize wedge with a theme of "25", meaning that the contestant will win 25 of something (sometimes $2,500 cash, which Pat refers to as 25 $100 bills, or $2,500 in gas cards). This wedge is immediately to the viewer's right of the $10,000 prize. For the first week, it is present for the entire game, but for the second week onward, it is introduced in round 2.
 * The categories What Are You Doing?, What Are You Making? and Fictional Family all debut. Strangely, What Are You Making? is used only once, and Fictional Family is very sporadic.
 * The contestant's scoreboards are changed again. For the first week of taping only, they display the contestant's name above the score, and the numbers are in a tall but narrow font; afterward, the names are removed and the font is changed to the current one. The names are removed most likely because they are too hard to read.
 * "Happy Wheels" is given a new re-orchestration by Frankie Blue and John Hoke.
 * The category strip font is changed again, but the rest of the strip is not. This is the first season since Season 17 that the category strips didn't change thoroughly.
 * Even though it had changed only in February, the Speed-Up music changes again.
 * The puzzle board monitors are replaced with flat-screen LCDs.
 * Hitting the wedge with the Free Spin disc now offers both the disc and $300 per letter, instead of just the disc. To reflect this change, Free Spin is placed higher on the wedge, so that it does not obscure the 3.
 * Merv Griffin's August 12 death is never mentioned on the show.
 * Only two locales are now used on road shows.
 * The amount of sixth show taping weeks per season increases from 4 to 5. Four of the five make up the Thanks a Million Sweepstakes in February, and don't have any theme names beyond that.

September 2007 : (season starts September 10)
 * The week of September 10 is the first time that the "dips and columns" set is seen with a starry sky background. While the debut of the dips and columns week is Party Time, this version is Let's Party. Also, for this week, the columns are multicolored.
 * September 10 is the fifth appearance of In the Kitchen in the bonus round, and the first since April 24.
 * September 10 also has the misfortune of beginning the season with a $100,000 loss. The contestant gets no help from his letters.
 * September 11 is the last use of Who Is It?
 * September 17 is Casino Night, Las Vegas themed, but taped in Culver City. Instead of the video wall, it has the slot machine from the February 2005 Vegas shows behind the panel.
 * September 26 is the sixth and final appearance of In the Kitchen in the bonus round.

October 2007 :
 * October 1 starts a two-week streak in which nobody wins the bonus round. The streak includes two $100,000 losses, on the 4th and 8th. Overall, the month has only five bonus round wins out of 23.
 * October 1 also has an unusual instance in the Mystery Round. A contestant hits a Mystery Wedge, calls a letter that reveals the puzzle entirely, then flips the Mystery Wedge to find a Bankrupt on the other side. As a result, the completely filled-in puzzle gets passed on to the next contestant, who solves it.
 * October 15 is the first of three weeks this season to have a double-width $2,500 cash space, sponsored by Dawn dish soap.
 * October 15 is a College Road Trip week.
 * October 23 has the only use of What Are You Making? The puzzle is HERSHEY BAR, GRAHAM CRACKER, GOOEY ROASTED MARSHMALLOW and the contestant correctly identifies S'mores.
 * October 25 is a $100,000 loss.
 * The week of October 29 is the second week to have the double-width $2,500 space.
 * October 29 has a five-letter bonus round answer of RUGBY, the first five-letter bonus puzzle since September 26, 2006. The contestant solves it despite getting no help from their extra letters.
 * On October 30, the contestant also gets no help from their letters in the bonus round.

November 2007 :
 * The weeks of November 5, 12 and 19 are all taped in New York City.
 * November 5 is Best Friends Week.
 * November 12 is the last week to use the double-width $2,500 space.
 * November 12 is the debut of a second, short-lived "People" category related to People magazine. Each puzzle is a show-biz/celebrity gossip type puzzle that might be found in the magazine, and the category strip uses the People magazine logo. This category was only used for a couple weeks afterward.
 * On November 15, none of the contestant's called letters are in the bonus puzzle, not even with the help of the Wild Card.
 * November 19 is Heroes Week, which consists of men and women who have done good to New York City. This makes this New York the only known on the road week without a regular player week.
 * Sometime in November, the flashbacks are always seen Mondays and Wednesdays, and the celebrity messages always Tuesdays and Thursdays.
 * November 30 has the first use 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 WALK OF FAME with _AL_ _F FAME revealed.
 * December 10's bonus puzzle WIVES is the second five-letter bonus puzzle of the season. The contestant gets no help from their extra letters.
 * December 19 has six rounds.
 * December 21 is a $100,000 win.
 * The holiday themed week the week of December 24 is Happy Holidays for the first time since Season 22. This version has the Denver set from May 2006, as does Great Outdoors the previous week, making this the first time since Resort and Spa weeks in Season 21 that a non-dips and columns set is seen twice in one season, and the first non-dips and columns week to be seen for two consecutive weeks (though this has Christmas decorations).
 * December 24 has a rare appearance of Rhyme Time in the bonus round, for the first time since March 2006. It does not appear again in the bonus round until May 2011.
 * The December 24 episode ends with a reunion of the three contestants who appeared on Pat's first daytime show (which aired December 28, 1981). Clips are also shown from that episode.
 * December 27 is a $100,000 loss.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of December 24.

January 2008 :
 * On January 2, Pat and Vanna show off a ceramic Dalmatian.
 * January 7 has six rounds.
 * January 9 is the first appearance of What Are You Doing? in the bonus round.
 * January 17 is the second appearance of What Are You Doing? bonus round. Although it is still used in the main game as usual, it does not appear in the bonus round again until December 2010.
 * January 28 is a Teen Best Friends week.
 * On January 30, the contestants solve the completely revealed Slogan puzzle EAT FRESH as "Subway, eat fresh". After a presumed stop-down, their answer is ruled correct, and they receive the $3,000 bonus for identifying the product; this incident goes against precedent that puzzles have to be solved exactly as they appear on the puzzle board. It should be noted that Slogan only appears once after this, and none of the "$3,000 bonus" categories appear between September 2008 and the introduction of What's That Song? in September 2010.

February 2008 :
 * February 1's bonus puzzle ICING is the last five-letter bonus puzzle.
 * February 4 - 29 is the Thanks a Million Sweepstakes. They're sixth show taping episodes, and both leading into the first commercial break (or the second if Round 1 is a Prize Puzzle) and after the Bonus Round, there's a SPIN ID number, and people who have those SPIN ID numbers win $25,000. Since there are 40 over those 4 weeks, that makes $1,000,000 total.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of February 4.
 * February 13 is a $100,000 loss.
 * February 19 is the last appearance of Slogan. The puzzle is WHEN YOU'RE HERE YOU'RE FAMILY, and the contestant fails to identify it as Olive Garden's slogan.
 * On February 19, Pat eats a piece of cake throughout one round, and occasionally addresses contestants with his mouth full. This gag is a callback to earlier in the same episode, when he noticed one of the cameramen eating a piece of cake.
 * February 25 has an Author/Title puzzle, as opposed to the more common Title/Author.
 * February 27 is a sixth episode from Teen Best Friends week.

March 2008 :
 * March 3 has an Artist/Song puzzle, as opposed to the more common Song/Artist.
 * The weeks of March 10 and 17 comprise a two-week stretch of bonus round losses. The latter week is particularly notable, as any bonus round win that week would have offered $10,000 worth of QVC merchandise on the contestant's birthday.
 * March 11 is a $100,000 loss. The contestant says the answer just after the buzzer.
 * 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 20 has the last appearance of Next Line Please.
 * On March 20 and 21, two contestants in a row get no help from their letters in the bonus round.
 * March 24 has a rare appearance of Fictional Family.
 * March 24 is a $100,000 win.
 * The week of March 31 is Wheel Around the World, with international versions of the show. This edition has the dips and columns set, and the first of the season to have the blue sky as opposed to the starry sky background.
 * March 31 is a $100,000 loss, setting a new record of nine $100,000 losses in one season.
 * With only three wins and 18 losses, March 2008 is believed to have the fewest bonus round wins of any month in the show's history (although September 2002 may be close).

April 2008 :
 * On April 1, as an April Fools' Day gag, Pat fools Vanna into thinking that he is actually bald. As revealed later in the week, he achieved this by wearing a real wig over a bald wig. Strangely, the prank is removed when the episode is rerun in July 2008.
 * April 2's bonus round win makes for only the second win in the 24-episode period between March 10 and April 10.
 * The week of April 7 is the first Going Green week, which occurs at around this time every season. While this and the Season 28 versions have a scenic set, the Season 26 and 27 versions are dips and columns.
 * On April 9, a contestant fails to solve the bonus puzzle KIND OFFER with _IND _FFER revealed.
 * April 9 has two males and one female contestant.
 * Between April 7 and 10, the contestant in the blue position is the top winner for four days in a row.
 * The week of April 14 is the first Pet Lovers Week, in which contestants show off their pets (though not in the sixth show taping shows for any editions of this week). While this edition is dips and columns with the blue sky background, the Seasons 26, 27 and 28 versions aren't.
 * April 14 has a rare appearance of Landmark.
 * On April 23, a contestant loses $35,000 to Bankrupt, which is believed to be a record for the most lost to Bankrupt.
 * The weeks of April 28, May 5 and May 12 are all taped at Navy Pier in Chicago. April 28 is a College week, May 5 is a Family week, and May 12 Get in the Game, which has to do with Chicago sports teams.
 * April 29 and 30 both have College Life puzzles.

May 2008 :
 * May 1 has HAMSTER WHEEL OF FORTUNE as a Before & After.
 * May 2 is the last appearance of Fictional Character(s) in the bonus round.
 * Between May 6 and 13, the car is hit six times in a row in the bonus round.
 * May 6 has a rare appearance of Classic TV as the third Toss-Up.
 * On May 7, the contestants get no help from their extra letters in the bonus round.
 * May 9 has a rare appearance of Family.
 * On May 13, a contestant makes incorrect solves on three puzzles.
 * On May 13, the top winner has only $8,750.
 * On May 15, a contestant sweeps the main game and wins $25,000 in the bonus round.
 * It being on the road, May 15 has two males and one female contestant.
 * May 23 has two males and one female contestant.
 * May 26 is Dads & Grads week.
 * May 30 has a rare appearance of Fictional Family.
 * On May 30, the dad and grad team get no help from their extra letters in the bonus round, even with the help of a Wild Card.

June 2008 : (season ends June 6)

Season 26 (2008-09)
Season Changes :
 * The opening is the logo forming, starting with the wheel forming the O in "of", in silver with a Hollywood background consisting of just blue and white. This is also in the motif for the Final Spin graphic, and the Hollywood motif is also the HD border and Pat & Vanna talk background. Also, the window for the Pat & Vanna talk is much smaller.
 * Big Money and the "25" prize wedge are both retired.
 * The $10,000 cash prize wedge is replaced with the identically-structured Million-Dollar Wedge, which offers a chance at a $1,000,000 prize in the bonus round. To win the top prize, the contestant must hit this wedge, solve that round's puzzle and take the wedge to the bonus round without losing it to a Bankrupt; the $100,000 envelope is then replaced with a $1,000,000 envelope, which must then be hit.
 * Any week comprising the "leftover" sixth episodes from a taping session is now themed as America's Game.
 * The category strips are changed to their current design, with white text on a background changing color from purple to blue to green.
 * The Jackpot wedge is changed again to its current, blue design. It is in the same housing as the Big Money wedge from season 25.
 * Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! now air on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) in Canada.
 * This season starts a trend of using fewer categories in the bonus round.
 * The Classic TV category does not appear at all this season.

September 2008 : (season starts September 8)
 * September 11 has a main game sweep, complete with a $30,000 win in the bonus round.
 * September 17 has the last appearance of Where Are We?
 * On September 19, no one gives a correct answer to the $1,000 Toss-Up, FINE WINE. The first contestant to ring in gives an incorrect answer with only the W missing, so neither of the other contestants has an opportunity to ring in.
 * The week of September 22 is a Teen Best Friends week.

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

November 2008 :
 * November 4 has only the second known instance of a contestant calling a Z in the bonus round. However, it is not in the puzzle.
 * November 5 through 25 are all taped outdoors in Hawaii. The Hawaii episodes start on a Wednesday most likely to prevent the string of episodes from being interrupted by President's Day or Thanksgiving. Wheel Across America week is split up as a result: the first two episodes air November 3 and 4, and the last three air on the 26th, 27th and 28th. Also, November 6, 10, 11, 20 and 24 all have two male and one female contestant.
 * On November 17, Pat forgets to ask the contestants for their extra letter from the Wild Card. He has to be reminded from offstage.
 * November 17 is a $100,000 win.
 * November 18 has a rare appearance of Fictional Family.
 * On November 20, the winning contestants have only $9,900.
 * At the end of the November 24 episode, a clip is shown from the February 13, 1996 episode where Pat introduced his daughter, Maggie.
 * November 25 is the only known appearance of the very rare Fictional Place category in the bonus round. The puzzle, UTOPIA, is solved.
 * On November 26, a contestant sweeps the main game, but loses $100,000 in the bonus round.

December 2008 :
 * On December 3, GAL PAL is the answer to the $2,000 Toss-Up. This is believed to be a tie for the shortest puzzle outside the bonus round.
 * On December 4, Vanna hides a wrapped present for Pat in her dress. At the end, Pat opens the box and finds that it's empty.
 * December 5 has six rounds.
 * Betty White makes a guest appearance on December 8 in honor of Pet Lovers' week after THE GOLDEN GIRLS is the answer to a puzzle.
 * December 15 is the last Hollywood Movie Magic.
 * On December 15, contestant Edgar makes a humorously incorrect guess of FISH LOVE on the $3,000 Toss-Up, to which the answer is WISH LIST. Later on, after he solves the bonus puzzle, the board displays FISH LOVE.
 * On December 18, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * December 19 is only the third known instance of a contestant calling a Z in the bonus round.
 * On December 23, a contestant accidentally removes the backing from a gift tag when picking it up.
 * Charlie appears on-camera at the end of the December 23 episode to give Christmas greetings.
 * On December 25, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * For the second year in a row, the show's Christmas week (December 22) does not produce a bonus round win. The losing streak extends three more days, into December 31.
 * December 29 is the Happy Holidays sixth show taping, with six consecutive shows with that set, and the first time that such a week hasn't had any alterations to the set. However, that week, the Friday sixth show taping of Holiday Shopping (which had been December 1) did have set adjustments, probably because it was farther from Christmas. Also probably because it was a sixth show taping week, all Pat & Vanna talks that week have all about New Year's.
 * December 29 is a $100,000 loss. The contestant has ___BLE AGENT revealed and fails to solve DOUBLE AGENT.

January 2009 :
 * On January 1, a Same Name puzzle spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * January 2 is the last appearance of On the Map in the bonus round.
 * January 5 is Armed Forces week.
 * January 12 has two males and one female contestant. With Armed Forces Week the week before, that makes six consecutive episodes without the typical two female-one male setup.
 * 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.
 * January 28 has a main game sweep. The contestant also wins the bonus round at the last second despite getting no help from their extra letters.

February 2009 :
 * On February 6, the puzzle ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM is inexplicably categorized as Quotation instead of Song Lyrics.
 * February 9 begins a fourth week of episodes from Hawaii.
 * February 13 is a $100,000 loss.
 * Michelle Loewenstein, the show's first $1,000,000 winner, appears at the end of the February 16 episode. Pat gives her an oversized replica check and discusses the win. This was presumably done because the episode ran unusually short.
 * Also at the end of the February 16 episode, a post-production clip is shown of Pat and Vanna paying tribute to Pat's 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.
 * The week of February 23 is a "sixth episode" week.
 * February 27 is the nighttime show's ceremonial 5,000th episode. While episodes 3,000 and 4,000 were clip shows, 5,000 has regular gameplay. The first two Toss-Ups are A HUGE MILESTONE and SPIN OR SOLVE, and a clip of Pat kissing Vanna on his last daytime episode is shown at the end.
 * February 27 has a $100,000 loss.

March 2009 :
 * The weeks of March 2, 9 and 16 are all taped at SeaWorld in Orlando.
 * The week of March 9 is a family week.
 * On March 9, the contestants solve the bonus puzzle just ahead of the buzzer.
 * March 10 has a rare appearance of Fictional Family.
 * March 10 also has an unusual situation in the Speed-Up round. One team appears to say the answer right on the buzzer. After the next set calls a letter and solves, Pat tells the second team that the win is still in question, and that the judges will check to see if the first team's answer beat the buzzer. Before the bonus round, it is determined that the first team did not beat the buzzer, so the second team is present at the bonus round.
 * On March 20, Pat accidentally calls the $1,000 Toss-Up the Bonus Round.
 * March 23 is a $100,000 win.
 * March 25 has a rare appearance of Headline.

April 2009 :
 * April 6 is a fourth week of episodes from SeaWorld.
 * On April 6, a very short contestant requires a friend to spin the Wheel for him. This contestant also solves his bonus puzzle just ahead of the buzzer.
 * April 14 is a $100,000 win.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of April 20. These losses are part of a nine-loss streak stretching from the 15th to 27th.

May 2009 : (season temporarily ends May 29)
 * May 4 is Wheel Around the World week.
 * May 7 has a rare one-word puzzle in Round 5.
 * On May 12, which goes to Million Dollar Bonus Round, the $1,000,000 is only one away from where the winning contestant lands, and it's solved.
 * On May 13, SAME NAME is the answer to the $2,000 Toss-Up; the next puzzle is a Same Name.
 * May 15 has two male and one female contestant.
 * May 15 is the last appearance of Show Biz in the bonus round until May 4, 2011.
 * On May 22, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle on the buzzer. Although they reveal the puzzle and play the victory music, Pat announces that they will have to stop tape to make sure. After returning from the Wheel Watchers Club plug, Pat and Vanna let the contestant know that he solved 1/10 of a second before the buzzer. The show ends on the contestant's victory celebration, without any post-game banter from Pat and Vanna. This is also the last car win in the bonus round until December 2009, as cars are not present from July to December.
 * On May 28, a contestant makes two incorrect solves on the Prize Puzzle before giving the right answer on his third attempt.

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

Season 27 (2009-10)
Season Changes :
 * For the first three weeks only, SPIN ID draws show the corresponding home viewer's first name, last initial and hometown. From October 2 onward, they show the contestant's home state on a U.S. map instead.
 * If a contestant has friends and/or family in the audience on a Culver City episode, they are now shown in their seats. Previously, they would stand at the railing in the front of the audience. Road shows still have them stand at the front of the audience.
 * The Free Spin is retired. In its place is the Free Play, which offers the contestant a second turn immediately if the first turn is unsuccessful; alternatively, it can be used to call a free vowel. Consonants called on this wedge are worth $500 each.
 * The Jackpot wedge is moved to Round 1. Nothing new is added to the Wheel in Round 2.
 * The design of the $1,000,000 envelope is changed. Previously, it had "One Million $ Dollars" in green text; it now has a very small "ONE" at the top and "MILLION" in much larger letters, both in a serif font.
 * Until November 30, only cash is available in the bonus round.

September 2009 : (season starts September 14)
 * The first two weeks are both taped in Las Vegas.
 * Nine of the first ten bonus puzzles are Thing(s). September 15's, an Occupation, is the lone exception; it is also the last time that category appears in the bonus round.
 * Anthony Crivello makes a guest appearance in a Phantom of the Opera mask at the top of the September 16 episode.
 * On September 16, no one gives a right answer to the $1,000 Toss-Up CUTTING THE CARDS. Unusually for an unsolved Toss-Up, all three contestants ring in.
 * During the Jackpot round on September 16, in what is believed to be a one-round record, Bankrupt is hit five times.
 * On September 24, a contestant solves the bonus puzzle BRIEF PAUSE despite getting no help from her extra letters.
 * September 30 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.

October 2009 :
 * October 1 has the only known appearance of Rock On! as a Toss-Up.
 * October 5 has a rare appearance of Rock On! Pat intentionally introduces the puzzle in a deadpan voice instead of letting Charlie announce it.
 * October 12 is Wheel Around the World week. Each week's episode begins with a greeting from the host(s) of an international version: Spain on Monday, Brazil on Tuesday and Friday, Turkey on Wednesday and Italy on Thursday.
 * On October 12, the $3,000 Toss-Up BUDAPEST HUNGARY is accidentally categorized as Place instead of On the Map.
 * On October 16, the contestant's letter choices (including the fourth consonant from a Wild Card) reveal the bonus puzzle CHOSEN FEW entirely. This is the first time since December 2004 that a bonus puzzle has been completely filled in.
 * October 20 has six rounds.
 * October 23 has six rounds. Round 6 is a rare one-word puzzle.
 * On October 26, a Same Name puzzle spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * On October 27, Pat and Vanna show off some of the gag tombstones on the Halloween Week set. Most of them declare various trends and objects "dead", such as the Free Spin, the Macarena, common courtesy and Alex Trebek's mustache.
 * On October 28, the second Toss-Up is not split-screened due to a technical error; only the puzzle board is seen.
 * October 28 contestant Michael Souveroff was a third-place finisher on Jeopardy! in March 2001.

November 2009 :
 * The weeks of November 2, 9 and 16 are all taped at the Boston Convention & Exhibit Center.
 * November 3's bonus puzzle, BUY NOW, is the first six-letter bonus puzzle since HOT WAX on February 27. It is also the last six-letter bonus puzzle.
 * On November 6, a contestant tries to call L and E in the bonus round.
 * The week of November 9 is a college week.
 * November 10 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * November 12 has a Jackpot win.
 * November 12 has a rare instance of a Proper Name puzzle that isn't a person's name, sports team, or college name. The answer is THE INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE.
 * November 12 has a rare appearance of College Life, which was last seen in April 2008. The category does not appear again until May 9, 2011. The long gaps between its appearances owe to the lack of college weeks in these time spans.
 * November 16 has I'D LIKE TO SPIN as the second Toss-Up.
 * November 19 has a rare appearance of Landmark.
 * The week of November 23 has four Landmark puzzles: the $1,000 Toss-Up on the 23rd and 26th, Jackpot round on the 24th, and the $2,000 Toss-Up on the 27th. As a result, the category has appeared five times in November 2009 alone, when it otherwise appears far less than once a month.
 * November 25 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * On November 25, Bankrupt is hit eight times.
 * On November 27, a letter from 2006 winner Linda Buford is shown at the end.
 * On November 30, cars are once again available in the bonus round. However, they are no longer available to Wheel Watchers Club members.
 * On November 30, the Million Dollar Wedge is accidentally placed between the Wheel Prize and Lose a Turn.
 * On November 30, a contestant spins $3,500 four times in a row.

December 2009 :
 * On December 1, a contestant solves SHAGGY AND SCOOBY-DOO with only the S's revealed.
 * On December 2, a contestant loses a gift tag, Wild Card and the Million Dollar Wedge to Bankrupt.
 * December 3 has the first car win since the reintroduction of cars. It is a Honda Element worth $23,275, also making it a now-rare instance of a bonus prize less than $25,000.
 * On December 11, the Mystery Wedge next to the Million Dollar Wedge is hit three times, including two turns by the same contestant, who doesn't flip it over but later hits Bankrupt. The second contestant to hit it opts to flip it over and finds a Bankrupt.
 * December 16 has only the second known occurrence of a puzzle with a slash in it. The answer is COMBINATION MICROWAVE/CONVECTION OVEN.
 * On December 17, a contestant solves the Speed-Up puzzle LITTLE ROCK ARKANSAS with only the T's revealed.
 * No cars are available in the bonus round on the week of December 21, perhaps because the week was taped out of order. They return on the 28th.
 * During the week of December 21, the category strips are white on red.
 * On December 23, a contestant hits $5,000 three times in round 4.
 * December 29 has the first What Are You Doing? puzzle that does not have a gerund. The answer is THE NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE.
 * On December 31, a contestant loses $24,350 and the Wild Card to a Bankrupt.

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

February 2010 :
 * February 1 begins with a greeting from Regis Philbin & Kelly Ripa. Regis also gives a greeting on February 4.
 * February 1's bonus puzzle QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE may be the first "official" bonus puzzle under current rules that has at least one each of R, S, T, L, N, and E. The only other known instance of such a bonus puzzle is TRADING PLACES on the April Fools' Day 1997 episode, which Pat and Vanna played.
 * February 2 begins with a greeting from Michael Bloomberg.
 * February 3 begins with a greeting from Sam Champion.
 * On February 4, a Same Name puzzle spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * On February 4, the contestant gets no help from his extra letters in the bonus round.
 * February 5 has a rare appearance of Headline, last seen in March 2009.
 * On February 5, a contestant uses the Wild Card on $900.
 * The week of February 8 is taped at the Venetian in Las Vegas.
 * On February 8, Blue Man Group appears at the contestants' area while Pat and Vanna walk out. After an obvious edit, the contestants are in place for the first Toss-Up. It is possible that a longer guest appearance was edited out due to time constraints.
 * February 9 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * The week of February 15 is taped at the Palazzo in Las Vegas.
 * On February 16, the contestant's letter choices reveal the bonus puzzle VERY HUSH-HUSH completely.
 * On February 19, the Mystery Round puzzle is preceded by a clip of Pat saying, "We thought you should know that tonight's Wheel of Fortune show was taped prior to all the recent fun on late night TV. Who knew?", superimposed over a freeze-frame of the puzzle board. This clip is added because the answer is THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, which had already been canceled by the time this episode aired.
 * Beginning February 22, Feeding America for Hunger Relief receives a $2,500 donation from Maxwell House for each bonus round win. The donations are eventually capped at $200,000, but Feeding America plugs continue to air for a short time after that amount is reached.

March 2010 :
 * For at least the third time this season, the Same Name puzzle on March 3 spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * On March 4, the first Toss-Up is HOME OF THE BRAVE, also the name of a category on the same day's Jeopardy!
 * March 5 has six rounds.
 * March 5 has the second What Are You Doing? puzzle that does not contain a gerund. The answer is THE TEXAS TWO-STEP.
 * On March 8, Pat accidentally rules a contestant's solve incorrect on the first Toss-Up, but is quickly corrected from offstage.
 * Against 99.6% odds, the $100,000 is not hit at all this season until March 15. This one is a loss, with the contestant not realizing the answer until just after the buzzer.
 * On March 18, contestant Barry's name tag falls off and hits the Wheel during his first spin. It is never retrieved.
 * March 18 also has the third (and final) What Are You Doing? puzzle that does not contain a gerund. The answer is PULL-UPS PUSH-UPS SIT-UPS AND CRUNCHES.
 * March 18 is the first $100,000 win of the season.
 * The week of March 22 is a family week.
 * On March 22, the winning contestants exceed $100,000 without hitting that amount in the bonus round: following a $45,000 win in the bonus round, they leave with $100,850.
 * March 23 is the second $100,000 win of the season.
 * The week of March 29 is a Hawaii week, despite being taped in Culver City. Every Wheel prize this week is a trip to Hawaii.
 * On March 29, a contestant accidentally pulls the Free Play wedge off the Wheel, causing a stopdown.

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

May 2010 :
 * May 3 starts the Thanks a Million sweepstakes, which last throughout the entire month. A SPIN ID is drawn at the top of each show and another before the Mystery round. Any viewer who confirms that his/her SPIN ID was drawn receives a chance at winning $25,000.
 * The week of May 3 is a salute to Chicago, despite being taped in Culver City.
 * On May 3 and 4, the first Toss-Ups (THE WINDY CITY and NAVY PIER, respectively) are both solved with only one letter revealed.
 * May 17 is Dads & Grads week.
 * The week of May 17 is the only week of season 27 in which all of the bonus rounds are lost.
 * May 24 has an extremely rare pluralized Occupations puzzle.
 * On May 25, one puzzle answer is HOLDING DOWN THE FORT, which coincides with that day's Final Jeopardy! response of "hold the fort".
 * May 25 has a rare appearance of Landmark.
 * On May 25, a contestant pronounces the H in HEIR when solving HEIR TO THE THRONE, and the answer is taken. This contradicts precedent that words must be pronounced exactly.
 * On May 26, a contestant pronounces CRUSOE as "Caruso" in the Before & After puzzle AND HERE'S TO YOU MRS. ROBINSON CRUSOE. Her answer is taken, despite this also being a mispronunciation.
 * On May 31, no one gives a right answer to the $1,000 Toss-Up, TREASURE MAP. Unusually for unsolved Toss-Ups, all three players ring in: the first two blank on the second word, and the third guesses TREASURE BAY.

June 2010 : (season ends June 11)
 * June 2 has a rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * On June 7, Vanna nearly forgets to touch an R in the Speed-Up round because she didn't hear it ding.
 * June 8 has another rare appearance of Fictional Place.
 * June 10 has a rare appearance of Landmark.

Season 28 (2010-11)
Season Changes :
 * Almost all of this season's episodes have animated intros featuring the Pat and Vanna avatars from the show's corresponding Wii game, which is released in November.
 * Any vehicle won in the bonus round now comes with a $5,000 cash bonus. The vehicle plug ends with "...plus $5,000 cash. Your grand prize total: [amount]!" The first vehicle win under this new rule occurs on September 23.
 * The $25,000 cash prize is retired. The lowest cash amount in the bonus round is now $30,000.
 * The categories Same Letter and What's That Song? both debut. The latter is the first category to offer a $3,000 bonus since Slogan, Next Line Please and Where Are We? were retired in 2008. However, What's That Song? is only used four times.
 * Prize Puzzles no longer occur in the Jackpot Round.
 * The show's introductory logo is based on the "round" logo from the 1980s.

September 2010 : (season starts September 13)
 * The weeks of September 13 and 20 are taped in Las Vegas: the 13th at the Venetian, and the 20th at the Palazzo.
 * For the week of September 13, every Prize Puzzle is categorized What Are You Doing?
 * September 15 is the first appearance of Same Letter.
 * On September 15, a contestant solves the Speed-Up puzzle CHERRY BLOSSOMS with only the S's revealed.
 * September 16 is the first Jackpot win of the season.
 * September 16 is also the first appearance of What's That Song? The contestant fails to identify the song "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers.
 * September 20 is the last appearance of Food & Drink in the bonus round.
 * September 21 is the first $100,000 loss of the season. The puzzle is QUALITY TIME, which previously caused a $100,000 loss on February 18, 2005.
 * On September 22, a contestant solves the Toss-Up THE A-TEAM with only the M showing.
 * On September 23, Pat grabs the wrong envelope from the bonus wheel and has to be corrected from offstage.
 * September 23 is also the first instance of a contestant calling their letters out of order while holding a Wild Card. The contestant calls her fourth consonant before her vowel; the onscreen graphic displays the fourth consonant in its normal position, leaving a "gap" for the vowel. This incident also contradicts the precedent of the graphics always showing the letters in the order called.
 * September 29 and 30 produce the first instance of two contestants in a row carrying the Million Dollar Wedge to the bonus round. September 29's contestant fails to solve the puzzle, and is only one peg away from the $1,000,000 envelope.

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

November 2010 :
 * Charlie O'Donnell dies the morning of November 1.
 * Johnny Gilbert announces for the weeks of November 1, 8 and 15. For the first week, it is apparent that Johnny was called in as as a last-minute replacement because Charlie had fallen ill. Coincidentally, Johnny also filled in for Charlie in November 1995, the only other time that someone filled in for him.
 * On November 3, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * On November 5, contestant Caitlin Burke solves the Prize Puzzle I'VE GOT A GOOD FEELING ABOUT THIS with only the L revealed. She later appears on several talk shows discussing her solve.
 * November 5's episode ends with Pat giving a short tribute to Charlie; this tribute was recorded earlier in the week and appended to the episode.
 * Johnny Gilbert's announcing is dubbed in post-production on the week of November 8, as the episodes were taped in Las Vegas and originally had Charlie announcing. For the rest of the season, any episodes recorded before Charlie's death dub him over with a guest announcer; further, all direct references to him are dubbed over or removed.
 * 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 the week of November 15, every episode has an Around the House or In the Kitchen puzzle sponsored by Sears. Before each puzzle, Pat mentions that the answer is something that might be found at Sears.
 * The prize wedge for the week of November 15 is a $5,000 Sears shopping spree. Strangely, the wedge is placed over the green $300 space instead of $350.
 * On November 18, a contestant wins $42,000 in the Speed-Up round.
 * Rich Fields announces the weeks of November 22 and 29, both in post-production.
 * From November 29 through December 9, the first Toss-Up puzzles are all On the Map. This results from the show's themed weeks: November 29 is Cruise Week, and December 6 is Wheel Was Here.
 * The week of November 29 includes greetings from the hosts of various international versions of the show.

December 2010 :
 * December 1 is the first known instance of a contestant calling Q in the bonus round.
 * On December 2, a contestant jokingly calls a 7 as his vowel in the bonus round.
 * December 3 features a rare appearance of Rock On! Charlie's call of "Rock On!" is dubbed over with Pat saying the category name.
 * Rich Fields announces the weeks of December 6 and 13. The former is his first week announcing from the studio.
 * The week of December 6 does not have any animated intros.
 * On December 7, both the Jackpot and Round 2 puzzles are Phrase.
 * At the end of the December 7 episode, clips are shown from a set of episodes taped aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in early 1995.
 * December 8 has a tie for the shortest known puzzle outside the bonus round, as HAWAII is the answer to the first Toss-Up.
 * December 10 is the second time that the very unusual non-sequitur puzzle SPARROWS & PARAKEETS is used.
 * December 13 has only the third appearance of What Are You Doing? in the bonus round. It was last used in the bonus round on January 17, 2008.
 * On December 13, the contestant solves the bonus puzzle just after the buzzer.
 * On December 14, the closed captioning is finally fixed on the Mama Lucia Meatballs plug. For several years, the captioning had said "Mama Lucia on the road" even though the jingle lyric is "Mama Lucia on a roll".
 * On December 14, the split-screen during Pat & Vanna's post-game banter doesn't display any text.
 * December 16 is a $100,000 win. The puzzle, BRAINS AND BRAWN, previously produced a $100,000 win on January 24, 2006. Incidentally, both were also followed by nearly-identical bonus puzzles the next day: OLD RIVALRY was the bonus puzzle on January 25, 2006, and AGE-OLD RIVALRY was the answer on December 15.
 * Jim Thornton announces the week of December 20 in post-production. During these episodes, Vanna does the SPIN IDs and Wheel Deals plugs.
 * During the week of December 20, the normal puzzle-reveal chime during the main game is replaced with chimes playing a snippet of a Christmas song. Toss-Ups still use the normal chimes.
 * John Sly, co-owner of The Price Is Right fan site Golden-Road.net, is the winning contestant on December 21.
 * December 24 has the month's second appearance of What Are You Doing? in the bonus round.
 * The week of December 27 was taped at the Palazzo in Las Vegas. Jim Thornton once again announces in post-production, and Vanna continues to do the SPIN IDs.
 * December 29 is the fourth $100,000 loss of the season.

January 2011 :
 * Jim Thornton announces the week of January 3, his third consecutive week of announcing in post-production. Yet again, Vanna does the SPIN IDs.
 * January 3's middle contestant, whose actual first name is Victor Trey, is referred to as Funklove throughout the show.
 * On January 3, the category strip disappears twice during the Jackpot round.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of January 3.
 * January 4 is the fifth $100,000 loss of the season. The puzzle is A KNOWN FACT and the contestant says AN UNKNOWN FACT twice.
 * On January 5, the show begins the Vanna for a Day contest, which allows home viewers to submit audition videos for a chance to take Vanna's place for one episode; the videos are then voted on through the show's website to determine the eventual winner. The contest runs through January 18.
 * January 7 has yet another What Are You Doing? puzzle in the bonus round. This instance is more unusual, as the Speed-Up round was also a What Are You Doing? puzzle.
 * January 7 is the sixth $100,000 loss of the season.
 * Lora Cain announces the week of January 10. Strangely, Vanna does this week's Jackpot and Mystery plugs, and the SPIN IDs.
 * 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 first appearance of Fun & Games in the bonus round since April 16, 2010.
 * January 14's top winner leaves with only $8,050.
 * Jim Thornton announces the weeks of January 17 and 24. The former is his first week announcing from the studio.
 * January 17 has a rare appearance of Headline, last seen in February 2010.
 * January 17 also has a rare one-word puzzle in Round 5.
 * Pat's Twitter account closes sometime around January 17. His official website is also taken down and replaced with a placeholder graphic.
 * All five bonus rounds are lost on the week of January 17.
 * January 20's contestant is only one peg away from the $1,000,000 envelope.
 * January 24 has a rare appearance of Title/Author.
 * Rich Fields announces the week of January 31.
 * January 31 has yet another What Are You Doing? puzzle in the bonus round. This is the fourth in two months, but only the sixth overall since the category was introduced in September 2007.

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

March 2011 :
 * March 1 is the eighth $100,000 loss of the season.
 * March 3 has a rare appearance of Family.
 * March 3 is the ninth $100,000 loss of the season.
 * Joe Cipriano announces the week of March 7.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of March 7. This is the first all-win week since April 2007.
 * John Cramer announces the week of March 14. Vanna does the Jackpot plugs and SPIN IDs.
 * Tillman, a skateboarding bulldog, appears at the beginning of the March 14 episode.
 * For the week of March 14 (Pet Lovers' Week), Natural Balance Pet Foods has a $1,000 gift tag on the Wheel. Every time the tag is hit, the company donates $1,000 to the American Kennel Club Fund; the tag is hit three times.
 * At the end of the March 14 episode, everyone in the audience receives a goodie bag of pet treats.
 * At the end of the March 15 episode, Ron Horetski of the Los Angeles County Fire Department appears with a rescue dog named Pearl.
 * March 15 begins a streak of seven consecutive bonus round losses, spread over two weeks.
 * Jim Thornton announces the week of March 21.
 * March 21 is the first game since April 6, 2007 to have three female contestants.
 * On March 21, Pat almost forgets to open the bonus envelope.
 * On March 23, the contestant gets no help from his extra letters in the bonus round.
 * March 23 is the tenth $100,000 loss of the season. This sets a new record for the most $100,000 losses in one season; Season 26 was the previous record holder.
 * On March 24, Vanna for a Day contest winner Katie Cantrell takes Vanna's place for Rounds 2 and 3. Portions of her audition video are shown after Round 1; the other four contest finalists are all in the audience, and are seen just before the bonus round.
 * On March 24, the Mystery Round, $3,000 Toss-Up and bonus round are all Phrase. This is the first time in several years that the same category has been used three times on one show.
 * The week of March 28 is taped at the Palazzo in Las Vegas. Jim Thornton announces this week in post-production, meaning that he has now done twice as much guest announcing as any other announcer. This is also the last week of episodes originally announced by Charlie. Unlike past episodes where other announcers are dubbed in, Jim reads the SPIN ID.

April 2011 :
 * On April 1, as an April Fools' Day gag, every puzzle except the bonus round has some form of the word "fool" in it. This results in the first known occurrence of Song Title and Song Lyrics in the same game. Interestingly, the contestants never catch on to this gag.
 * On April 1, Pat does not say the bonus round category until after the contestant has picked her letters.
 * John Cramer announces the week of April 4.
 * The week of April 4 does not have any animated intros. Instead, Vanna promotes the week's car, a Chevy Volt, at the top of the show. She also announces the Mystery Round prize.
 * Starting April 4, there is no longer a sponsor for the Mystery Round.
 * April 4 has a rare appearance of Landmark.
 * April 4 also has an unusual instance in the Mystery Round. A contestant hits a Mystery Wedge, calls a letter that reveals the puzzle entirely, then flips the Mystery Wedge to find a Bankrupt on the other side. As a result, the completely filled-in puzzle gets passed to the next contestant, who solves it. This same incident previously happened on October 1, 2007.
 * April 4 also has two categories which are almost never seen in plural form: Places and Events.
 * On April 5, the same contestant hits Bankrupt four times.
 * On April 5, the answer to the Round 4 puzzle reveals one letter at a time (like an unsolved bonus puzzle), and the board's border does not flash.
 * April 5 has a main game sweep. The contestant takes both the Wild Card and Million-Dollar Wedge to the bonus round, where she wins $30,000.
 * April 5's sequence of Pat revealing the $1,000,000 envelope is done in post-production.
 * On April 6, Pat informs the contestants that each puzzle is "recycled" from a previous episode, in honor of Going Green week. To indicate that, each puzzle reveal (besides the Toss-Ups) is a clip from an older episode: Round 1 is from 1993 (erroneously identified as 1996), Round 2 from November 1996, Round 3 from 1990 and Round 4 from 1998.
 * April 6 also has a rare appearance of Headline. Strangely, the 1993 clip is altered so that the category strip reads Headline; it is believed that the puzzle NEIL ARMSTRONG'S MOON LANDING was categorized as Event on the 1993 episode in question, as the Headline category did not exist until much later in that decade.
 * April 6 also has the only known use of The 60's in about 15 years. The "decade" line of categories was phased out in early Season 24, and only The 70's onward were in use for several seasons prior; there are no other known instances of The 60's being used after 1996.
 * On April 6, Pat accidentally calls the Free Play a Free Spin.
 * On April 6, contestant Matt's nametag falls off during Round 3.
 * April 6 also has a very rare appearance of Star & Role in Round 4. While this category is not particularly rare, it has almost never appeared in round 4 for some reason.
 * On April 7, Vanna reads most of the Prize Puzzle copy, but John announces the prize's value and ad-libs "Vanna not included".
 * April 7 is the eleventh $100,000 loss of the season.
 * Joe Cipriano announces the week of April 11.
 * April 11 is the debut of two special "½ Car" wedges in honor of Road Trip week. Placed on the Wheel during Round 1 and kept in play through Round 3, these feature a one-peg-wide "½ Car" space with a license plate-shaped tag, surrounded by one-peg-wide $500 spaces. One is placed over the orange $300 space, and the other over the blue $500. The first car offered by the ½ Car wedges is a Hyundai Accent; it is not won.
 * Hitting the ½ Car tag offers both it and $500 per letter. Unlike most previous "specialty" tags, a new tag is placed on the Wheel in the next round if one is claimed. A new tag is also added in the next round if a contestant loses one to Bankrupt; also, the tags are not lost if the contestant his Bankrupt in a later round.
 * As a result of the new wedges, the red $900 is changed to blue until Round 4, and the Wild Card is moved to the pink $900 for this week only.
 * April 11 has a category almost never seen in plural form: Places.
 * On April 12 and 14, the title graphic at the beginning of the show says Get Out of Town instead of Road Trip, most likely because both weeks use the same Wii animations.
 * On April 12, a contestant mispronounces "Pasadena" when solving IT'S THE LITTLE OLD LADY FROM PASADENA, but is still credited with a correct response.
 * April 12 has a rare appearance of What Are You Doing? in the bonus round; as was the case on January 7, the last puzzle before the bonus round was also What Are You Doing?
 * April 14 has an unusual incident in the bonus round. After the contestant calls her extra letters, some letters are lit up (but not touched) before Pat realizes that the contestant has a Wild Card. He then asks the contestant for a fourth consonant, which is not in the puzzle, and the lit letters are revealed.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of April 11. Incidentally, these episodes were taped in the same session as the week of March 7, in which all five bonus rounds were also won. This is believed to be the first season since season 10 that had more than one perfect bonus round week.
 * All the changes from the week of April 11 are reverted on the week of the 18th.
 * Jim Thornton announces the weeks of April 18 and 25.
 * On April 18, Bankrupt is hit eight times, including five in Round 3.
 * Starting April 18, Maxwell House Coffee donates $2,500 to Rebuilding Together every time the bonus round is won. Once again, donations will be capped at $200,000.
 * On April 18, a contestant accidentally calls N and E in the bonus round.
 * April 21 has six rounds.
 * April 22 has an extremely rare appearance of Best Seller, last known to have been used on February 8, 2007.
 * April 26 has a rare appearance of Landmark.
 * On April 27, an editing error places a spin from the next day's episode into Round 3 (possibly because the camera over the Wheel did not catch the actual spin). This error gives the appearance of the prize wedge (which was claimed earlier in the round) being replaced by a Vegas trip.

May 2011 :
 * The weeks of May 2, 9 and 16 are taped at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
 * Jim Thornton announces the New Orleans episodes, but all of his announcing is pre-recorded.
 * 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.
 * The Wii avatars are not used in the intros to the New Orleans episodes. Instead, New Orleans-themed computer graphics and montages are shown.
 * During the week of May 2 and 16 (but not the week of May 9), the puzzle chimes are replaced with a saxophone riff, except in the Toss-Up rounds.
 * For reasons unknown, the Million-Dollar Wedge is not present on May 2.
 * On May 2, the "fireworks" effect for a Jackpot win is accidentally used when a contestant solves that round's puzzle, even though she does not claim the Jackpot.
 * May 2 is the first appearance of Rhyme Time in the bonus round since December 24, 2007.
 * On May 3, a spin from the previous day's episode is edited into round 1, giving the impression of the Million-Dollar Wedge being absent once again. However, it is known that the wedge was fully present during this game and all other New Orleans episodes.
 * May 3 has rare appearances of the Landmark and Family categories.
 * May 3 has a Jackpot win.
 * At the end of the May 3 episode, Pat, Vanna and the winning contestant dance to zydeco music during the credits.
 * May 4 has a Jackpot win.
 * May 4 has the first appearance of Show Biz in the Bonus Round since May 15, 2009.
 * On May 5, the camera pointed at the contestants is positioned too low and too far back when the $1,000 Toss-Up begins; it slowly zooms into its proper position until just before someone rings in.
 * On May 5, no one gives a correct answer to the $2,000 Toss-Up. The second contestant to ring in gives an incorrect answer with only one letter missing, so the third contestant does not have a chance to ring in.
 * On May 5, a contestant spins $3,500 three times in a row.
 * Between May 5 and 20, twelve bonus puzzles in a row are all Thing(s).
 * On May 6, a contestant gets no help from their letters in the bonus round.
 * At the end of the May 6 episode, Pat joins Rockin' Dopsie onstage and plays the washboard while the band plays "When the Saints Go Marching In".
 * May 9 is a College week.
 * During the week of May 9, the Tulane University marching band plays music going into and out of commercial, and during the credits. The university's cheerleading squad and mascot, Riptide the Pelican, are also present, and the cheerleaders announce Pat and Vanna during the opening.
 * Because it is the first college week since November 2009, May 9 is also the first appearance of the College Life category since then.
 * May 10 contestant Dominic Clust previously appeared on a Kids' Week of Jeopardy! in May 2004.
 * May 10 has a very unusual non-sequitur puzzle, CARDINALS & CANARIES, as the $2,000 Toss-Up. Besides being completely unrelated birds not associated together, cardinal is a family of birds and canary a (totally different) specific species.
 * May 11 has the first known appearance of College Life as a Toss-Up.
 * May 11 has a Jackpot win.
 * On May 11, Pat pretends to frisk the winning contestant after he solves the bonus puzzle.
 * On May 13, a Same Name puzzle spells out AND instead of using an ampersand.
 * May 13's bonus puzzle QUALIFICATIONS is the longest one-word bonus puzzle ever used on the show. It is also the second known answer to take up the entire second row of the current puzzle board.
 * During the week of May 16, an instrumental version of "When the Saints Go Marching In" plays in place of the theme.
 * During the week of May 16, Pat, Vanna and the winning contestant eat various New Orleans-themed foods during the credits: bananas foster on Monday, pecan crusted gulf fish on Tuesday, sake-glazed sea bass (with Japanese noodles and lobster/crab broth) on Wednesday, trout Pontchartrain on Thursday and beignets on Friday.
 * May 17 is a $100,000 win.
 * May 18 has a category almost never seen in plural form (Occpuations) as the $2,000 Toss-Up.
 * May 18 has the first appearance of In the Kitchen since December 27, 2010. The category appears again on the 19th.
 * On May 19, a contestant solves the Speed-Up puzzle ELECTRIC CAN OPENER with only the N's revealed.
 * All five bonus rounds are won on the week of May 16.
 * The week of May 23 is a promotional week sponsored by Wendy's. Between April and May 15, Wendy's offered five Wheel-themed toys in its kids' meals, with puzzle answer pieces in the toy packaging. If a puzzle matches that day's promotional puzzle, the viewer may submit the game piece for a chance to win prizes.

June 2011 : (season ends June 10)

Season 29 (2011-12)

 * It is confirmed that season 29 will have a road show taped in Portland, Oregon.