Misconceptions and Myths

As with many TV shows, Wheel of Fortune has had a lot of misconceptions and myths created over its long history; while some were born from a lack of information and audiovisual evidence of the early years, a few were crafted by the show itself.

This page addresses them and sorts fact from fiction.

Myth: The current Lose A Turn wedge is white.
Fact: It is a very light shade of yellow.

Myth: Bankrupt has always used its slide-whistle sound effect.
Fact: Bankrupt began using its original slide whistle at some point between June 7, 1976 and April 6, 1978. The current, lower-pitched whistle debuted on Bob Goen's first episode (July 17, 1989), which also introduced most of the other current sound effects.

Myth: During the shopping era, the hostess always entered from the middle of the curtain.
Fact: In the early days, Susan Stafford came out from Chuck Woolery's left and conversed with him briefly. On Chuck's last show in 1981, and probably for that entire week, she emerged from behind the puzzle board.

Myth: The shopping era always had the option of a gift certificate or "on account".
Fact: When the show debuted in 1975, "on account" was the only option. The gift certificate was added by the end of the year, as it is included in Milton-Bradley's board game adaptations.

Myth: The gift certificate/"on account" options could only be used when the player did not have enough to buy the lowest remaining prize.
Fact: The option was always available to the contestant, including the ability to do either without buying anything.

Myth: During the shopping era, contestants had to buy their prizes in order from most to least expensive.
Fact: Contestants could bounce around if they wanted (and with careful planning, could avoid being stuck with an unwanted prize), but most purchased highest-to-lowest. The practice was likely suggested to help the announcer, as he had to sort his prize description cards into a lowest-to-highest order.

Myth: The show has always used punctuation in its puzzles where needed.
Fact: Punctuation was nonexistent in the early days, resulting in such puzzles as FISHERMANS WHARF instead of FISHERMAN'S WHARF. The earliest known instance of punctuation is LOVEY-DOVEY on April 7, 1978.

Myth: There has never been such a thing as a negative score.
Fact: A still from an early episode shows a contestant with a negative score. Apparently, Buy A Vowel deducted the $250 regardless of whether the contestant actually had it.

Myth: The clip seen in the 4,000th nighttime episode with the caption of "1983" is from 1983.
Fact: It is an opening from 1978, with every element having been changed by the nighttime premiere (Charlie O'Donnell replaced by Jack Clark, platforms of prizes replaced by a single large turntable, and "Big Wheels" replaced by "Changing Keys"). Other than this and clips from a 1974 pilot, Wheel has not shown anything from non-Sajak eras.

Myth: Nickname debuted in 1988.
Fact: Nickname is known to have been used on May 31, 1979. It is not yet known if the category had a consistent presence, or if it was "un-retired" in 1988.

Myth: Other than Pat and a very brief appearance by Charlie, no male has ever been in the hostess' position.
Fact: Arte Johnson of Laugh-In fame filled in for Susan around late September 1977, presumably to promote his game show Knockout (which debuted on October 3 of that year).

Myth: Pat Sajak and Vanna White have hosted the show together since it began in 1981 on NBC.
Fact: Infamously stated by Robin Leach in his behind-the-scenes article on the nighttime show's 27th season, absolutely nothing about it is true – the daytime show began in 1975, Pat joined in 1981, and Vanna became hostess in 1982.

Leach, famous for hosting Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous, was derided for failing to fact-check a statement that was blatantly false. It was once theorized that he was given the statement by Wheel staff (if the show gave him the info directly, he would have no reason to think it false).

Myth: The "logo on overhead shot of Wheel" opening was introduced in 1983, and dropped when the show moved to CBS.
Fact: A very similar shot was done on the 1975 premiere. The opening remained through at least July 21, 1989 (Goen's fifth episode) with the new logo at the end, but was discontinued by August 29.

Myth: The chroma-key shot of the host and hostess in the center of the Wheel was introduced in 1980.
Fact: It is known to have been used on June 7, 1976. It was originally dropped by April 6, 1978, but returned at some point between January 2 and March 18, 1980.

Myth: Other than April Fool's Day 1997, Alex Trebek has only guest-hosted once (a week in August 1980).
Fact: Alex is known to have filled in on the daytime show in mid-1985, likely for a single episode.

Myth: Other than April Fool's Day 1997, Vanna has only spun the Wheel once.
Fact: She is known to have spun the Wheel twice – a September 1989 nighttime show where she played a round for charity while Pat turned the letters, and a daytime Final Spin after Goen got frustrated over repeatedly hitting Bankrupt.

Myth: Rolf Benirschke doesn't like talking about his stint as host.
Fact: He was among the many who contributed to the show's E! True Hollywood Story.

Myth: The lowest amounts ever used on the Wheel were $50♦ and $75♦, on the Goen version.
Fact: $0 was used on the Shopper's Bazaar pilot, and $25 when the show debuted. The latter layout also had $50 and $75, albeit without the diamonds.

Myth: The diamonds for $50 and $75 were added on Goen's premiere.
Fact: They were added on his second episode, which also increased one of the $50 wedges to $300.

Myth: Much like Classic Concentration, the daytime Wheel continued in some form until December 31, 1993.
Fact: Wheel ended its daytime run on September 20, 1991. There is no evidence that it continued past that point in any manner, local or otherwise.

Myth: The exact number of daytime episodes is unknown.
Fact: The total number, 4,215, was stated by Peter Tomarken during GSN's first day in 1994, just before they showed the first nighttime episode of Wheel.

It is known that #368 aired June 7, 1976; #785 on January 18, 1978; #2,016 on December 13, 1982 (Vanna's first official show); #2,044 on January 20, 1983; #3,564 on January 9, 1989 (Pat's last show); and #3,649 on May 9, 1989. The show passed #1,600 in early 1981, as mentioned by Chuck on April 21 of that year.

Episode #3,000 likely aired in 1987, and #4,000 in late 1990.

Myth: The daytime show kept the continual episode numbering for its entire run.
Fact: When the show returned to NBC on January 14, 1991, they began using a three-digit episode counter prefaced by "#DT" (for example, #DT032 aired February 26). Assuming that the show aired first-run through September 20, the absolute maximum they could have got to (barring any skips, assuming they were taken into account) was #DT180.

Myth: Merv Griffin's successful idea was based on a 1950s game show also called Wheel of Fortune.
Fact: The 1950s Wheel was a Peter Arnell production which ran on CBS from October 3, 1952 to November 6, 1953 and was a rather different beast to Merv's production. Hosted by Todd Russell with Hal Simms as announcer, the format involved good Samaritans being invited on to share their stories to America and spin a vertical carnival-style wheel for cash or a nice prize; the "top value" was $1,000, awarded for correctly answering a trivia question.

It should be noted that there are some clear similarities – the 1950s Wheel offered cash and prizes, had its logo in the center of the wheel (as a permanent decoration rather than a graphic), and was popular enough to spawn a nighttime version (albeit one which only ran from July 7 to September 15, 1953 due to being slotted against Break the Bank). Further, the concept of a vertical Wheel was used in the Shopper's Bazaar pilot.

The show became very successful in Australia on radio and the Nine Network, running from 1959-62 with host/producer Reg Grundy (later Walter Elliott). In 1981, Grundy debuted an adaptation of Merv's Wheel to even greater success.

Myth: Returning champions and the Friday Finals were eliminated due to the sheer amount of contestant applications.
Fact: Pat stated on the Sony Rewards website that it was removed because smart contestants could keep hitting Bankrupt while lousy puzzle-solvers luck into a runaway game.

While it could be argued that luck on the Wheel is half the point of the game and Pat's explanation makes little sense (such a scenario can happen regardless of returning champs), it should be noted that the concept was nixed after a 1997 court order banning Raymond Taylor from appearing in the Wheel audience.

Myth: The Friday Finals format debuted in 1996.
Fact: The earliest known use of the concept is the All-Star Dream Machine Championship in 1976, although the finals comprised two shows instead of one. The more familiar version was used as early as December 1982 for Teen Week, Couples Week, Family Week, and Battle of the Sexes Week, among others.

The above said, the concept was not officially called "Friday Finals" until September 1996.

Myth: What Are We Making? is the only "legit" category to be used once.
Fact: Composer/Song and Show/Song were used once each in Season 13.

Myth: Players who have appeared on a version other than the syndicated run are allowed to play again.
Fact: While this is true of sister show Jeopardy!, being on the American Wheel at any point in its history (including Wheel 2000 and possibly the three pilots) renders you ineligible for the rest of your life. The show's website went into detail about this at one point, but currently says it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Myth: The show tapes in airing order.
Fact: The show tends to tape well out of airing order, a practice going as far back as the 1994-95 season. This was best demonstrated in Season 28, when eight weeks announced by Charlie prior to his death were dubbed over by the guest announcers prior to airing; while no official reason was ever given, the fact it even happened (as opposed to tribute graphics) suggests a desire to keep this misconception going.