User:Daniel Benfield/Nighttime Video Archive/Season 13

Wheel moves taping to its current home of Stage 11 at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City. The intro is adjusted so the logo is no longer angled, the Wheel spins clockwise, the letters separate towards the sides as they zoom forward, the wedges just zoom forward, and the center zooms back. The opening theme is adjusted to end with the '94 puzzle-solve cue. The graphics show Pat, Vanna, the $25,000 sign, the Round 4 Wheel, and related Wheel graphics in the letters of "WHEEL" before flying over a shot of Sony Studios. The "here they are" part of the opening spiel is later changed to "here are the stars of our show".

The Executive Producer to Associate Director credits are shown as chyrons until the last one scrolls up to reveal the rest. Charlie's closing spiel now has him signing off by name on the "Created by Merv Griffin" credit, and mentioning such on the title/copyright card, before going to the Columbia TriStar Television and King World logo spiels.

The high-pitched Bonus Round chime is retired, and the road-show board is used for the first few weeks until the main board returns with another new border (somewhat of a cross between the 1981 and '94 ones).

The category strips/prize values/totals/etc. are changed to a font similar to Times New Roman. The strips also now have an orange transparent background, and are revealed with the "rolling Wheel" wipe. Beginning with these strips, Fill In the Blank's name is spelled in full and the "decade" categories use numbers instead of being written out.

Gameplay-wise, the green $1,000 becomes sparkly green, Free Spin gets its first permanent position (over the purple $200), and Double Play debuts for Round 2. In late September or early October, the $10,000 Wedge gets a golden "$10,000" on the back.

Sometime between October 27 and December 15, the reward for "bonus" categories is increased to $1,000; all questions are asked by Pat and preceded by the rolling chimes; and said questions are only available to the contestant who solves the puzzle.

Johnny Gilbert fills in for Charlie from November 27-December 8.

Tiger Electronics releases an LCD electronic handheld game, including additional cartridges for more puzzles; and the game itself is marketed on the backs of Kellogg's Corn Flakes cereal as well as in a TV campaign featuring kids frustrated with their parents' constant playing of the game. For more information, see Video games.

For Christmas, Hallmark releases a Keepsake ornament to celebrate the show's 20th Anniversary (in other words, also counting the daytime run's debut in 1975), which features the puzzle board with title (with all words left-aligned), a bear standing on each side, "1995" on top, and a Round 1 Wheel (with the pink $1,000 and the colors switched on Bankrupt) that actually spins, complete with a single flipper sticking out from the center.

Wheel is an official sponsor of the 1996 Summer Centennial Olympic Games, and does a Red-White-&-Blue Olympic Sweepstakes. At the same time, Olympic T-shirts and sweatshirts are sold to viewers by phone and mail.

New Categories: Who Is It? in late September or early October, Who Said It? by October 20, $1,000 Slogan by February 9, Composer/Song on March 27, Show/Song around the debut of Composer/Song.

Retired Categories: Person/Title around October 26, Composer/Song on March 27, Show/Song on the same day it debuted.

Road Shows: Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle (November 6-17); Waikaloa Village in Hawaii (February 12-23); Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia (April 22-May 3, July 15-19).

Repeat Weeks: December 25-29, April 8-12.

GSN Repeat Dates: July 1999-November 2000 (moved to weekends in March).

LEGAL STUFF SO I DON'T GET SUED: I'm only linking to these videos, none of which were uploaded by me, for the purposes of research and as a public record. Footage ©1995-96 Califon Productions/Merv Griffin Entertainment and associated entities.

September 1995

 * September 4, 1995 (#S-2341/Season Premiere/Teen Week, Day 1: Ben/John/Jay {alternate copy... thing})
 * September 5, 1995 (#S-2342/Teen Week, Day 2)

Regular puzzle board returns, with new border


 * Late September-early October 1995 (Shannon/Stewart/Greg)

October 1995

 * October 20, 1995 (#S-2375)
 * October 23, 1995 (#S-2376)
 * October 24, 1995 (#S-2377 {alternate copy})
 * October 27, 1995 (#S-2380)

November 1995

 * November 20, 1995 (#S-2396/Celebrity Week, Day 1)

Johnny Gilbert fills in


 * November 29, 1995 (#S-2403)

December 1995

 * December 1, 1995 (#S-2405, with Pat cutting Vanna's hair at the end)
 * December 5-7, 1995 (complete final segment, with Vanna's son Nicholas and a full credit roll; weekend repeat from 1996 with new fee plugs {by Charlie} and a long cut of the '94 "Changing Keys" after said plugs {no audience or announcer})

Charlie returns


 * December 11, 1995 (#S-2411)
 * December 15, 1995 (#S-2415)

January 1996

 * January 4, 1996 (#S-2424)
 * January 25, 1996 (#S-2439)
 * January 31, 1996 (#S-2443)

February 1996

 * February 5-8, 1996 (Sweethearts Week, Day ?)
 * February 9, 1996 (#S-2450/Sweethearts Week, Finale)
 * February 16, 1996 (#S-2455/Hawaii Week, Finale)
 * February 19, 1996 (#S-2456/Family Week, Day 1)
 * February 27, 1996 (#S-2462)

March 1996

 * March 8, 1996 (#S-2470; with a full credit roll)

April 1996

 * April 23, 1996 (#S-2497/Atlanta, Day 2)
 * April 24, 1996 (#S-2498/Atlanta, Day 3)

May 1996

 * May 1, 1996 (#S-2503/Atlanta, Day 8)