Wheel of Fortune

Wheel of Fortune has been on the air in some form since 1975. The current nighttime version, started in 1983, has accounted for 27 seasons in its own right.

History
Merv Griffin first conceived Wheel of Fortune in the 1970s after his other major creation, Jeopardy!, had just finished a 9-year run on NBC. He decided to create a game show based on Hangman, and added a wheel to it as a "hook".

The first pilot, Shopper's Bazaar, taped in 1973. It put more of an emphasis on shopping over prizes. The contestants solved puzzles as are still the case today, but their winnings were determined by a vertical wheel spun by host Chuck Woolery. At the end of each round, the contestants spent their winnings on prizes, and the top winner played a bonus round which involved identifying the name of the prize within 30 seconds. Unlike the signature Wheel, the one used in the pilot had no Bankrupts and one Lose a Turn. It also had a $0 space and Your Own Clue, which offered a clue via telephone to a contestant.

After several re-toolings, Merv conceived two different pilots under the title Wheel of Fortune in 1974. Hosted by Edd Byrnes, these pilots featured a larger puzzle board and simplified the gameplay: there was now a much larger Wheel spun by the contestants, complete with a Bankrupt space that would eliminate a contestant's winnings within that round, plus a Buy a Vowel space. Puzzles now came with categories attached, and whoever solved the puzzle got to spend his or her money buying prizes. Susan Stafford turned the letters on this board; it was originally supposed to be automatic, but the mechanism wasn't completed before taping started. Byrnes admits that he was intoxicated during both pilots, but they were enough for NBC to approve the series — albeit with Chuck once again hosting.

The daytime version of Wheel debuted on NBC in January 1975 with Chuck, Susan and announcer Charlie O'Donnell. It was a reasonable success, but two attempts were made to cancel it in 1980. The second was actually carried through to the point that Charlie and several other staffers left for other shows, but it was retracted. Once it was, Jack Clark took over as announcer.

Chuck left on Christmas Day 1981 over a salary dispute with Merv, and was replaced by local weatherman Pat Sajak, who started the next Monday. Network execs were initially not fond of Pat, but eventually approved of him after Merv threatened to stop making new episodes. Susan left in 1982 to pursue charity work, and three substitutes (Summer Bartholomew, Vicki McCarty and Vanna White) filled in until December 1982, when Vanna officially became the permanent letter-turner.

1983: Nighttime
In 1983, the nighttime, syndicated version of Wheel began. It featured a larger prize budget, but identical gameplay. Although it was not an out-of-the-box success, it eventually took off in the 1980s and turned Vanna into a household name. The iconic shopping rounds were removed in October 1987 from daytime, during an experimental month of episodes. Clark died in July 1988, while the nighttime version was in reruns, and was replaced by M.G. Kelly for most of the show's sixth nighttime season. O'Donnell returned in early 1989.

Pat stepped down from the daytime version in January 1989 to host The Pat Sajak Show, a failed talk show. He was replaced by former San Diego Chargers place kicker Rolf Benirschke, who had no television experience whatsoever. After six months, he was replaced by Bob Goen, just as the daytime version moved to CBS. Daytime reverted to NBC in 1991, again with Goen, until it was canceled.

The nighttime version of Wheel has continued into the present day, still with Pat and Vanna at the helm. Starting in the early 1990s, the game has gradually added (and sometimes taken away) various new puzzle categories, set pieces, game rounds and structures. Many of the game's changes over time have been detailed in the timeline.

Longtime announcer Charlie O'Donnell died in November 2010, having been with the show since the Edd Byrnes pilots. In his place, the show's 27th season has rotated announcing duties among several guests, with Jim Thornton having gotten most the weeks of substitution so far.