The $10,000 Wedge was one of the gameplay elements on Wheel of Fortune.
History[]
The original $10,000 wedge.
The second $10,000 wedge until its retirement.
The large $10,000 wedge on the other side introduced sometime in Season 13.
The $10,000 Wedge was introduced on November 28, 1994. It featured three segments, each only one peg wide: a golden $10,000 in the middle with a Bankrupt on either side.
It was located on an orange $800 from 2002 until its retirement, orange-yellow $300 from 1996-2002, and on the Bankrupt between the pink $600 and the red $500 from 1994-1996 (between $350 and $750 from September 2-13, 1996). Hitting the $10,000 portion gave the contestant a $10,000 cash prize if a correct letter was called, which was treated like a Prize wedge and could not be spent on vowels.
When the wedge debuted, it used a noticeably thinner font and its reverse was blank. The regular font was introduced on the wedge's sixth episode (although the thinner font returned for Disney World episodes in February 1995 and a handful of Season 14 episodes), while the reverse gained a shiny $10,000 design around January 1996. From April 1996 onward, it was placed upside-down on the contestant's arrow whenever claimed. For its final two seasons, the numbers on the reverse were given white outlines.
Initially, the wedge was introduced in Round 3 and stayed on the Wheel until claimed. In Season 13, it was introduced in Round 2 if the three-round structure was played. In Season 14, it was only in play during Round 2, and moved back to Round 3 in Season 18 (and as before, was removed after the round, even if unclaimed). Beginning in Season 20, it was only available in Round 1.
On January 9, 1997, the $10,000 Wedge was accidentally placed on the Wheel upside-down and treated as a cash space, although the contestant who hit it did not call a multiple or solve the puzzle.
On November 6, 2000, it was accidentally placed on the Wheel for Round 2 and won; as a result, it remained for Round 3 as well.
The $10,000 Wedge was retired at the end of Season 25 on June 6, 2008. For Season 26, the $10,000 Wedge was "upgraded" to the Million-Dollar Wedge, which functions similarly.