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A timeline for Season 3 of Wheel of Fortune, which aired in first-run from September 9, 1985 through June 20, 1986.
Season Changes[]
- The Round 1 layout is altered slightly: $1,000 becomes yellow, the light orange $800 slightly darker, and the $700 becomes a dark red.
- The Griffin logo is altered slightly: the font color is now pacific blue, rather than the silver used previously.
September 1985[]
- On an episode believed to be early in the season (Dianne/Dona/Chris):
- Vanna wears a suit.
- The wide-font green $1,000 is used.
- The Prize is a $3,200 Cartier gift certificate.
- Round 4 (CUSSWORDS) is shorter than ten letters.
- According to one recollection, a contestant during this season loses over $60,000 by forgetting the seventh word in the puzzle STAR LIGHT STAR BRIGHT FIRST STAR I SEE TONIGHT.
- On an episode sometime this season, a contestant wins $25,000 in the Speed-Up, but declines to buy a prize and places it all on a gift certificate.
- On an episode from sometime in the Fall (Vicki/Scott/Kim):
- The Round 1 puzzle THUNDERSTRUCK is a rare instance of a one-word Phrase.
- In an unusual move, after Scott fails to solve the bonus puzzle CIVIL DEFENSE, Pat asks Vanna to turn a couple more letters (specifically, she turns the D and V), and then asks if anyone in the audience knows the answer.
- On September 26 (Marsha/Cheryl/Bob), Cheryl solves the bonus puzzle BLUE EYES before the timer can start.
October 1985[]
- Charlie O'Donnell fills in for Jack beginning on October 21. During this time, Jack announces on The $25,000 Pyramid.
- On October 31 (Kerri/Rick/Lulu):
- Vanna wears a suit.
- Round 4 (MEL TILLIS) is shorter than ten letters.
- The game ends in a tie, which as usual is broken by a second Speed-Up.
- The tiebreaker round (BIRTHDAY SUIT) is categorized as Phrase instead of Thing.
November 1985[]
- Jack returns on November 4, having resigned from Pyramid due to scheduling conflicts with Wheel.
- On November 11 (Angela/Mark/Nina), Round 1 has a rare instance of a contestant losing their turn with only vowels remaining: With only the U missing from the puzzle DON'T LOOK NOW BUT, Nina buys a repeated E, after which Angela solves the puzzle.
December 1985[]
Poetic justice?
- On December 5 (Niki/Tony/Terry), Terry hits $5,000 four times in Round 3, but loses $62,400 by calling a wrong letter (S) with only the L's, V, and C missing from the puzzle THE THRILL OF VICTORY AND THE AGONY OF DEFEAT. She then loses $10,000 more in the Speed-Up. Incredibly, this still would have been a one-round record to this day.
- On December 23 (Helen/Anna/Gene):
- The Prize is a $1,250 VCR, which Vanna models from center stage.
- Round 3 (YOU COULD HAVE KNOCKED ME OVER WITH A FEATHER) is the longest puzzle.
- Contestant Anna wins by $50.
- The Bonus Round (DALLAS) is categorized as Title instead of Place. This is also one of the shortest known bonus puzzles in the "five consonants and a vowel" era.
- On December 25, Jack wishes the home viewers a Merry Christmas at the end of the show.
- Reruns air during the week of December 30.
January 1986[]
- On January 1, Round 4 (BOY GEORGE) is shorter than letters.
- On an episode taped on December 17 and likely aired early in this year (Judith/Elizabeth/Blue):
- Vanna wears a suit.
- Appropriately, contestant Blue plays from the blue arrow.
- During the interviews, Blue presents a large sheet of paper signed by members of the "San Diego Wheel of Fortune Club", which the other two contestants help him unroll.
- Contestant Elizabeth solves the Round 1 puzzle TUTTI-FRUTTI ICE CREAM with only the T's revealed.
- Round 3 is the only round in which any vowels are bought.
- Round 1 and the Bonus Round are Thing, while Rounds 2 and 3 are Phrase.
- On January 20 (Virginia/Karin/Kent), the $900 wedge is placed on the orange $250 instead of its usual tan $200 space one wedge clockwise in Round 1. Neither wedge is hit.
- Sometime this year (as confirmed by the 1987 book Wheel of Fortune by David R. Sams and Robert L. Shook), contestant Nikki Frey sweeps the game and wins a Corvette in the Bonus Round, a total of $61,620.
February 1986[]
- On February 11 (John/Molly/Linda):
- The Round 1 layout uses the regular green $1,000.
- The overhead shot during the opening spin is zoomed in too far, cutting off the bottom portion of the Wheel.
- The Round 1 puzzle FIVE-AND-TEN-CENT STORE (Place) has three hyphens, tying the record for the most punctuation ever revealed on the trilon boards until 1994. When mentioning the hyphens, Pat says he believes it may be "the first time ever" that a puzzle has used three of them, despite there being at least two known prior instances.
- Linda puts $2 on account following Round 1, but does not claim it.
- By February 11, the walls are given blinking lights.
- On February 12 (Barbara/Marc/Kathleen):
- During the interviews, Pat mentions that less than two weeks passed between Barbara's audition and that day's taping.
- Rounds 1, 3, 4, and the Bonus Round are Thing.
- The Round 1 layout uses the regular green $1,000.
- Round 4 (QUICKSAND) is shorter than ten letters.
- All of the puzzles are very short, with Round 2 (WHAT'S HOT AND WHAT'S NOT) being the longest at 19 letters.
- On February 13 (Becki/Eileen/Carron):
- Rounds 2, 3, and the Bonus Round are Phrase.
- No vowels are bought in Round 4.
- The Round 1 layout uses the regular green $1,000.
- The Prize is a $7,505 Mazda B2000 pickup truck.
- The sponsor list is not done over the spinning Wheel.
- On another episode after the lights are added to the walls (Pam/Dolores/Allan):
- The Prize wedge uses a wider font than usual.
- In the final segment, Pat and Vanna promote the De Soto Hilton hotel in Savannah, Georgia, at which they stayed (apparently during a contestant search).
- On an episode from this month, most likely the 28th (Bonnie/Bert/Carol):
- Vanna wears a shirt and pants.
- The Round 1 layout uses the regular green $1,000.
- The Round 2 Prize is a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Its wedge (BIKE) uses the smaller lettering seen occasionally during Seasons 1 and 2.
- In Round 3, the buzzer accidentally sounds on a correct letter.
- In Round 3, Carol missolves PRETTY PLEASE WITH SUGAR ON TOP by saying IT instead of the proper last word. This mistake ends up costing her the game, as she would have won by $50 if she had won that round.
- Bonnie sweeps the game and wins a pair of earrings in the Bonus Round.
- Rounds 1 and 3 are Phrase, and Round 2 and the Bonus Round are Person.
- When Pat and Vanna appear in the center of the Wheel during the closing zoom-out, the Wheel does not start spinning until a second after the camera is completely zoomed out.
March 1986[]
- On March 6, Wheel and Jeopardy! become the first game shows to be closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired. Strangely, this does not appear to have been noted in any way on Wheel until at least October 1989, though a bug is used in Season 11.
- On March 14 (Dick/Diane/Betty):
- Nine consecutive turns are lost in Round 1 (an incorrect vowel, 7 incorrect consonants, and a Lose a Turn). Altogether, 11 wrong letters are called.
- Rounds 3, 4, and the Bonus Round are Phrase.
- Dick sweeps the game and wins a Mazda in the Bonus Round.
- On an episode from around this point (Linda/Joan/Tom):
- There are two sets of repeated categories: Phrase in Rounds 1 and 3, People in Round 4, and Person in the Bonus Round.
- No vowels are bought in Rounds 3 or 4.
- The board malfunctions during the Bonus Round, as it takes several seconds for any trilons to light up, and several of them do not light up in sync with the dings.
- On another episode from around this point (Nick/Toots/Don):
- Before Round 2, Pat walks over and reattaches Toots's microphone. She then spins to start the round. Pat interrupts her to announce the category.
- Don puts $10 on account after Round 2 and claims it after Round 3.
- On another episode from around this point (/Michael/Richard):
- Richard puts $138 on account after Round 1.
- Reruns air during the week of March 31.
April 1986[]
- On April 15 (Brad/Cornelia/Pam):
- Round 1 uses the regular green $1,000.
- The Prize wedge uses a wider font than usual.
- Before announcing the category for Round 2, Pat walks over and reattaches Cornelia's microphone.
- The orange $600 normally covering the beige $100 in Round 2 is accidentally placed on the adjacent red $300. Although the $600 is landed on for a correct letter by Cornelia, it does not affect the outcome of the game, as she does not win that round.
- Rounds 1, 3, and the Bonus Round are Phrase.
- In the final segment, Pat and Vanna promote the Intercontinental Hotel in San Diego, at which they stayed (apparently during a contestant search).
- On what is believed to be April 24 (Susan/Mike/Bonnie):
- Once again, the orange $600 normally covering the beige $100 in Round 2 is accidentally placed on the adjacent red $300. Interestingly, all three contestants land on the beige $100 consecutively, but the first two call incorrect letters, and the third does not solve.
- Bonnie puts $189 on account after Round 2.
- Round 1 and the Bonus Round are Event.
- Unusually, Round 3 begins as a Speed-Up. Against precedent, there is no close-up of the $5,000 wedge before Pat does the Final Spin.
May 1986[]
- On May 5 (Ken/John/Andra):
- Round 1 uses the regular green $1,000.
- For the last known time, $100 is used on the nighttime show, as the orange $600 normally covering the beige $100 in Round 2 is accidentally placed on the adjacent red $300. Neither the $600 nor $100 is hit.
- Rounds 1 and 2 are played entirely by the person who began them.
- John puts $382 on account following Round 2.
- After John wins Round 4, the contestant backdrop glitches, removing "on account" and changing the total to $9. The money amount then disappears, with "on account" showing up briefly before John's grand total is shown.
- Round 4 (NEST EGG) is shorter than ten letters and has only one vowel.
- Ken guesses AT MY CAT'S END on the bonus puzzle AT MY WIT'S END. Very shortly afterward, he says "At my" just ahead of the buzzer, pauses slightly, then says "wit's end" after the buzzer (as well as the applause machine's groan track). Since there are no more commercial breaks, the show has to stop tape and check his answer before he is ruled a winner. This results in a very obvious jump cut that cuts off Pat in mid-sentence, followed by an offstage voice saying "winner", before Vanna reveals the answer in an angled shot of the set (identical to the shot used at the start of the Bonus Round). A clip of this Bonus Round was shown on the ceremonial 4,000th episode in 2003, although it was edited to appear as if he had lost.