"Look at this studio, filled with glamorous prizes! Fabulous and exciting merchandise, including a(n) $[#],000 cash jackpot!"
The Jackpot was one of the gameplay elements on Wheel of Fortune, notable for being one of the only elements to be used on the daytime version without ever appearing on the nighttime show (although the latter would eventually introduce its own Jackpot wedge).
History[]
The daytime Jackpot was introduced in 1986. It was played in Round 3 on the red $300 between $250 and $200, and was a progressive jackpot which started at $1,000 and increased by $1,000 every day until won. It was treated as a Prize wedge, and the money won with it could not be spent on vowels or in shopping rounds.
If the Jackpot was not won at $1,000, its value was usually (though not always) stated during the opening until claimed. For unknown reasons, the wedge was not used during themed weeks.
The highest known Jackpot was $22,000, awarded on November 27, 1987.
Aside from the opening, the day's Jackpot value would be announced at the start of Round 3, displayed alongside an illustration or prop of some sort.
The Jackpot was likely introduced to try and bolster ratings, as Wheel was consistently running #2 against the first half of The Price Is Right; it also helped distinguish the two versions, which were near-identical at the beginning of Season 4 and would remain so until early Season 5. It was retired in September or October 1988, possibly due to it not really affecting the show's ratings and to prevent the possibility of an insurmountable lead if it was worth more than about $4,000 and there was enough time for more rounds. It is not known whether the Jackpot was won, or how much it was worth, on its last episode.
Notably, the Jackpot appeared during a Wheel plotline on fellow NBC show Santa Barbara in May 1988, where it was won at $24,000 by series character Gina Lockbridge.