Go back to 1982, or forward to 1984?
January 1983[]
- According to a tweet by Pat in March 2022, at an early point during his tenure on the daytime version, an episode has a misspelled puzzle of DOC SEVERINSON (should be "Severinsen").
- On January 3, the show moves back to 11:00 AM.
- The January 20 show is Episode #2,044, taped January 9.
- As of January 20, the turntable still looks the same as it did on December 21, 1981.
- Sometime during the year, per a fan recollection, a main-game puzzle is DAVID HASSELHOFF. At one point during the round, the puzzle has the A's and S's revealed but still has the H's and E's, among other letters, unrevealed, which Pat points out.
February 1983[]
- Around this point (definitely after January 20), the on-set trees become green again. This time, however, there are two such trees.
- On an episode sometime between the return of the green-leaf trees and August 5, Pat reads a letter during the final segment from a viewer who gave birth while watching Wheel, solving the puzzle DOBERMAN PINSCHER very shortly before the child was born (11:11, putting that episode no earlier than January 3). Clips from this segment appear in Seasons 25 and 30 of the nighttime show.
March 1983[]
- March 28 is Teen Week, with the Friday Finals format. Despite this, the opening for the week shows 15 contestants; three were likely standby players.
- The winner of the week plays the Bonus Round for a $5,302 seven-day trip for four to Disneyland.
April 1983[]
- On April 1 (Trevor/Juanita/Michele):
- The game is played for savings bonds, with no shopping.
- During Round 1, both the ding and the applause machine abruptly cut off after the I's are purchased.
- No music is played during the main-game commercial outros.
- In a rarity for the shopping era, five rounds are played. Like the Armed Forces episode in 1981, $1,000 is the top value for Rounds 3 and 4 and $2,000 for Round 5.
- Trevor mis-solves the Round 3 puzzle JUICE NEWTON as JOYCE NEWTON with only vowels remaining, although the beeps fail to sound. Just before Juanita then solves the puzzle for $50, a stagehand can be heard telling Pat and the contestants that only vowels remain.
- After the Bonus Round (which is not won), Pat shows the player a fake hamburger "garnished" with two real $100 bills. She is then awarded five hours' use of a chauffeured stretch limo, which drives out from behind the host's area and stops in front of Pat; the driver gets out and opens the back door, revealing Vanna, after which all of the Teen Week contestants come onstage.
- By April 1:
- The standard Friday Finals opening for Teen Weeks is introduced: the show starts with a shot of the week's players in front of the puzzle board as Jack says "It's Teen Week on Wheel of Fortune!" The finalists introduce themselves at the contestant area, then simultaneously say "We're the finalists on the last day of Teen Week. And now we'd like to introduce your host and hostess, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"
- The "Temptation Eyes"-based cue returns for at least one commercial break (in this case, after the Bonus Round).
- New Leaf begins providing Vanna's wardrobe.
May 1983[]
- On May 5, contestant Barry wins with $3,000; according to Pat's comment the next day, Barry wins it all in his last spin of the game.
- On May 6 (Julie/Shirley/Barry):
- Neither Bankrupt nor Lose a Turn is hit.
- None of the puzzles have an S in them.
- By May 6:
- The turntable is altered to add flower-esque emblems to the curved top-left and top-right portions of all three sides.
- A bumper is added at about the middle of each episode, showing the turntable rotating into place for the next round with a Wheel of Fortune logo slightly above the center of the screen. Said logo is in a shape and font different from any "official" logo (including the one in use at this point), and is displayed in various colors sometimes (but not always) matching the money graphic and opening logos.
- The commercial outro cue pattern is changed once again: "Big Wheels" is played after Rounds 1 and 4; the "Temptation Eyes"-based cue is played after Rounds 2 and 3 plus after the Bonus Round.
- Gucci begins providing Vanna's wardrobe.
- On an episode sometime this month, possibly a Tuesday and definitely before May 23 (now believed to be May 10):
- The Wheel's spikes are re-welded with a new method that makes the spins much quieter than they were previously (referred to by Pat the next day as "the 10,000-spin checkup").
- A champion retires undefeated (believed to be Shirley, who first won on Friday, May 6).
- On May 11 (Jackie/Penny/Paul):
- During the open, Pat honks a car's horn right after Jack introduces him.
- Pat does the opening spin with both feet off the floor. Following the overhead Wheel shot, the camera returns to the position it had just before.
- Before Round 2, the puzzle chime accidentally sounds while Pat talks about the aforementioned Wheel update. It later sounds again in its proper place.
- After the Round 2 puzzle STEFANIE POWERS is solved, the O does not light up at first. Vanna merely stands in front of it, apparently waiting for it to light up, then looks to her right and turns the trilon anyway. The O does not light up until after the puzzle is fully revealed.
- During Round 3, Paul calls for either A or H (already in the puzzle) and stops himself halfway, then says S. Pat briefly consults the judges, after which Paul is credited with the S, which is not in the puzzle.
- Pat's Final Spin lands on Lose a Turn.
- After Round 3, Penny's score display goes blank; the dollar sign on Paul's display is still present.
- There are two sets of repeated categories: Phrase in Rounds 1 and 3, Person in Round 2, and People in the Bonus Round.
- The commercial outro cue pattern is as follows: "Big Wheels" is played after Round 1, during Round 3, and during the mid-show catalog plug; the "Temptation Eyes"-based cue is played after Rounds 2 and 3 plus after the Bonus Round.
- By the above episode, Climax begins providing Vanna's wardrobe; unlike the period where the company provided Susan's wardrobe, it is now credited as "Climax of California".
- As of the above episode, full credit rolls still use all lower-case letters for headers.
- The Vacation Bonanza Contest (the first known home viewer sweepstakes) is held from about May 16 until sometime afterward. A print ad promoting said contest explains that home viewers "play Wheel of Fortune from [their] own home" for "an exotic dream vacation", with Hawaii specifically mentioned.
- On May 30, the bonus puzzle TIME MAGAZINE is inexplicably categorized as Thing instead of Title.
June 1983[]
- The June 7 show is Episode #2,142, taped May 21.
July 1983[]
August 1983[]
- On August 8, Alan Thicke's music package is replaced with a new one composed by Griffin and Mort Lindsey, including a new theme tune called "Changing Keys". On the show, it is used in the following spots:
- Originally, the song begins around the 0:56 mark (one phrase before the bridge) during the opening.
- The song typically plays from the beginning during commercial outros.
- The song's bridge (starting around 1:03) plays when Vanna walks out, although the nighttime version replaces this with "I'm a Wheel Watcher" on October 5, 1987.
- The last three notes of the song are also used as the cue for solving a puzzle.
- For roughly its first year of use, the instrumentation of "Changing Keys" is slightly more "chirpy".
- Shopping rounds use a music cue called "Nightwalk" as the contestant buys prizes, and a variety of cues for the prize descriptions. Cues known to have names include "Frisco Disco", previously the closing theme of the 1978-79 Jeopardy! revival; "Buzzword", which is typically used for cars and later becomes the theme song of Merv Griffin's Crosswords in 2008-09; and "Struttin' on Sunset".
- Very likely at the same time "Changing Keys" is introduced, the intro is changed to start with an overhead shot of the spinning Wheel, with the logo shrinking into its center accompanied by a pre-recorded "Wheel! Of! Fortune!" chant by an audience. It is somewhat similar to the overhead shot used from 1974-76.
- Also presumably at the same time, the beginning of the sponsor list becomes yellow.
- As of August 10, Wheel draws a 7.2 on the Nielsen ratings system with a 30 share.
- On August 23:
- No vowels are bought in Rounds 1 or 2.
- The dings are noticeably out of sync during the Bonus Round, as several of the letters light up well after the dings have sounded.
- Pat accidently calls Vanna "Susan" during the Bonus Round and then acknowledges that he did it previously six months ago.
- For the first known time, a punctuation mark (specifically, a hyphen) appears in the Bonus Round.
- The bonus puzzle SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER is improperly hyphenated.
September 1983[]
- The nighttime version officially debuts on September 5.
- Although the nighttime show begins to display the totals of Bonus Round winners on-screen around this point, the daytime show does not adopt this practice at this time.
- In late September, the money graphic and subsequent logo begin using white outlines; previously, they were black.
- In late September or early October, the on-set trees become brown again.
- As of September 23, Wheel draws a 5.8 on the Nielsen ratings system with a 29 share.
October 1983[]
- On October 31 (Tina/Janet/Tim):
- During Round 1, Pat forgets to ask Tim if he wants to use his Free Spin.
- After Round 1, the transition to the turntable is that from the opening, and briefly "sticks" halfway.
- Jack's prize description after Round 3 ends abruptly following the last item, with the "s" in "dollars" being cut off.
- There are two sets of repeated categories: Phrase in Round 2 and the Bonus Round, Thing in Rounds 3 and 4.
- Against normal practice, the Round 3 puzzle WEDDING RING uses only one line; this is even more unusual due to the below.
- The bonus puzzle WIN LOSE OR DRAW is the first known instance of a bonus puzzle using all four lines of the puzzle board, although the answer would have easily fit on two.
- Following the Bonus Round, Pat and Vanna plug the Home Puzzle Contest. An unaired outtake from this segment appears at the end of the ceremonial 4,000th nighttime show in 2003.
- By October 31:
- The on-set trees begin using their light-up white appearance again.
- The beginning of the sponsor list becomes white again.
- Jon Wesley begins providing Vanna's wardrobe.
- As of October 31, the mid-show bumper logo still looks the same as it was on May 6, and is still shown slightly above the center of the screen.
November 1983[]
- November 1-4 are the Home Puzzle Contest, where portions of a puzzle are revealed each day. The winners receive a microwave oven with accessories, a set of kitchen appliances, or a "video package" including a television and a videotape recorder.
- November 7 is likely the second Couples Week, with husband/wife teams ranging from engaged to married for 40 years. This week uses the Friday Finals format, with the winning couple on Friday playing the Bonus Round for a 1984 "American luxury car". The opening shot of the puzzle board has COUPLES WEEK on the middle two lines.
- On November 9 (Bill & Kathy/Don & Susan/Frank & Debbie):
- The money graphic is the same shade of green as the money graphics used from at least 1976-81.
- The opening shot of the puzzle board shows just eight couples, suggesting it was redone for each episode as couples were eliminated.
- During Round 1, Bill & Kathy's score display goes out twice: once during the round, and again after the puzzle is solved. The display does not return by the commercial break. (They are the only couple to play Round 1.)
- Bankrupt is hit five times in Round 2.
- Pat is shown in the chroma-key circle after Round 3.
- All four puzzles are Phrase, resulting in the first of two known instances of only one category being used in a game.
- Bill & Kathy fail to solve the bonus puzzle TOP SECRET with the O, P, and C missing, after which Bill remarks "Oh, that was so easy!"
- By November 9, the mid-show bumper logo is enlarged and moved to the top of the screen.
- By November 9, Giorgio of Beverly Hills begins providing Vanna's wardrobe.
- Wheel does not air on November 24 or 25, the former due to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the latter due to a special showing of The Smurfs, which was airing in a 90-minute block, per the New York Daily News.
- On November 28, the Merv Griffin Productions logo is replaced by a full-color drawing of a griffin against a black background.
December 1983[]
- The week of December 5 is College Week, with the Friday Finals. During this week:
- University of Alabama is one of the competing schools, with a representative on all but Tuesday.
- Johnny Gilbert fills in as announcer.
- Clips from December 6 (Sean/Andrea/Mike) were briefly uploaded to Vimeo but have since been taken down.