Go back to 1983, or forward to 1985?
January 1984[]
- Wheel does not air on January 2 due to the Tournament of Roses parade.
- Around this point, the puzzle board's chase light sequence is occasionally reversed: the left side now goes clockwise and the right counterclockwise. As far as is known, episodes used either the original sequence or the reversed one, but never both.
- On an episode sometime this month (Lynn/Doug/Cathy):
- The Wheel spins very slowly during the opening.
- Before Round 2, the applause machine sounds at its loudest setting while Pat mentions the presence of two apostrophes in the puzzle.
- During Round 2, two players in a row call repeated letters; against precedent, the buzzer sounds on both.
- During the Speed-Up round, Doug forgets to say the last syllable of NEW DELHI INDIA. The camera cuts to a close-up of him as he says the correct answer.
- As of the above episode, the set still looks the same as it did on December 21, 1981.
- Drew Pinsky is a contestant sometime this year (before the sunburst backdrops change), although he does not solve any puzzles. Brief clips were shown on a September 2011 episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show when Pinsky (since risen to fame as "Dr. Drew") appeared as a guest, although the episode itself does not appear to circulate.
February 1984[]
- Early this month, the on-set trees are replaced by walls with foliage on them. The walls change according to the time of year (using snowflakes and lights in Winter), while the trees continue to appear occasionally.
- Sometime this month, and definitely by the 27th, the Griffin logo is altered: the text is now much smaller and uses the Peignot font, while the griffin no longer blinks. The nighttime series retains the old animated logo from November through the end of Season 1 in June, adopting the new, static logo at the start of Season 2 in September.
- February 27 is probably the first Battle of the Sexes week. The Monday-Thursday games each feature three women or three men playing, with the top winner of each sex playing on Friday for a shot at $5,000 in the Bonus Round.
- The opening for Battle of the Sexes shows the week's contestants playing a tug-of-war in front of the puzzle board, which reads BATTLE OF THE SEXES on the middle two lines. There are six men and seven women, indicating that one of the ladies was a standby.
- On February 29 (Ron/Ray/Rick):
- The Wheel spins very slowly during the opening and credits.
- Before Round 2, Pat brings up a question from Ray, who thought Pat was in the film "Raiders from Outer Space" (which seems to have actually been an episode of the 1960s anthology series The Time Tunnel). Pat remarks that he does not recall such a role, and it was probably another game show host. Pat and Vanna discuss this a bit further after the Bonus Round.
- The Round 2 puzzle is SARAH PURCELL, co-host of the 1977-78 game show The Better Sex. While the use of her name as a puzzle during this particular week is likely a coincidence, it is still interesting to note.
- There are two sets of repeated categories: Phrase in Rounds 1 and 4, Thing in Round 3 and the Bonus Round.
- Pat and Vanna can be heard talking during the credits.
- As of February 29:
- The beginning of the sponsor list still looks the same as it did on October 31.
- The full credit roll still ends with Merv's creator credit, followed by the Griffin logo.
- By February 29:
- Jon Wesley begins providing Vanna's wardrobe again.
- Full credit rolls now use upper-case letters for the first letter of each word in the headers.
March 1984[]
- By about this point, the ticket/contestant plug is slightly redone: it now uses a slightly different gold font, the sole lower-case letter (an O) becomes upper-case, the zip code is moved up to the third line, and the fourth line is now used for a phone number ("(213) 520-5555"). Whether it still appears over the Wheel is unknown, as the only known source (a nighttime episode) has a car win and hence the plug and sponsor list are displayed over that instead.
- Likely at the same time, the ticket and contestant plugs become separate entities. At this point, at least the ticket plug still uses the same address the combined plugs did in October 1978.
- As of March 21, Wheel draws an 8.1 on the Nielsen ratings system with a 31 share, a 6-share increase since the beginning of 1983.
April 1984[]
- Around this point, the static small-text Griffin logo begins to be used permanently.
May 1984[]
- On May 3 (Staa/Nickie/Bill):
- During his interview, Bill accidentally calls Pat "Jack". After Round 1, Pat refers to Jack as "Pat".
- It takes six turns to reveal any letters in the Round 3 puzzle CARDBOARD BOX.
- There are two sets of repeated categories: Phrase in Rounds 1 and 2, Thing in Rounds 3 and 4 plus the Bonus Round.
- Pat signs off immediately after the Bonus Round.
- No overhead Wheel shot is used during the credits.
- By the above episode:
- The beginning of the sponsor list returns to having the first letter of each word capitalized.
- Climax begins providing Vanna's wardrobe again.
- As of the above episode:
- The mid-show bumper logo still looks and acts the same as it did on November 9, 1983.
- The show is still credited to Merv Griffin Productions.
- On May 30 (Greg/Wendy/Patti):
- No vowels are bought in Round 2.
- Round 1 and the Bonus Round are Quotation, a rare instance of that category appearing in the Bonus Round.
- For the first known time, an apostrophe is used in the Bonus Round.
- By May 30, the Griffin logo is altered to replace "Productions" with "Enterprises". Subsequently, Jack's closing spiel is now "Wheel of Fortune is produced by Merv Griffin Enterprises."
June 1984[]
- On a Monday episode from this month or July (Nan/Steve/Lucille), and definitely no later than July 16:
- Vanna wears a shirt and pants.
- No vowels are bought in Round 1.
- In Round 1, both the "only vowels remain" beeps and puzzle-solve cue sound much later than usual.
- During Round 2, the contestants are shown turning their backs before Pat throws to the mid-round commercial break.
- When Pat is recapping the final scores at the end of the game, the champion's backdrop display is noticeably dimmer than usual.
- All of the puzzles are very short, with Round 2 being the longest at only 18 letters.
- In Round 3, with only the V and O missing from the puzzle REGISTERED VOTER, eight consecutive wrong letters are called; the round goes into Speed-Up after the fourth. In addition, when Steve finally calls the V, it does not light up until after he solves.
- The sponsor list is not done over the spinning Wheel.
- As of the above episode, the original "Changing Keys" is still in use, and it is still cued to the 0:56 mark in the opening.
- By the above episode:
- The mid-show bumper logo returns to its style from October 31, 1983.
- Diversions begins providing Vanna's wardrobe.
July 1984[]
- Sometime in this month or August, there is a week with U.S. Olympic athletes playing for charity.
- Around this point (definitely by September 17), "Changing Keys" is re-orchestrated slightly: A glissando is added to the beginning, and the instrumentation is less "chirpy". The theme now begins at the first bar during the intro, instead of the 0:56 mark. The original version continues to be played during the mid-show prize plugs through the end of June 1989.
- On an episode after "Changing Keys" changes, July 30 (Celia/Joseph/Gloria):
- Pat mentions that Celia purchased a car the previous Thursday, then won a second in the Bonus Round the next day.
- In a rarity, only one prize is bought after each of the first two rounds.
- Two sets of repeated categories are used: Round 1 is People, Round 3 is Person, and Round 4 and the Bonus Round are Thing.
- An upcoming Teen Week is plugged (Pat says it's one week from today).
- On the episode following the above, July 31 (Dianna/Joseph/Tev):
- Vanna wears a suit.
- No vowels are bought in Rounds 1 or 3.
- A shot of Dianna calling B in Round 1 appears to have been recreated, as the Round 3 template is visible in the wide shot and there is a noticeable edit before her next turn.
- The Round 3 puzzle WILLIAM TELL-OVERTURE is improperly hyphenated.
- The Round 4 puzzle PEACH FUZZ is shorter than ten letters.
- During the Speed-Up, the camera does not cut to the split-screen until after the first letter is called; also, the shot of the contestants is zoomed in too far but is later fixed.
- No letters are revealed in Round 4 until the eighth turn.
- As of the above episode, there is still a $150 next to $1,000 in Round 2.
- By the above episode, Pacino begins providing Vanna's wardrobe again.
August 1984[]
- August 6 is Teen Week, known to have been promoted on at least July 30.
- Sometime during the above week, a then-unknown Zac Brown (later chief executive officer of McLaren Racing) is a contestant.
September 1984[]
- By September 17:
- The squared-off edges of the contestant backdrops become pointed. The outer edge is now dark brown, while the area immediately surrounding the player's color is changed to light brown.
- The $150 next to $1,000 in Round 2 is decreased to $100. Both the $2,000 and the tan $500 in Round 3 become gold.
- On September 17 (Janinka/Seta/Peter):
- Rounds 1, 2, and 4 are Phrase.
- No vowels are bought in Rounds 2 or 4.
- Mark Corwin, then the associate director, fills in as director.
- The Bonus Round (BLUE JEANS) is inexplicably categorized as Thing instead of Things.
- On September 18 (Carol/Peter/Nikki):
- The category displays are white, although Vanna is wearing red.
- Rounds 2, 4, and the Bonus Round are Phrase.
- The mid-show bumper logo and shot are not used.
- After Nikki solves the Round 4 puzzle SHIP AHOY, Pat mistakenly says she has $1,000, when her correct total for the round should be $750 (and is shown on her scoreboard as $750). He is corrected from offstage moments later when doing the final recap.
- During the recap, Peter's total winnings are not shown on the backdrop behind him.
- In the Bonus Round, when the category display appears, there is a J already typed in on the letter choice row; it is erased when the winning player makes her first letter call.
- The Bonus Round puzzle BROKENHEARTED is an extremely rare instance of a one-word Phrase.
- The contestant plug is now in blue (using the same address and phone number as in March 1984), and is done over the Wheel.
- By this point, there are rotating providers for Vanna's wardrobe: New Leaf on September 17, and Jon Wesley on September 18.
October 1984[]
November 1984[]
- Around this point, at Merv's insistence, contestants generally stop using "as in" when calling letters (e.g., "P as in Pat") unless necessary for clarification.
- Wheel does not air on November 22 due to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
- A Battle of the Sexes week is held sometime between about November 26 and December 10, played the same way as the week in February.
- The opening is slightly altered to have BATTLE OF THE SEXES on the first three lines of the puzzle board. There are seven men and seven women, indicating that one of each was a standby.
- On the Thursday show of the above week (Jeanne/Stephanie/Terri):
- The category displays are purple, matching Vanna's outfit.
- Stephanie puts $15 on account following Round 1, but loses it to Bankrupt in Round 2.
- The commercial outro of Round 1 is the 1983 "Changing Keys", which is also used for the mid-show Service Merchandise plug. The former begins it at the 0:56 mark, while the latter starts it from the beginning.
- The players are shown turning their backs as Pat throws to commercial during Round 2.
- Vanna turns the second R in the Round 3 puzzle FAST-FOOD RESTAURANT too far, causing the sheet to partly slide out of the trilon.
- Later in Round 3, Jeanne spins just as the Final Spin chimes sound; she is allowed to complete her turn, although the camera remains on the Wheel shot as she calls her letter. When it changes to the board (right after Vanna turns the first F), the shot is not centered and does not show the category. The camera then shows Jeanne and her score as Pat begins the Final Spin, which quickly changes to the normal shot of him doing so.
- There is a very rare appearance of Quotation in the Bonus Round.
- No overhead Wheel shot is used during the credits.
- During the credits, Jack notes that "Due to a technical difficulty, a spin in the third round was recreated and the program edited." This refers to the aforementioned spin, given the odd directing work during that portion of the show.
- As of the above episode:
- The mid-show bumper logo still looks and acts the same as it did on Nan/Steve/Lucille.
- The daytime show still does not show the totals of Bonus Round winners on-screen.
- The $2,000 space is still gold.
- By the above episode, and definitely by December 6, the Winter decorations are added to the walls.
December 1984[]
- On December 6 (Wayne/Linda/Mary):
- Round 3 is the first known appearance of Places.
- Mark Corwin fills in as director.
- By December 6, "Videotaped at NBC STUDIOS Burbank, California" is added to the full credit roll between Merv's creator credit and the Enterprises logo.
- On December 19 (Dolly/Robert/Connie):
- The Round 1 puzzle SILENT NIGHT HOLY NIGHT (Quotation) uses all four rows of the puzzle board, even though it could have easily fit on two.
- No vowels are bought in Round 1.
- For the only known time on the daytime show, a commercial break is done between the shopping portion of a round (in this case, Round 3) and Jack's subsequent prize descriptions. After returning from break, Jack does the mid-show Service Merchandise plug before throwing to Pat, who talks for a bit before throwing back to him for the prize plugs.
- The mid-show bumper logo and shot are not used.
- Connie sweeps the game and wins a Mazda in the Bonus Round. Unusually, the make of the car is never mentioned in the opening or in Jack's prize copy.
- The sponsor list is not done over the spinning Wheel.
- By December 19:
- The $2,000 space reverts to its former tan color.
- The daytime show begins displaying the totals of Bonus Round winners on-screen, more than a year after the nighttime show adopted the practice.