Wheel Of Fortune 1984
| Wheel of Fortune (1983) | |
| Premiere | September 19, 1983 |
| Airs | check local listings |
| Creator | Merv Griffin |
| Host | Pat Sajak and Vanna White |
| Provider | Syndication |
| Style | 30-minute game show |
| Company | Merv Griffin Enterprises(1983-1994), Columbia TriStar Television(1994-2002), Sony Pictures Television(2002- ) |
| Distributor | King World(1983-2007)CBS Television Distribution(2007-2020) CBS Media Ventures(2021- ) |
| Seasons | 36 |
| Episodes | 7,000 (as of May 10, 2019) |
| Status | Currently airing season 36 Renewed through season 40 (2022-2023) |
| Origin | USA |
| Official Site | Wheel of Fortune |
From February 1984 to 1991 instead of the computer animated logo, Wheel of Fortune used a standard production card. Even the font was different, as it changed to Peignot. It started out black just like the computer animated logo, but in 1987 the background changed to yellow. Static Merv Griffin logo from Wheel of Fortune; 1984. Arts, entertainment, and media Art. The Wheel of Fortune, 1883 painting by Edward Burne-Jones; Games. Big Six wheel, a casino game also known as the Wheel of Fortune; Wheel of Fortune video games, based on the game show franchise; Wheel of Fortune (Tarot card) Literature. The Wheel of Fortune, a 1984 novel by the English author Susan Howatch; The Wheel of Fortune, a 1795 play by the British.
Wheel of Fortune is the second and current incarnation of the popular game showWheel of Fortune. This version airs in syndication and is hosted by Pat Sajak, who was also one of the hosts on the original daytime version.
The nighttime Wheel was the first game show in syndication to be stripped as a five-night-a-week series during prime time access* (7 PM and 7:30 PM Eastern). It quickly became the top rated syndicated program on TV and it has held that position since. Sometime later, repeats from previous seasons were offered on Saturday evenings.
Game play was identical to the daytime show (which ended in 1991). Over the last ten years, a new wrinkle was added: the contestant to spin first was decided from who is the first to solve a toss-up puzzle. Also, the prize to be played for in the bonus round was determined by spinning a small wheel with small folded placards hiding the prize. A $1 million wedge was added to the big wheel. Whoever lands on it and is top winner at the end (provided no 'Bankrupts' are hit before then) vies for the $1 million in the bonus round. The contestant must land on the $1 million on the small wheel in order to play for it.
Other wrinkles had been the Jackpot round, in which a pot starts at $5000 and increases with the money values the Wheel stops on with the player solving the puzzle winning the jackpot provided he/she land on the Jackpot wedge. The most current is the Express, which upon being landed lets the contestant continue to select consonants for $1000 a pop until the puzzle is solved, with any missed letter causing him/her to bankrupt.
Wheel Of Fortune First Episode
Longtime announcer Charlie O'Donnell died November 1, 2010. Wheel had guest announcers like Jeopardy! announcer Johnny Gilbert and Jim Thornton. Jim Thornton was named Wheel's permanent announcer on June 13, 2011.
NOTE: *Other syndicated game shows were five-day-a-week strips but were not intended for prime time access unless a station scheduled it for that time frame on their own accord.
Seasons
| Season | Premiere | Finale | # | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syndication | ||||||
| Season One | September 19, 1983 | June 15, 1984 | 195 | |||
| Season Two | September 10, 1984 | June 7, 1985 | 195 | |||
| Season Three | September 9, 1985 | June 6, 1986 | 195 | |||
| Season Four | September 8, 1986 | June 19, 1987 | 195 | |||
| Season Five | September 14, 1987 | June 10, 1988 | 195 | |||
| Season Six | September 5, 1988 | June 16, 1989 | 195 | |||
| Season Seven | September 4, 1989 | June 1, 1990 | 195 | |||
| Season Eight | September 3, 1990 | June 14, 1991 | 195 | |||
| Season Nine | September 2, 1991 | June 12, 1992 | 195 | |||
| Season Ten | September 7, 1992 | June 18, 1993 | 195 | |||
| Season Eleven | September 6, 1993 | June 17, 1994 | 195 | |||
| Season Twelve | September 5, 1994 | June 23, 1995 | 195 | |||
| Season Thirteen | September 4, 1995 | July 19, 1996 | 195 | |||
| Season Fourteen | September 2, 1996 | June 13, 1997 | 195 | |||
| Season Fifteen | September 1, 1997 | June 12, 1998 | 195 | |||
| Season Sixteen | September 7, 1998 | June 4, 1999 | 195 | |||
| Season Seventeen | September 6, 1999 | June 2, 2000 | 195 | |||
| Season Eighteen | September 4, 2000 | June 1, 2001 | 195 | |||
| Season Nineteen | September 3, 2001 | May 31, 2002 | 195 | |||
| Season Twenty | September 2, 2002 | May 30, 2003 | 195 | |||
| Season Twenty-One | September 8, 2003 | June 4, 2004 | 195 | |||
| Season Twenty-Two | September 6, 2004 | June 3, 2005 | 195 | |||
| Season Twenty-Three | September 12, 2005 | June 9, 2006 | 195 | |||
| Season Twenty-Four | September 11, 2006 | June 8, 2007 | 195 | |||
| Season Twenty-Five | September 10, 2007 | June 6, 2008 | 195 | |||
| Season Twenty-Six | September 8, 2008 | July 17, 2009 | 195 | |||
| Season Twenty-Seven | September 14, 2009 | June 11, 2010 | 195 | |||
| Season Twenty-Eight | September 13, 2010 | June 10, 2011 | 195 | |||
| Season Twenty-Nine | September 19, 2011 | June 15, 2012 | 195 | |||
| Season Thirty | September 17, 2012 | June 14, 2013 | 195 | |||
| Season Thirty-One | September 16, 2013 | June 13, 2014 | 195 | |||
| Season Thirty-Two | September 15, 2014 | June 12, 2015 | 195 | |||
| Season Thirty-Three | September 14, 2015 | June 10, 2016 | 195 | |||
| Season Thirty-Four | September 12, 2016 | — | 195 | |||
| Season Thirty-Five | September 11, 2017 | — | — | |||
| Season Thirty-Six | September 10, 2018 | — | — | |||
| Season Thirty-Seven | 2019 | — | — | |||
| Season Thirty-Eight | 2020 | — | — | |||
| Season Thirty-Nine | 2021 | — | — | |||
| Season Forty | 2022 | — | — | |||
In Depth
- At a Glance: Additional information about the series
DVD Releases
There are no DVD releases for this show.
