Wheel of Fortune (American game show)

Main game Wheel of Fortune is based on hangman. In each round, players compete to be the first to guess the answer to a word puzzle. At the start of each round, the host reveals the category. Most puzzles are common figures of speech. In general, puzzles must be read exactly when solved, except for crossword puzzles (which were added to the show in 2016) where the host gives a clue linking the words and contestants may give the words in any order, so long as all words are given without repeating or adding any. The titular Wheel of Fortune is a roulette-style wheel with 24 wedges. Most are labeled with dollar amounts ranging from $500 to $900, with a top value in each round: $2,500 in round 1, $3,500 in rounds 2 and 3, and $5,000 for round 4 and any subsequent rounds. The wheel also features two Bankrupt wedges and one Lose a Turn wedge. Landing on either forfeits the contestant's turn, with the Bankrupt wedge also eliminating any cash or prizes the contestant has accumulated within the round. After a correct consonant, a contestant is able to spin again, buy a vowel for a flat rate of $250 (until no more remain in the puzzle), or attempt to solve the puzzle. Contestants may ring in only once for each puzzle, and no cash is awarded if all three fail to solve, or if the last letter in the puzzle is revealed; if this occurs, then the contestant closest to the host controls the next portion of the game. In addition to the toss-ups, each game has a minimum of four rounds, with more played if time permits. Contestants who solve a round for less than $1,000 in cash and prizes ($2,000 on weeks with two-contestant teams) have their scores increased to that amount. Round 2 features two "Mystery Wedges". Calling a correct letter on one offers the chance to accept its face value of $1,000 per consonant, or forfeit that to flip over the wedge and see whether its reverse side contains a $10,000 cash prize or Bankrupt. Once one is flipped over, the other becomes a standard $1,000 space and cannot be flipped. Round 3 is a Prize Puzzle, which offers a prize (usually a trip) to the contestant who solves. Since 2013, this round also has an "Express" wedge. A contestant who lands on this space and calls a correct consonant receives $1,000 per appearance. The contestant can then either "pass" and continue the round normally, or "play" and keep calling consonants for $1,000 each (without spinning) and buying vowels for $250. If the contestant calls an incorrect letter, runs out of time during the Express, or solves the puzzle incorrectly, it is treated as a Bankrupt. Final round The final round of every game is always played at least in part as a "speed-up". At this point, the contestant who is in control of the wheel spins one last time (known as the "final spin"). Prior to Season 39, the host performed the final spin. When the final spin lands on a dollar amount, that amount has $1,000 added to create the value of a consonant for the rest of the game, and vowels are free. If the final spin lands on anything that is not a dollar amount, another one is performed until one lands on a dollar amount. The contestant in control calls a letter. If the letter appears in the puzzle, the co-host reveals all instances of it and moves to one end of the board, after which the contestant has three seconds to solve the puzzles. Multiple guesses are allowed, and the contestant must recite the entire correct solution before the buzzer sounds in order to win the round. If the chosen letter is not in the puzzle or if the three-second time limit expires, control passes to the next contestant and gameplay continues in this fashion until the puzzle is solved. Contestants may also attempt to solve the puzzle immediately in lieu of guessing a letter. After the speed-up round, the contestant with the highest total winnings wins the game and advances to the bonus round. Contestants who did not solve any puzzles are awarded a consolation prize of $1,000 (or $2,000 on weeks with two-contestant teams). If a tie for first place occurs after the speed-up, a tiebreaker puzzle is played. Prior to the introduction of the toss-up puzzles, the tiebreaker featured one more puzzle played as a speed-up with another spin from the host to determine the value of each letter.The show currently plays one final toss-up to break ties, with the winner receiving an additional $1,000. Bonus round Since 2017, the winning contestant chooses one of three puzzle categories before the round begins (prior to 2017, the category and puzzle were predetermined). After doing so, the contestant spins a smaller wheel with 24 envelopes to determine the prize. The puzzle is revealed, as is every instance of the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E. The contestant provides three more consonants and one more vowel, plus a fourth consonant if the contestant has retained the Wild Card. After any instances of those letters are revealed, the contestant has ten seconds to solve the puzzle; as in the speed-up round, multiple guesses are allowed, so long as the answer is started before the time expires. Whether or not the contestant solves the puzzle, the host opens the envelope at the end of the round to reveal the prize at stake. Since the show's 40th season, bonus prizes range from $40,000 to $100,000 in cash, and some weeks also feature vehicles. If the contestant has the Million Dollar Wedge, the $100,000 envelope is replaced with a $1,000,000 envelope. On the syndicated version, contestants who win the $1,000,000 may receive it in installments over 20 years, or in a lump sum of that amount's present value. As of October 2025, four contestants have won the $1,000,000 prize on the syndicated version: Michelle Loewenstein, Autumn Erhard, Sarah Manchester, and Christina Derevjanik. The latter also achieved the show's biggest overall winnings record of $1,035,155 in October 2025. In addition to these, Melissa Joan Hart won the top prize on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune on October 17, 2021. Previous rules Originally, after winning a round, contestants used their winnings to purchase prizes in showcases that were presented onstage, referred to as a "shopping round". At any time during a shopping round, a contestant could choose to put winnings either on a gift certificate or "on account" for use in a later shopping round. Money put "on account" was lost if the contestant hit Bankrupt or failed to solve another puzzle. both to speed up gameplay and to ameliorate the taxes paid by contestants. Before the introduction of toss-up puzzles in 2000, the contestant at the red arrow always started the first round, with the next contestant clockwise starting each subsequent round. In addition, ties for first place were broken by another speed-up round. If a tie for first place occurred on the daytime version, all three players returned to continue the game on the next episode, and it counted as a single appearance. The wheel formerly featured a Free Spin wedge, which automatically awarded a token that the contestant could turn in after a lost turn to keep control of the wheel. It was replaced in 1989 with a single Free Spin token placed over a selected cash wedge. Free Spin was retired in 2009. From 2009 to 2021, it was replaced by Free Play, a wedge that allowed a contestant to call any consonant or a free vowel, with no penalty if the letter was not in the puzzle or had already been called in the round. Between September 16, 1996 and 2013, the show featured a progressive Jackpot wedge, which had been in several different rounds in its history. The jackpot began at $5,000 and had the value of every spin within the round added to it. To claim the jackpot, a contestant had to land on the wedge, call a correct letter, and solve the puzzle all in the same turn. In later years, it also offered $500 per correct letter and $500 to the jackpot, regardless of whether or not it was won in that turn. The network version allowed champions to appear for up to five days originally, which was later reduced to three. The syndicated version, which originally retired contestants after one episode, adopted the three-day champion rule in 1989. The Friday Finals are occasionally used for special themed weeks, such as in nighttime season 40, using teams consisting of contestants and members of World Wrestling Entertainment as part of WrestleMania 39. Before December 1981, the show did not feature a bonus round. In one week of episodes airing in March 1980, contestants who won the main game were given 30 seconds to attempt solving a puzzle for a chance to win a luxury automobile, in a week called "Super Wheel Bonus Week". When the current bonus round was introduced in 1981, no letters were provided automatically. Contestants chose five consonants and a vowel, and then had fifteen seconds to attempt solving the puzzle after their letters were revealed. Also, bonus prizes were selected by the contestant at the start of the round. The current time limit and rules for letter selection were introduced on October 3, 1988. In the nighttime version, from season 7 to season 19 (September 4, 1989 to October 19, 2001), bonus prizes were selected by the contestant choosing from one of five envelopes labeled W, H, E, E, and L. One prize was always $25,000 in cash, and the rest were changed weekly, though one prize was usually a car. Any prize that was won was taken out of rotation for the rest of the week. From 1998 to 2001, the $25,000 remained in-place for each episode during the entire week, regardless if it was won. In 2001, three car envelopes and two $25,000 envelopes were available the entire week of shows. The five-envelope format was replaced by the current bonus wheel on October 22, 2001. From season 19 to 27, the minimum cash value was $25,000. From season 28 to 31, the minimum cash value was $30,000. From season 32 to 40, the minimum was $1,000 multiplied by the season number. ==Conception and development==

Merv Griffin conceived Wheel of Fortune using inspiration from hangman, which he would play with his sister on family road trips. After he discussed the idea with Merv Griffin Enterprises' staff, they thought that the idea would work as a game show if it had a "hook". He decided to add a roulette-style wheel because he was always "drawn to" such wheels when he saw them in casinos. He and Merv Griffin Enterprises' then-president Murray Schwartz consulted an executive of Caesars Palace to find out how to build such a wheel. When Griffin pitched the idea for the show to Lin Bolen, then the head of NBC's daytime programming division, she approved, but wanted the show to have more glamour to attract the female audience. She suggested that Griffin incorporate a shopping element into the gameplay, and so, in 1973, he created a pilot episode titled ''Shopper's Bazaar, with Chuck Woolery as host and Mike Lawrence as announcer. The pilot started with the three contestants being introduced individually, with Lawrence describing the prizes that they chose to play for. The main game was played to four rounds, with the values on the wheel wedges increasing after the second round. Unlike the show it evolved into, Shopper's Bazaar'' had a vertically mounted wheel, which was spun automatically rather than by the contestants. This wheel lacked the Bankrupt wedge and featured a wedge where a contestant could call a vowel for free, as well as a "Your Own Clue" wedge that allowed contestants to pick up a rotary telephone and hear a private clue about the puzzle. At the end of the game, the highest-scoring contestant played a bonus round called the "Shopper's Special" where all the vowels in the puzzle were already there, and the contestant had 30 seconds to call out consonants in the puzzle. Edd Byrnes, an actor from 77 Sunset Strip, served as host for the second and third pilots, both titled Wheel of Fortune. These pilots were directed by Marty Pasetta, who gave the show an aesthetic that more closely resembled the look and feel that the actual show ended up having, a wheel that was now spun by the contestants themselves, and a lighted mechanical puzzle board with letters that were now manually turnable. Showcase prizes on these pilots were located behind the puzzle board, and during shopping segments a list of prizes and their price values scrolled on the right of the screen. By the time production began in December 1974, Woolery was selected to host, the choice being made by Griffin after he reportedly heard Byrnes reciting "A-E-I-O-U" to himself in an effort to remember the vowels. Susan Stafford turned the letters on Byrnes' pilot episodes, a role that she also held when the show was picked up as a series. ==Personnel==

File:Chuck Woolery 2004 cropped.jpg|Chuck Woolery was the original host of the daytime version of Wheel of Fortune, holding this position from 1975 to 1981.|alt=head shot of Chuck Woolery File:National Memorial Day Parade, Grand Marshall, Pat Sajak, Mon 30 May 2011 (11).jpg|Pat Sajak hosted the daytime version from 1981 to 1989 and the nighttime version of the show from 1983 to 2024, and hosted the celebrity spin-off from 2021 to 2025|alt=head shot of Pat Sajak File:Rolf Benirschke.jpg|Rolf Benirschke took over hosting duties on the daytime version in January 1989.|alt=head shot of Rolf Benirschke File:Bob Goen Family Feud Live.jpg|Bob Goen hosted the daytime version from mid-1989 until its cancellation in 1991.|alt=head shot of Bob Goen File:Ryan_Seacrest_(2019).jpg|Ryan Seacrest replaced Pat Sajak as the host of Wheel of Fortune beginning with its 42nd syndicated season in 2024 and hosts the celebrity spin-off from 2025 to present.|alt=head shot of Ryan Seacrest Hosts The original host of Wheel of Fortune was Chuck Woolery, who hosted the series from its 1975 premiere until December 25, 1981, save for one week in August 1980 when Alex Trebek hosted in his place. Woolery's departure came over a salary dispute with show creator Merv Griffin, and his contract was not renewed. Griffin said that he chose Sajak for his "odd" sense of humor. NBC president and CEO Fred Silverman objected as he felt Sajak, who at the time of his hiring was the weather forecaster for KNBC, was "too local" for a national audience. Griffin countered by telling Silverman he would stop production if Sajak was not allowed to become host, and Silverman acquiesced. Sajak hosted the daytime series until January 9, 1989, when he left to host a late-night talk show for CBS. The show's producers auditioned a number of potential successors upon his departure. These potential replacements included Michael Reagan, John Davidson, Bert Convy, and Tim Brando. Eventually, in December 1988, it was announced that Rolf Benirschke, a former placekicker in the National Football League, was chosen as Sajak's replacement. Benirschke hosted the program from a little more than five months, as his term as host came to an end due to NBC's cancellation of the daytime Wheel after fourteen years, with its final episode airing on June 30, 1989. When the newly formatted daytime series returned on CBS on July 17, 1989, Bob Goen became its host. The daytime program continued for a year and a half on CBS, then returned to NBC on January 14, 1991, and continued until September 20, 1991, when it was cancelled for a second and final time. During these two extended absences, former Miss USA Summer Bartholomew was Stafford's most frequent substitute, with model Cynthia Washington and comedian Arte Johnson also filling in for Stafford. After Stafford left to become a humanitarian worker, Griffin gave each of the three women an opportunity to win the job by putting them in a rotation for several weeks after Stafford's departure. saying that he felt she was capable of activating the puzzle board letters (which is the primary role of the Wheel co-host) better than anyone else who had auditioned. White became highly popular among the young female demographic, and also gained a fanbase of adults interested in her daily wardrobe, in a phenomenon that has been referred to as "Vannamania". White also hosted the daytime version until its cancellation in 1991, except for one week in June 1986 when Stafford returned so that White could recover after her fiancé, John Gibson, died in a plane crash. Sajak and White were host and co-host of the syndicated version until 2024, with a small number of exceptions. During two weeks in January 1991, Tricia Gist, the girlfriend and future wife of Griffin's son Tony, filled in for White when she and her new husband, restaurateur George San Pietro, were honeymooning. Gist returned for the week of episodes airing March 11 through 15, 1991, because White had a cold at the time of taping. On an episode in November 1996, when Sajak proved unable to host the bonus round segment because of laryngitis, he and White traded places for that segment. On the March 4, 1997 episode, Rosie O'Donnell co-hosted the third round with White after O'Donnell's name was used in a puzzle. On April 1, 1997, Sajak and Alex Trebek traded jobs for the day. Sajak hosted that day's edition of Jeopardy! in place of Trebek. Trebek presided over a special two-contestant Wheel celebrity match between Sajak and White, who were playing for the Boy Scouts of America and the American Cancer Society, respectively. Lesly Sajak, Pat's wife, was the guest co-host for the day. The winner of this contest, Katie Cantrell of Wooster, Ohio (a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design), took White's place for the second and third rounds on the episode that aired March 24, 2011. In November 2019, three weeks of episodes were taped with White hosting in Sajak's place while he recovered from intestinal surgery. While White hosted, several guests appeared at the puzzle board, including costumed performers of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and Pat Sajak's daughter, Maggie Sajak. Maggie joined the show as a special correspondent, making appearances similar to the "Clue Crew" on companion program Jeopardy!, in September 2021. A few weeks later, Ryan Seacrest was announced to be the new host, starting in September 2024. Seacrest further stated that he looked forward to working alongside White. On September 19, 2023, Sony announced that White had extended her contract for additional two years to continue as co-host through the 2025–26 season. White was absent from the week of episodes airing October 2 through 6 due to her testing positive for COVID-19; taking her place for these episodes was schoolteacher Bridgette Donald-Blue, who was named Teacher of the Year for 2023 by the California Teachers Association. Sajak's final syndicated episode aired on June 7, 2024. It was announced on July 11, 2024, that because of American Idol auditions likely to occur that would take up Ryan Seacrest's time, Sajak would host the fifth celebrity season on ABC. Sajak's final episode as host of the celebrity edition aired on June 10, 2025. Announcers Charlie O'Donnell was the program's first and longest tenured announcer. In 1980, NBC was discussing cancelling Wheel and O'Donnell agreed to take the position as announcer on The Toni Tennille Show. The network decided against the cancellation but O'Donnell decided to honor his commitment and left the series. His replacement was Jack Clark, who added the syndicated series to his responsibilities when it premiered in 1983 and announced for both series until his death in July 1988. Los Angeles radio personality M. G. Kelly was Clark's replacement, starting on the daytime series in August 1988 and on the syndicated series a month later. Kelly held these positions until O'Donnell was able to return to the announcer position, doing so after his duties with Barris Industries came to an end at the end in 1989. Don Pardo, Don Morrow, and Johnny Gilbert have occasionally served as substitute announcers. After O'Donnell's death, the producers sought a permanent replacement, and a series of substitutes announced, including Gilbert, John Cramer, Joe Cipriano, Rich Fields, Lora Cain, and Jim Thornton. In 2011, Thornton was chosen to be the show's fourth announcer. In season 39, Thornton appeared on-camera at the start of every episode. having earlier served as a producer starting in 1995. On August 1, 2019, Sony Pictures Television announced that Friedman would retire as executive producer of both Wheel and Jeopardy! at the end of the 2019–20 season. On August 29, 2019, Sony Pictures Television announced that Mike Richards would replace Friedman at the start of 2020–21 season. Following Richards' earlier resignation as permanent host of Jeopardy!, he was fired on August 31, 2021, from his executive producer position at both Jeopardy! and Wheel. A Sony memo indicated that Michael Davies from Embassy Row would serve as interim executive producer of both Wheel and Jeopardy!; however, Davies was not credited on any episodes of Wheel, and Deadline subsequently reported that supervising producer Steve Schwartz oversaw the balance of the show's 39th season. John Rhinehart was the program's first producer, but departed in August 1976 to become NBC's West Coast Daytime Program Development Director. Afterwards, his co-producer, Nancy Jones, was promoted to sole producer, and served as such until 1995, when Friedman succeeded her. Jeopardy! director Kevin McCarthy, Corwin's associate director Bob Cisneros, and Wheel and Jeopardy! technical director Robert Ennis filled in at various points, until Cisneros became full-time director in November 2013. Ennis returned as guest director for the weeks airing October 13–17 and November 17–21, 2014, as Cisneros was recovering from neck surgery at the time of taping. On September 14, 2015, Ennis was promoted to full-time director. Ennis retired at the end of the 2022–23 season and was replaced by Alex Van Wagner. ==Production==

Wheel of Fortune is owned by Sony Pictures Television (previously known as Columbia TriStar Television, the successor company to original producer Merv Griffin Enterprises). The production company and copyright holder of all episodes to date is Califon Productions, Inc., which like SPT has Sony Pictures for its active registered agent, and whose name comes from a New Jersey town where Griffin once owned a farm. The rights to distribute the show worldwide were owned by CBS Media Ventures from its absorption of original distributor King World Productions in 2007, until sister company CBS Broadcasting temporarily took over distribution rights on October 28, 2024, but later reverted back to CBS Media Ventures on April 7, 2025. Sony terminated CBS' distribution rights in 2025 due to a lawsuit claiming that CBS was engaging in preferential treatment of its wholly owned programming that prevented it from meeting its obligations to maximize the value of the Griffin game show on the syndicated market; starting in February 10, 2025, SPT now distributes the program itself. CBS Broadcasting, followed by CBS Media Ventures, will continue to distribute the show following the termination. Wheel of Fortune was originally taped at NBC Studios in Burbank. The first fourteen years of the daytime series, as well as the first six of the syndicated series, were taped in Studio 4. At the conclusion of the 1988–89 television season, which saw NBC drop the daytime series from its lineup, Wheel left Burbank and production moved to CBS Television City in Los Angeles. Both the nightly series and a relaunched daytime series taped in Studio 33 upon the move. The daytime series remained in production until 1991, by which point it had returned to NBC, while continuing to tape at Television City, the syndicated series remained there until 1995. After that, the show moved to its current home at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, where it occupies Stage 11. Some episodes are also recorded on location, a tradition which began with two weeks of episodes taped at Radio City Music Hall in late 1988. Recording sessions usually last for five or six episodes in one day. ''Shopper's Bazaar used a vertically mounted wheel which was often difficult to see on-screen. Ed Flesh, who also designed the sets for The $25,000 Pyramid and Jeopardy!'', redesigned the wheel mechanism, in which the wheel lays flat while a camera zooms in from above. The first incarnation of the wheel was mostly made of paint and cardboard, and has since seen multiple design changes. Until the mid-1990s, the wheel spun automatically during the opening and closing of the show. The current incarnation, in use since 2003, is framed on a steel tube surrounded by Plexiglas panels and contains more than 200 lighting instruments. It is held by a stainless steel shaft with roller bearings. Altogether, the wheel weighs approximately . The wheel, including its light extensions, is in diameter. The show's original puzzle board had three rows of thirteen manually operated trilons, for a total of 39 spaces. On December 21, 1981, a larger board with 48 trilons in four rows (11, 13, 13, and 11 trilons) was adopted. This board was surrounded by a double-arched border of lights which flashed at the beginning and end of the round. Each trilon had three sides: a green side to represent spaces not used by the puzzle, a blank side to indicate a letter that had not been revealed, and a side with a letter on it. The puzzle board was refurbished for season 40 in 2022, replacing the individual monitors for each letter with a singular video board, and using lidar sensors for touch input. Although not typically seen by viewers, the set also includes a used letter board that shows contestants which letters are remaining in play, a scoreboard that is visible from the contestants' perspective, and a countdown clock. The used letter board is also used during the bonus round, and in at least one case, helped the contestant to see unused letters to solve a difficult puzzle. COVID-19 accommodations In March 2020, Sony suspended production of the show due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2020, taping resumed with new safety measures. These new episodes began airing September 14, 2020. When production began again after shutting down, new episodes taped without studio audiences with only essential staff and crew allowed onstage. At tapings during that time, personal protective equipment was provided to everyone off-camera and behind the scenes. In July 2022, the show's producers announced that live studios in-person audiences would return for season 40. At the start of season 40, most other COVID era protocols had also been lifted, with the contestants standing closer together, no longer using the grips to spin the wheel, and Sajak, later Seacrest, walking up and down the podium to shake hands/hug contestants at the end of the game. Music Alan Thicke composed the show's original theme, which was titled "Big Wheels". In 1983, it was replaced by Griffin's own composition, "Changing Keys", to allow him to derive royalties from that composition's use on both the network and syndicated versions. Steve Kaplan became music director starting in 1997, and served as such until killed in a plane crash in 2003. His initial theme was a remix of "Changing Keys", but by 2000, he replaced it with a composition of his own, which was titled "Happy Wheels". Since 2006, music direction has been handled by Frankie Blue and John Hoke. Themes they have written for the show include a remix of "Happy Wheels" and an original rock-based composition. "A Time for Tony" (whose basic melody evolved into "Think!", the longtime theme song for Jeopardy!), "Buzzword" (later used as the theme for ''Merv Griffin's Crosswords''), "Nightwalk", "Struttin' on Sunset", and an untitled vacation cue. Throughout the year, the show uses a custom-designed Winnebago recreational vehicle called the "Wheelmobile" to travel across the United States, holding open auditions at various public venues. Participants are provided with entry forms which are then drawn randomly. Individuals whose names are drawn appear on stage, five at a time, and are interviewed by traveling host Marty Lublin. The group of five then plays a mock version of the speed-up round, and five more names are selected after a puzzle is solved. Everyone who is called onstage receives a themed prize, usually determined by the spin of a miniature wheel. Auditions typically last two days, with three one-hour segments per day. After each Wheelmobile event, the "most promising candidates" are invited back to the city in which the first audition was held, to participate in a second audition. Alternatively, a participant may submit an audition form with a self-shot video through the show's website to enter an audition. Contestants not appearing on stage at Wheelmobile events have their applications retained and get drawn at random to fill second-level audition vacancies. At the second audition, potential contestants play more mock games featuring a miniature wheel and puzzle board, followed by a 16-puzzle test with some letters revealed. The contestants have five minutes to solve as many puzzles as they can by writing in the correct letters. The people who pass continue the audition, playing more mock games which are followed by interviews. Since the show's hiatus due to COVID-19 ended, all auditions have been conducted online. ==Broadcast history==

Wheel of Fortune premiered on January 6, 1975, at 10:30 am (9:30 Central) on NBC. Lin Bolen, then the head of daytime programming, purchased the show from Griffin to compensate him for canceling the original Jeopardy! series, which had one year remaining on its contract. Jeopardy! aired its final episode on the Friday before Wheel's premiere. The original Wheel aired on NBC, in varying time slots between 10:30 am and noon, until June 30, 1989. Throughout that version's run, episodes were generally 30 minutes in length, except for six weeks of shows aired between December 1975 and January 1976 which were 60 minutes in length. NBC announced the cancellation of the show in August 1980, but it stayed on the air following a decision to cut the duration of The David Letterman Show from 90 to 60 minutes. After that, it briefly returned to NBC, replacing ''Let's Make a Deal, but was canceled permanently on September 20 of that year. The show came from humble beginnings: King World chairmen Roger, Michael, and Robert King could initially find only fifty stations that were willing to carry the show, and since they could not find affiliates for the syndicated Wheel in New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago, Philadelphia was the largest market in which the show could succeed in its early days. Only nine stations carried the show from its beginning, but by midseason it was airing on all 50 of the stations that were initially willing to carry it, and by the beginning of 1984 the show was available to 99 percent of television households. Soon, Wheel succeeded Family Feud as the highest-rated syndicated show, The syndicated success of Wheel and Jeopardy!'' siphoned ratings from the period's three longest-running and most popular game shows, Tic-Tac-Dough, ''The Joker's Wild, and Family Feud, to the point that all three series came to an end by the fall of 1986. At this point, Wheel'' had the highest ratings of any syndicated television series in history, The program has become America's longest-running syndicated game show and its second-longest in either network or syndication, second to the version of The Price Is Right which began airing in 1972. In 1992, the show began airing on most of the owned-and-operated stations for ABC, currently known as the ABC Owned Television Stations. By the end of 2012, the syndicated Wheel had been recognized by over 90 million Americans, and had awarded a total of over $200 million in cash and prizes to contestants. Starting with the 43rd season, the show became available on Hulu, which was also available on Disney+ through the Hulu hub, and Peacock in the United States and Crave in Canada, with the five most recent episodes being available, all of which are available the next day after its airing, as well as select classic episodes that are always available. The popularity of Wheel of Fortune has led it to become a worldwide franchise, with over forty known adaptations in international markets outside the United States. Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam. The American version of Wheel has honored its international variants with an occasional theme of special weeks known as "Wheel Around the World", the inaugural episode of which aired when the 23rd syndicated season premiered on September 12, 2005. Between September 1997 and January 1998, CBS and Game Show Network concurrently aired a special children's version of the show titled Wheel 2000. It was hosted by David Sidoni, with Tanika Ray providing voice and motion capture for a CGI hostess named "Cyber Lucy". Created by Scott Sternberg, == Celebrity Wheel of Fortune ==

In November 2020, ABC ordered a prime time spin-off show, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, with Sajak and White as hosts and initially with Richards as executive producer, which premiered on January 7, 2021. Each hour-long episode consists of two complete games; in addition to toss-ups (with triple toss-ups now worth $5,000, for a total of $15,000) and the bonus round, the first game has three regular rounds, while the second has at least three regular rounds, with the last round being a speed-up round. Scores are reset between games, and celebrities' charities are guaranteed a minimum of $30,000 for the hour. Game play proceeds as in regular games with three notable changes. First, a bonus cash prize is awarded in every regular round: $5,000 in Round 1, $10,000 in Round 2, and $20,000 in Round 3 (and subsequent rounds in the second game). Second, starting from the second round of each game, there are four Million Dollar Wedges that occupy a full space (on the regular version, a single wedge occupies the central third of a space with the other two thirds as Bankrupt spaces); if a player lands on one when they already hold one, it counts as a $1,000 space. Third, the bonus round features four $100,000 envelopes, but a minimum of $25,000; a Million Dollar Wedge replaces one of the four $100,000 envelopes with a $1,000,000 one. Original airings of the show feature giveaways to home viewers in certain rounds, most notably $10,000 in the second round of each game in the first four seasons and a vacation package (or $10,000 on certain episodes, starting in the fifth season) in the third round of the first game starting in the third season. In May 2021, ABC renewed Celebrity Wheel of Fortune for a second season, which premiered on September 26, 2021. In May 2022, ABC renewed Celebrity Wheel of Fortune for a third season, which premiered on September 25, 2022. In May 2023, ABC renewed Celebrity Wheel of Fortune for a fourth season, which premiered on September 27, 2023 by which point Blackstone had taken over as executive producer. In July 2023, White had signed a new deal to return as hostess of the show. In May 2024, ABC renewed the series for a fifth season, which was originally supposed to premiere on October 14, 2024, but after ABC announced more Monday Night Football games, the show was shelved and ABC announced that the new season would air in 2025. A Christmas episode premiered on December 2, 2024, with Sajak returning for one final season following his retirement from hosting the regular version back in June of the same year. The remaining episodes of the season began airing on April 30, 2025 with Sajak's final episode as host airing on June 10. In May 2025, ABC renewed Celebrity Wheel of Fortune for a sixth season, with Seacrest taking over as host. It premiered on September 26, 2025. On November 28, 2025, it was announced that the sixth season would continue on January 9, 2026 with the remaining two episodes. ==Reception==

Wheel of Fortune has long been one of the highest-rated programs on American syndicated television. It was the highest-rated show in all of syndication before it was dethroned by Two and a Half Men in 2010. The syndicated Wheel shared the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show with Jeopardy! in 2011, and Sajak won three Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show Hostin 1993, 1997, and 1998. In a 2001 issue, TV Guide ranked Wheel number 25 among the 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time, and in 2013, the magazine ranked it number two in its list of the 60 greatest game shows ever, second only to Jeopardy! Wheel was the subject of many nominations in GSN's Game Show Awards special, which aired on June 6, 2009. The show was nominated for Best Game Show, but lost to Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?. Sajak and White were nominated for Best Game Show Host, but lost to Deal or No Deals Howie Mandel; and O'Donnell was considered for Best Announcer but lost to Rich Fields from The Price Is Right (Fields later was a Wheel substitute announcer after O'Donnell's death). One of the catchphrases uttered by contestants, ''"I'd like to buy a vowel", was considered for Favorite Game Show Catch Phrase, but lost to "Come on down!"'', the announcer's catchphrase welcoming new contestants to Price. The sound effect heard at the start of a new regular gameplay round won the award for Favorite Game Show Sound Effect. The sound heard when the wheel lands on Bankrupt, known as the "slide whistle", was also nominated. Despite having been retired from the show for nearly a decade by that point, "Changing Keys" was nominated for Best Game Show Theme Song. However, it lost to its fellow Griffin composition, "Think!" from Jeopardy! A hall of fame honoring Wheel of Fortune is part of the Sony Pictures Studios tour, and was introduced on the episode aired May 10, 2010. Located in the same stage as the show's taping facility, this hall of fame features memorabilia related to Wheels syndicated history, including retired props, classic merchandise, photographs, videos, and a special case dedicated to White's wardrobe. Two years later, in 2012, the show was honored with a Ride of Fame on a double-decker tour bus in New York City. ==Merchandise==

Numerous board games based on Wheel of Fortune have been released by different toy companies. The games are all similar, incorporating a wheel, puzzle display board, play money and various accessories like Free Spin tokens. Milton Bradley released the first board game in 1975. In addition to all the supplies mentioned above, the game included twenty prize cards to simulate the "shopping" prizes of the show, with prizes ranging in value from $100 to $3,000. Two editions were released, the only difference being the box art and the included books of puzzles. Other home versions were released by Pressman Toy Corporation, Tyco/Mattel, Parker Brothers, Endless Games, and Irwin Toys. Additionally, several video games based on the show have been released for personal computers, the Internet, and various gaming consoles spanning multiple hardware generations. Most games released in the 20th century were published by GameTek, which produced a dozen Wheel games on various platforms, starting with a Nintendo Entertainment System game released in 1987 and continuing until the company closed in 1998 after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Subsequent games were published by Hasbro Interactive and its acquirer Infogrames/Atari; Sony Online Entertainment, THQ and Ubisoft. A game for mobile devices titled Wheel of Fortune Daily, developed by Frosty Pop, was released for iOS, macOS and tvOS via Apple Arcade in 2024. In 1996, gaming company International Game Technology (IGT) first licensed Wheel for a line of slot machines based on the show; it later became one of the company's longest-running and most popular lines of slot machines. In May 2022, a touring staged production show, Wheel of Fortune Live!, was announced, with an initial run of over 60 dates from September to December 2022. The show is produced by Right Angle Entertainment in partnership with Sony and United Talent Agency. Similar to The Price Is Right Live!, the touring version features alternate hosts, which have included former daytime host Bob Goen, but not Sajak, Seacrest, or White. ==Notes==