1.2 United Kingdom

The British version ran from 1988 to 2001. It was hosted by Nicky Campbell, Bradley Walsh , John Leslie and Paul Hendy with Angela Ekeate , Carol Smillie, Jenny Powell and Terri Seymour in turn being co-hosts. Steve Hamilton was the announcer.

1.3 Australia

The current Australian version began in 1981 on the Seven Network, with Ernie Sigley as host. Other hosts included John Burgess (from 1984), Rob Elliott (from 1997) and Steve Oemcke (from 2004). Co-host Adriana Xenides became the longest serving game show hostess in the world having featured on Australia's Wheel Of Fortune from 1981 until 1999 - a total of 18 years. That is, until 2001 when Vanna surpassed that total. Sophie Faulkner has co-hosted the show since 1999. John Deeks is the announcer.

There is also a version in New Zealand with Philip Leachman as host and Lana Coc-Kroft as co-host.

1.4 Other countries

Some other countries that air "Wheel of Fortune", and the titles used, include Malaysia (Roda Impian), Brazil (either Roletrando Novelas or Roda a Roda), Vietnam (Chiec Non k Dieu), Ecuador, Spain (both use La Ruleda de la Fortuna), Italy (La Ruota Della Fortuna), Germany (Glücksrad), Canada (La Roue Chanceause in French, Wheel of Fortune in English), Israel (Galgal Hamazal), Poland (Kolo fortuny), and France (La Roue de la Fortune). Besides the Australian version, France's La Roue de la Fortune is the most famous non-American version.

2 Play

Three players take turns. When a normal round begins, the spaces in a puzzle are shown as blank white spaces on the board. Any punctuation ( dashes, commas, periods for abbreviations, apostrophes) are revealed. On a turn, a player can choose to spin the 24-sector wheel, buy a vowel, or attempt to solve the puzzle.

2.1 Spin

If the pointer lands on a cash value, the player names a consonant (Y and W counting as consonants). If the letter is in the puzzle, the co-host reveals all instances of that letter in the puzzle, and the player receives the cash value multiplied by the number of instances of that letter. (For example, if the puzzle was "PETER PIPER'S PICKLED PEPPERS", and the player spun $250 and guessed P, he or she would win $1750.) If the letter is not in the puzzle, or the player guesses a letter that has already been guessed, the player's turn ends.

If the pointer lands on a prize, the player gives a consonant, and if it is in the puzzle, the player picks up the prize and sets it in front of them. They must then solve the puzzle in that round to win the prize.

If the pointer lands on the wheel's "Lose a Turn" space, the player's turn ends. If the pointer lands on "Bankrupt", not only does the player's turn end, the player loses all earned cash and prizes in that round.

If the pointer lands on a Free Spin space, the player can win the free spin in the same way as a prize. If he or she later lands on Bankrupt or Lose a Turn, or guesses a nonexistent letter, the Free Spin can be redeemed to continue playing.

In many countries, but not the US, the contestant gives a word beginning with the chosen letter along with it. Hence: " C for Charlie" and " I for indigo and the famous (in Australia, anyway) N for Nellie".

2.2 Buying a Vowel

If a player has at least $250 in cash, they can pay that amount to have all instances of a single vowel ( A, E, I, O, or U) in the puzzle revealed. If the letter is not in the puzzle, the player's turn ends. Note that the contestant does not pay for every copy of the vowel guessed: in the above example, if the contestant guessed E, although 6 Es are in the puzzle, the contestant would not have to give up $1500.

Vowel buying is very common on the US version, but for some reason, is much rarer in the UK and Australia.

Some people argue that, because of the inflating dollar values nowadays, the amount for vowels should increase.

2.3 Solve the Puzzle

Once enough letters have been revealed, a player can attempt to read the solution to the incomplete puzzle. If the solution is incorrect, the player's turn ends. Only the player who correctly solves the puzzle keeps the earnings from the round.

2.4 Shopping

From 1975- 1989 on the NBC daytime version, and from 1983- 1987 on the nighttime syndicated version, after a contestant won a round, he/she had the option of shopping for prizes amidst the studio, like cars, furniture, trips, furs (until animal activists had their way), and jewellery. When the player spent enough to not be able to buy the least expensive prize, or when they didn't feel like shopping anymore, they could choose to put their money on a gift certificate or "on account" (which meant they risked their money for the next round; they had to avoid Bankrupts and also had to win the succeeding round in order to keep the money and use it for shopping.) Unfortunately, the "on account" option was used 0.11% of the time.

3 Special Rounds

In recent years, various special rounds have been introduced.

3.1 Toss-up Round

This was made possible with the advent of an electronic board, compared with using trilons. A puzzle is revealed one letter at a time, and a player may buzz-in to solve it for a set amount of money ($1000, $2000, or $3000 in the US version). In the present US version, two toss-ups for $1000 and $2000 start the game, with the second one determining who starts round 1. The $3000 toss-up determines who starts the fourth round, which is usually the speed-up round. If two or all three players are tied at the end of the game, then a toss up round is played for the right to go to the bonus round. No money is at stake in this round, and this has happened at least once.

3.2 Jackpot Round (Round 2)

After each spin, the value of the spin is added to the jackpot, regardless of whether or not the letter chosen is in the puzzle. The jackpot starts at $5000. If a player spins and lands on Jackpot, and then guesses a letter in the puzzle, they may then immediately solve the puzzle to win the jackpot.

3.3 Mystery Round (Round 3)

The two $500 wedges are replaced with lavender $1000 spaces marked with a stylized question mark. If a player lands on one of these mystery wedges and guesses a letter in the puzzle, they may either take $1000 per letter as normal, or turn over the mystery wedge. The mystery wedge either contains a Bankrupt or a prize (usually smaller cars, and gift certificates but sometimes other prizes worth $10,000 or more). If the player reveals the prize, as with any other wheel prize, they must solve the puzzle without hitting Bankrupt to win it. After one mystery wedge is revealed, that space becomes a $500 space, and the other mystery wedge acts as a regular $1000 space for the remainder of the round.

Up to the 2004 season, the Mystery spaces were worth only $500 each.

3.4 Speed-Up Round

Host: "I'll give the wheel a final spin." As the wheel is spinning down: "You give me a letter, and if it's in the puzzle you'll have three (previously five) seconds to solve it. Vowels worth nothing, consonants worth..." the value of the space on which the pointer lands.

In recent seasons, the value is final spin + $1000, to make the last round more meaningful.

On some versions, such as in the US, the host intentionally aims for the top dollar value with the final spin; in other versions, the host gives a random spin. If the host spins bankrupt or lose-a-turn in the final spin, he spins again. In the current version, final spins that land on bankrupt are edited out.

3.5 Puzzle Round

Some puzzles have a question that can be answered in order to win some extra money. Categories for this puzzle include:

• Clue: The puzzle describes a person, place, thing or event, and the contestant wins money for guessing that object.
• Fill In the Blank: A question mark appears by itself in the puzzle, representing a word. After guessing the puzzle, the contestant can identify the word that goes in the blank.
• Next Line Please: The puzzle is a song lyric or famous quotation; the contestant wins money for continuing the song or quotation.
• Slogan: The contestant must identify the brand or company that uses the slogan used in the puzzle.

3.6 Prize Puzzle

As indicated at the beginning of a puzzle, at seemingly random intervals there are Prize Puzzles that award the winner with a prize somehow relating to the puzzle.

Example: If the solution were, "FUN IN THE SUN", the player would win a trip to a tropical island.

4 Final Round

The player with the most winnings is then given a chance to take a large bonus prize, usually a vacation, car, or more money. In the US, there were several prizes available that a player could choose, usually cars, trips, and jewelry; however, the contestant almost always took the car, or the $25,000 when they introduced all-cash in 1987. In 1989, a blind-draw system was instituted where the contestant would draw a prize envelope from a choice of five identical envelopes, each behind a separate letter of the word WHEEL. Each prize could only be won once in a week. This was used until 2001, when a mini-wheel was instituted that a player spun; whichever spot it landed on was the prize the player would play for. (By that time, the only prizes available were cars and cash, mostly $25,000, but fewer $30, $35, $40, $45, and $50K spaces, plus the single elusive $100,000 grand prize spot.)

A final puzzle is put up and the contestant nominates several consonants and a vowel. Occurrences of these letters are revealed and the contestant has a small amount of time, but as many guesses as necessary, to solve the puzzle.

In the US version before 1988, the contestants were only given the choice of five consonants and one vowel, and 15 seconds to guess the puzzle. A statistical analysis shows that R, S, T, L, N, and E are the best choices, and these were almost always selected by contestants. Since 1988, the contestant is shown the puzzle with R, S, T, L, N, and E already revealed, and then they choose 3 more consonants and one more vowel, but are only given 10 seconds to solve. Since then, the difficulty of the bonus puzzles has gone up, sometimes with only one or two instances of the automatic letters appearing in the puzzle.

The series is produced in the U.S. by Merv Griffin's company, Califon Productions , in association with Sony Pictures Television, and distributed by King World.

5 Episode Status

Most of the Woolery/Stafford episodes have been destroyed by NBC; all but a couple. All Sajak syndicated episodes are intact, however, and have been shown on GSN. The status of the Sajak/Benirschike/Goen daytime versions may still be intact, though GSN has never aired these particular episodes.

6 External links

• Official site of the US version
• The Classic Wheel of Fortune Page, focusing on the Chuck Woolery/Susan Stafford era of the show
• The Wheel of Fortune Timeline, a work-in-progress chronicling the history of the show
• UK Gameshows Page: Wheel of Fortune
• Funny Wheel of Fortune mis-solves

Game shows ITV television programmes

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