Wheel of Fortune is one of the most successful game shows in history. It is a version of the children's game Hangman with a large carnival wheel and prizes added. The game show did well in the 1970s and became a worldwide phenomenon in the 1980s. The Wheel has never stopped spinning since its premiere as an NBC daytime show in January 1975.

The Hosts

From 1975-1981 Chuck Woolery was the host. In 1981, Woolery left because he was denied a pay raise and Pat Sajak replaced him. On the daytime version, ex-football star Benirschke was the host starting on January 10, 1989, but he didn't work out too well. When the show moved from NBC to CBS, 6 months later, Bob Goen became the host, and was the host for two years. The show moved back to NBC in 1991 for 9 months. Pat Sajak still hosts the nighttime syndicated version.

Susan Stafford was the original "letter turner." She was replaced by Summer Bartholemew on October 22, 1982, then Vicky McCarty three weeks later. On December 13, 1982, McCarty left, and Vanna White became the new permanent hostess.

Charlie O'Donnell was the original announcer when Wheel of Fortune began. He left in 1982, and Jack Clark took over full-time. Clark died of cancer in 1988 and O'Donnell returned.

The rules of the game

In the game there are three contestants. When a normal round begins, the spaces in a puzzle are shown as blank white spaces on the board. On a turn, a player can choose to spin the wheel, buy a vowel, or attempt to solve the puzzle. The host announces a category to a puzzle. The contestant selected to go first is chosen by a blind draw before the show. If the contestant landed on a dollar amount, they could guess a letter that they thought was in the puzzle. If it appeared, they received the cash multiplied by the number of times it appears in the puzzle. An incorrect letter guess or landing on a penalty space like Bankrupt or Lose a Turn meant that the contestant lost control of the wheel to pass to the next contestant.

At any point, the contestant in control of the wheel could spin again, ask to buy a vowel, or attempt to solve the puzzle. If they bought a vowel, then $250 was deducted from their score. In the very early version of the show, a player had to land on a Buy a Vowel space in order to buy a vowel, but later that idea was scrapped. The Bankrupt space caused the player to lose his total winnings for that round. If the player correctly guessed the puzzle's solution, they got to keep their total winnings.

Originally, the money winnings were used to "go shopping" to purchase prizes in one of the three revolving rooms on the set. Each room had a theme such as the living room and dining room, a bedroom, a kitchen, game room, a backyard, vacation, and electronics.

When time ran short, a “speed round” was played, where the host gave the wheel one final spin, with vowels worth nothing and all consonants worth whatever the host landed on. The top-winning contestant after so many rounds completed within each show was the day's champion. At first, the top winner returned as the champion. Starting in 1981, the champion advanced to a bonus round, where they could select a prize. In the bonus round, the contestant had 15 seconds to solve a puzzle after choosing five consonants and one vowel. During the 1988-1989 season, the contestant was given the six most popular letters R, S, T, L, N and E, and asked to select three more consonants and one vowel. The bonus round time limit was then shortened to 10 seconds.

Changes through the years

Many changes were made through the years. Luxury prizes and a $25,000 cash bonus round prize was a big hit. In 1987, contestants no longer went “shopping" to purchase prizes in one of the three revolving rooms on the set. The show changed to an all-cash format. The bonus round changed to having 4-6 grand prizes and a $25,000 cash prize.

Originally, the top wheel values in round 1 was $1,000, in round 2 it was $2,500 plus a bonus prize, in round 3 it was $3,500, and in round 4 it was $5,000 plus a bonus prize.

Through the years, the cash amounts on the wheel have increased. A Free Spin space was added to the wheel. The Free Spin may be picked up if a letter is correctly guessed.

In 1996, the "returning champions" idea was scrapped, with a "Friday Finals" format beginning. Three new contestants appeared Monday through Thursday, with the week's top winners returning on Friday. Later, three new contestants played the game each episode.

"Toss Up" puzzles were introduced in the 2000-2001 season to determine who started the game. The contestant who solved the puzzles earned $1,000. This amount increased since that season. During this same season, the "speed round” was changed. So, now, $1,000 was added to whatever dollar amount Sajak landed on.

There were changes to the Bonus Round in October 2001. The contestant spun a mini-sized wheel which had 25 envelopes containing various cash prizes up to $100,000.

In 2002 a new Mystery space was added. In round 3, two Mystery spaces were placed on the wheel, with a $500 dollar value. Contestants landing on this space guessed a letter could either spin again or risk their accumulated bank, not knowing what's on the other side of the Mystery card. It could be Bankrupt or a new car.

The highly-successful format has been seen daily in one form or another since its NBC debut in 1975. The current U.S. version is the longest running game show in syndication.