Wheel of Fortune (2)

The long-running game show in which three contestants spin a giant wheel and solve Hangman typed puzzles to win thousands of dollars in cash & prizes.

Gameplay
In each round, a puzzle was revealed followed by the category to that puzzle. The player in control spun a large wheel which is fully calibrated with dollar amounts and penalty spaces (Bankrupt & Lose a Turn). When the wheel landed on a dollar amount, he/she then called a letter. If the letter is in the puzzle he/she earned the amount times the number of appearances of that letter and continued his her turn. Along the way he/she can buy a vowel which costs $250 ($200, later $100 on Bob Goen's version) each no matter many there are or if it appeared in the puzzle or not. If at any point the contestant in control picked a letter that was not in the puzzle, picked a letter that was already called, picked a vowel instead of a consonant after spinning, solved the puzzle incorrectly or if he/she hit Lose a Turn, that player lost his turn and control went over the next player in line; and if the player hit "Bankrupt", the player in control loses all his/her money and loses his/her turn. The first player to solve the puzzle won the round and kept all the money earned in that round with a minimum guarantee of $200 from 1983-1995, from 1995-2005 the house minimum was $500, and starting in 2005, the current house minimum is $1,000. For team shows, the payouts doubled to $400 from 1983-1995, $1,000 from 1995-2005, and starting in 2005, the current house minimum is $2,000.

Celebrity Shows
Most shows will have celebrities playing along with the contestants. The contestants play for themselves and keep whatever cash and prizes they earn, while the celebrities play for charity where each team's winnings are matched and donated in cash to a charity or charities of the celebrities' choices, with a minimum guarantee of $10,000. In the early days of celebrity appearances on the show, the celebrities played by themselves.

Special Wheel Spaces
In addition to the money amounts and penalty spots, the wheel also consisted of special spaces. Some of them last for just one round.


 * Buy A Vowel - In the pilot and early months of the series, one of the spaces marked "Buy A Vowel", gave the contestant who landed on it a chance to buy a vowel at its usual price of $250 provided he/she had enough money. But if it was landed on but with a total less than $250 or if there were no more vowels, it acted as a Lose A Turn space. It was not a successful space, so it was shelved in favor of the current vowel buying rules which still exists today.


 * Free Spin - When a player landed on that space he/she received a Free Spin token. The Free Spin can be used whenever a player is in a position to lose his/her turn. In 1989, the space was removed in favor of a single Free Spin covering the first number of one of the money amounts; when claimed he/she can call a letter for the amount under the Free Spin. Later he/she must call a correct letter to claim the Free Spin and since the 25th season also received $300 a letter, as the token was covering a $300 space with the "3" revealed rather than concealed. The Free Spin was finally retired after Season 26.


 * Free Play - This is the replacement for the Free Spin. When landing on that wedge, the contestant in control can call any letter he/she wants or try to solve the puzzle. If the letter called is incorrect, that player does not lose his/her turn, his/her turn continued. When calling a vowel, the player in control does not have to pay anything for it. If the player missolves, they remain in control and can try to solve the puzzle again if they like. Like the Speed-Up Round, vowels are worth nothing, while the consonants are always worth $500, and in the Jackpot Round, add $500 to the jackpot. To this day, this is the only special space to last throughout the entire game.


 * Double Play - This was a special token in which the contestant can turn it in before a spin and double the value on that next spin. It also worked on the $10,000 wedge making it worth $20,000. If the player landed on a prize (including the Surprise) after turning in the Double Play token, the Double Play token was returned to that player.


 * Prize Wedges & Gift Tags - When landed on, the player must call a correct letter to pick up the wedge or tag and place it on his/her triangle under his/her bank. Originally in early years, that player just picked up the wedge immediately and then call a letter for the value under the wedge. To keep the prize, that player must of course solve the puzzle without hitting Bankrupt. The gift tags are valued at $1,000 towards the sponsors of the tags.


 * Surprise - It worked the same as the normal prize wedges except the prize was not told until after the contestant solved the puzzle without hitting Bankrupt. It lasted from 1992 to 1998.


 * Jackpot (1) - This was a very special space which only existed in the daytime show for two seasons. It worked like the prize wedges on the nighttime shows at the time, for when landed on the contestant in control picked it up, placed it under his/her bank, then called a letter for the value underneath it. If the contestant can avoid Bankrupt at all times and solve the puzzle, he/she collected the Jackpot which started at $1,000 plus that much more for every day it's not won.


 * Jackpot (2) - During the second round (originally the third round, today the first round), one special wedge marked "Jackpot" is on the wheel. The jackpot started at $5,000 ($10,000 on Fridays during the Friday Finals era) and grew by the amount landed on for each spin. Whenever the Jackpot wedge is landed on, the player in control can win the entire jackpot by calling a correct letter and solving the puzzle. Since 2006, the Jackpot wedge is also worth $500 a letter regardless if the contestant wished to solve it or not, and $500 was added to the jackpot regardless of whether or not the letter called was in the puzzle. Calling a consonant on a Free Play also added $500 to the Jackpot.


 * Mystery Wedge - In the third round, two of the wedges were mystery wedges which are branded with question marks and a money amount. Behind one of them is a Bankrupt, and behind the other is $10,000 in cash (originally a car). When a mystery wedge was landed on and if the contestant in control called a right letter, he/she has a choice to make, either to take the money for the correct letter or lift up the wedge to see what's on the other side. When lifting up the wedge, if the wedge had $10,000 behind it, it then acts as a normal prize wedge; but if the other side showed a Bankrupt, you know what happens; either way, the other wedge became a normal cash wedge. When the Mystery Wedge first premiered in 2002, its value was $500. Starting in 2004, its value increased to $1,000. Since 2005, the home audience was shown the other side of the wedge.


 * Wild Card - Starting in 2006, a Wild Card was placed on the wheel. This card can be redeemed for an additional consonant for the last amount landed on after calling the right letter. But if the contestant can win the game without using or losing the Wild Card, the Wild Card was then used in the bonus round where the contestant can call a bonus consonant. Like the Free Spin/Play, the Wild Card carries over into the next rounds, but if a Bankrupt is hit, the card is lost.
 * The "25" Wedge - During the 25th season in the second round along with the Jackpot wedge, the wheel also had a special "25" wedge. The "25" wedge was a special prize that, when removed from the wheel, revealed the prize to be 25 of a certain item (i.e. 25 $100 bills or 25 gift cards).


 * Big Money Round - During the 25th season in the third round along with the Mystery Wedges, the wheel also had a special Big Money Wedge. The Big Money Wedge had a TV screen with rotating dollar amounts on it including Bankrupt & Lose a Turn. The money amounts were $5,000, $7,500 and $25,000. While Bankrupt and Lose a Turn worked the same way as always, if the contestant landed the Big Money wedge and there was one of the big cash amounts on it, the contestant can call a letter for it's face value (the contestant cannot receive the amount landed on times the number of times the right letter appeared). After that, the big money wedge became a regular $1,000 space. Unlike the $10,000 wedge (see below), the money could be spent on vowels. When the 25th season started, the amount from the big money wedge became a prize which can only be claimed if the contestant can solve the puzzle.


 * The $10,000 Wedge - Introduced in 1994 and lasting until 2008, this was a very special wedge in which $10,000 was in between two tiny little Bankrupt spaces. While the rule for hitting a Bankrupt remained the same, if the contestant in control landed on the $10,000 space and guessed the right letter, he/she picked it up and flipped it over to show a large $10,000 wedge. This wedge acted as a prize wedge and the money couldn't be spent on vowels, so the $10,000 can only be won if he/she solved the puzzle without hitting a Bankrupt.


 * The Million Dollar Wedge - This looked the same as the $10,000 wedge. It was the show's replacement for the $10,000 wedge starting in Season 26. It was available for the first three rounds. While the rule for hitting a Bankrupt remained the same, if the contestant in control landed on the Million Dollar space and guessed the right letter, he/she picked it up and flipped it over to show a large Million Dollar wedge. If he/she solved the puzzle and won the game without hitting a Bankrupt at any time, that player had a chance to win $1,000,000 by solving the bonus puzzle. The $100,000 envelope was thus replaced with the $1,000,000 envelope. This format was originally used on the short-lived Australian version entitled Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune before being incorporated into this version.
 * ½ Car Wedge - A special wedge initially used only for the week of April 11, 2011, offering a chance at winning a car. Similarly to the $10,000 and Million-Dollar Wedges, it had a one-third-sized "Car" space surrounded by one-third-sized $500 wedges, and a license plate-shaped "car" tag on top. Hitting the "car" space in the middle awarded the tag plus $500 per consonant, and two had to be claimed to win the car; obviously, the contestant also had to solve that round's puzzle and avoid hitting a Bankrupt at anytime. The game did not need to be won to win the car, however. In Season 29, the ½ Car pieces were changed to license plate-shaped tags featuring the logo of the featured car's manufacturer; they debuted on September 26. The contestant no longer needs to land in the middle of the wedge to have a chance to collect the tag. When either tag is landed on, as was either wedge in Season 28, a car horn sounds. A tag is now vulnerable to Bankrupts in all rounds and the contestant must solve the puzzle after picking one (or two) up to keep them in subsequent rounds. When a tag is picked up, a large graphic of a generic ½ Car tag appears on the contestant's scoreboard before shrinking to fit under their score. In addition, because the tags are on two $500 spaces on the Wheel, $500 per consonant is also added to the player's total as before.

Special Rounds
Throughout it's history, Wheel of Fortune had several special rounds.


 * Toss-Up Puzzles - Since 2000, the game instituted Toss-Up Puzzles. In the Toss-Up rounds, letters in the puzzle would be revealed one at a time. The first player to buzz-in and solve the puzzle won money for that puzzle. When they first premiered, all Toss-Ups were worth $1,000 and two were played every day. These days, three Toss-Up Puzzles were played each show with the first one worth $1,000, the second is worth $2,000 and the honor of starting the first round, and the third is worth $3,000 plus the honor of starting round four.


 * Clue Puzzles - The contestant who solved the main puzzle earned a chance to solve the clue for bonus cash. In 1990 the bonus was $500, later it was raised to $2,000 in 1995, and currently the bonus is $3,000. During the $500 era, if the player who solved the puzzle couldn't come up with the right answer, the other two players one at a time had a chance to answer. During Bob Goen's era, it was $250. There are several variations the of clue puzzles:
 * Megaword - An obscure category in which the puzzle was an obscure word, and if the player who solved the puzzle can use it in a sentence, he/she won $500.
 * Slogan - The puzzle was a slogan or a jingle to a popular product or place. If the contestant who solved the puzzle can come up with the right product, he/she won $3,000 (originally $1,000).
 * Where are We? - Several clue words to a common or well-known place were presented in a form of a puzzle. All the contestant who solved the puzzle had to do was to guess what place those things have in common.
 * Fill in the Blank - Question marks appeared in the puzzle to indicate missing words. The player's job after solving the puzzle was to guess the missing word.
 * Fill in the Number - Pound signs were shown to indicate a number (which appeared as a numeral) in the puzzle. The player's job after solving the puzzle was to guess the number.


 * Bonus Question - After the player had solved the puzzle, a buzzer went off, signifying a bonus question accompanying the puzzle. The question was asked by the announcer, and a correct answer won $1,000.


 * Puzzler - During one season of the show, the player who solved the puzzle had a chance to solve a Puzzler puzzle related to the puzzle just solved. The Puzzler had a few letters revealed, then the contestant had five seconds to solve the puzzle for $3,000.


 * Prize Puzzles - The player who solved the puzzle not only kept the money, but also won a prize (these days a trip) associated with the puzzle. The house-minimum rule does not apply for this round.


 * Red Letter Puzzles - Some of the letters in the puzzle were highlighted in red. They make up a common word. The player's job after solving the puzzle was to guess the red letter word. It first premiered as a home viewer contest.

Shopping
From 1975 to 1989, contestants who solved the puzzle used their money to shop for prizes including the expensive ones. They can buy as many prizes as they want, but if they were low on money, they can put the rest of the cash on a gift certificate or "On Account". Upon putting the money "On Account", it was taken out of their score and placed on a backdrop behind the player(s) with "On Account" above. That was taking a risk because if at anytime the player hit Bankrupt not only the money from that round was gone, but the "On Account" money was gone too. The "On Account" money was also gone if the player failed to win the round. But if the contestant can solve the puzzle, the "On Account" money was added to the player's round score and available for shopping.

When the show instituted the playing for all cash format in 1987, the shopping format was discontinued (though continued during the daytime version until 1989), and the game went faster and was a lot more fun. Plus, contestants were now tax-free because before the all-cash format was implemented, players had to pay outrageous taxes for the prizes they won after the show ended.

Speed-Up Round
When time is running short, a bell would sound, and the host would give the wheel one final spin. Then the contestant in control was asked to give a letter. If the letter is a consonant and is in the puzzle he/she received the cash landed on (since 1999 $1,000 was added to the value landed on), but if the right letter was a vowel no money is earned. Either way, the contestant had three seconds (originally five) to solve the puzzle. In the video games for the Nintendo Wii and DS, the amount of time to solve the puzzle is 15 seconds.

The Speed-Up Round depends on what round will start or what round is in progress.

All players get to keep whatever they won, but the player with the most money at the end of the show won the game. Starting in 1981, the winning player went on to play the bonus round.

Ties and Tiebreakers

 * If the game ended in a tie during the daytime version, all three players returned the next day.


 * In the nighttime version whenever the game ended in a tie, the tied players played one final Toss-Up puzzle with no cash value in which the first player to solve that puzzle won the game. Before that time, the tied players played (another) Speed-Up round for the right to go to the bonus round.

Bonus Round
Two bonus rounds have been used on Wheel of Fortune.

Star Bonus (1978)
If a contestant landed on the Star Bonus space, he/she had a chance to play a special bonus round at the end of the game. If he/she was not in the lead, the bonus game would give the contestant an opportunity to overtake the leader at the end of the last round. The contestant was given a choice of four Star Bonus puzzles, ranging from easy to difficult. The more difficult the puzzle, the more the contestant could win. The game played similar to its successor bonus round, with the difference that the contestant had four consonants and one vowel to pick from (as opposed to five consonants and one vowel).

Bonus Round (1981-Present)
In this more well-known bonus round, the contestant shown one final puzzle in which he/she must solve for a prize selected at the start.

Prize Selections
Prize selections were different throughout the run.


 * Normal Prize Choice - During the Shopping era, The winning contestant selected a prize branded with a gold star on it. Later after Shopping was removed, the contestant had a choice of five prizes. One of them being $25,000 which was mostly chosen every time. That mostly led to an augmentation in 1989. For two separate weeks in the nighttime version's sixth season, the show incorporated what's called "Wipeout" week, where each of the five prizes can only be won once those weeks (the prizes that were won were indicated by the letter "WO" for wipeout; plus there were returning champions for those weeks. The Bob Goen version also used this format, but instead of $25,000, 1/5 of the amount or $5,000 was the grand cash prize among one of the five choices; plus just like the nighttime show at the time, this version always had returning champions.


 * Five Envelopes - Starting in 1989, the five prizes (including $25,000) were concealed inside five envelopes (one for each envelope) behind five letters in the word "WHEEL". The concealed prize was revealed after the bonus round was done win or lose. Bonus prizes at that time can only be won once each week. In 1998, the $25,000 grand prize was always available win or lose. For the first two months of the 19th season, the five envelopes concealed three cars and two $25,000 prizes. The cars were always available as well as the $25,000, so therefore the contestant always had a choice of five envelopes.


 * Bonus Wheel - In November 2001, a new bonus wheel was added to the Wheel of Fortune family. The wheel had 24 sections with a prize envelope in each one. Several of them had $25,000, several of them had new cars, while only one had $100,000. In later years, extra cash amounts increased in $5,000 increments were added to the bonus wheel (from $30,000 to $50,000). Starting with the 26th season, if the winning contestant had the Million Dollar Wedge, the $100,000 envelope was replaced with the $1,000,000 envelope (it was won once by Michelle Lowenstein). Today, the minimum grand prize is $30,000; plus should the winning contestant win a car, he/she will also win an additional $5,000. The winning contestant spun the wheel (after handing Pat the Wild Card should he/she possesses it in safety) and whatever wedge landed on, that's the envelope the contestant must take. Rarely, Pat would reveal where the $100,000 envelope was and when the Million Dollar Envelope was involved but not landed on, Pat would always tell the home & studio audience where it was regardless if the contestant won or lost.

Main Bonus Round
Once the prize was chosen, the puzzle was revealed. The contestant is given six letters (five consonants and one vowel) of their choosing. After all instances of those letters are revealed, the contestant has 15 seconds to solve the puzzle. Additionally, the audience is told to be quiet, so the solution to the puzzle isn't given away. Starting sometime in 1988, the rules were changed so that the consonants R, S, T, L, N, and vowel E are already provided to the contestant. The contestant now has to choose three consonants and a vowel (four consonants if he/she is in posession of the Wild Card. Consequentially, the contestant is also given ten seconds to solve the puzzle.

Trivia

 * The original name for Wheel of Fortune was called Shopper's Bazaar. It featured altered rules, a stand-up wheel without Bankrupt, and a flimsy motorized puzzleboard. They were all scrapped in favor of the more traditional rules, an on-the-floor wheel, a hand-operated puzzleboard, and the addition of hostess Susan Stafford.


 * Wheel of Fortune started out as a replacement show for the now-cancelled original version of Jeopardy! after 11 years on the air though it was supposed to be on the air for one more year according to Merv Griffin's contract (the other show cancelled & replaced at that time was the short-lived Bob Stewart production Winning Streak), but it quickly grew into a daytime phenomenon and it even spawned a nighttime version of the show. Because of Wheel's nighttime success, Merv decided it was time to revive Jeopardy! (for the 2nd time) this time in primetime syndication & paring it with Wheel.


 * At one time, daytime Wheel of Fortune was almost cancelled by NBC. Its near cancellation angered fans who started writing into the show asking them "Will it really be cancelled?" But during the final segment of an episode that aired on June 20, 1980, Chuck cleared up those rumors and announced to the viewers that the show is not cancelled, it lives another day (or in this case, many more years). The shows that really got the axe were Hollywood Squares, The New High Rollers, and Bill Cullen's Chain Reaction, all in favor of a 90-minute talk show hosted by none other than David Letterman. As it turned out, it was Dave's show that got cancelled after a mere six months, but in 1982 Dave was given a standard 60-minute late night talk show which would still be on the air today on CBS. The cancelled morning show was replaced by Las Vegas Gambit and Bill Cullen's 2nd 1980 show Blockbusters.

The Puzzleboard
For the first 22 years of existence, the show used a mechanical puzzleboard in which the trilon boxes had to be turned by hand. A letter would light up whenever it was called. Vanna White had to wait for the letter to light up before turning, while Susan did not have to wait for the letter to light up. The old puzzleboard originally had three rows, but in 1981 it was upped to four rows to make room for larger puzzles.

In 1997, the old puzzleboard was retired and moved to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., the last puzzle on the old board was "POUND SIGN" which was not solved, and at the end of that day's show which was taping in Arizona at the time, Vanna did one last turning and revealed the letters in "FOR SALE". The following Monday back in their normal studios at Culver City, a new electronic puzzleboard was revealed to the viewing audience. On this puzzleboard Vanna would touch the letters instead of turning them. But the new board can be remotely controlled to reveal letters or solutions (as is done in toss-up rounds). When a right letter was called, a monitor would turn blue allowing Vanna to touch on the right side for that letter to appear. When it first premiered, the lines of the board were black blending in to the monitor borders, quickly they changed to green. It even made taping go faster because before that time with the old board, puzzles were loaded in by hand causing taping to slow down. The first puzzle on the new board was "VALENCIA SPAIN".

April Fools Day
Several jokes have been used over the course of Wheel's television history.

1997
In 1997 a few months after the new puzzleboard made its debut, the show had a special April Fools Day show in which Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek did the hosting duties while Pat Sajak's wife Lesly Sajak did the letter touching instead of Vanna. This is all because Pat & Vanna played the game themselves for charity and Vanna was pregnant at the time with her first of several children.

2008
Pat played a nasty joke on Vanna when he revealed that he was actually bald headed after Vanna took his hair off. A later episode revealed the April Fools Day joke was just that, a joke. For a behind the scenes clip showed how the prank was pulled.

2010
For this episode, there are 10 things that are supposed to be not right with this episode. Viewers could go to the official website and download a checklist to see if they can find all 10 mistakes.


 * Pat and Vanna appear walking in opposite positions upon entering the studio.
 * Charlie, Vanna and Pat are at the player's podiums when Pat walks in and greets the players.
 * Vanna standing on the left hand side of the puzzleboard.
 * Normal size Bankrupt wedges misspelled "Bankrut" during entire game. The wedges hidden under the mystery wedge and by the Million Dollar wedge were unchanged. Actually, "bankrut" means bankrupt in Polish, and Pat's family is Polish-American.
 * Pat had an earring in his right ear.
 * Charlie O' Donnell is standing by the puzzleboard when it appears instead of Vanna.
 * A clip from a circa 1992-1995 episode is shown when Pat makes a final spin. It was a teen week episode.
 * Pat wore a different suit.
 * Pat and Vanna are part of the audience behind the people the player is describing before spinning the bonus wheel.
 * Pat and Vanna wore name tags during the final segment of the show.

Other out of the ordinary things not covered are:
 * One of the scenes in the opening had a rodeo competition scattered amongst the Hawaiian scenes.
 * There was a different scenery behind Pat.
 * The winning contestant was not introducing the people from left to right.

Vanna For a Day
On January 5, 2011, Wheel of Fortune started a contest that gave female viewers & fans of Vanna a chance to be "Vanna for a Day". The sending in of videos ended on the 18th of the same month. After days of searching through videos & entries, the search widdled down to five finalists. Viewers were asked to visit the website to vote for who should be "Vanna for a Day". Voting ended February 7, 2011, and the winner was announced on the 24th of the same month. The winner of the contest was Katie Cantrell of Savannah, GA; her appearance was televised on March 24, 2011.

Link to Contest

Vanna for a Day

Wheel in Popular Culture

 * Wheel was given a homage on an episode of the 1980s TV show Pee-wee's Playhouse; the show was instead called Wheel of Pizza. Gameplay was, for the most part, the same as the show it's spoofing; included is a puzzleboard made of ice cube trays. An asparagus with female features did Vanna's job.
 * It was also given homage on an episode of the popular Nicktoon Doug; the show was instead called Wheel of Snacks, but it had nothing to do with the actual format or play elements of the game. Instead, the host (Roger Klotz as Dr. Klotzenstein) was using the show as a means of making use of his hypnotic snacks (Zombie Chips, Greasy Puffs, etc.) that turn people into zombielike slaves when they eat them. Quailman (Doug in a faux superhero costume) stops Klotzenstein's plan and breaks the spell over the contestants and audience using beets, cancelling the show and bringing Klotzenstein to justice.
 * A small tribute was made to Wheel in an episode of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic imitates Charlie O'Donnell, the show's veteran announcer as he runs over an open pit in Robotnik's escape-proof prison.
 * Peter Griffin was on Wheel in an episode of Family Guy. Pat was not voiced by himself but was instead voiced by Stephan Cox. Peter's bonus round puzzle, in the category "Actor and Show" (a variant of "Star and Role") was "ALEX KARRAS IN WEBSTER"; he used the letter Z, the number 4, three Qs and the Batman symbol for his help letters (five consonants and a vowel; as per the original rules), and managed to solve the puzzle by means of taking "a shot in the dark". He then is allowed to select prizes to buy in the Showcase, a reference to the Shopping era on Wheel.
 * In the "Rugrats" episode Chuckie is Rich, Pat Sajak is also the spokesman for a Publishers Clearing House-like multi-million dollar sweepstakes that Chas wins, and Chas' reaction is exactly what would happen if he was a contestant on Wheel. Vanna White doesn't appear. However, his son, Pat Sajak Jr., makes an appearance as one of the children at the daycare center for wealthy children.
 * Vanna White guest starred on an episode of Full House where she first played herself in a nightmare DJ Tanner (Candice Cameron-Bure) had about taking her SAT and failed and going to CLOWN U while her friend Kimmy (Andrea Barber) passed and going to Stanford and getting DJ's boyfriend (Scott Weinger (voice of Disney's Aladdin)). Vanna later played a teacher named Mrs. Moffatt after DJ woke up and took the test for real. Dorothy Lyman of Mama's Family also guest starred.
 * Vanna White also guest starred in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. In the live-action segment called "Cyrano de Mario" she played Mario's (Captain Lou Albano) love interest Roxanne.
 * In an episode of 227, Mary Jenkins (Marla Gibbs) & Sandra Clark (Jackee Harry) played the game and lost to a fish loving fisherman named Rusty Lewis (Jim Doughan). Rusty solved the first puzzle with just one letter; that would happen for real in the 28th season by a contestant named Caitlin Burke (in that same episode, there was an end-of-the-show tribute to late announcer Charlie O'Donnell who passed away that same week).
 * On The A-Team in which its episode was appropriately titled "Wheel of Fortune", "Howling Mad" Murdock (Dwight Schultz) uses his partner Templeton "Face" Peck's (Dirk Benedict) system to win. In between shows he was kidnapped by a group of criminals who wants to use that system for their own personal gains. When HM was free, returned to the show and by solving the bonus puzzle, he won a trip to Hawaii supposedly for him & Face, but instead he won it for him and a girl named Jody Joy (Lydia Cornell (of To Close for Comfort fame)) whom HM ran into during the chase.
 * In Living Color contributed to the Wheel franchise too. Here, it was called "Wheel of Dozens" in which the wheel was fully calibrated with "Yo Mama" jokes; it was where three contestants gave a punchline to complete the "Yo Mama" term landed on.
 * Wheel was homaged in a recent Mucinex commercial.

Other shows that featured Wheel of Fortune as part of their plots are South Park, Gimme a Break, Friends, L.A. Law, and Santa Barbara.

In addition Chuck Woolery & Pat Sajak appeared as guests on each other's short-lived talk shows, and Pat himself made a cameo on the premiere of Bob Goen's version.

Sets
1975-1981 - The set was different during the early years of Wheel of Fortune compared to the sets used for the later versions, including the syndicated version. The set was an updated version of the one used for the 1974 pilot. The changes that were made to the set were that the contestant areas were color-coded. Red was the left-most contestant, yellow was the center, and blue was the right-most contestant. Contestant scores were in eggcrate display. The puzzle board consisted of 3 rows of 13 manually operated trilons. One notable feature of the set was the "On Account" boards on the backdrop. Contestants had the option of putting the remaining money, if they had too little to buy prizes, on account for later rounds or gift certificates. If a player hit Bankrupt, the money from the "on account" board would be wiped away. This gameplay element was eventually retired.

1981-1989 - In December of 1981 when Pat Sajak took over as host, the set was changed. The puzzle board now featured 48 trilons in four rows (11, 13, 13 and 11 trilons). This board was surrounded by a double-arched border of lights which flashed at the beginning and end of the round. The contestant backdrop now consisted of colored "sunflowers" matching the colors of the contestant areas.

This set was the one used for when the show first aired in syndication on September 19, 1983.

1989-1991 - When the daytime version moved to CBS in mid-July 1989, the set underwent a total makeover. The sunflower backdrops were replaced by colored chevron-shaped backdrops. The contestant name tags were this time in parallelogram shapes. Also, the current sound effects were introduced at that time (the bonus round sound effects were updated twice, however). For the bonus round, the contestants picked out an envelope from one of the letters in "W H E E L" on the nighttime show, while Bob Goen's daytime show continued to use the prize selection method previously used on the nighttime version.

Starting in 1990 and continuing to today, a shiny black floor was added.

1991-1992 - Midway into Season 8, the set was changed again. The backdrops became diamond shaped. This was first used in November 1988 when Wheel of Fortune aired episodes at Radio City Music Hall, and was then put permanently into use midway into the 1990-1991 season. Also, when the diamond-shaped backdrops were put permanently into use, there was a new wheel, and the contestant score displays were enlarged to 6 digits.

1992-1997 - At the start of the 10th season in 1992, the set was overhauled into the form it would maintain until 1997. The backdrops were changed again, this time resembling pinwheels. In 1994, the bordering around the puzzle board was changed to a new "spiky" board. Starting in 1996, a brand new giant monitor at center stage was presented; it started with 36 separate screens but later reduced to 16. Early in 1997, the colored backdrops were retired, and the set background changed weekly with a particular themed week.

1997-2003 - On the February 24, 1997 episode, the new electronic puzzle board debuted, replacing the original puzzle board.

The set saw other modifications:


 * A few weeks after the new board debuted, the wheel stopped spinning by itself at the open and close of each program.
 * At the start of Season 15, the wheel was bordered by a light extension similar to the ones on the electronic board.
 * A giant monitor was now placed behind the contestants starting in the third week of season 15.
 * The bonus wheel replaced the five envelopes in November 2001
 * In the fall of 2002, the contestant scores were changed from eggcrate displays to LCD TV monitor displays.

Music
Pilot - "Give it One" by Maynard Ferguson

1975 - Alan Thicke

Main - "Big Wheels"

Shopping - "Funky Bridge"

Prize Cues:

"Glorious Sax"

"Hula Buns"

"Luke's Dinner"

"Lusherous"

"Morning Sun"

"Prize Guitar"

"Rackety-Sax"

"Shavings" (Later used as the main on Blank Check)

"Sleigh Ride" by Leroy Anderson

1983 - Merv Griffin & Mort Lindsey

Main - "Changing Keys"

Shopping - "Nightwalk" (Previously used as the bumper on the 1983 pilot of Jeopardy!)

Prize Cues:

"A Time for Tony"

"Bossa Man"

"Escape"

"Frisco Disco" (Previously used as the main on the 1978 revival of Jeopardy!)

"Hello, Hello"

"I Just Can't Say Goodbye"

"I Remember the Child"

"Living by the Beat"

"Struttin' on Sunset"

1989 - by Merv Griffin & Mort Lindsey

Car Prize - "Buzzword"

1992 - by Merv Griffin

1994 - by Merv Griffin & Mort Lindsey

1997 - by Steve Kaplan

2000 - "Happy Wheels" by Steve Kaplan

2006 - by Frankie Blue

John Hoke composed the opening theme music that has been used at the top of the show since Season 25.

Inventor
Merv Griffin - he based the game off of Hangman which he played a lot as a kid.

Spin-Offs
Wheel 2000 - Kids' version aired on CBS from 1997-1998

Links
Official Site

David Livingston's Daytime Wheel Page

Josh Rebich's Wheel of Fortune Rule Sheet

YouTube Videos
Professor White explaining how the old puzzleboard worked

The last day of the old puzzleboard and the grand revealing of the new puzzleboard

A Toss-Up Tiebreaker from 2003