Wheel of Fortune at the Ohio State Fair

Host
Pat Sajak
Hostess
Vanna White
Announcer
Jamie Cochran
Broadcast
Ohio Stations: 8/29/1983 - 9/2/1983
Packager
WBNS-TV

"COCHRAN: From the WBNS-10 TV Pavilion at the 1983 Ohio State Fair...

AUDIENCE CHANT: WHEEL...OF...FORTUNE!

(Changing Keys plays)

COCHRAN: ...And now, here are your host and hostess for Wheel of Fortune at the Ohio State Fair, Pat Sajak and Vanna White!"

Wheel of Fortune at the Ohio State Fair was a week long series of episodes aired exclusively for stations in Ohio that had picked up the Syndicated version of Wheel of Fortune as a way to promote the show before it's September 19, 1983 Premiere.

Gameplay[]

Similar to the regular version at the time, two randomly drawn contestants spun a wheel and called letters in order to solve puzzles. Noticeably, this version of the show had many differences compared to the regular version of the show.

Differences[]

2 contestants (instead of 3) would be randomly drawn from a box filled with names to play the game.
Contestants would stand at 2 separate podiums (i.e. Red & Blue respectively) similar to shows like Jeopardy! as opposed to 3 contestants standing at one podium.
Contestants spun a vertical, smaller wheel (similar to the Shopper's Bazaar pilot, except that the contestant doesn't yell "Stop the Wheel" by landing on a wedge at random) that was filled with values ranging from 5-100, with a Lose a Turn space (called "Lose" here in light blue), a Bankrupt space, and a Free Spin space (called "Spin" here in light blue).
The Puzzleboard used features 30 trillions on 3 rows, and notably resembled a smaller version of the puzzleboard used from 1975-1981 on the Daytime show with "Wheel of Fortune" written on top.
Like Wheel 2000, contestants played for points, instead of dollar figures, with the contestant that had the most points at the end of the week winning a trip to Las Vegas.
Contestants could call vowels to earn points as opposed to buying vowels on the Daytime or Syndicated versions.
A speed-up round (a.k.a. Final Spin) could occur in the middle of Round 1, while the 5-second time limit was not mentioned by Pat.
Contestants who solved a puzzle would win a prize described by Jamie Cochran at the beginning of the round.
After three rounds, the player with the most points proceeds to the Bonus Round. (presumably played identically to the Bonus Round in place on the actual show at this point)

Music[]

Merv Griffin and Mort Lindsey

Main – "Changing Keys"

Prize cues and the Puzzle Solve cue used on the show were also used during these episodes.

Studio[]

WBNS-10 TV Pavilion, Ohio Expo Center and State Fairgrounds, Columbus, Ohio

Stations[]

The four stations that aired this were:

Columbus - WBNS
Cleveland - WEWS
Dayton - WKEF
Cincinnati - WCPO

NOTE: Of the four stations, only WBNS still airs Wheel of Fortune while both WEWS and WCPO dropped Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! in 2012 in favor of Let's Ask America due to being Scripps-owned affiliates, with both shows now airing on WOIO in Cleveland, WXIX in Cincinnati, and WHIO in Dayton.

Trivia[]

The famous "Wheel of Fortune!" chant that has been used since the beginning of the Syndicated show debuted with these episodes and was performed by the audience.

On the second episode, Pat noticeably wore a short-sleeve shirt instead of a suit.

On the second episode, when after the description of the prize was described by Cochran, the prize cue can be heard sped-up by accident.

On the second episode, in the speed-up, when a contestant guesses the letter "V" and is correct, the letter "D" gets "accidentally" revealed by mistake.

The right answer ding used was the same one used on The $25,000 Pyramid (Clark). The wrong answer sound was also a different version. There was also no cue used for landing on Bankrupt or the Puzzle Reveal.

The Wheel used on this series of episodes was later used for a Wheel of Fortune parade in Nelsonville, Ohio in 1985 that was used in promos for the show.

In 1997, Wheel of Fortune would later tape again at the Ohio State Fair for the first two weeks of Season 15 that was aired September 1-12, 1997 nationally on the Syndicated version.

The series was presumed lost until WBNS uploaded 8 minutes of the Second Episode on June 7, 2024 in honor of Pat Sajak's retirement from Wheel of Fortune.