Talk:Wheel of Fortune (U.S. syndicated game show)/Archive 1

Returning champions and "Friday Finals"
During what season were the Friday Finals played? With this format, the week's top three winners returned on Friday to play the game again. Also, someone might want to include the seasons prior to this format, during which champions could return for up to three days. --Goldrushcavi

Reply to above: The "returning champions" rule was used from 1989 at CBS Television City to 1996 at Sony Pictures Studios. The "Friday Finals" rule was in place from fall 1996 to about fall 1997 at Sony Pictures Studios. --D.F. Williams

Winners list
The show no longer officially recognizes the winnings records set by contestants who played more than one game. Christine Denos is listed by wheeloffortune.com as the biggest winner in the show's history. Even though there are reliable sources giving a larger winnings amount for Argyropolous and Cohen, and I'm trying to find one other than a forum post for Mindi Mitola, should the list on this page just get rid of the records that are no longer "official"? JTRH (talk) 04:16, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Million dollar WoF
I believe that this section should not be included until we can find a reliable source to verify any information about it. The only source that I can find is BuzzerBlog and a promo on YouTube. Hopefully, this information should come in the next few days. RJaguar3 | u  |  t  00:54, 1 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Wheel aired an advertisement during the show. I think that's official enough for a TV show article (it's not like we're talking about negative info in a BLP). Samer (talk) 02:28, 1 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Edit--a bot removed an edit that had "details" of how the $1M space might work (i.e., as in the Australian version). I'm not restoring it b/c it is at best speculation at this point (I'm not even sure that they've begun taping for season 26 yet). Samer (talk) 14:03, 1 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Holding off would probably be best at this point until we get the press release from them. It's pretty clear that this is going to happen, but it's probably premature to add it just yet. J. Myrle Fuller (talk) 01:26, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

There's a new picture at http://www.wheeloffortune.com/announcements/?article=19. 71.111.214.168 (talk) 20:37, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Recent trolling involving BR/10K/BR retirement
Several users have attempted to update the page to reflect Season 26 changes, per posts on the official WOF message boards by a contestant whose October 16, 2008 show has been taped. Since then, there has been excessive vandalism by troll(s), with just one or two IP addresses, who refuse to accept the changes. (To them, somehow, it makes perfect sense to have four mini-Bankrupts on the wheel at once). Is there any way to combat this, other than having the page locked?

Thanks,

129.137.218.50 (talk) 12:34, 22 August 2008 (UTC)DAP129.137.218.50 (talk) 12:34, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

Yes, what exactly is going on?
Will the B/$10K/B wedge be replaced by the B/$1M/B wedge or will they continue to appear together? The way I understood it, the Million Dollar wedge would replace the $10,000 prize.

--JoBrLa (talk) 19:55, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

As I understand it, they never have appeared together, nor will they ever! For Season 26, the Million Dollar Wedge *replaces* the BR/$10K/BR wedge in Round 1 and, if not claimed, remains throughout the Jackpot and Mystery rounds as well. There was also an issue in the history section that has since been corrected, for the most part. That person needs to get serious help with his/her obsession over a wedge! I personally hold out hope that the full $10K golden reverse will be resurrected as top dollar for Round 4 (moving $5K to Round 3), but am not claiming that fantasy as encyclopedic material!

I haven't made a recent attempt to fix these sections and move BR/$10K/BR back to 'retired' because the troll reversed me both times I tried previously. Also, I was mistaken about the updating flat screen on the Jackpot Wedge - the contestant clarified that it will not be present, but the bottom of the wedge will have an 'electrified' appearance similar to Big Money. Since you are an "official user", could you possibly fix these issues and protect your edit somehow?

DAP(talk) —Preceding undated comment was added at 03:06, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

"Skunked"
Just saw "Jeremy" beat out all other players, every game, and won the final puzzle as well. I was just wondering if this had happened before and if so, how many times. Anyone have any info? -- Kickstart70 - T - C 03:05, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

According to the now-infamous official WOF message board, the last maingame sweep happened in September 2005. I'm not sure if that contestant won the bonus round.

71.79.51.18 (talk)DAP

One of the June 1995 episodes recently rerun on GSN also had a maingame sweep and the player won the Bonus Round (also on WOF message board). 129.137.225.190 (talk)DAP

Five or six vowels?
Is the letter "Y" in the US game show "Wheel of Fortune" a consonant or a vowel? --88.78.2.213 (talk) 07:38, 21 September 2008 (UTC)


 * "Y" is a semivowel and never considered a traditional vowel for the purposes of Wheel of Fortune. Sottolacqua (talk) 14:32, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Just a little request...
Since we had a million dollar winner tonight (October 14, 2008), can someone provide a separate table for winnings records for solo players and team players that have won the $1,000,000 grand prize? Thanks, WM-86 00:28, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
 * We'll burn cross that bridge when we get there. I'm sure that we'll probably have a team win the $1M, but let's wait until it actually happens. Ten Pound Hammer  and his otters • (Broken clamshells • Otter chirps • HELP) 00:32, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
 * There should not be a special section under "Changes" (i.e. to general gameplay format) describing the particular million dollar win in detail (looking at you, WisconsinEditor). Perhaps the description belongs under "Winnings Records", where the date of the first MDW had already been listed. Can someone with an account fix this? I'm not creating an account just to undo an inexperiencd account holder's misguided edit. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.137.234.139 (talk) 07:29, 17 October 2008 (UTC)
 * How many times does this need to be described in the article? Other similar events are not described in such great detail (first $100k win, first $25k win when switching to all-cash format, etc.). Sottolacqua (talk) 11:50, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

Major Cleanup
I've begun a major cleanup to this article. There is far too much minutia and trivia listed in the Changes section. I have already relocated most of that detail to other places in the article. Please continue this effort to make this article more concise. Sottolacqua (talk) 03:41, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Merge proposal
Wheel of Fortune gameplay should be merged back into this article and edited down. There is no reason to expand the already lengthy article for Wheel of Fortune into two separate articles. Sottolacqua (talk) 22:33, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Length is exactly why I split the article up. Wheel of Fortune (US game show) was getting pretty long, and I figure that having a separate article on just the gameplay aspects would prevent duplicity among the daytime and nighttime articles (as I plan to also merge the daytime gameplay aspects into the gameplay article). Ten Pound Hammer  and his otters • (Broken clamshells • Otter chirps • HELP) 17:11, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Supporting TenPoundHammer. The basics of gameplay can still be covered in the main articles, but the rules — trust me, they are more complex than what they seem — and changes/retired elements through the years can be covered in the common "gameplay" article. I'm thinking the main article(s) would then be able to focus more on the production, set information, cultural impact, historical significance, etc. of the show. Briguy52748 (talk) 19:07, 20 March 2009 (UTC)]]
 * I also support the separate article. --208.76.104.133 (talk) 08:09, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Set
It should be noted, and the caption redone, on the set design, as the sunburst backdrop behind the contestants can be traced back to early 1982, not 1983, as in the caption. There are plenty of WoF clips from 1982 on YouTube to back this up. 216.157.195.66 (talk) 16:52, 14 March 2009 (UTC)
 * This article is about the syndicated show. The daytime show has its own article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 166.204.22.12 (talk) 20:11, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

Threats to "report to YouTube" in recent summary edits
Regarding a recent series of edits, one of our IP editors has threatened to "report to YouTube" in the recent summary edits. I am not behind any of these edits that the IP editor(s) feel so offended about, but just curious, what are these edits you're speaking of? Maybe you have something positive to contribute, so let's talk about it. Also, I don't think YouTube has anything to do with this article. Briguy52748 (talk) 19:11, 20 March 2009 (UTC)]] (P.S. — sorry that I'm putting this here; I don't know any better place to put it.)

Are there more bankrupts then there used to be?
I don't actually watch the show. I have it on in the background so I won't miss whatever show is coming up next. At one time, I was late for Jeopardy! sometimes and I would turn to another channel and leave it on "Wheel" until Jeopardy! came on.

But I don't remember ever hearing that bankrupt noise so many times as I have lately. Vchimpanzee ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 17:25, 21 March 2009 (UTC)

Bankrupt glissando
Does anyone know the name of the bankrupt sound? That should be in the article. All I know is that when you do that continuous change on a trombone, it's called a glissando. Vchimpanzee ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 17:28, 21 March 2009 (UTC)


 * The Bankrupt sound on Wheel of Fortune is actually a slide whistle, not a trombone. --DaniAmaranth (talk) 00:18, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Mystery Wedges
Someone want to add something about the mystery wedges? Here's what I know about them: Land on them and they count as whatever wedge they are on top of. Guess a consonant right and the option is opened up to take the wedge and immediately get whatever is on its back side. One has bankrupt and the other a large amount of money. I'm not sure what round they are added to the wheel, but they aren't there at the beginning of the episode. &mdash; User:ACupOfCoffee@ 17:17, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Already discussed here. Sottolacqua (talk) 17:25, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Two Questions
Hi, there. First of all, could somebody please adjust the Wheel configuration so as to be uniform with the three used in the daytime version's article? Over there, BANKRUPT is the top-center "starting point", however here it's the $5,000 space (which apparently has the head, arms, and legs of an African-American but that's beside the point). A bit of uniformity would be better, considering there's only one picture here.

Second - and this is more of a comment, but - as I understand it, YouTube clips should be allowed as references. Editors talk about how we need certified and reliable references - and more of them in certain articles - so what better place than YouTube? Clarifies most anything you want. What better way to prove something happened or when such-and-such changed than with VIDEO FOOTAGE?

That's all for now. Daniel Benfield (talk) 18:45, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

Wheel configuration article
I have recreated the article about the wheel's configuration. There is very sufficient data (though unsourced) within this article, and it would be very upsetting to some fans of the show to redirect/delete the article again. If there's any such improvements I can make to the article, please discuss it on the article's talk page. If you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to ask.--Tomballguy (talk) 00:23, 25 April 2009 (UTC)Chris

Does Lose A Turn Have sound
Does anyone know the name of the Lose A Turn sound? That should be in the article. All I know is like a Whistle. --Money game (talk) 12:45, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
 * For the record, there is no "Lose-A-Turn" sound effect. That said, if there were, that might be a little bit too much information to include. Briguy52748 (talk) 22:15, 25 July 2009 (UTC)]]

Redirct
This incredible article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wheel_of_Fortune_wheel_configuration&oldid=284085995

was redirected to this page, but has not been intigrated into this page. If anyone is interested in doing this, I encourage it. Ikip (talk)

Winnings limit
I contributed the factoid about the then-current $200,000 winnings limit, which has been fact-tagged. It was in the rulebook when I was a contestant, but I have no way of documenting it. I don't think it's relevant any more, in any case. It's okay with me if it comes out. JTRH (talk) 18:31, 28 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I'm sorry, but looking at when the edit was added...I'd say that was my addition. Unless you and I are the same person, which would be quite unnerving, very near impossible, and I'm going completely off-topic, aren't I?


 * Anyway, I got the information from the page on the quiz show scandals, which mentioned that it was removed upon adoption of the Million-Dollar Wedge last September. I merely added that under "Winnings Records" since it seemed like the most fitting place for it.


 * Surprisingly, the only plausible way that a "one-and-done" contestant can actually reach the limit (winning $100,000 in the main game and finding/winning the $100,000 wedge in the Bonus Round) was not removed, although the fact that no six-digit main-game wins have ever occurred (whether "one-and-done", team, or returning-champion) has. Daniel Benfield (talk) 19:16, 28 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I put it in there at one point eons ago, so maybe we've both run across that statistic, or maybe my original factoid found its way over to the quiz show scandals page and then migrated back to this one. In any case, the only documentation I've ever seen of it is in the contestant rulebook, which I've only read once, on the day of my show taping, and which isn't available to the public - and my original assertion was fact-tagged at the time because I therefore couldn't provide documentation of it. It's outdated now anyway. As far as I know, the maingame winnings record is $54,000, which at least two people have reached after finding nine instances of consonants in a Speed-Up Round with a $6000 Final Spin, in games where they previously had no money. It's theoretically possible to reach $100K in the main game - though, ironically, less so after the MDW, with no cash value before the Bonus Round, has replaced the $10K. But I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen. Given that Ms. Loewenstein's $1M win has rendered all of the previous records pretty much irrelevant, I'm not sure they need to stay in the page at all, but that's another discussion. JTRH (talk) 20:54, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Producer dates
Back in September, producer information was added to the info box with this edit by an anonymous user. Later, this edit by another anonymous user changed some of the the dates from 1997 to 1995. That edit was reverted shortly afterward. As a passing editor not specifically familiar with the topic, I can find no reference that supports either version of the facts. Can someone do a fact check to determine which is correct? Thank you. -- Tom N (tcncv) talk/contrib 21:04, 20 December 2009 (UTC)
 * I can't verify the 1997 date, but I can tell you that the repeated change to the 1995 date is the work of a pretty persistent vandal. JTRH (talk) 21:08, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Word. WikiLubber (talk) 00:26, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Syndication rights
Allow me to explain the syndication rights to both Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!. Now we know ever since the 1996-1997 season that King World's logo appeared first before Columbia TriStar Television. Now as of today, everybody keeps getting confused saying that Sony is served as co-distributor alongside King World (now CBS Television Distribution) for first-run syndication since their logo appears last. That's not true. Sony Pictures Television is served as the production company of both series for first-run. However, for GSN reruns, they are the distributors because they own both of series and the Merv Griffin game show library and they are rerunning the show. Not CBS. That's why it's considered as off-network syndication. The proof is in the bag. King Shadeed 10:43, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
 * The proof is in a source, which has not been provided for this information. Do you have one? Sottolacqua (talk) 14:47, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Have you seen any reruns of both series on GSN? Another proof that I've watched back in 2009 on GSN from a 1994-1995 episode. I've seen the Columbia TriStar Television logo first, followed by King World and then Sony Pictures Television. In fact back in the mid-90s, they've plastered the King World logo on most reruns with Columbia TriStar Television's logo. Otherwise they've left it alone to have it followed afterwards. Same way how it goes with the Chuck Barris, Barry & Enright, and Bob Stewart series Sony owns and has reran on the network. And there's a whole lot of video proof on YouTube. King Shadeed 11:19, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
 * This is not a reliable source. The order that the logos appear during the closing of the show is not proof for the argument you're making. YouTube is also not an acceptable source. You need to provide tangible information backing up the statements you're making. Sottolacqua (talk) 15:30, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
 * But the question still stands, have you seen any reruns of both series on the network? King Shadeed 12:04, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Even if he has, it doesn't matter. It's not a reliable source.  Besides, the only fact that has changed is that King World was lumped into CBS Television Distribution.  That's the only notable change that I can see. Nicholasm79 (talk) 17:16, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune at Syndicated Network Television Association Kresblain 19:00, 17 May 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kresblain (talk • contribs)
 * And another thing alongside with that, here's what I remember a while back when Sony announced to launch GSN Sony Venture to Start Game Show Channel that proves that Sony is the distributor for both game shows for GSN reruns.

The Sony Venture to Start Game Show Channel link is from 18 years ago and does not explicitly state that Sony was then or is currently now distributing the episodes that air on GSN. The two links to SNTA ( and ) do state that both shows are currently distributed by CBS Television Distribution, but that information is not what is being questioned. Sottolacqua (talk) 20:39, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
 * The point is, Sony owns the series, CBS is the distributor for first-run, Sony is the distributor for off-net runs, mainly GSN reruns. The former of what I said of Sony as production and CBS as distributor are found on their respective websites including CBS Television Distribution's site. King Shadeed 17:53, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
 * The additional point is that you still have not provided a recent, reliable source for any of the information that contradicts what is currently in the article and that you claim to be true. You have not provided a tangible source related to GSN reruns or other repeats of non-first-run syndication episodes on other networks. Sottolacqua (talk) 21:59, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Then see the Game Show Network article. King Shadeed 18:40, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Telling editors to read the same unreferenced information in an edit made to another article is still not a reliable source. Sottolacqua (talk) 23:45, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
 * All of those sources throughout the years are truly reliable. Recent or not. So nothing else has changed. King Shadeed 23:43, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
 * The sources you've presented here don't explain the information you claim they do. Sottolacqua (talk) 11:01, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Merge proposal, part 2
I propose merging Wheel of Fortune (U.S. syndicated game show) and Wheel of Fortune (U.S. network game show) into Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show), especially since both contain very similar information. No other syndicated game shows have separate articles for their network counterparts. Additionally, all of the pertinent gameplay information that would increase the main article's length can be included and sourced in Wheel of Fortune gameplay.

I've already begun a proposed merged article here: User:Sottolacqua/Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show).

Please reply here with any concerns or comments for or against merging the two articles. Sottolacqua (talk) 14:57, 22 June 2010 (UTC)
 * I originally split the daytime show article off from the main page simply because the main article was getting overburdened with back-and-forth about the differences between the two. Off the top of my head, during the time they were concurrently on the air, the two versions had different:
 * Dollar values on the wheel;
 * Hosts after January 1989;
 * Prize formats in the main game (play for cash on nighttime, vs. still shopping for prizes on daytime) from the beginning of the nighttime show's season in 1987 to the daytime show's move to CBS in 1989;
 * Bonus round formats after 1989 (pick your prize on daytime vs. pick a letter from W-H-E-E-L on nighttime;
 * Returning champions rules until 1989 (daytime had returning champs while nighttime didn't);
 * Set backdrops (chevrons on daytime, diamonds on nighttime) during at least part of the time the show was taped at CBS;
 * Cash prize amounts in the Bonus Round ($25,000 in nighttime after 1987, none in daytime until 1989, then only $5,000);
 * And those are just the ones that occur to me immediately. You're right that no other game show has different articles for its daytime and nighttime versions (except the 1994-1995 New Price Is Right), but the differences are enough that I think the two articles are warranted. It's either that or one overly long article giving comparisons and contrasts as well as its description of the show. JTRH (talk) 16:07, 22 June 2010 (UTC)


 * The character count of the syndicated article text (without spaces) is 15,639; the daytime count is 20,619. In the proposed merged article, the total character count is 27,350, not significantly higher than what's already in the daytime article. Additionally, each of the bullet points you've listed easily can be/are already discussed and compared in a few sentences within the merged article, and most are already described in detail within Wheel of Fortune gameplay. With the data in both the current gameplay article and proposed combined daytime/syndicated article, the two separate daytime/syndicated articles are most definitely not needed.


 * Additionally, set features are at most mentioned very briefly in all other game show articles. This is not encyclopedic information. The dates of changes to something with such a minor production value as the contestant backdrops can all be included in one concise sentence. Sottolacqua (talk) 16:54, 22 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Okay. The original article was at something like 65K when I split off the daytime page. In addition to discussions of both versions, there was a lot of cruft. If they're both that small now, you may be right. JTRH (talk) 17:17, 22 June 2010 (UTC)
 * I do not have any substantive comments as I do not follow this article, but such a merger does not seem prima facie improper so long as it retains some discussion of the differences between the syndicated and daytime versions of the show. Robert K S (talk) 19:23, 22 June 2010 (UTC)


 * I'm with Robert. Endorse the merge so long as the distinctions between each version are made clear in the combined article. Prose just needs tightening; I've tried several times to whittle things down but it still needs a major deflation. Ten Pound Hammer, his otters and a clue-bat • (Many otters • One bat • One hammer) 19:55, 22 June 2010 (UTC)
 * IMO, I think they should be merged. -MegastarLV