Wheel of Fortune - Behind The Scenes - 20/20 (1986)

[godgundam10]

Wheel was already around for 11 years by 1986. The daytime version on NBC was a hit in its own right, but it wasn't until the nighttime version debuted in syndication in 1983 that it became HUGE! Sadly, the daytime version started to go downhill when Pat left in January 1989 and just 2 1/2 years, two hosts(Rolf Bernirschke and Bob Goen)and two network switches later(from NBC to CBS and back), the daytime version was no more.

[PanAmPatrick]

Funny how at the beginning, Hugh doesn't mention his 11 years as host of Concentration.

[perkoff]

All these people don't know why people like the show? It's cause of the wheel, people want to spin that, people watch and imagine themselves spinning the wheel. That is the only reason why the show is popular, people will always watch the show as long as they can't go up the street and spin a wheel like this for a chance to win BIG BUCKS BIG BUCKS BIG BUCKS!

[perkoff]

They need to go back to the flipping letters, much better than this touch screen shit.

[stevek83]

It sounded like Charlie O'Donnell in the intro, but I thought he didn't come back until '89

[byrd56]

@stevek83 I recall one week in the '83-'84 season, as well as another in '85-'86, when Charlie O. sat in for Jack Clark.

[Angie2343]

Vanna is looking REALLY sexy here!

[viddykiddy18]

7:05 - So that's how they picked their prizes & memorized their prices.

[playsbass1969]

old school wheel of fortune is

the bestwhen women don't wear shoes

[telewatcher89]

Ah, the question at 2:50, why was Wheel of Fortune so sucessful? Do we really need to analyze that? They were producing a simple show that people came home to enjoy. It was successful what more do you need?

When Sony came into the picture they saw the show as a dated mega hit. That's why Sony brought in Harry Friedman to make changes to a show that didn't need many changes. By doing tis they also lost half of their fanbase. Very few of Friedman's changes are actually nessesary. It's dull now.

[gameshowluvr86]

@telewatcher89 Agreed. Wheel of Fortune was exactly what you referred to it as; a mega hit. You spun the wheel, you picked a letter, you won money, you solved the puzzle... and millions of people couldn't get enough of it. Their big mistake was Harry Friedman, in my opinion. He attempted to make the show more... hip and with it, with all of the overly-flashy, hi-tech graphics, set changes, and unneeded theme weeks... Now, it's barely watchable. If it's not broken, there's no need to fix it...

[johnnyafairbanksak]

@gameshowluvr86 Friedman's first order of business was to upgrade the puzzleboard. On the old one, they would have to stop tape in between the puzzles, which took FOREVER!!! With the current board, a fresh puzzle is loaded right away after the previous one. Another was cash prizes up to $100,000 ($1 million with the Million Dollar wedge). Nonetheless, Wheel still remains the #1 syndicated show year in and year out.

[coreyprkr2005]

@telewatcher89 if it aint broke dont fix it

[Matto2t]

@telewatcher89

I agree. I feel that some of the changes (or, what I call "useless modernizations") to the show were unnecessary, in general. For instance, in recent years, there was a "JACKPOT" wedge added to the wheel, a $10,000 space sandwiched between two BANKRUPT wedges, and only one Free Spin token on the wheel. These changes were ones I didn't quite understand then and still don't understand to this day. I usexd to love watching this show back in the 80s, but got tired of it later on.

[Matto2t]

@telewatcher89

(Continued)

The only change I felt was necessary was the redesigning of the puzzle board back in '97; Vanna would only have to touch the black borders of the screens instead of turning those trilon boxes, and the missing letters would appear on their own. The FREE SPIN space was removed and a single token would be on the wheel (this I didn't understand as well). I feel they should have kept the FREE SPIN space on the wheel. All these modernizations became a big turn off for me.

[32rodrick]

Creator of Wheel of Fortune Donald Trump who also created Jeopardy and The Crossword Game.

[bluebear1985]

I've wondered why there haven't been more female hosts. In 1983, Betty White hosted her own show for NBC, "Just Men!".  It only lasted 13 weeks, but she did win an Emmy for her work on that show. Later on in the decade, Vicki Lawerence hosted the daytime version of "Win, Lose, Or Draw".

[megamanj2004X]

@bluebear1985 - and you also had Elaine Joyce hosting the 1st season of The All-New Dating Game from 1986-87 in syndication.

BTW, that clip of WoF clip look like it's from sometime during the 1985-86 season, b/c the Wheel wedges didn't go more colorful until the 1986-87 season. Plus, this was also the 1st season where Pat's hairstyle changed slightly from what it was during his 1st 4 years w/ WoF.

[bluebear1985]

@megamanj2004X I've just found something about another female host, back in the earlier days of television. A dating type of show called "Blind Date", was hosted by none other than Arlene Francis, best known as a regular panelist on "What's My Line?", from 1949-1952.

[megamanj2004X]

@bluebear1985 - Ah, yes Miss Arlene Francis. She paved the way for all female game shows.

By the '90s and 2000s-present, there's been more of a surge in female emcees that in year's past. Among names include: Betty White, Vicki Lawrence, Elaine Joyce, Elayne Boosler, Summer Sanders, Louise DuArt, Anne Robinson, Lisa "Kennedy" Montgomery, Sarah Purcell (co-host of The Better Sex in 1977), Jennifer Cole (co-host of Sex Wars), Meredith Viera, Sherri Shepard, Carnie Wilson, Carrie Ann Inaba.

[gameshowluvr86]

This is 1986. I read about this in Vanna White's autobiography, "Vanna Speaks".

[cartoongameshowman]

It looks like it came from 1985 rather than 1984.

[jwgreek8606]

I agree that Hugh looks good!

[FutureNewsAnchor]

Hugh Downs isn't a cult hero? Sure, he is!

[32rodrick]

Yes i have watched Wheel of Fortune from the Beginning in the early 1984 it was the Nighttime version from the start and i ever stop watching Wheel of Fortune i keep on watching.

[germanname1990]

I knew it! People would watch the show just to see Vanna! What got me into the show in January 1993, however, was a very colorful object, and you darn well better know what on Earth I'm talking about. As for what this showed, this was not bad. I saw some other 1980s behind the scenes, and this one explained things very well. Pity they couldn't show historical 70s clips. And those parties arguing who gets the puzzle first? My parents and I do that all the time with each other.