Wheel of Fortune: How the Game was Played in its Early Years
Merv Griffin's two famous creations, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, are perfect illustrations of his philosophy of keeping the game simple. Wheel in particular demonstrated this concept, especially in its early years.
Wheel of Fortune's rules were very easy for even casual viewers to understand. Three contestants competed in a hangman-style game. Players would spin the wheel and call out a letter. If the letter was in the puzzle, they received the amount landed on for each time the letter appeared in the puzzle. If the letter the contestant called out was not in the puzzle, they would lose their turn.
The wheel would always contain a "Bankrupt" space and a "Lose a Turn" space. If you landed on "Bankrupt," you would, as Chuck Woolery put it, "...lose your cash but not your merchandise because once you buy a prize it's yours to keep." The slightly less malevolent "Lose a Turn" space was self-explanatory--players landing on this space would lose their turn but did not lose their money. The wheel's top dollar value in Round 1 was orignally $500 (later $750), and the highest dollar value in later rounds was $2,000. Players could also buy vowels for $250. In early episodes, the wheel actually featured a "Buy a Vowel" space, but this was quickly dropped due to its redundancy.
When a player successfully solved a puzzle, they would have the right to "go shopping" with their winnings. Arranged on the stage were four prize showcases, and the winning contestant was able to buy prizes from a preselected showcase with however much cash they had accumulated during the round. The most expensive prize on the stage, usually a car, could be purchased at any time, regardless of which prize showcase had been preselected for the contestant.
If a contestant had too little money left to buy any of the prizes offered, they would have the option of putting the money "On Account" to use in later rounds or on a gift certificate. Contestants almost always chose to put the money on a gift certificate. The brave contestant seen below is one of the few exceptions to this rule:
Money that was placed on account would be wiped out if the player landed on Bankrupt in a subsequent round. This risk is a major reason this option was so rarely used.
Once an episode would entire its final few minutes, the game would go into a speed round. Chuck Woolery would give the wheel a spin and whatever amount he landed on would be awarded to any contestant who correctly guessed a consonant in the puzzle (vowels were worth no money in this round). Players who guessed a letter that was in the puzzle would then be given three seconds to solve it. If they were unable to do so they would lose their turn.
At the conclusion of the game, whichever player had won the most money would be declared the champion and be allowed to return on the next show. Contestants were able to play for up to three days. Unlike today's Wheel of Fortune, Woolery's version lacked any bonus round, although for a brief time in late 1975 NBC expanded the show to an hour and added a bonus round during this time. When the show reverted back to a half hour, the bonus round was dropped.
In 1978, Wheel flirted with a bonus round once again. The "Star Bonus" space on the wheel would allow any contestant who landed on it to play for a special bonus prize at the end of the show. The contestant was given a choice of three different puzzles of increasing difficulty. The more difficult the puzzle, the more expensive the prize, with the most expensive prize being a $13,000 Porche. If the player was able to solve the puzzle, they would win the prize and, if it was worth enough money, would win the game.
Like the hour-long version's bonus round, the Star Bonus space did not last very long. One major problem with the space was the choppy editing the show would require if a contestant landed on the space. The edits were painfully obvious but necessary to be able to cram the bonus round into the end of the show.
On December 28, 1981, the Woolery era of Wheel of Fortune came to an end. Pat Sajak began his still-continuing reign as host and the bonus round that is still used in the current version also debuted that day. Woolery would find success two years later with the syndicated series Love Connection and the popular game show Scrabble.
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