The "Don't Call Between 7:00 & 8:00 P.M. - Part I!" Story

The Board on "Wheel of Fortune".

It was an ordinary day.  Just settled down in my leather lounge chair with a big dish of ice cream anxiously awaiting "Wheel Of Fortune" to begin.  This is the first of my favorite quiz shows that air in Lancaster, Pennsylvania from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM on CBS.  Instantly, as the clock on my DVR hits 7:00 PM, there comes Vanna White and Pat Sajak from behind whatever curtain or prop they may have that evening.  

Chuck and Susan

But, you know, the show wasn't always the same as we know it today.  When it first started in October of 1952, when I was an 8 year old, it lasted only a year.  To be eligible for the show you had to have done a good dead.  Those who had done a good deed as well as those who had been helped by that deed both appeared on the show.  A wheel was spun with cash amounts on the wheel between $30 and $1,000.  When the wheel stopped, the amount next to the pointer was the amount that could be won.  Also displayed on the wheel was the number of questions that had to be answered to win the money.  I guess they had a hard time finding good Samaritans, since the game ended in a year.  Then in 1975 "Wheel of Fotune" turned up again, but then was known as "Shopper's Bazaar."  

Early photo of Pat and Vanna.

After one episode it again became "Wheel of Fortune."  The object was to spin a wheel to win money that you could spend on prizes.  The original host was Chuck Woolery and the original letter turner was Susan Stafford.  When a contract dispute between the network and Chuck occurred, Pat entered.  Susan was also replaced, but not before a few other turners were tried.  They just didn't have the Vanna wave and clap.  Pat Sajak has always hosted the syndicated version which began in 1983 and also hosted the network daytime version until 1989 when he turned that show over to ex-football player Rolf Benirschke.  As far as Pat, he as a disc jockey for the Armed Forces Radio Newwork during the Vietnam War and then became a weatherman for a TV station in Los Angeles.  

Pat Sajak

In 1981 he took the job with "Wheel of Fortune."  Now, Vanna is another story.  She was at one time a contestant on "The Price is Right", but didn't make it out of contestant's row.  In 1987 "Vannamania" swept the country when Vanna appeared on Newsweek, starred in TV's Goddess of Love and wrote Vanna Speaks, her best-seller autobiography.  She also appeared in Naked Gun 33 1/2 - The Final Insult.  In 1992 she was recognized as the world's most frequent clapper when she clapped 140,000 times that season.  She now averages 720 claps an episode.  

Vanna White

If you watch the show daily, you may be interested to know that the wheel weighs 2,400 pounds, has 200 lights that can make two million colors and the noise it makes comes from 73 stainless steel pins hitting three rubber flippers.  There is only one wheel and one puzzle board which also is huge so when they travel on the road to different locations they carry about 1 million pounds of equipment.  And, thanks to you and me and all other wheel watchers, the show will continue for years.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.