The "TV Watching Just For The Fun Of It" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just finished my evening meal and had settled in my favorite lounge chair, anxiously awaiting my favorite two television shows of the day; Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.  On one channel The Wheel comes first while on the other channel Jeopardy comes first.  Makes for some extra fun if I watch on one channel and then turn it to the other channel and watch it once again. I get to impress everyone, since I know the puzzle or questions.  Works only once though!  So, use this technique when you are really trying to impress someone.  I have written about Jeopardy in the past, but never wrote about Wheel of Fortune.  

The very first Wheel of Fortune was not what we are accustomed to viewing today.  In October of 1952 Wheel of Fortune appeared for the first time on TV.  To be eligible for the show you had to have done a good deed; the good-deed doers and the people they had helped appeared on the show.  A wheel was spun with cash amounts of between $30 an $1,000 on it.  Whatever the wheel landed on was the amount to be played for during that show.  There was also a number on the wheel telling how many questions had to be answered correctly for the money.  The beneficiary received a gold watch for their appearance.  Didn't last long since it was too hard to understand.  Then in 1975 a show called "Shopper's Bazaar" began.  The object was to spin a wheel to win money to spend on great prizes.  Then another version of Wheel of Fortune began with Chuck Woolery as host and Susan Stafford as the letter turner.  After a contract dispute, Chuck Woolery left and Pat Sajak was hired to replace him.  In December of 1982, Susan Stafford departed and a few interim letter changers followed, until Vanna White eventually took over.  Pat has always hosted the syndicated version of the show which started in 1983, and hosted the network daytime version until January 17, 1989 when he turned the NBC daytime version of the show over to Rolf Bernirschke.  Are you lost yet?  On July 17, 1989, the daytime version moved to CBS with Bob Goen hosting.  Charlie O'Donnell was the announcer until 1982.  After that, Jack Clark became the announcer until he died in 1982.  Charlie O'Donnell returned and has been the announcer ever since.  Current show host, Pat Sajak was a DJ for the Armed Forces from 1968 to 1972, during the Vietnam War.  He was also a weatherman during the 1970s and 1980s.  Then in 1981 he became host of Wheel of fortune.  

Pat Sajak, host of "Wheel of Fortune."

Now, you may have known all this already, but did you know that he hosted a late-night talk show in the early 1990s?  Maybe not, since it was a disaster.  As far as Vanna White goes, she was a contestant on "The Price Is Right."  Johnny Olsen once said, "Vanna White...come on down!"  Never made it out of contestant row, but in 1987 "Vannamania" swept the country, when she appeared on Newsweek, starred in the made-for-TV movie "Goddess of Love," and wrote a best seller, her autobiography.  In 1994 she appeared in "Naked Gun 33 1/2 - The Final Insult."  In

Vanna White, letter toucher extraordinaire.

1992 she was given credit as the world's most frequent clapper, since she claps her hands more than 140,000 times a season.  That's 720 claps every show.  As far as "Wheel of Fortune", the big wheel weights 2,400 pounds and has 200 lights that can make two million different colors. The noise of the wheel comes while being spun and 73 stainless steel pins hit the three rubber "flippers," one in front of each contestant.  There is only one wheel and one puzzle board, so it makes it tough when the show changes locations, which it does from time to time.  During travel, the show transports about 1 million pounds of equipment, Vanna and Pat not included.  Some of you may remember when Pat became ill this past November and Vanna had to take over.  I don't know about you...but I was really glad when he returned!  If you have never watched the show, give it a try sometime.  You may enjoy it and tune in many more times.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.