History & Fun Facts
30 FUN FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT WHEEL OF FORTUNE
- Wheel of Fortune won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Game/Audience Participation Show at the 38th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on June 19, 2011.
- Since its syndication debut in 1983, Wheel of Fortune has awarded more than $200 million in cash and prizes to its contestants.
- On September 11, 2006, Wheel of Fortune and its sister show Jeopardy! became the first syndicated shows to broadcast in High Definition.
- On October 14, 2008, Michelle Loewenstein became the biggest winner on Wheel of Fortune by winning $1 million in the bonus round and taking home a total of $1,026,080 in cash and prizes.
- Wheel of Fortune's original name was "Shoppers Bazaar" and included a wheel that was much bigger and featured carnival sound effects.
- More than 10,000 people try out each year and fewer than 600 lucky contestants are selected to appear on the show.
- Since 1988, Wheel of Fortune has taped on location a total of 61 times, in 26 different cities.
- Pat Sajak received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994 but there is a mistake on the tribute. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce placed a film camera on the star instead of a TV set.
- Wheel of Fortune has been produced "locally" in 45 territories including Egypt, Malaysia, Vietnam, Panama and Estonia. International broadcasters license the format rights and produce the show in their own language.
- When athletes or celebrities appear on Wheel of Fortune, their winnings are donated to a charity of their choice. To date, Wheel of Fortune has donated over $5.4 million to charity.
- The puzzleboard contains 52 touch screen monitors, 12 across in the top and bottom rows and 14 across in the two middle rows.
- The Wheel is equipped with over 200 computerized lighting instruments capable of up to 2 million different color choices.
- There are seventy-three stainless steel pins on the Wheel that fly past three hard rubber "flippers," giving it an unmistakable sound.
- Wheel of Fortune was a sponsor of the 1996 Olympic Games. That year, Vanna White and Pat Sajak each carried the Olympic Torch on different legs of the domestic relay.
- While the show was taping in Seattle, one man spent three days painting a replica of The Wheel on Seattle's Space Needle in water paint. Luckily it didn't rain!
- Over 90 million Americans have never known a world without Wheel of Fortune.
- The first letter Vanna ever turned on the Wheel of Fortune puzzleboard was a "T."
- The price of a vowel hasn't changed in 30 years. It's still a bargain at $250.
- Pat Sajak is from Chicago, IL and Vanna White is from North Myrtle Beach, SC.
- The Bonus Wheel contains 24 prize envelopes.
- Wheel of Fortune announcer Jim Thornton has done voiceover work for Disney's Monsters Inc., the Drew Carey Show, Celebrity Death Match, Rugrats and The Soup.
- Vanna has worn over 5,600 different outfits while at the puzzleboard.
- Thirty years ago, there were only six puzzle categories. Now there are 46.
- On any given tape day, more than 100 staff and crew are hard at work behind the scenes.
- Wheel of Fortune tapes five to six shows in one day, with Pat and Vanna changing wardrobe between each taping.
- Wheel of Fortune is taped at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, CA on stage 11. Jeopardy! tapes right next door on stage 10.
- The studio audience seats 160 people.
- A random selection determines whether a contestant will be in the red, yellow or blue position.
- There is a screen off-camera that indicates for Pat how many times a chosen letter appears in the puzzle. In the early days of the show, someone from the production sat off-camera and held up their fingers to signal to Pat.
- Since there is only one Wheel and one puzzleboard, they are both dismantled and reassembled whenever the show travels to tape in a different location.