Susan looks Swedish?
Charlotte: "I don't want any of this crud."
Iran Hostage Drama...Disco Breathes Its Last Breath...Classic Movie "Airplane" Released...
June 20, 1980...Wheel Escapes Cancellation
The history of game shows certainly could have been changed forever if NBC followed through on its plan to cancel Wheel of Fortune after 5 1/2 years. The network had big plans for a 90-minute daytime talk show hosted by David Letterman, and 3 game shows were to be the casualties. Several mock schedules were drafted up, including one which gave the ax to Wheel of Fortune. The victims wound up being Chain Reaction, High Rollers, and the venerable Hollywood Squares...and ultimately Letterman himself; his show was a bomb and ended six months later. Wonder what he's up to now...
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Susan looks Swedish? |
Charlotte: "I don't want any of this crud." |
The episode from this day survives among tape collectors and provides for a few interesting moments. Returning champion Charlotte finds herself with extra money while shopping and can't find anything else she wants to buy, a fact Chuck picks up on. At the top of the show, Chuck mysteriously says Susan "looks like a little Swedish girl." Chuck and Susan end the show with a discussion about how long it takes to deliver prizes to winning contestants. Good stuff.
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| The old Speed Up Round shot was the flip of how it looks today. | $2,000 was top dollar in Round Three, but $1,500 isn't bad... |
August 4, 1980...Move to 11:00 AM
When David Letterman's daytime show got cut back 30 minutes, Wheel moved back to the 11:00 am timeslot.
November, 1980...Game Show Host Week
It always a treat for game show fans when game shows feature other shows' hosts as contestants. It happened on Card Sharks in 1980 and it happened on Wheel that year as well. Bill Cullen (Blockbusters) and Tom Kennedy (Password Plus) are confirmed to have played, and its likely that the other two NBC hosts at the time (Wink Martindale of Las Vegas Gambit and Jim Perry of Card Sharks) played as well. Each host played against two regular contestants, with their winnings going to a member of the studio audience. The studio audience player had full control over which prizes to shop for if the host won a round.
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| Susan escorts Tom Kennedy out. | Here's a good overhead shot of the Round One wheel. |
Tom Kennedy's appearance on the show exists on tape, and he won one round for his audience contestant.
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| Audience player Art tells Tom to solve the puzzle. | Pre-turntable, the prizes were less graciously plopped together on platforms. |
