Here's a couple of shots of how the wheel looked on Pat's last NBC Wheel. Good 'ol $100 spots in round one...
...and the always exciting $2000 spot in round three.
George Bush the First is inaugurated president ... Milli Vanilli tops the charts ... The Simpsons premieres on Fox...
January 9, 1989 -- Pat Sajak leaves the daytime show
All good things must come to an end I suppose, and after 7+ years hosting Wheel of Fortune on NBC Daytime, Pat Sajak stepped down to pursue an exciting opportunity as the host of his own nighttime talk show on CBS. The show bombed, but Pat was set for life as the host of the nighttime version of Wheel.
|
|
|
|
Here's a couple of shots of how the wheel looked on Pat's last NBC Wheel. Good 'ol $100 spots in round one... |
...and the always exciting $2000 spot in round three. |
Pat's final daytime episode provided a few laughs, namely an unexpected (at least for Vanna) open mouth kiss between host and co-host, and a cameo appearance from Merv Griffin, who lamented, "Why are you leaving my show???" Pat and Vanna also danced around mentioning who the replacement for Pat would be, either because they didn't know who it was at the time...or perhaps because they couldn't pronounce his name (see below). The episode marked the last time Pat would utter the words "Once you buy a prize, it's yours to keep."
|
|
|
| Whoa, Pat! This is the daytime show! | Merv dropped by for a "surprise" cameo at the end... |
January 10, 1989...Meet Rolf Benirschke
Mysteriously, Pat left on a Monday and was replaced the next day by the world-renowned Rolf Benirschke...well, world renowned if you were a San Diego Chargers fan. Merv Griffin discovered the former place-kicker in 1988 and decided he'd be the perfect fit for daytime Wheel. The problem: Rolf had zero previous TV experience. His first episode was a bizarre outing, with Vanna walking out during the show opening to introduce Rolf to the world. At both the beginning and end of the show, Rolf observed several times that "this is a lot different than football." Vanna practically had to carry the entire final segment of Rolf's first show.
 |
 |
| Is Vanna going to host Wheel now??? | No, it's...this guy. |
While telegenic and friendly, Rolf often appeared stiff and uncomfortable on camera. He suffered further ignominy when, not once, but twice during his six month stint at host, an episode ended in a tie. In case you were wondering, in the event of a daytime tie, no bonus round is played and all three contestants return the next show and pick up where the last round ended. Well, Rolf didn't know that, and when his first tie hit, he promptly told the country he had no idea what to do next. On a Teen Week episode in Spring, 1989, Rolf spun his final spin of the day and exclaimed in joy when he landed on the $2000 space...only to be corrected by a teen contestant that he was looking at the wrong arrow and in fact had spun Bankrupt.
Incidentally, the search for a new daytime host was a very public one, and several people turned out to audition--including tennis greats Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe!
March (?) 1989--Premiere of "Before and After", Charlie returns.
One of the kookier categories on the show that exists to this date. The category is basically two different ideas fused together by a common, centralized word, such as "Message in a Bottle-Nosed Dolphin" or "Molly Pitcher of Lemonade".
This was also the point at which Charlie O'Donnell took over announcing duties for M.G. Kelly, a role Charlie holds to this date.
|
|
|
And I...will always love...the Astros? |
June 30, 1989--End of Three Eras: NBC, Shopping, and Rolf
This date marked the last date that Wheel of Fortune aired on NBC daytime. It also marked the last date that the shopping format was used. When the show moved to CBS daytime two weeks later, the contestants were playing for cash (albeit not much), and Rolf Benirschke was not invited along for the ride. Truth be told, by the time Rolf's last episode came around, he was a lot more comfortable in front of the camera, but CBS must have decided they wanted to go with a more familiar face.
|
|
|
| Goodbye, turntable of crappy prizes... | Goodbye Rolf...looks like there was a sale on hair gel... |
An interesting note, the champion on this episode (Joe) was nowhere to be found when Wheel re-surfaced on CBS two weeks later, even though the show was still using returning champions at that point. Also of note: Rolf never tried his hand at television in any form after this endeavor, and it's rumored that he doesn't like to talk about his stint as the host of America's most popular game show. These days, Rolf is actively involved in the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America.
July 17, 1989--Say Hello to CBS and Bob Goen
CBS viewers bid a fond farewell to the short-lived Now You See It revival and set their VCRs at 10:30am for the premiere of Wheel of Fortune. They might have been surprised to find that the show now was filmed at CBS Studios, had a completely different set, theme music, sound effects -- and a new host. Bob Goen, by that point a seasoned television personality, began a two-year stint as host of the show and was a great fit.
|
|
|
| Shouldn't there be a 2 in front of that 5? | When a GEO is one of the bonus prizes, you know you're in trouble. |
|
|
|
| It's only $916...is it the Santa Monica Mountains? | Here's the new set backdrops...don't spend all that money in one place... |
However, viewers, especially hard-core game show fans, were shocked to see how cheap the show had become in terms of prize money. The all-cash format of the nighttime show was adopted, but in a far more scaled-down fashion. Top dollar in Round One was only $500, and a bevy of $50 and $75 spaces adorned the wheel. The highest value ever offered on the wheel was a paltry $1,250. By the second episode, the two-figure dollar amounts included a bizarre diamond figure, although it didn't do much to liven up the stakes.
|
|
|
| Here's someone you might recognize... | Ack! Throw it back! |
To account for the smaller prize money, vowels were initially reduced in price to $200, and further reduced to $100 in 1990. Like the nighttime show, the contestants had five prizes to choose from in the bonus round, although the cash prize was $5,000, not $25,000. This episode also marked the first time on the daytime show that "extra wheel prizes" were used, with the first one being a trip to Lake Tahoe valued at $916.
On Bob's first show, Pat Sajak (whose CBS talker was already struggling in the ratings) dropped in to wish him well.
|
|
|
| This category is now known as Star & Role. | Only one of these men would be employed by CBS in six months... |
September 1989--Seventh Season Syndicated Premiere
The nighttime show began using the CBS studio, theme, etc., and implemented a 3-day returning champion rule at this point. Prior to this point, shows could and often did air in random order (although once the all-cash format was used, they tended to air more sequentially). The returning champion rule was in place until 1996.
After two years of offering 5 "big" bonus prizes, the producers realized that everyone just went for the cash or sometimes the car(s). Speedboats, annuities, precious gem packages, vacation homes in Maine, and the ever-hated "Shipboard Party" never got picked. With returning champions in place, it was then decided to force contestants to pick their prize from one of five letters in the word "Wheel". The prize would be revealed after the puzzle, and if it was won, was eliminated from the pool of prizes for the week. This format continued until late 2001.
This might have also been the point at which the Same Name category went to using an & instead of spelling out the word "AND", removing the 3 gimme letters from contestant's options.
