The Internet Takes Off...O.J.'s Not Guilty...Forrest Gump Wins Best Picture...
June, 1995...Good Bye CBS!
After six years taping at CBS Studio 33 in Los Angeles (home to The Price is Right and Match Game, among others), Wheel aired its last show from CBS in June of 1995.
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| Who could forget that bizarre intro with the cartoon Pat and Vanna in the Wheel spaceship... | ...or the funky board border circa 1995? |
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| The $10,000 Space premiered around 1995, if not a bit earlier. | Here's the real-life Pat and Vanna from 1995. |
September 1, 1995...13th Season Premiere, Move to Sony
Sony bought Wheel in the early 90s in a huge push into the game show world (they also premiered a little known cable channel known then as Game Show Network). The conglomerate purchased the rights to Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, and soon moved production of both shows to the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City, about 5 miles south of CBS Studios.
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| New studio, new puzzle border... | Double your pleasure! |
The biggest addition to the game in this season was the short-lived Double Play
space. Shaped like Siamese Free Spins, Double Play was placed on the wheel
for a contestant to earn should s/he correctly guess a consonant in the puzzle.
The contestant could elect to use their Double Play before any spin of the wheel
and should s/he land on a dollar amount, the dollar amount was doubled for any
consonants placed in the puzzle. Double Play persisted on the wheel from
Round Two until it was hit. Unfortunately, most contestants elected to use
the Double Play at inopportune times or, increasingly as the season went on,
failed to use it at all. The wedge was unceremoniously retired at the end
of the season. Still unknown: what happened if a contestant used the
Double Play and then hit a prize...hmm...