Browsing thru the Game Show Wiki's photo gallery, I found a nice little rarity, that makes a decades-old mystery (for me at least) a little clearer.
They were originally uploaded to the
Wheel of Fortune History Wiki (the former by Greg from said promo, the latter by me through a partial
THS copy I was digitally given by a kind WOFL/BAV user). No biggie that they were copied for a larger-scope Wiki, though -- spread the info around, I say.
(Although shoving all the intros at the top is a bit odd, but hey...)
My question is, was that used only in the pilot, or was it ever used once the show went to series in 1975?
The latter.
Sorry if I seem a little eager here, but Wheel's early days are one of the things I find most fascinating. I'd love to know when they got rid of the doors and replaced them with the curtain (and the three prize showcases all on stage at once.)
According to uncamark in
July 2004 (during a topic about the shopping/"on account"/gift certificate rules), it was sometime during the first six months; it definitely debuted by November 3, thanks to
The Roseanne Show pulling out
an opening clip in March 2000.
That said, I don't think the curtain replaced the doors immediately -- I was looking at the Milton Bradley games' instruction booklets last night to see whether they used the "solve the puzzle exactly as it says on the board" rule (which, looking at some videos, may have begun around late February/early March 1979), and I noticed that while the set on the box looks like the '74 pilots, the manual's photo suggests a different timeframe for three reasons:
1) the prize platforms are behind the puzzle board,
2) the pricetags use a different style than that of the premiere
and the "fancy" ones used from 1976ish-89, and
3) both pictures also show the real version of the in-game Wheel layout.
As such, I think there was an "interim" period where they got rid of the doors and went back to the '74 method until the curtain was introduced.
{video link}
And this guy's kept it under wraps for a
long time; I should know (I
hinted at it last month). And the lady with the fur coat is one my mother remembered watching long, long ago.
Do you recall which episode of The Tonight Show that promo is from? I have quite a few from that era and don't remember seeing that.
It was from the week of December 30, 1974, and based on Greg's comments it's most likely January 3. Apparently, the
Tonight Show episode itself isn't that notable. *shrug*