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Author Topic: WOF 1983 at the Ohio State Fair...  (Read 7025 times)

brianhenke

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WOF 1983 at the Ohio State Fair...
« on: June 13, 2014, 12:05:45 AM »
   A good deal of you have heard that Wheel taped shows from the Ohio State Fair in 1983, before the show took off in syndication.

   Here are some photos (if you thought the 1989-90 CBS Wheel had el cheapo spaces, look at this wheel) - and take a look at the contestant to the left of Pat in photo #10:

    http://www.10tv.com/content/photo-blog/2014/06/1983-wheel-at-ohio-state-fair.html

   
       Brian
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aaron sica

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Re: WOF 1983 at the Ohio State Fair...
« Reply #1 on: June 13, 2014, 12:17:37 AM »
Ouch....Brain hurts....So many wrong facts...

PYLdude

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Re: WOF 1983 at the Ohio State Fair...
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2014, 12:32:38 AM »
How.could the show have been "relatively new" if it had already been on the air for eight years? It's not like this was brand new stuff.
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GrandGame1440

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Re: WOF 1983 at the Ohio State Fair...
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2014, 01:17:11 AM »
So... these shows really aired? Not just some fan event type thing (a la the Wheelmobile these days)?

brianhenke

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Re: WOF 1983 at the Ohio State Fair...
« Reply #4 on: June 13, 2014, 06:41:03 AM »
 WKEF in Dayton aired those shows.

  Brian
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daveromanjr

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Re: WOF 1983 at the Ohio State Fair...
« Reply #5 on: June 13, 2014, 09:03:17 AM »
The game show initially appeared on only nine stations in syndication, but after success at the Ohio State Fair, the show was picked up by more than 50 stations.

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MikeK

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Re: WOF 1983 at the Ohio State Fair...
« Reply #6 on: June 13, 2014, 10:42:23 AM »
Some things about this don't pass the smell test, about it airing outside of Ohio or even airing at all...

*  The wheel.  A lot of small amounts.  I can't see stations or viewers getting worked up over a top dollar value of $100 when the daytime show's smallest top dollar value ranged from $750 to $2000.
*  The gaudiness of the wheel.  It looks like something you'd see at a carnival, not something to be shown to a national audience.
*  No prizes, based on those pictures.  Cash prizes only, maybe?  Why offer cash only when the daytime show and the syndicated offering both have shopping?
*  The lack of a dress code.  Another something that might turn off viewers watching a new show, or at least a new version of an existing show.
*  The generic displays and game board.

This screams promotional opportunity to promote a show debuting in Fall 1983 (and what better place to do that than at one of the most-attended, if not the most attended state fair?)

If this indeed aired, you'd think someone somewhere would be able to produce some video, whether it is someone with access to Sony's properties (winc winc) or someone who works/-ed for WBNS.

MSTieScott

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Re: WOF 1983 at the Ohio State Fair...
« Reply #7 on: June 13, 2014, 12:05:13 PM »
Some things about this don't pass the smell test, about it airing outside of Ohio or even airing at all...

*  The wheel.  A lot of small amounts.  I can't see stations or viewers getting worked up over a top dollar value of $100 when the daytime show's smallest top dollar value ranged from $750 to $2000.

I hypothesize that they may have been playing for points. There are only sparkly circles where we'd expect to see dollar signs.

TLEberle

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Re: WOF 1983 at the Ohio State Fair...
« Reply #8 on: June 13, 2014, 12:08:04 PM »
I hypothesize that they may have been playing for points. There are only sparkly circles where we'd expect to see dollar signs.
My guess was that they could have been playing for money and that it was an actual game of Wheel of Fortune but it was done similarly to how various live touring versions of game shows play out, or the audition. So you're not playing for the big prizes, but you get the game show experience. The idea that these would have been done for broadcast seems out in left field.
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WarioBarker

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Re: WOF 1983 at the Ohio State Fair...
« Reply #9 on: June 13, 2014, 01:20:41 PM »
They may not have been intended for broadcast, but it seems they aired anyway. A quick search through this forum turned up these:

Quote from: Variety on August 10, 1983 (Weekly, Page 54)
WBNS-TV plans to air more than 40 hours of programs from the Ohio State Fair, including two syndicated shows that will be taped at the station's pavilion. The noon editions of the news will air live from the pavilion on weekdays during the fair; the syndicated gameshow "Wheel Of Fortune" will be taped there on Aug. 18-19 and "The 20-Minute Workout" will be taped there on Aug. 9-10.
About Wheel Of Fortune, that began on August 29, 1983 on [WEWS-]TV-5 [in Cleveland] at 7pm with a week of shows taped at the Ohio State Fair. The first studio show was presented on Labor Day 1983 immediately following Peter Jennings' first official newscast as sole anchor of World News Tonight,
They aired on the other Ohio stations that were to carry the show, I know, and in the same time period. This served as a "preview week" of sorts. Don't know if they were beamed beyond the Buckeye State.
WKEF in Dayton (now ABC again!!!) aired the '83 Ohio State Fair shows as well.

There's several more instances over the past decade of Don mentioning that these shows aired, but these were the earliest mentions I could find. Still not the earliest overall mention, though, as Cincy43235 noted the week way back in May 1997 on ATGS:
Quote from: Cincy43235 on May 30, 1997
Since we were discussing where WOF and J! have been on the same station since Day 1 in syndication...WCPO Cincinnati (then CBS now ABC) has carried WOF in this order:
[...]
in Dayton it has been a much different story:
- Aug 1983(yes, August - they aired a week of shows from the Ohio State Fair)- Sept 1990 WOF on WKEF NBC 7:00
-Sept 1990-present WHIO CBS 7:00
And even if they never actually did air, the cheapo Wheel seen here did get some airtime: specifically, during a 1985-86 national promo that was partly taped in Ohio ("Wheel Of Fortune Promo, 1986" on YouTube, beginning at :28).
« Last Edit: June 13, 2014, 01:52:27 PM by Dan88 »
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Thunder

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Re: WOF 1983 at the Ohio State Fair...
« Reply #10 on: June 13, 2014, 01:31:25 PM »
Tobias Fünke was not having a good time at the fair that day.


TLEberle

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Re: WOF 1983 at the Ohio State Fair...
« Reply #11 on: June 13, 2014, 02:19:07 PM »
Maybe he wasn't able to sell any Thunder Muscle at his vendor booth.
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