40 years ago today...

[brianhenke]

   NBC premiered Wheel of Fortune.

   In an ad that appeared that week in TV Guide (before that once-great mag disintegrated into a piece of crap), the game was described as:

   

A genuine battle of nerves and a great new game!

   Well, it's not become a battle of nerves in the forty years since, but it's been a great game. Let's thank Chuck, Susan, Pat, Vanna, Rolf, Bob, Summer, and the thousands of contestants (both good and bad) who've spun the wheel - and the hosts, hostesses and contestants who have been on Wheel around the world!

    Brian

 

[byrd62]

   NBC premiered Wheel of Fortune.

   In an ad that appeared that week in TV Guide (before that once-great mag disintegrated into a piece of crap), the game was described as:

   

A genuine battle of nerves and a great new game!

   Well, it's not become a battle of nerves in the forty years since, but it's been a great game. Let's thank Chuck, Susan, Pat, Vanna, Rolf, Bob, Summer, and the thousands of contestants (both good and bad) who've spun the wheel - and the hosts, hostesses and contestants who have been on Wheel around the world!

    Brian

 

If, by Summer, you mean that time in 1982, after Susan left, when Summer Bartholomew auditioned for the letter-turning job that eventually went to Vanna [while Summer eventually went to Sale of the Century], then we shouldn't forget another contender for that job, Vicki McCarty-Iovine. 

And let's not forget two guest letter-turners who stood in for Vanna on the nighttime Wheel:  Tricia Gist-Griffin in 1990, and Lesly Sajak in '97 [that April Fools' Day episode when Pat and Vanna played the game, while Alex Trebek guest-hosted].

[WarioBarker]

I think the announcers deserve a bit of recognition, too -- Charlie O', Jack, M.G., Jim, Johnny Gilbert, Don Pardo, and the various other substitutes over the years. Same goes for the behind-the-scenes staff, way too many to even begin a list but particularly Merv, Ed Flesh, John Lauderdale, Nancy Jones, and Harry Friedman.

And on top of it all, Lin Bolen, who commissioned what became Wheel and willingly put her job on the line to get her bosses to put the show on the air after the disasters that were the 1973-74 pilots.

If, by Summer, you mean that time in 1982[...]

Maybe Brian was talking about the previous two times Summer filled in (September 1977 and May 1979), both while Susan was absent due to injuries? The latter period also had Cynthia Washington filling in, so there's another, and by all indication Arte Johnson also filled in during the former absence.

So yeah, there's a lot of people that have been involved over the past four decades. Happy birthday, Wheel.

[MrBuddwing]

I take it, given NBC's wiping policy at the time, episode #1 no longer exists?

[BrandonFG]

I take it, given NBC's wiping policy at the time, episode #1 no longer exists?

Bits and PIECES,  IIRC. I thought a clip of the intro was used in the E! True Hollywood Story?

[snowpeck]

I take it, given NBC's wiping policy at the time, episode #1 no longer exists?

Bits and PIECES,  IIRC. I thought a clip of the intro was used in the E! True Hollywood Story?

It was. More Woolery WOF seems to be out there (perhaps in private collections) than is available for viewing by the public. The E! special also included a clip of Susan Stafford's final show and a clip of one of the 1975 hourlong episodes was shown during a talk show appearance by Woolery in the mid-90s.

[BrandonFG]

Thanks. Have no idea why pieces was capitalized. Darn smartphones. :-P