‘Wheel Of Fortune’…Pilot Number 2…1974

‘Wheel Of Fortune’ premiered as a daytime series on NBC on January 6, 1975, and continued to air on the network until June 30, 1989, but not before some major reworking of the original pilot we see in today’s first post.

In this second pilot, Ed Byrnes, the actor who played “Kookie” on the ’77 Sunset Strip’ series, served as host for the second pilot which by now was titled ‘Wheel of Fortune’, and was directed by Marty Pasetta, who gave the show a “Vegas” feel that more closely resembled the look and feel that the actual show ended up having.

Now the wheel was mounted horizontally and spun by the contestants themselves, and had a lighted mechanical puzzle board with letters that were now manually turnable. Showcase prizes were located behind the puzzle board, and during shopping segments a list of prizes and their price values scrolled on the right of the screen.

I think there was actually a third pilot that kept the new set but was shot with the host of the first pilot, Chuck Woolery. NBC had liked Chuck and the new set, so the did one more pilot that combined the two, just as a demo and production began in December 1974.

Susan Stafford turned the letters on Byrnes’ pilot episode and continued there when the show went to air on NBC with Woolery as the hose and Charlie O’Donnell as its announcer.

O’Donnell left in 1980, Woolery in 1981, and Stafford in 1982; they were replaced, respectively, by Jack Clark, Pat Sajak, and Vanna White. After Clark’s death in 1988, M. G. Kelly took over briefly as announcer until O’Donnell returned in 1989; O’Donnell remained on the network version until its cancellation, and continued to announce on the syndicated show until his death in 2010, after which he was replaced by Jim Thornton, who has been the announcer since.

Sajak left the network version in January 1989 to host his own late-night talk show, and was replaced on that version by Rolf Benirschke. Bob Goen replaced Benirschke when the network show moved to CBS, then remained as host until the network show was canceled altogether. The syndicated version has been hosted continuously by Sajak and White since its inception. Thanks to James Barr for the video. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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